Winner of Louisa's giveaway!

Thanks so much for your input. I am happy to announce that the winner of my hero contest is definitely Jake Gyllenhaal! I'm so looking forward to writing my next story....

And the winner of my book, Waking Up With His Runaway Bride is......

Clare Scott!

Clare, email me at louisageorgeauthor (at) gmail (dot) com with your address and I'll get the book in the post to you!

Holding Out for a Hero

Reading: New York’s Finest Rebel by Trish Wylie

Watching: Rasta Thomas’s Rock The Ballet

Listening to: On a Day Like This, by Elbow

Holding Out for a Hero
by Louisa George

Having just about typed The End on book four, I’m kind of sad to say goodbye to my hero, the gorgeous Zac Price. With his cheeky banter, devastatingly good looks and painful past he stole my heart for 50,000 words. But now I’m anxiously searching for my next fantasy guy. (Yeah, I’m fickle like that. Love ‘em, leave ‘em. Ya know the score… Okay, I’ve been married nearly 20 years…I can dream).

Emma Stone

I like to do a rough collage before I start writing any words. I want to be able to ‘see’ the hero and heroine so I can mull over their preferences, backstory etc, form an impression in my head of what they like, what they want, what they dream about.  The good news is I’ve already chosen my heroine (Emma Stone- beautiful, goofy, klutz). 

 But I need a hero, stat.

Usually at this stage in the process (yes, I like to think there is a process and not just idle perving) I google rugby players and models, actors, princes, most eligible bachelors. 

Sonny Bill

I’d managed to whittle it down to two:

1. Sonny Bill Williams –gorgeous and homegrown, all round sporting hero. But possibly a little too obvious. Beautiful bone structure.  And those guns....

Jake Gyllenhaal

2. Jake Gyllenhaal- my ultimate total absolute heart-throb. Something about those eyes…and that mouth…and, *swoon*

I was quite happy trying to pick between this short list of two- or perhaps create a hybrid of Sonny’s hair, Jake’s eyes….

But then a few nights ago I went to see Rock the Ballet- bad ballet boys with attitude!

Check out the video of their dancing!

OMG. Seriously strong, agile men with great style and rhythm, funny, engaging and knock-your-socks-off sex appeal. I also learnt that muscular toned backs certainly rock my boat. (If you ever get the chance to see them, do so! Just happens they're performing in Sydney this week! The dancing is amazing and the music features tracks from Michael Jackson, U2, Prince, Black Eyed Peas, Queen.)

My definite two suddenly became three, four, five. Ballet dancers have never been on my hero radar before, but these guys ticked a lot of my boxes! After much humming and ahhhing I decided on a third possible hero contender.

3. Rasta Thomas (Principal dancer and founder of Rock the Ballet - the guy in the middle!) 

It took a while, but I like to take my job very seriously. I’m dedicated to the cause. Research is very important.

But now, I have a classic Monday morning dilemma. 

Who do I choose as my next hero? 

Sonny Bill? Jake? Or Rasta? 

I need your votes, please! 

And just how far would you go in the name of research? I have a copy of Waking Up With His Runaway Bride to give to one commenter!

SundaySmooch with Rachael Johns . . . .

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!


Today we have a smooch from Jilted by Rachael Johns, but first ...

the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch, Waking Up in the Wrong Bed is Marybelle! Marybelle please email natalie(at)natalie-anderson(dot)com so she can get the book in the post to you.



And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Jilted by Rachael Johns ...

She left him at the altar, but her heart was always his...

After more than ten years away, Australian soap star Ellie Hughes returns to the small country town of Hope Junction, determined to remain anonymous while caring for her injured godmother, Matilda.

But word spreads fast in the tight-knit community. It isn’t long before the people of Hope’s are gossiping about the real reason for Ellie’s visit and why she broke the heart of golden boy Flynn Quartermaine all those years ago.

Soon Ellie and Flynn are thrown back together again, forced to deal with the unresolved emotions between them. For Ellie is not the only one with secrets. Flynn has his own demons to battle, and Matilda is hiding something from her much-loved goddaughter.

When all is uncovered, can the ill-fated lovers overcome the wounds of their past? Or is Flynn destined to be jilted again?

[Set up - Flynn is comforting Ellie after a traumatic event – they have become friends again ten years after she left him at the alter, but neither are expecting it to develop into more.]

           As far as she knew, Flynn wasn’t even aware of the effect of his actions. He was just being Flynn. Kind-hearted, always-there-for-a-friend-in-a-crisis Flynn. He said she wasn’t a fool but he was wrong. She’d let herself be taken from him by one cowardly decision. And that made her the most foolish person she knew.

She looked up and twisted her head so she was gazing into his sea-green eyes. He looked back as if he too were lost in serious contemplation. Without thinking, she raised her hand and palmed the stubble on his jaw. Rough as sandpaper, she could run her fingers over his face all day and never tire of it.

‘You’re beautiful, Flynn Quartermaine.’

‘Don’t, Ellie,’ his voice warned, but it wasn’t irritation she saw in his eyes. A muscle twitched in his throat; she had muscles twitching all over her body.

‘But it’s true.’ Boldly, she crept her fingers up his face and into his mussed-up hair. A moan escaped her lips. He echoed it, his eyes closing and his head rolling back against the couch. She took the opportunity, moving quickly to straddle him. He opened his eyes and before he had the chance to voice any opposition, she pressed her lips against his. And kissed him.

Hard. Deep. Aggressively. Gently. Imaginatively. She couldn’t stop, couldn’t make up her mind. His lips were divine, too fabulous.

But the best damn thing was that he kissed her back. Wholeheartedly. Roughly. Lovingly. As their tongues entwined, his fingers slipped through her hair, drawing her closer to him. Deepening their kiss even more.

Once upon a time they’d been able to make out like this for hours, but right now she wanted more. Emotionally exhausted, physically wrung out, mentally drained, she wanted something that would help her forget all else. If there really were such a thing as right and wrong, then being with Flynn would definitely be categorised as the latter, but losing Mat had given her a different perspective. Life could be short. If she lost hers tomorrow, she didn’t want it to be with any regrets.

Her cheeks flushed, her body sweltered. She broke her connection with Flynn just long enough to peel her sweater over her head. The expression on his face gave her all the encouragement she needed.

She climbed off him, stood up and smiled, offering her hand. For a brief moment, he hesitated. Staring at her hand but not making a move with his. He hauled in a breath, running his fingers through his already tousled hair before placing them in her palm.

          Her heart lifted. She grasped his hand and pulled him towards the bedroom where she’d lost her virginity. To him. He stopped at the door and glanced around. She hadn’t changed anything since she’d returned, so it still looked much the same as when she’d left, ten years ago – aside from the wedding dress, of course.
                                                                                                                                                                        

To be in the draw to win a signed copy of Jilted (For Australian residents only) which is released in June -

Do you like the reunion trope in romance? If so, what’s the best reunion story you’ve read lately?

Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced -- and a smooch from Alliance Forged by Kylie Griffin will be posted!

Sue MacKay smiles her way around Asia

Reading: Shelter by Harlen Coben
Listening to: My DB sort through two weeks mail: mutter, mutter
Watching: the sun finally break through and expel the chill.

Two days ago my DB and I returned from a fabulous two week excursion to Singapore, Malacca, Kuala Lumpur and Phuket where we had a great time enjoying the sights and sounds that are uniquely Asia.

Except in Singapore English was definitely not widely spoken but that didn't stop us getting around and finding the places we wanted to visit. A smile always went a long way to breaking barriers between us and the locals. I've smiled in Malaysian, Thai, Indian, Chinese, Arabian, and many other languages these past two weeks, and very rarely didn't receive one back.

In Malaysia there seemed to be more mums and dads and their young children than I've seen anywhere else. I mightn't have been able to talk to them but smiling at their children as they  hid behind their mother's skirt and stared at the funny lady with red and gold hair won me a smile back every time.

Whenever we were lost - quite often as we like to explore - we always managed to find someone to point us in the right direcvtion wven with the language difficulties. We travelled from Singapore to Malacca and on to KL on the local bus. At Malacca the ticket sales lady got it a bit wrong because of our lack of Malaysian but with patience and smiles we were soon on the right bus with homemade cookies in our pack from the relieved and smiling woman. The photo on the left is looking down on Malacca.

I did lots of people watching at themarkets, airports, from our deck in phuket. All good stuff for my stories. I loved the markets, especially the night ones.

The temperatures ranged from hight twenties to mid thirties, so arriving back in NZ and winter has been a shock but at least I have the memories and those smiles to keep me warm.

How do you cope in situations where it is hard to make people undertand you?

Sweet Nothings

by Michelle Douglas

Sweet Poison: Why Sugar Makes Us Fat

This is the name of a book I’ve been reading by David Gillespie. I’m not usually drawn to these kinds of books. I think they can send out the wrong messages to people, especially women. Our value is not defined by our weight. However, weight (of the excess kind) has been on my mind lately.

I’m now in my forties and I’ve definitely found that my metabolism has slowed these past couple of years. Last month I attended a wedding. When I pulled on my lovely black dress pants I discovered they were too tight. Oh, I could’ve gotten away with it, but they were far from flattering. Vanity is not generally my besetting sin (please don’t ask me about sloth and gluttony), but even I have to draw the line somewhere. I went out and bought a new pair of pants. And while I love clothes shopping, I don’t when it’s because I’ve outgrown clothes that I love.

Obesity has been a big problem on the maternal side of my family. When my great grandmother (a wonderful wonderful woman) died, she was so large it took four grown men to lift her out of her bed. Her daughter, my great aunt, cannot walk any great distance due to her excess weight. She needs two knee reconstructions but surgeons refuse to operate on her because of her weight. My mother is five foot nothing and has tiny legs, but a very round apple shaped middle. She has type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

I’m not obese, but during my lifetime I have fluctuated from a size 10 to a size 14 and back again. I’m roughly a size 12 at the moment. Problem is, over the last couple of years my weight has been steadily increasing.

Denial also runs in my family :-) so I’m refusing to bury my head in the sand about this issue. I do not want to develop my mother and aunt’s health issues.

Maybe that’s why Sweet Poison captured my attention (though I fear it may have more to do with the fact that the front cover bears a picture of a doughnut—my favourite food in the universe). I read it with a very healthy dose of scepticism, but…

So much of what Mr Gillespie said made sense, and he backs his claims up with research from reputable sources. His primary message is that our bodies have not evolved to process large amounts of fructose. Fructose is a sugar. Table sugar—sucrose—is half fructose and half glucose. Our bodies are designed to deal with glucose and lactose (the sugar naturally occurring in milk), but not fructose. Fructose is not detected by the appetite-control centre of our brain either, which means it’s very easy to overeat foods containing fructose. If that news isn’t bad enough, fructose is converted into fatty acids and released into our bloodstream. There is a lot of growing evidence that diets high in fructose are responsible for cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and other metabolic diseases that have been previously blamed on diets high in fat.

So, for the next two months I’m going to conduct an experiment and, to the best of my ability, give up fructose (this actually means not exceeding more than 10 grams of sugar per meal). This doesn’t mean giving up fruit or suddenly eating a diet high in fat. If Gillespie had promoted either of those things I’d have run for the hills (actually, I don’t like running so it’d be more of a lazy amble, but I’m sure you get my drift).

I do think women can obsess too much about their weight and I think rigid diets do more harm than good. What I want to achieve with my experiment is to promote good health in myself and, hopefully, avoid some of the health issues that plague other women in my family. I’m not going to deny myself the occasional treat if I’m craving one. It just won’t be a sugary treat. It might be some lovely Camembert instead. Also I am going to have a piece of birthday cake in July to celebrate my DH’s birthday. Will be interesting to see what a sugar hit will do to me after having abstained so long. :-)

In August I’ll report back and tell you how I’ve fared—if I’ve lost weight, if I feel healthier and more energetic…or if there is no discernible difference.

But I’d love to know if any of you have ever made a “healthy” change to your lifestyle, and what the outcome was. Or maybe you have a tip or two you could share about how I can avoid sugar for two whole months? Come on folks, I need all the support I can get. :-)

Michelle's latest release, The Man Who Saw Her Beauty, is currently available in Australia and New Zealand

Why I Write Category Romance

by Barbara DeLeo

I love reading stories about how people came to be writers. Some have dreamt about it from when they were very small, others came to it through a love of books when they were older. I came to write category romance for a whole lot of reasons, but I’ve stayed with it for a reason I could never have imagined in the beginning.

I read my first category romance as a new mum. They weren't too long - I could finish one and still remember the beginning by the time I got to the end, despite being interrupted a zillion times. They had a happily ever after - so lovely to think about in the middle of an all-nighter with tiny babies. And they focused on adult things like relationships and conversations, not baby vom and nappy rash.

I used to think about those reasons a lot during my first writing attempts. Now I think about Di.

Di is the mother of my very first boyfriend. He had jet black hair hair and big blue eyes, and he wrote, “Love, Mark” in my birthday card when I was 13. I can still remember the thrill of opening that envelope and keeping it carefully stowed in my “treasures” for years. I lost touch with Mark after leaving school, but later learned that at twenty-six he’d had a catastrophic accident and was left a quadriplegic with a severe brain injury.

A few years after I’d begun writing, I met Mark and his mum again. Mark couldn’t speak, but Di was adamant that he remembered me - she said she could see the twinkle in his eye. I happened to tell Di I was hoping to one day be a published romance author and her reaction blew me away. 

 

For years, Di told me, category romances had been her lifeline. Through the agonizing initial days and nights waiting for Mark to wake, and then the endless anguish as the extent of his injuries became known, the promise of love, hope, and a happily ever after kept her going. She'd carry those books with her to physio appointments, insurance meetings and therapy sessions, and she'd dip in and out when she could. For Di, the achievement of finishing another category, losing herself in a story, was a small but significant one.

Sadly, Mark died last year. When I visited Di at home shortly after, I could still see the space the hospital bed had taken up, the hooks in the ceiling that had held hoists and monitors. But around the walls were Di’s category romances  - hundreds and hundreds of books, their slim spines speaking of tycoons and babies, doctors and daring. The authors of those books, Di says, are like old friends, women she can count on to  transport her from the ups and downs of everyday life and give her hope when she needs it.  

I hope I can bring half the amount of joy to my readers as all those women before me have done for Di.

~I'd love to know how you came to read category romance and what it is that keeps you coming back for more~

Sunday Smooch: Waking up in the Wrong Bed - by Natalie Anderson

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!

But before we get to this week's kiss, the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is -- Raelene Hall!

Congratulations, Raelene! Can you please contact Leah at leah(at)leah-ashton (dot) com and she'll send you a copy of SECRETS AND SPEED DATING.

And now for today's Sunday Smooch from WAKING UP IN THE WRONG BED by Natalie Anderson...

Waking up with Mr. Wrong - quite literally!

When film location scout Ellie Summers sneaks into a colleague's hotel room with seduction in mind, she'd thrilled by her own daring!

But the smug morning after glow morphs into red-faced mortification when she wakes in the arms of a total stranger! Ruben Theroux might be fine with the situation but a flustered Ellie most definitely is not.

Ellie's only defence against this very attractive guy is to insist they're friends only - strictly no benefits! But Ruben isn't a successful businessman for nothing - they'l be good together, and he's happy to play dirty to get what he wants...

[Ellie Summers has just made a *massive* mistake. Huge. So big even she can't believe it. And oh boy has  she been backpedalling her way out of there. Trouble is, the guy she might have accidentally jumped thinks the whole thing is a lark--and he wants to play some more. Ellie is far too mortified for that... except the guy? He's just that bit too gorgeous!!! And despite everything that's happened between them already, they've yet to actually kiss...]

She paused by her open driver door and met the look in his delicious eyes. “Right now I don’t have any regrets. I stay and I might get them. I don’t want to have any.”

       “What about what I want? What about my regrets?”

       “I can only apologise. Again.”

       He walked closer, taking hold of the door. “Never feel you have to apologise to me. Never ever.”

       Unable to answer that, she got in the car. She’d not been honest about her lack of regrets. She regretted nothing of what had happened, but for what else could have happened had they been different people with desires that converged.

       He closed the door for her but remained right by the car, expectantly. She hit the button to wind the window all the way down. He bent and leaned in so his face was right near hers.

       “You don’t get away that easy,” he murmured, sliding his hand to her jaw.

       She couldn’t accelerate away or she’d take his arm – and head – with her. But there was no mistaking his intention.

       The smile said it all and those gorgeously curved lips arrowed in on hers. The touch was firm – but not totally dominant as she’d expected. No, he held back for all of a second or two. But then his hand cupped her head, angling her slightly better to meet his as his lips plundered hers. And in another instant she plundered right back – seeking more of that strong touch, that deliciousness – the full impact of his utter masculinity. The shivers skittered down her spine, the knots coiled tighter and tighter in her belly already. His tongue swept – playful, insistent, driving. How could so much could be said with a kiss?

       She had no idea why she was gripping the steering wheel so tightly, or why she had her foot pushed so hard on the brake. The car engine wasn’t even running. But she just knew she was in danger.

       He stepped back. Her gaze was glued to him – to the fit, taut body and the smile that held as much rue as it did tease now. His big eyes burned right through hers.

       “My regret...” he nodded slowly. “...was not kissing you. Of course now I regret not kissing you sooner.”

       Breathless, she put her hand on his wrist, seeking one last touch of skin. “Thank you for being so nice to me.”

       His gaze narrowed. “I’m not as nice as all that Ellie.” His voice dropped so she leaned forward in her seat, nearer to hear him. “You need to know something about me.”

       She waited, lungs not breathing, heart not beating.

       “I’m man enough to take no for an answer,” he said. “But I’m also man enough to fight for what I want.”

       Eyes not blinking, she had to ask. “What do you want?”

       “You again. Every way. Any way.”

       Oh.

            He broke the drilling intensity with one of those shattering smiles that gave him such an unfair advantage. “So if you want to go, you’d better go now.”

            

Natalie's latest Harlequin book, WAKING UP IN THE WRONG BED is released in Australia and New Zealand in July and in the US in August - but you can get your hands on a copy sooner than that!

To be in the draw to win a signed copy of WAKING UP IN THE WRONG BED, tell us if you've ever made a big mistake identity-wise - called someone by the wrong name in a deadly important situation? Emailed the wrong thing to the wrong person? Or do you never make such mistakes? Just comment below to be in to win :)

Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced -- and a smooch from JILTED by Rachael Johns will be posted!