Sunday Smooch: Slow Dance with the Sheriff

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!

Today we have a smooch from Slow Dance with the Sheriff by Nikki Logan, but first ...


the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is -- efthaliapegios!  And the week before that was Laney4.

 Congratulations, Efthalia! Can you please contact Soraya Lane at: sorayanicholas (at) yahoo (dot) com   and she'll send you a copy of Change.  And Laney4 contact Sue at :  lsmackay (at) ts (dot) co (dot) nz  and she’ll send you a copy of Every Boy’s Dream Dad.


And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Slow Dance with the Sheriff  by Nikki Logan  


When New York came to Texas...

Ex-ballerina Eleanor Patterson is the darling of Manhattan's society-until she discovers her pedigree background is a lie. So she heads to sleepy Larkville for answers....
Sheriff Jed Jackson never expected to rescue a stunning woman from a herd of cattle, or to be so fascinated by the vulnerability beneath Ellie's tough city veneer. Yet watching her unwind is irresistible, and as he helps her learn to dance again he wants to give both Ellie and himself a new beginning....

 [SETUP] Disenfranchised New York dancer and heiress, Ellie Patterson, is in Larkville hunting for a family she’s only just discovered she has. She and County Sheriff Jed Jackson have been firing sparks off each other but her long, slow recovery from an eating disorder has taken its toll and made her uncomfortable with intimacy. But Jed’s a rescuer and he wants Ellie to heal. He’s taken her on a ‘date’ to a rare wetland where the aquifer bubbles to the surface in drought-ridden Texas.

The sounds of DeputyDawg snuffling around and ducks quacking broke up the awkward silence.

‘Ellie…’ A warm hand on her shoulder turned her more fully back to him. She hadn’t even realized she’d turned away. ‘I meant that I couldn’t imagine a woman like you settling for being someone’s trophy wife.’

Heat spread up her throat. ‘Oh.’

‘You assumed I was saying I don’t think you’re worth trophy-status? Or attractive enough?’

She forced her eyes away, out to the sparkling blue water. Maybe there’d be a miracle and the aquifer would surge up and wash her away from this excruciating moment.

‘Can you literally not see it?’ he murmured.

The open honesty in his voice beckoned. Her heart thumped. She slowly brought her gaze back around. ‘I spent a really long time doubting every part of myself, Jed. And I know how I must have looked to people back then. It’s hard to forget that.’ And to forgive herself for letting it happen.

‘Back then.’ He stepped closer. Removed his sunglasses so that she could drown in his eyes instead of the aquifer. ‘You’re not that girl anymore.’

‘I’m still me inside.’

He stopped a foot away. ‘Take it from a man who never knew you before a few days ago, Ellie, and who doesn’t hold those past images in his head. You are—’ he struggled for the right word and her heart thumped harder at the caution in his voice‘—arresting. You might have detoured on your path to beautiful but you’re unquestionably here now. Has no-one ever said that before?’

The back of her shirt collar was fast becoming a furnace.

‘Or did you just not believe them?’

She took a breath. ‘They would have said anything.’

‘You think they were just trying to get into your bed?’

‘My bed. My inheritance. My seat on the board of Daddy’s company.’

He stared at her. ‘Wow. That’s a horrible way to live.’

She shrugged.

He stared. And stepped closer.

‘So, what happens when a man who isn’t interested in your money or your name tells you you’re beautiful? Do you believe him?’

‘I don’t know.’ She swallowed, though there was nothing to swallow. ‘Words are easy.’

‘What if he shows you?’ He closed the final inches between them, paused a hearts-breath away. ‘Would you believe him then?’

Words couldn’t come when you had no air. Ellie stared as Jed blazed sincerity down at her and the moment for protest passed. Then he lowered his head, turned it so that his hat wouldn’t get in the way, and stretched his neck toward her.

‘I’m supposed to be staying away from you,’ he breathed against her skin.

Her head swam; making sensible words was suddenly impossible. ‘Whose idea was that?’

Sensuous lips stretched back over perfect teeth. ‘DeputyDawg’s.’

All she had to do was shrink back, like she had a hundred times in New York on curbsides, in doorways, under lampposts, in elevators. The goodnight moment-of-truth. Step away, mutter something flippant and flee into the night. But, as Jed’s broad silhouette against the mid-morning sun bore down on her, both his hands out to the side as he made good on his promise not to touch her, Ellie couldn’t bring herself to evade him.

Euphoric lightness filled her before her chest tightened.

She didn’t want to escape. She wanted Jed to kiss her. And she wanted to kiss him back.

‘What does he know?’ she whispered. ‘He’s just a dog.’

He continued his slow sink, his body twisting forward so that only one part of them was going to touch, his eyes gripping hers the way his hands were careful not to. A tiny breath escaped his lips and brushed hers a bare millisecond before their mouths met.

His lips were soft and strong at the same time. Dry and deliciously moist.

Heat swirled around the only place they made contact, and Ellie’s head swam with his scent. His warm touch grew stronger, pressed harder, fixing her to him as though they were glued. She moved her mouth against his, experimenting, tasting. Exploring. He reciprocated, meeting her stretch half-way.

She made the tiniest sound of surprise low in her throat. Her stretch? But, sure enough, she stood tipped forward on her toes using every bit of her ballerina’s balance to make sure their lips didn’t separate.

To be in the draw to win a copy of Slow Dance with the Sheriff , tell Nikki what the most amazing wildlife experience you’ve ever had was.


Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced -- and a smooch from In His Eyes by Emmie Dark will be posted!

True Olympic Spirit

by Robyn Grady

Where would the world be without competitive spirit? The need to work hard, hone goals and achieve our personal best!

In between finishing my current manuscript, I’ve fit in some Olympic Games and big time squeeing. Australians are winning Gold, including superstar Sally Pearson, taking out the Women’s 100m Hurdles. Simply. Amazing.


Leaves you feeling inspired to purchase those top notch Asics and hit the gym, doesn’t it? Or even just pay more attention to getting fit. Remembering your health. Including a healthy attitude.

I haven’t seen nearly enough of the Games, but what has struck me, perhaps even more than the incredible abilities and tenacity of so many, is the camaraderie between athletes. A sense of sharing in joys and feeling for other athletes' defeat.

The world loves a winner! But our heart goes out to participants who don’t give up and those who support them.

Life lesson: Work hard, try your best, achieve your dreams if you can…but remember your team mates, cheer their successes, help when and where you can. That’s what makes a true champion.

Press play, turn up the volume and prepare to be inspired.

www.robyngrady.com 

Sugar Addict: The Update

by Michelle Douglas

Remember back in June when I said I was giving up sugar (specifically fructose) FOR TWO WHOLE MONTHS? Well, as promised, here’s my update.

My experiment began on the 11th of June, and it began well. The first three weeks were, frankly, a bit of a breeze. Mainly, I suspect, because I don’t actually eat a lot of sugar through the week, but I also didn’t feel deprived. I made sure of that. :-) One of my all-time favourite foods is fresh bread—rustic wholemeal, laden multigrain, light-as-air white, sourdough, rye, I’ll take them all—slathered in real butter. So, I gave up sugar-laden cereals, I gave up jam and honey, biscuits and cakes were shunned, but I didn’t give up bread. What’s more I threw out the margarine and bought real butter. Yum!

The tradition in my household is dessert on Sunday nights. Let me tell you, the moment a lemon self-saucing pudding emerges from the oven all gold and steam and smelling divine, it’s a beautiful sight. I always figured it’d be the weekends that would give me the trouble. Cheese and biscuits were substituted for sweet desserts instead. And, yes, they proved a worthy substitute. However, because two of us couldn’t eat an entire Camembert and Edam in one sitting, cheese and biscuits somehow became an after dinner treat two nights a week.

Did I lose weight in this first month?

Snort! What do you think? I was eating my own weight in bread and butter, and cheese and crackers—oh, and did I mention the Saturday morning bacon and eggs?

Ah, but did I gain weight?

No.

I repeat, NO! And weirdly my uncomfortably tight jeans weren’t quite so tight.

The DH’s birthday fell in week 4 of my experiment. I cooked a devil’s food chocolate cake. I gifted him chocolate. I was only going to partake of the chocolate cake, and only on the evening of his birthday—one slice. Except, during the course of the afternoon I ate a few chocolates. Weeelll… And a couple of hours later I got the shakes. Weird, huh? I had my planned piece of chocolate cake that evening, though, to no ill effects. Umm…and I had a piece of chocolate cake the next night too. It was really, really yummy.

In the week following my DH’s birthday (still week 4) I had a girls’ day with my mother, sister and niece. We had lunch at an all-you-can-eat buffet. I piously avoided the sweet and sour Chinese sauces. I turned my head away from the dessert table with a commendable resolution. That evening while soaking in the tub and congratulating myself on my strength of character I suddenly realised I’d had a shandy at lunch (one of our girls’ day traditions). I’d drunk half a schooner glass full of lemonade—do you know how much fructose is in soft drink! My smugness gurgled down the drainpipe with the bath water.

I spent the next seven days craving something sweet. I wanted chocolate, doughnuts, jelly babies, shortbread creams, cinnamon teacake, caramel syrup, violet crumbles and marshmallows. Food ads on TV were murder. I resisted, though not always with good grace I fear. I don’t know if the cravings were caused from the sugar I’d consumed the previous week or due to hormones or simply the fact that I’d hit the halfway mark in my experiment.

The cravings eased off and at the end of week 6 I cooked a fructose-free cinnamon teacake. It was pretty damn yummy, and well received by the DH (who wasn’t taking part in my experiment). He said it tasted like real cake, not a cake substitute. I found it very filling.

The cravings remained at bay for the remainder of my two months. On the weekend just gone, my sister-in-law came to stay—two blocks of chocolate were consumed but I didn’t have a single square. And, truly, I wasn’t even particularly tempted.

So, the overall results?

The cravings have stopped. That said I do still have the odd fleeting thought that a Golden Rough or a glazed doughnut could be nice. Having limited all things sweet hasn’t made me completely uninterested in all things sweet (I did suspect that claim in the Sweet Poison Quit Plan would prove false). However, I do feel full for longer after a meal now and I no longer go searching the fridge or the pantry for something to eat an hour or two after I’ve last eaten.

On the weight front, I've lost a kilogram—even given the fact I’m eating bread and butter and bacon and eggs and cheese and crackers (and just in case you’re worried, I am eating loads of veggies too). Plus I’ve rarely exercised these past two months where previously I’d been managing a 40-minute walk 3 times a week (hey, it’s been cold and wet and winter).

I no longer get the weak, shaky feeling I often used to get in the afternoons in my pre-sugar days. Plus, my concentration span seems to have increased (go figure).

However, I doubt replacing the sugar in my diet with saturated fat is a smart long-term strategy. :-) In the future I won’t be avoiding sugar with the diligence of the last two months, but I’ll work on saving the Tim Tams and doughnuts for very occasional treats.

And just to test my willpower, go ahead and tell me what your favourite party food is. :-) I want to find out if it gets my saliva glands hitting overdrive.

The Age Of Difference .......

By Helen Lacey

 A few days ago I received the cover for the US version of my November

release, Marriage Under The Mistletoe and to say I was happy is putting it mildly. I love what the Harlequin art people have done,  and my heroine and hero look just as I imagined they would. 

 Within a day of putting the cover and back blurb on my website I received a reader email explaining how she had read the first book in the series and would never have expected these two characters in the second book to end up together. She also said she was really looking forward to reading it, which is nice, because she had also fallen in love with a younger man. This book was the first time I had written the older-woman/younger-man theme and I must admit it was a whole lot of fun. But the reader email got me thinking – if the nine year age difference was the other way around, would it have even garnered a blip on anyone’s radar? Probably not.

I grew up reading Harlequin Presents books and often there were heroes and heroines with up to fifteen years or more between them. And some of my favourite classic characters – Rochester and Jane Eyre, Rhett and Scarlett, Emma and Mr Knightly – these heroines were very young and had much older heroes. Did anyone notice how much older the (still) divine Harrison Ford was than Julie Ormond in Sabrina? Perhaps not in the way Sandra Bullock and (the also divine) Ryan Reynolds were in The Proposal. And in Hollywood, the older-woman/younger-man relationship seems to constantly be under the microscope, whether they succeed or not - think Demi and Ashton, Susan and Tim (Robbins), Goldie and Kurt. But does anyone know how many years separate George Clooney and his new squeeze? Not me!

So, do you like reading romances about women falling for younger men – or, like me, do you not really care how many years separate them and just want that sweet and satisfying happy ending?

Sunday Smooch: CHANGE by Soraya Lane

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!

Today's Sunday Smooch  is from CHANGE by Soraya Lane...

You'll remember Soraya is one of our 'Cats in the Wild' who writes for Harlequin Romance and has just released her first Young Adult romance! She's an RT Award winner and has just had her 8th book accepted by Harlequin!

When her twin sister dies of a mysterious heart condition, Riley King is sent to her grandma’s ranch. But instead of the isolation she’s been aching for, she learns of a family secret that’s been deliberately kept from her, until now.

As if finding out she’s actually a leopard wasn't enough shock for one vacation, Riley meets Hunter Logan … the guy she’s promised to. For life. But Riley has no intention of being told what to do by anyone, certainly not some stubborn, dominant shifter. Even if he can make her purr, her claws are slicing out. Until Riley realizes that not fulfilling her destiny would commit her sister to a life on the other side without her.

Hunter inched closer, until he was bent over, a hand resting on either side of her, his face hovering above hers.
           “I want you.”
            Her pulse started its frantic pace. “You do?”
            Now it was him laughing at her. “Could I make it any more obvious?”
            She looked up hopefully, wishing he’d show her. That he’d do something to make her believe him. That he wasn’t just saying it because he felt he had to. Because they were meant to be together, to like one another.
            Hunter’s lips fell to her forehead. She tilted her face up to him, wishing he’d just kiss her properly. She’d dreamed of kissing him again, of his lips on hers, of them pressing against hers over and over again until he couldn’t kiss her anymore.
            His hands were still planted on the leather seat on either side of her. She could feel him tense as he moved further forward, thrust his body so it fit snug against hers.
            “Riley.” He whispered her name. She watched the shape of each syllable play over his mouth.
            His lips came swiftly towards her then, met hers firmly yet softly all at the same time. Riley sighed into his mouth as he kissed her, as his mouth grazed hers.
            “What do we have here?”
            Hunter’s lips left hers as quickly as they’d found them. She watched him snap up straight, his stance angry.
            There were three guys standing near them, two eyeing his motorcycle, the one who was speaking looking straight at her. They’d both been so distracted they hadn’t noticed them approach.
            It didn’t feel good. Fear touched every inched of her skin.   
            “Hunter,” she whispered, loud enough for only him to hear.
            He raised his hand in her direction, the smallest of movements. She bit the inside of her mouth so hard she tasted blood.
            Hunter’s body was angled toward the men. He looked like he was going to kill them. His back was straight, feet planted evenly apart, eyes flashing with anger, with a wildness that she hadn’t seen before.
            Riley almost swallowed her tongue she gulped so hard. He could kill them, all three at once, if he changed. Could wipe the smirks off their faces quicker than they could run. But she didn’t want that.
            “We don’t want any trouble.” Hunter kept his voice even. Steady. Just like his stance.
            The guys snickered. “Yeah?” said the one who’d spoken first.
            Hunter stood tall, eyes fixed on the guy who appeared to be the leader. “I think it’s time you moved on.”
            That only made them come closer.
            “Hunter, let’s just go,” she said.
            “Listen to the girl,” one of the guy’s taunted.
            “No!” The word hissed from her as Hunter launched at them.
            She was scared he was going to change, but his control was faultless. He grabbed the first guy in a movement so fast he didn’t even see it coming, then slammed him into the ground. She could see how tight he was holding him, knew he could snap his neck in an instant if wanted to. If he let himself go.
           Hunter’s foot kept him pressed face down while he stared at the other two. She watched the animal within him flicker, could almost hear the growl echoing in his chest.
            “I think it’s time you went home.” His voice was cool.
            The other two men disappeared. Hunter let his foot go and gave the guy on the ground a shove forward. “You too.”
            Riley was too shocked to move. Hunter pulled her arms up and helped her into his jacket.
            “Riley, let’s go.”
            She took his hand as he pulled her up, let her head fall back as he planted a rough kiss to her lips, before dropping his helmet gently on her head.
            “They’ll be back soon, with more guys and tire irons,” he said grimly. “I’d rather not change and take them all. Not here.”
            All she could do was nod, even as he lifted her off the pavement and put her on his motorcycle.
            Hunter stood back then, eyeing her. She watched as he rocked back on his feet, eyes set softly on hers. “I’m sorry you had to see that.” He looked guilty. “I didn’t scare you, did I?”
            Riley shook her head. The situation had scared her, but Hunter hadn’t. All she’d know for sure was that Hunter wouldn’t let them hurt so much as a hair on her head, and he’d been more in control than she’d expected he could be. Given the threat.
            A sad look passed over his face, one she couldn’t read.
            “I know I look like the bad guy, Riley, but I’m not.” He gave her a wry smile, shuffled his boots before meeting her eyes again. “I’m the good guy here. I would never, ever hurt you.”
           Riley’s face flushed hot. “I know.” Her voice came out as barely a whisper. “I know.”

CHANGE is available at Amazon.

To be in the draw to win a kindle e-copy of CHANGE, tell us why you love reading romance!

And be sure to come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced -- and a smooch from SLOW DANCE WITH THE SHERIFF by Nikki Logan will be posted!

At the movies

By Leah Ashton

A couple of weeks ago, my third book was accepted. Hooray! I'm awaiting release dates and a title, but it will be out sometime next year.

You may remember that this book is set on a film set - my heroine is a Production Coordinator, and my hero an extremely famous actor (who has gone seriously off the rails!). My sister works in film, so she was the lucky person who got to answer my zillion questions, and even read the whole manuscript to pick up any embarrassing mistakes. It was great to push myself out of my comfort zone and write about something I knew nothing about - even if working in film production doesn't seem *quite* as glamorous any more :)

Anyway - as I've been in my writing cave for months, I haven't been to the movies in ages! But, first on my list is the Australian romantic comedy Not Suitable for Children, which is out now:

My sister worked on this film (her first since arriving back in Australia from a few years in film in the UK) so that's one reason to see it (seeing her name in the credits never gets old!) - the second is that it's a romantic comedy, which I have no shame in admitting is my absolutely favourite movie genre.

(BTW, the fact the movie stars Ryan Kwanten doesn't hurt, either...)

Just before I dive into my next book, can you recommend any films you've seen recently? 

Legends Prize Winner ....

And the lucky winner is Anna Campbell!

Anna, can you contact Helen on mail (at) helenlacey (dot) com and she will put you in touch with Robyn Donald so you can collect your prize - which is a fabulous signed hardcover copy of Robyn's latest release.

Congratulations Anna!