LoveCats Star! by Amy Andrews

I'm excited to see this anthology of backlist titles hit the shelves this month. 

Even more excited to be sharing it with my fellow LoveCats Ally Blake and Annie West!

So, what backlist titles appear? 

Girl Least Likely To Marry — Amy Andrews
Samuel Tucker is absolutely the last person scientist Cassie Barclay would ever date. He’s gorgeous, but he’s also far too cocky for his own good. So when he asks her to dance, why on earth does she say yes?
Tuck is used to people assuming he’s all brawn and no brain, but when he finally takes her to bed, it’s him who can show Cassie a thing or two! Can he convince her that love has nothing to do with logic, and everything to do with chemistry?

Captive In The Spotlight — Annie West
Domenico Volpe has been a paparazzi target for years with his rugged looks, glamorous lifestyle and, most recently, a family tragedy. Now he’ll do whatever it takes to keep the woman at the centre of it all quiet.
Domenico ensures that Lucy Knight accepts his offer of refuge. But while the media furore abates, Domenico is beginning to doubt Lucy’s guilt as he uncovers the innocent, sensual woman behind the tough facade...

The Shock Engagement — Ally Blake
Emma’s colleagues had been shocked she was marrying the oh-so-successful millionaire Harry Buchanan. Only, the engagement was purely for convenience...
It would help Harry get out of the excruciating ‘hunkiest male’ competition — and in return he would help save her job. But Emma had dreamed of marrying Harry for years and acting engaged was practically torture!

And a story by the wonderful Fiona Lowe is also included! 
 
The Surgeon’s Special Delivery — Fiona Lowe
Dr Tess Dalton couldn’t wait to give her two closest friends the greatest gift — a baby of their own. But when tragedy struck, Tess found herself carrying her friends’ baby alone.
Surgeon Callum Halroyd is shocked to meet Tess...and to discover she’s about to give birth to his nephew! Becoming an adoptive dad certainly wasn’t in Cal’s plan, but Oscar and Tess make Cal reassess everything...

So, if you've never tried any of the Lovecats fare, this might be a good place to start? The book is on shelf in Australia at the moment or you can get it online from all e-tailers (click on the cover for link to Amazon US) for around $10 - that's 4 full length category romance novels for $10!

Bargain! 🎇🎇🎇💲💲💲💲

Are you a fan of anthologies? Have you ever found a new-to-you author in an anthology that became an auto-buy?


 

Retro Sunday Smooch: Countering His Claim

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!

Today we have a smooch from Countering His Claim but first ...

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

Can you please contact Helen Lacey: mail (at) HelenLacey (dot) com to receive your copy of The Cowgirl's Forever Family!


And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Countering His Claim, which is being reissued DownUnder in October as part of the Local All-Star Anthology.

Passion sets sail in USA TODAY bestselling author Rachel Bailey's tale of high-stakes inheritance

Never be distracted by a woman is hotel magnate Luke Marlow's golden rule, especially when the woman just inherited half his late uncle's luxury cruise liner. But ship's doctor Della Walsh is the exception. Her dignified beauty ignites Luke's desire despite his suspicions. Even so, he will gain full control of the ship at all costs.

For Della, the ship has been a sanctuary. Now she has just three weeks to change Luke's mind and save the ship—until passion comes along and steers them off course….




 [Scene set-up: Della has spent the day showing Luke the facilities on board the Cora Mae, and now they're on the deck in the moonlight, trying to avoid their attraction...] 

He looked up to the stars and a flash of movement caught his attention. Within an instant he was beside Della, one arm around her waist, pointing skyward. “Shooting star.”

“Oh,” she said on a long breath, her gaze following his finger.

The feel of her against him was mesmerizing. Absorbed in the moment, she’d forgotten to be on her guard and allowed her soft curves to meld into his side, her head resting back on his shoulder as she tracked the star’s path.

“Make a wish,” he murmured beside her ear.

A kiss. In this moment, all he wanted was to turn her to face him, to lean down and touch her sweet lips with his. It was wrong, he knew it was wrong, but the blood in his veins thundered and a delicious heat began to rise.

The star faded and the night sky again grew still, the only movement the ship’s steady forward progress and the gentle breeze that danced in Della’s hair. But she didn’t move away. Part of him dared not move and break the spell, but the larger, rebellious part of him—surrounded by the scent of vanilla and woman—risked inclining his head down to hers, and was rewarded when she shivered.

“Like to know what I wished for?” he said, voice low.

Her eyes drifted shut. “You’re not supposed to tell. It won’t come true if you do.”

“Maybe,” he said, his mouth so close to her ear that his lips brushed her lobe as he spoke. “But if you knew what the wish was, perhaps you’d grant it.”

He pressed a light kiss on her neck, just below her ear. Della held herself still but didn’t pull away. “I don’t have any magical powers to grant wishes.”

“I’m not so sure.” He pressed another kiss to her soft skin, this one at the edge of her jaw.

As he cupped the side of her throat with one hand, he felt her racing pulse and turned her to face him. A small sound of protest passed her lips even as she leaned in and placed the lightest of kisses on his mouth. It took everything inside him, but he locked his muscles tight and didn’t move an inch. Della had held herself back so much, he wouldn’t ruin this by pushing too far, too fast. Instead, he waited for excruciating seconds for her to come back to him. Her warm breath caressed his face as she looked from his mouth to his eyes, fighting some inner struggle. Then she tilted her head forward and stole another butterfly kiss, and again, he gently moved his lips but nothing else, despite the protests of his straining body.

Her scent curled around his thoughts, leaving little reason in its wake, but he held firm until she tipped her chin up for a third time. Now, her lips were more confident and she wound her arms up around his neck. That was all the permission he needed, all the permission he could wait for. With a groan, he pulled her in.

He deepened the kiss, tasting her, needing to be close, connected to her. Holding her flush against him with the hand she’d stitched, he traced a path over the curve of her spine with the other, down over her hip, back up to feel the swell of the side of her breast. He’d wanted her from the moment she’d first appeared like an angel from the crowd on the deck the day he’d boarded, but now, he craved her with an urgency that rocked him. His body was ablaze; the kiss was nowhere near enough. Her fingers wound up into his hair and dug into his scalp, her mouth demanding against his.

“Della,” he rasped as he wrenched his mouth away to drag some oxygen into his lungs.

She stilled and looked up at him with eyes that were suddenly alert…and stunned.

“It’s okay,” he whispered as he rubbed a thumb over her damp bottom lip.

She unwound her arms from his neck and let them fall to her sides. “No, it’s not.” She said the words quietly, almost to herself, her eyes averted. Then she drew in a deep breath and met his gaze. “Luke, you don’t want to do this.”

He almost laughed at how far that was from the truth. “I can tell you that my body disagrees in the most strenuous of terms.”

“That’s because it’s under a misapprehension.”

“What would that be?” he murmured as he skimmed his fingers down her spine to the dip in her lower back, trying to bring the two of them back to the place they’d been only moments earlier.

For a full second, her eyes darkened in response to his caress, before she blinked the effect away. “Your body thinks there’s a chance this will go further.”

“Hate to be the one to break it to you,” he said lazily, “but your body agrees with mine.”

Tell me, have you ever wished upon a shooting star? I've tried, but I've never been quite fast enough. Whether you've been able to or not, I'll be giving away a copy of The Local All-Star Anthology, which includes Countering His Claim, to one commenter.

Countering His Claim is still available as an eBook in the US, Australia and NZ, as well as other parts of the world, and in paperback in some places. The Local All-Star Anthology will be on the bookshop shelves in Australia and NZ in October.

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

Tootin' horns...

You know what? I don’t think any of us spend enough time bragging and patting ourselves on the backs for accomplishments achieved, jobs well done or for our hard-won successes. I think we should change that.

I’m saying that in all honesty too – no tongues in cheek here. You see, studies have revealed that we have a tendency to believe our self-talk. So from now on my self-talk is going to include a lot of “Well done, you!” and “You worked hard for that!” along with the odd “You are a goddess!”

And I’m going to share ten of my fabulous Goddess-like moments of the year with you…just to get the ball rolling.

#1 The cover for The Rebel and the Heiress made it onto the elevator doors of the RWA conference in San Antonio this year. Just…wow! But, you know what? It’s a darn good book. :-)

#2 I made it through the gruelling confirmation process for my PhD. Phew!

#3 I met Emma Darcy…but not only that, I had the gumption to go and chat to her. She gave me advice about editors! Look, we’re BFFs now. ;-)

Fiona Macarthur, Emma Darcy and moi.

#4 I finalled in both the Bookseller’s Best Award (with First Comes Baby… and The Cattleman’s Ready-Made Family) and the Colorado Award of Excellence (with The Cattleman’s Ready-Made Family and The Redemption of Rico D’Angelo).

#5 I took up yoga. It’s really hard, but I’m sticking with it.

#6 My very first duet (The Wild Ones) was published.

#7 I appeared on two library panels + The LoveCats Panel at RWAust Conference, and I wasn’t nervous…for any of them (this feels like a major accomplishment).

#8 I’m doing the Couch to 5km thing. I’m running! It’s amazing and I have a way to go before I’m running 30 mins non-stop, but… I’m running!

#9 This year I completed my 18th book for Harlequin Mills & Boon.

#10 I’m an All-Star! Look, I’m part of the Local All-Star anthology. I’ve been placed in the company of Emma Darcy (be still my beating heart), super-talented Cat in the Wild Robyn Grady, and the gorgeous Lucy Clark. Big, big happy sighs.

Your turn now! Toot your horn. Tell me something you’ve been proud of so far this year. One lucky commenter will go into a draw to win a copy of the Local All-Star Anthology.