Disasters - Fact and Fiction

We have lived through a real natural disaster here in the Northern Rivers of NSW (along with other parts of the country) with many of our local towns and villages flooding. SBS shows an aerial view of Lismore and it's shocking.

Our family wasn’t flooded but we couldn’t pick up our son from Gold Coast airport when he flew home last week. We were a bit panicked as we didn’t know if we’d be able to get someone to him at all as areas to the north were also starting to flood. We had to get relatives to drive from Brisbane (over 200kms return) to pick him up and he had to stay up there overnight until the floodwaters over the Pacific Motorway receded. All a bit dramatic, but not nearly as bad as for some who had houses flood to the roof and businesses destroyed. Truly awful.

Every experience is useful to a writer. Not being able to get to your child is certainly a nerve-wracking time and I wrote in my diary about it so as not to forget how it felt – all for future reference.

Natural disasters force people into unusual circumstance and this can be a useful tool in fiction. Just running through the story angles of all my books, I realize I’ve only written one disaster story – The Love Deception -  in which a hurricane causes havoc in the Caribbean. I know some of my LoveCats friends have also written about disasters (thinking about one of yours at the moment, Rachel Bailey).

Have you read a book recently that featured a disaster? Or have you lived through one yourself?

New Year, New Book and a few New Nominations

Happy New Year!!!

ARRA Awards

The year is still shiny and new and already exciting things are happening.  

A couple of our lovely Cats have been nominated in the Favourite Short Category Romance category of the 2013 Australian Romance Readers Awards. Amy Andrews features twice with Driving Her Crazy and The Girl Least Likely to Marry. Also nominated are Annie West’s Imprisoned by a Vow and Michelle Douglas’ The Redemption of Rico D’Angelo. And it was a huge shock and absolute delight that I discovered The Love Deception is also nominated. Just to be in a finals list with such incredible authors is an unbelievable thrill.

 

Amy also blitzed other categories including a nomination for Holding Out for a Hero in Favourite Contemporary Romance. Amy’s fabulous hero Jake Prince from Holding Out for a Hero is nominated in The Sexiest Hero category and Amy’s also up for Favourite Australian Romance Author 2013. So wonderful, Amy!

The Billionaire’s Pursuit of Love

My new release, The Billionaire’s Pursuit of Love, is out this week. I love this story and cried a couple of time while writing it, so I hope I’ve been able to capture that emotion on the page.  The story features wildlife warrior Sarah Walker and international technology guru Blake Huntington-Fiennes. The premise is…

When Sarah Walker's beloved wildlife sanctuary is threatened with closure, she heads for London and goes straight to the top to find out why. But the man responsible is the one man she's never forgotten, and the only person who can destroy all her happiness.

Billionaire CEO Blake Huntington-Fiennes can't believe that the girl he's spent years searching for has just marched into his boardroom. And this time, he's willing to resort to any means necessary to keep her. But Sarah has a secret she must protect at all costs or risk losing something even more precious than the sanctuary…

Excerpt

Blake and Sarah have just finished dinner at the luxury Dorchester restaurant in London. They’re seated at a special private table, surrounded by an oval wall of lights. Sarah has a secret and she has to escape Blake’s charms to keep it...

‘Blake . . .’ He took his name from her lips with a kiss. She softened under his touch. She wanted this, too. God, he had to have her.

She dragged her lips from his. ‘People will see.’

‘I don’t give a damn.’ He found her mouth again. She tasted of chocolate and strawberries. Of hot passion and erotic promise.

‘Let’s get out of here.’ He pulled her towards the wall of light. He’d book the penthouse suite.

‘No.’ She wrenched herself from his grip and slipped through the luminous curtain.

He flung the lights aside and strode after her.

‘Put this on my tab,’ Blake ordered the maître d’ and followed her out onto the street. Sarah stood hailing a cab.

‘Running again?’ he said.

‘You were the one who ran. Disappeared. Vanished from the face of the earth.’ Her red-hot anger hit him with surprising force.

‘I think we’ve established that I didn’t.’

‘No. You denied it. That doesn’t make it true.’

A black cab pulled up and Sarah opened the door. ‘I have to go. Goodbye, Blake.’

Hell, were those tears in her eyes? The cartilage between his ribs felt as though it had fused solid. He grabbed the door of the taxi. ‘Stay with me.’ The passion in his voice scared him. He cared too much.

‘Blake, that time is gone. I can’t . . . Please . . .’

The tone of her voice told him everything. She’d known that passion, deep enough to transport you to a place so heavenly that without it, life was forever grey and lifeless and desolate.

He caught her about the waist and drew her hard against his body. His pulse flared and smashed away every rational thought. He slid his other hand up the back of her neck and claimed her mouth. Her lips were as warm and lush as a tropical afternoon. He kissed her, hoping all the words he wanted to say were there in his kiss. All the time they had wasted could be washed away. They could relive their hot passion. He wanted her. Now. Now. Now.

She slid her hands onto his chest and pushed.

‘No, Blake. We can’t . . .’

‘Why the hell not?’ He hadn’t meant to sound so callous.

‘Because . . . Because . . .’

She yanked free, climbed into the taxi and slammed the door shut.

The cab pulled into the traffic. Sarah turned and watched him until the taxi rounded the corner.

Blake stared at the spot where the cab had disappeared. His blood pumped hot and fast. Sarah had no idea who she was dealing with if she imagined she could just evaporate.

I hope you enjoyed the excerpt. The Billionaire’s Pursuit of Love is available now from Amazon, iTunes, Google, Destiny Romance and Penguin.

Sunday Smooch with Jennifer St George

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!

Today we have a smooch from  Jennifer St George, but first ...

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

Can you please contact Helen Lacey at mail (at) helenlacey (dot) com to recieve your copy of Date With Destiny.

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

The Love Deception is my third novel with Destiny Romance. It combines legal intrigue, courtroom drama and a dash of exotic Barbados.

When Felicity Carter wakes up naked in a strange bed, she has no idea how she got there. And no recollection of meeting the gorgeous man calmly offering her breakfast. Felicity flees – hoping that their paths never cross again.
 The last thing she expects is to discover that her mystery man is Damon Fullbright, partner at the law firm where Felicity has just started work – and her new boss! 
Damon is appalled to find the out-of-control young woman he rescued has been hired to work on his team. Apart from anything else, he doesn't need the distraction of a hot blonde with a barrel-full of issues. But one-by-one, Felicity blows all Damon’s preconceptions out of the water. When Felicity explosively reveals her dreadful secret, will he risk his reputation and trust her to discover the truth?

Scene set-up: [Damon and Felicity have just found a vital piece of evidence which will help the case against Felicity's father.]

Kiss Scene  

‘I need to say something important before all hell breaks loose,’ she said.

‘What?’

‘Thank you.’ She kissed him lightly. ‘You believed in me when no one else did.’

He caught her around the waist. ‘You’re welcome. But my services are very expensive. One little kiss doesn’t even pay for the pens on my desk.’ 

He pulled her hips in close to his body. Heat raged up her thighs and settled, hot and heavy and luscious, between her legs.

‘What does this pay for?’ She ran her fingers though his hair before she pulled his lips to hers and kissed him long and deep.

‘You’ve covered half the phone bill,’ he said in a ragged voice.

She smiled and ran her finger softly down his cheek. ‘Only half?’ she asked in a Marilyn Monroe whisper.

‘I know a way that can strike thousands from the bill.’

‘Show me.’

He scooped her into his arms, strode into the bedroom and laid her across the bed.

‘I’ll need you a little closer if I’m ever going to rid myself of this terrible debt,’ she said, reaching for him.

He grabbed her hand. ‘Stop.’

She sat bolt upright. ‘What?

‘You’re not going to accuse me of sexual harassment?’ His eyes blazed with passion but his touch was all business. ‘You’re still my employee.’

She pulled free of his grasp and walked to the small desk in the living room. He followed, curious. She found a pen and paper and scribbled a few words.

‘Does this help?’ she said, handing him the page.

‘What’s this?’

‘My resignation.’

He glanced at the words. The page fluttered to the floor. He grabbed her hand and hauled her back into the bedroom. 

* * * 

Office romances can be very exciting but can also be fraught with problems. For a chance to win a copy of The Love Deception, leave a comment about your views on the office romance? 

Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced -- and a smooch from Miracle at Bellaroo Creek by Barbara Hannay will be posted!

Jennifer is the author of three romance novels from Destiny Romance. To find out more visit -  website, twitter, facebook or goodreads. Her latest release, The Love Deception is available at Amazon, Apple, Kobo and Destiny Romance.

To Buy or Not to Buy...How do Romance Readers Decide What to Read Next?

by Jennifer St George

I recently finished reading fellow LoveCat Amy Andrew's Taming a Tycoon (yes, I'm quite behind on my TBR pile!). Obviously the first thing I wanted to do was buy another one of Amy's books...which I could do instantly with my trusty iPad. It got me thinking about how romance readers make the decision of what to buy or read next.

According to research commissioned last year by Romance Writers of America, the top overall decision factors when deciding on a romance are:

• the story
• the author
• it's part of a series
• back cover copy

It was interesting to note the book covers are not a factor listed in the top four. I know I worry incessantly about my covers.  Are they sexy enough? Enticing enough? Is my hero hot enough? Looks like I should be more concerned about nailing those short paragraphs on the back cover.

I also found fascinating (I know it's sad, but I love statistics) the numbers on where romance buyers find information about what they read. The bookstore was still the number one information source. Now, this research was commissioned last year, so things could well have changed...a lot.

My key influences are other romance writers, friends and romance blogs.

Being predominately published in e-format, the top "online" factors in influencing purchase decisions were of particular significance. These were:

• Online bookseller websites (Amazon, BN.com etc)
• Reading about it/seeing it online
• Seeing it on a best-seller list
• Author website.

The saying goes 'lies, damned lies, and statistics' so I'd love to hear how other people make their romance buying decisions.

Jennifer is the author of three romance novels from Destiny Romance. To find out more visit -  website, twitter, facebook or goodreads. Her latest release, The Love Deception is available at Amazon, Apple, Kobo and Destiny Romance.

Destiny Romance to Celebrate its First Anniversary and a Giveaway

It is my great pleasure to welcome my fabulous Destiny Romance editors Sarah Fairhall and Carol George to Lovecats today. It’s been nearly a year since Destiny Romance hit the international e-book scene and I caught up with Carol and Sarah to find out about the year that was and what we might expect in the future.

Carol George and Sarah Fairhall

It's coming up to Destiny Romance's first anniversary, what's been your greatest highlight?
That we managed to stay sane? No, truly, it’s been the joy of discovering and publishing new, quality, Australian writing. Nothing could be more exciting than that.

What reactions have you had from readers to Destiny?  

On the whole the feedback has been fantastic with romance fans loving Destiny books. We are passionate about what we do at Destiny and as genuine fans of romance, we seem to be on track with our readers. And of course, we like to push the envelope a little, as well.

Are there any plans for the future you can share with us?

We’ll continue to be innovative with the range of romances we publish and the way we publish them. We published the unconventional Untamed this year and will continue to roll the dice with any romance we love, even if it isn’t exactly ‘traditional.’ This year we experimented with print versions of Destiny titles going into Australia Post offices around Australia. A few other ideas like this are in the mix.  

Tell us a little about your June releases?

June marks the release of the first romantic suspense from popular Destiny author, Jennifer St George. The Love Deception is about Felicity, a brilliant young lawyer who joins a law firm in order to investigate a case in which she has a huge personal stake.  Only one complication – she wakes up in a stranger’s bed one morning, no idea how she got there and he turns out to be her new boss.   

From new Destiny author, Leisl Leighton, we have the very scary Killing Me Softly. Alexia, a famous, reclusive record producer is being stalked.  The danger seems to ratchet when a famous band joins her on her country property to work on their next album and Alexia finds herself deeply attracted to the lead singer.

Will we see Destiny Romance at the RWA conference, GenreCon or any other literary events this year?

Destiny and many of its writers (the ‘Destineers’), will be at full strength at the RWA conference. Destiny will celebrate it’s first birthday on the Thursday night. Expect balloons and candles.  Sarah Fairhall will be taking pitches for Destiny and you can visit us at the Penguin/Destiny trade table. Please come and say hello! Sarah is also attending RWNZ this year and looks forward to meeting New Zealand readers and writers.   

Thanks Sarah and Carol for joining us on LoveCats today.  I’ve loved my first year as a Destineer. Destiny is giving away four fabulous print Destiny titles – The Convenient Bride, Uncovererd by Love, Cityglitter and Her Italian Aristocrat. Leave a comment for a chance to win.

The Love Deception is available now from Amazon, Apple, Kobo and Destiny Romance.