FEATURED AUTHOR: KIRK ZUROSKY

 

ABOUT VOLUME 1: MY EX-WIFE SAID GO TO HELL

Sirius Sinister keeps sleeping with the wrong women. And this time, it’s led to his imprisonment in Hell. Literal Hell. Immortal vampire assassin Sirius Sinister has a healthy libido that constantly results in bad relationship decisions. But when he’s served divorce papers by Bloodsucker Number One—a shady woman from his past—he realizes there’s a major problem: he was never even married to her, or so he thought. Regardless of the truth, Sirius is put under the jurisdiction of Immortal Divorce Court. You would think by now he’d know having sex can lead to horrific consequences like marriage, children, and ex-wives—but some habits just won’t die. Leaving his faithful vampire Maltese, Garlic, behind, Sirius travels to court to defend himself with the help of his demon attorney, Maximillian Justice. Unfortunately, the trial quickly spirals out of control, and Sirius is banished to hell for a hundred years. When Sirius finally escapes, he ends up in the Caribbean where he meets his next paramour: the Howler. After a wild romp with his new werewolf lover under the lure of a full blood moon, he finds himself becoming the father of a litter of pups—but, the Howler and her Pack want to put the dead in deadbeat dad. Luckily, Sirius is saved by the Queen of the Merfolk, who comes with a hidden agenda even as they fall in love. Can he make it work with the Queen, or will he have to head to Immortal Divorce Court once again as yet another relationship flounders? For all those who have nursed a broken heart—or a vengeful one—Immortal Divorce Court Volume 1 is a sexy, exciting debut and the start of a hellishly fun new series about the flawed antihero Sirius Sinister.

ABOUT VOLUME 2: A SIRIUS EDUCATION

Sirius Sinister has always been a bit of a know-it-all, but in order to save the world, he’s going to need a serious education!

The Lady of the Underworld has cast Sirius Sinister out of her fiery realm and into the icy Himalayas to teach him a lesson in humility. Hades can be a real bitch, but self-doubt is even worse. It’s here that Sirius and his vampire Maltese, Garlic, battle for their immortal lives against menacing wolves and crazed snow demons.

After leaving the mountains, Hedley Edrick, the Master of Masters, leads Sirius to the Queen, but their reunion is quickly interrupted by some murderous merfolk. Escaping to the House of Indigo, Hedley informs Sirius about the mystical Seven Sacred Relics, and warns him that the forces of evil will gain limitless power if they get their hands on them. Sirius wants a life of sunshine, rainbows, and glitter for his daughters, so there’s no way he’s going to let unspeakable evil muck that up!

To prepare for a battle over the Relics, Hedley sends Sirius to Florence, Italy to be enlightened by the incomparable, rainbow-haired bookworm, Knowledge. After gaining an impressive education, a spot on the faculty at the College of Immortals opens up, which Sirius happily accepts. It’s not long before he realizes that simultaneously teaching young immortals, balancing parenthood, and taking on the forces of evil is a test the world cannot afford him to fail.

In Immortal Divorce Court Volume 2: A Sirius Education, the story of Earth’s most notorious vampire continues with adventure and intensity, as Sirius Sinister seeks the answers to the questions that plague him. Can Hedley Edrick, the Master of Masters really be trusted? Or is he simply using Sirius as a pawn in a much more dangerous game? And, perhaps most troubling of all—will Sirius ever be comfortable with his daughters dating? 




LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT WITH KIRK ZUROSKY

A few of your favorite things: traveling the world with my wife Susie, enjoying the conversations with folks we meet along the way, and eating the local food and drinking the local wine.  
Things you need to throw out: those boxes in the attic I keep telling myself I am going to throw out.


Things you need in order to write: to be inspired, have an idea of what I want to write, and absolute quiet.
Things that hamper your writing: if my mind is focused on other things, or I am not in a creative mood, it is really hard to get started sometimes.  But, usually once I do, I can get into the scene of what I am writing.


Things you love about writing: sharing a piece of myself with the world, and the thrill of coming up with things that challenge my characters, and amuse myself all at the same time.
Things you hate about writing: I don’t hate anything about the process of writing, though it is sometimes frustrating how hard it is to get your work out there.

Easiest thing about being a writer: when I am in the right frame of mind, the words just flow right to the page. 

Hardest thing about being a writer: ignoring the noise of those that don’t get your work, characters, or humor.  No matter how thick your skin is, no one likes to hear or read negative things about what they have created.


Things you love about where you live: I live in Charlotte, North Carolina, which is a good-sized city with a small-town feel.  The weather is great most of the year, and it has an international airport, so I can get anywhere in the world from here.
Things that make you want to move: I have been in North Carolina for over twenty-five years, and retiring somewhere overseas to immerse myself in a different culture is a dream that I would like to come true.


Things you never want to run out of: great wine, dog treats for our wannabe vampire Maltese, Daisy, and energy.
Things you wish you’d never bought: all that stuff the kids never used or wore.


Favorite foods: I am a foodie, so I will try just about anything.
Things that make you want to throw up: it won’t make me throw up, but super spicy food does not like me very much!

Favorite music: I am child of the 80s, so classic rock.
Music that make your ears bleed: most music put out after 2000.

Favorite beverage: awesome red wine.

Something that gives you a pickle face: really crappy wine.

Favorite smell: my wife.

Something that makes you hold your nose: my ex.

Something you’re really good at: word games, making a mess, and breaking things.

Something you’re really bad at: fixing things.



Last best thing you ate: we just came back from Cabo, and everything we ate was amazing!

Last thing you regret eating: eating dessert every night was something the scale says was a bad idea.

Things you always put in your books: extra hot sex scenes.

Things you never put in your books: sad endings.

Favorite places you’ve been: South Africa, South America, Spain, Italy, and England.

Places you never want to go to again: mortal divorce court.

Favorite things to do: travel, exercise, laughing, eating, and playing with Daisy. 

Things you’d run through a fire wearing gasoline pants to get out of doing: shopping in a mall.

Best thing you’ve ever done: marry my wife, Susie.

Biggest mistake: not finding her soon enough.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: bungee jumped off of a 290-foot bridge.

Something you chickened out from doing: I’m pretty daring, but I would pass on the bungee jumping now. Being in your 50s versus your 20s, discretion is ever the better part of valor.

The last thing you did for the first time: rode a camel.

Something you’ll never do again: bungee jump, and drink crappy wine. And, definitely not both of these at the same time!

EXCERPT FROM IMMORTAL DIVORCE COURT, VOLUME 1







One

I could do nothing but wait for the deputies to return and, hopefully, free me. I was just beginning to grow a little bit crazy, trading insults with the boil, when I heard footsteps approaching. Through the door came a broad-shouldered figure wearing a traveling cloak as blue as the sky with a large cowl draped over its head. It moved slowly but deliberately, like its knees had suffered many an injury, and stopped suddenly just out of the boil’s range.

“Drat,” said the boil to our mysterious guest. “How did you know to stop just outside of spitting range?”

“I’ve read Bartholomew’s Treatise on Enchanted Boils,” the deep voice behind the cowl said. “Save your pus for a less well-read guest.”

“Who are you?” By this point I’d had so many guests that I was not remotely bothered by my privates being on full display. “Are you a special warlock envoy of Immortal Divorce Court, sent to try your magic on these accursed chains?”

“Well, Sirius Sinister,” said my guest, “I have actually been waiting a few centuries to make your acquaintance. I grew tired of waiting for you to come to me, so I decided to come to you. And seeing how you have been on the wrong end of a few bad decisions, I figured now was the perfect time.” He drew his hood back, revealing a perfectly clean-shaven head that glistened in the eerie light of the chains. “I am Hedley Edrick, but you can call me ‘the Teacher of Teachers,’ ‘the Master of Masters,’ ‘the Scholar of Scholars,’ ‘the Sage of Sages,’ and yes, you guessed it, I am the most learned creature on this amazing planet of ours.”

“What a cocky cock!” opined the boil.

I smiled wryly. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you,” I said. “I always meant to attend your school at some point in the last two hundred years. But instead I seem to have wandered off onto an all too different path.” I rattled my chains. “Of course, I have been getting some hard lessons all the same, though.”

“So I see,” Hedley replied, his eyes twinkling. “But it is never too late to find the proper path. Sometimes life is like making sausage— the process is not something that is pleasant to look at but ends up as something you really wanted all along.”

“What I really want is to be free from these chains so I can go to Immortal Divorce Court and fight for my girls,” I said, feeling a tear come to my eye, which I fought unsuccessfully to blink back in.

“I will free you from those chains,” Hedley said. “If you promise that you will do just one little thing for me.”

“Anything!” I said. “Just name your price!”

“No matter your result at the IDC, whether you are jailed for a thousand years or are free to live unfettered with your girls, you must promise to come to my school and study for as long as I say,” he said.

“I will,” I said. “Not a problem. Now get me out of these chains!”

“Swear,” Hedley said.

“Shit!” said the boil. “Are we free yet?”

“Fine, I swear, I swear,” I said. “Now come on, Edrick, get a move on, those faeries will be coming back any minute now. I can feel it.”

“Swear also to never give up in trying to find the purest love that lifts your heart up and makes all well with the world.”

Damn, that certainly wasn’t a question I wanted to be asked while chained to a wall with my breeches at my ankles and some

strange hooded man in the room. But hopefully, this wasn’t that kind of party.

 

Excerpt from Immortal Divorce Court, Volume 1. Copyright © 2020 by Kurk Zurosky. Reproduced with permission from Kurk Zurosky. All rights reserved.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kirk Zurosky has practiced plaintiff’s personal injury and workers’ compensation law in North Carolina and South Carolina for over twenty years.  He finds working as an attorney helping those that have been injured to be incredibly rewarding.  He has enjoyed writing poems, and fiction stories, since he was a child. Writing was his first love, or so he thought until he met his wife, Susie. That is when he realized what love really was all about and that he could write one Hell of a sex scene. In Kirk’s spare time he enjoys traveling the world with Susie, world history and cultures, fitness, and experiencing all the wonder that life has to offer!



Connect with Kirk:
Website  |  Facebook  | Goodreads  

Buy the book:

Amazon  Volume 1  |  Amazon Volume 2  |  Barnes & Noble 

FEATURED AUTHOR: BARBARA PLUM

ABOUT THE BOOK

Hop off the fast track. Buy a boat. Write the Great American Novel.

Forty-four-year-old Susanna Walker knows the importance of taking risks and dreaming big.
Mother of two grown kids. Former CEO of a Silicon Valley PR firm. Ex-wife of a still-present, former compulsive gambler. Susanna ignores the objections to her new life and the whispers she's perimenopausal. 

As with all well-laid plans, hers quickly derail when the hunk from the boat next door drops by and invites her to supper on his vessel Camelot. The boat's name, his boyish appearance, and the medieval armor he sports leave her a bit dazed.

Yet against all reason, Susanna agrees to inspect the armor more closely while he puts the finishing touches on fresh pasta, shrimp, and a cheeky Chardonnay.

The next morning she wakes up in her own bed. Naked.

And mad. He suckered her in with his knight-in-shining-armor disguise. But does he think he can steal her underwear without consequences?

He sure does and issues a whole set of sexy consequences more mind boggling that she ever imagined.

Fans of Tracy Brogan will love Crazy Daze and a Knight.

Book Details:


Title: Crazy Daze and a Knight 


Author’s name: Barbara Plum        


Genre: romantic comedy


Publish date: August 21, 2019


Print length: 351 pages

LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT WITH BARBARA PLUM

A few of your favorite things: a ratty old red coat that belonged to my mother; a book of butterflies from the Metropolitan Museum of  Art; my curated list of children's illustrated books; a pencil drawing of a basket of flowers by my seven-year-old daughter; a clay handprint made by my five-year-old son in summer camp.
Things you need to throw out: four pairs of "dead" walking shoes; the dress pattern for my wedding dress; a wet suit I've never worn; old printed and outdated versions of at least four manuscripts long since published.  


Things you love about writing: creating a story that entertains readers from a word, phrase, thread of an idea, a snatch of a overheard conversation.
Things you hate about writing: marketing because of the time involved.

Hardest thing about being a writer: convincing people I have a real job and can't run off to play or take on another volunteer task.

Easiest thing about being a writer: sitting down and getting the words from my mind to my blank screen.


Things you love about where you live: the familiarity of the location where I've lived for more than thirty years and the near perfect weather that allows me to walk 5 miles daily.
Things that make you want to move: The god-awful traffic at all hours with drivers always driving too fast.

Things you never want to run out of: water (I drink 8+ glasses daily); good walking shoes (for my daily 5-mile treks);  goat milk soap; Skyr plain yogurt.
Things you wish you’d never bought: my touch-screen laptop; my office chair; the wet suit I've never used. 


Words that describe you: compulsive about writing; curious to the point of nosiness; funny; a good conversationalist.
Words that describe you but you wish they didn’t: bossy (aka controlling); too talkative; pathologically loyal.

Favorite foods: fresh fish (Chilean seabass) and fresh green beans; Danish Koldskold.
Things that make you want to throw up: okra; raisins; cooking liver.

Favorite beverage: water.

Something that gives you a pickle face: most red wines no matter how expensive.

Favorite smell: fresh lilacs—especially after a rain.

Something that makes you hold your nose: liver cooking.

Something you’re really good at: extemporaneous speaking and walking fast.

Something you’re really bad at: drawing or painting or making pottery or sewing.


Something you wish you could do: dance Zumba (which I used to do but my knees now protest).
Something you wish you’d never learned to do: "armchair" analyze people.

Something you like to do: aerobic dance (3x a week).

Something you wish you’d never done: downhill ski.

People you consider as heroes: my mother who instilled in me a love of reading and belief in myself despite little education and five other kids to care for.

People with a big L on their foreheads: lying people—especially politicians—test my optimism even though much of what I write involves lies characters tell themselves and others.



Last best thing you ate: a grilled cheese sandwich on really good Danish rye bread.

Last thing you regret eating: a medium ice cream cone at the beach because a small cone would have been just right.

Things you always put in your books: themes about family.

Things you never put in your books: gratuitous sex or violence.

Things to say to an author: much of what other authors do/say won't work for you; you have to find your own way.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: you have to plot every chapter before you write word one.

People you'd invite to dinner: Elizabeth Warren; Edith Wharton; Lisa Unger; Elmore Leonard; the current pope; my husband.

People you’d cancel dinner on: Donald Trump; Mitch McConnell; the governors of Florida, Missouri, and Alabama; Betsy Voss.

Favorite things to do: cook (when I feel no pressure and have time).

Things you’d run through a fire wearing gasoline pants to get out of doing: going to the dentist to have a tooth pulled.

Things that make you happy: seeing/visiting with my kids and daughter-in-law; cooking a special meal for my husband.
Things that drive you crazy: computer problems.
Most embarrassing moment: Wearing a pair of ratty underwear that fell off while I stood at a stoplight at a corner in my university town.
Proudest moment: delivering both my kids without anesthesia.

Biggest lie you’ve ever told: I told a man who was crazy about me that I loved him.

A lie you wish you’d told: I wish I'd said I was independently wealthy and planned to live in Europe before settling down to think about marriage.

Best thing you’ve ever done: decided having two kids was enough.
Biggest mistake: getting married too young the first time (barely 20).
Most daring thing you’ve ever done: move to South America with an infant daughter.
Something you chickened out from doing: living longer than a year in South America.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Barbara Plum grew up in Southern Missouri. She spent endless hours wading the creeks, searching the "hollers" for the cows, and reading the "Monkey Ward's" catalogues.  She now lives and writes in Silicon Valley with her first-reader husband.

Barbara also writes dark psychological suspense and mysteries as AB Plum, who grew up in a huge extended family. Gossip helped pass the long, hot summer days and nights. The revelations she eavesdropped on fuel the mysteries and thrillers she writes living in sunny Silicon Valley with her husband.



Connect with Barbara:
Website  |  Blog  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads

Buy the book:
Amazon

FEATURED AUTHOR: VICTORIA BERNADINE

ABOUT THE BOOK

Benjamin Ferrin Macon-Jones has it all: a luxurious lifestyle in Toronto and the love of an intelligent, ambitious woman…until that same woman refuses his marriage proposal, tells him he’s a detriment to her career, and leaves him. Unable to deal with his cantankerous family trying to be supportive, he quietly slips away into the Canadian countryside.

Lou Upjohn has problems of her own. She’s a recluse and agoraphobic, staying safely within the walls of her ancestral home in small town Saskatchewan and depending on Ike, her best and only friend, to deal with the outside world. Only Ike’s just married another woman and now he’s moving to Vancouver. Before he leaves, he hires the new guy in town, Ferrin Jones, to run her errands and do her yard work. Lou isn’t happy, but even she has to admit the stranger looks mildly interesting.

Both their lives could be changed forever if she only has the courage to open the door.

Book Details

Title: Along Came Jones


Author: Victoria Bernadine 


Publisher: Love of Words Publishing 


Pages: 324


Genre: Chick Lit/Contemporary Fiction

Touring with: Pump Up Your Book

LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT INTERVIEW WITH VICTORIA BERNADINE

A few of your favorite things:  Cats, books, summer, Cary Grant, David Tennant, Broadchurch, Star Wars.
Things you need to throw out:  My old dishes. YOU GOT NEW DISHES FOR A REASON!!

Things you need in order to write: Something that makes me say, “Hm.  I wonder what happens next…”
Things that hamper your writing: Working for a living.

Things you love about writing: The sheer bliss of the ideas taking shape on the page/screen when I’m writing the first draft.
Things you hate about writing: Editing aka smoothing out all the rough edges of that first draft that was so much fun to write.

Things you love about where you live: Low crime rate, high standard of living, free health care, and the Canadian attitude.
Things that make you want to move: An extraordinarily cold winter…or a mild winter…or a normal winter…winter.  Just winter.

Things you never want to run out of: Pens and paper.
Things you wish you’d never bought: Every gadget that just sits gathering dust.

Words that describe you: Funny and friendly.
Words that describe you but you wish they didn’t: Lazy, or, more politely, procrastinator.

Favorite foods: Garlic, perogies, steak, potato chips.
Things that make you want to throw up: Liver.  UGH.

Favorite music or song: Country music; favourite song at the moment is "Somewhere on a Beach" by Dierks Bentley.
Music that make your ears bleed: Nothing really makes my ears bleed, although I’m not overly fond of jazz or rap or screaming metal.

Favorite beverage: Coca-Cola Classic.
Something that gives you a pickle face: Pepsi…but any port in a storm and at least it’s a cola.

Something you like to do: Travel, especially to a tropical location in the dead of winter.
Something you wish you’d never done: I wish I’d never learned about contracting and procurement, which is my day job. I’m sure I could have found something more exciting to do…right??

Things you always put in your books: Witty banter. At least, I hope it’s witty banter.
Things you never put in your books: Graphic violence. I mean, I have novels with violent events in them, but nothing graphic.

Things to say to an author: “I love your book!" (I’m easy.)
Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book:  “You don’t know anything about Character A! They would never have done such a thing!”

People you’d like to invite to dinner: Robert Downey Jr. and David Tennant. I’ve seen/read their interviews; I’d just be sitting there with my mouth hanging open and wondering what the heck they’re talking about now.
People you’d cancel dinner on: Politicians. Any of them.

Favorite things to do: Writing and reading.
Things you’d run through a fire wearing gasoline pants to get out of doing: Cleaning house.

Things that make you happy: Warm weather, cats snuggling close and purring, writing, reading, movies.
Things that drive you crazy: People who ask for my advice, don’t follow it, then expect me to clean up the mess they would have avoided if they’d listened to me in the first place. Hm. I seem rather passionate about this one.

Best thing you’ve ever done: I quit my job and took a year off work.
Biggest mistake: Not doing it sooner, or more often.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Ziplining, given I have a fear of heights.
Something you chickened out from doing:  FINISHING the ziplining course, because there was a “jump into a hole” thing at some point and…no. Just no. I stopped half-way through and went for a beer instead.

EXCERPT

“Marry me.”

Olivia laughs.

“What?” she teases with a fond, slightly mocking smile.  “Are you ‘proposing’ because you think it’s what people are supposed to do on New Year’s Eve?”

Ferrin smirks his lopsided, endearing smirk as he lowers himself to one knee and proffers the small, square velvet box he dug out of the pocket of his tuxedo.

The beautiful brunette laughs again.  “Oh, Ferrin, get up—you’re being ridiculous!  And the joke really isn’t all that funny.” 

Olivia glances at the crowd of beaming friends and family surrounding them and Ferrin watches as realization slowly dawns on her face.  Her gaze snaps back to his as realization morphs into horror, and Ferrin feels a corresponding sick, sinking feeling grow in his stomach as her expression changes.  His own smile slips away and his face freezes into an expressionless mask.  Their spectators’ hissed in-drawn breaths and sudden, uncomfortable silence barely register given his complete and utter focus on Olivia.

He knows what she’s going to say before she says it, but like any impending disaster, he can’t seem to look away.

“Oh, my God,” she whispers.  “Oh, shit!”  She bites her lip, then says in a rush, “I love you, Ferrin, I really, truly do...but I can’t marry you.”  Her voice breaks; her eyes fill with tears.

The silence that follows seems to grow and envelop them in a stifling cocoon built from his humiliation and suddenly terrified heart.  Ferrin hears, as if through cotton wool, subdued voices and the shuffling of feet as their family and friends gather their things and leave the apartment.  In some distant corner of his mind, he’s mildly surprised they're all leaving so quietly...or maybe he just can’t hear them across the yawning divide that’s opened between him and Olivia.

As the door closes, she whispers, “Get up.  Your knee must hurt.”

Does it?  He can’t tell over the crushing pressure in his chest, his stomach, his head, but he struggles to his feet anyway, like she asks, because she asks, aching and sore and suddenly ancient.  He straightens and becomes, as always, self-consciously aware of how big he is in comparison to her, and how his bulk looming over her always makes her edgy.  He automatically slouches his shoulders, trying to minimize his size, trying to make her comfortable.

“Say something,” she begs, and her voice breaks.

His voice is cracked, hollow, distant, as he says, “Is this it?”

‘It’, he thinks with despair.  Such a tiny word with such a huge meaning.

She hesitates, then nods, not quite looking at him.

“This can’t come as that much of a surprise.  Not if you’re honest with yourself.”

Ferrin can’t seem to make his brain work.  He shakes his head, trying to force something—anything—loose so his world—his life—will start to make sense again.

“I—I—no.  Yes.  Why?” he asks, and winces at just how lost he sounds.

Olivia sighs and says, very gently, “I want other things in life than you do, Ferrin.  My career means everything to me and I want to make it to the top of Macon-Jones Enterprises, or as high as I can get without being a blood relative.”

Finally, finally, anger flares inside him.

“And I’m holding you back?  In my own family’s company?”

Olivia hesitates.

Ferrin’s eyes widen.  “You really believe it,” he breathes.  “When have I ever stood in your way, Olivia?”

This time her sigh is long-suffering.  “You’ve never stood in my way, no, but you’ve never actively helped me, either.”

“I didn’t think you wanted me to!  If I recall correctly, you told me so in no uncertain terms when we moved in together.  That’s only a couple of years ago!  What’s changed?”

“I didn’t want you using any undue influence with Abram to get me promotions I didn’t deserve,” Olivia snaps, her own anger flaring.  “That didn’t mean I didn’t want you to help me at all!”

Ferrin snorts.  “Nobody has undue influence with Abram.  You should know that by now!”

“Abram isn’t the point!  The point is that I could have used your support when some of my projects came up for a vote before the Board.  Instead, you, as always, stayed out of it and gave your vote to the first cousin who asked for it, without any regard to how the decision would impact my career or my projects!  Half the time, you didn’t even bother asking me how I wanted you to vote!”

“I never ask anyone about the projects or how they want to use my vote!  The cousins know how I play the game and it works well for all of us.  Why do you think I’m the only one any of them will talk to without a witness present?”

Olivia throws her hands up in the air as she whirls and paces away.  “There!  That’s exactly the problem!”

He takes a step back, blinking.  “What?  The fact that I’m friendly with all my cousins?  That’s a problem?”

“No!”  She brushes a hand over her face in exasperation.  She turns to him, and now he recognizes that look on her face.  It’s the one she has when she’s getting ready to lecture him on what, exactly, he’s done wrong, and what he needs to do to avoid making the same mistake again.

She says, “It’s not the fact the cousins all like you that’s the problem; it’s the reason they all like you!  You’re such a goddamn fixer, itching to solve everyone’s problems that you’ve become a complete pushover!  I don’t want to hurt you, Ferrin, but, let’s face it:  you’re a sucker.  You’re gullible.  And I hate to say this, but you’re also a bit of a wimp.  You’ll do whatever anybody tells you to do, and that’s proven in spades by your so-called ‘business investments’!  All anybody needs in order to get money out of you is a sob story and a half-assed idea!”

His mouth sags open as he rocks beneath her barrage, every word slamming into his heart and his gut and his mind.

“What the hell?” he chokes.

Olivia deflates, pity in her eyes.

“Look,” she says, and now her voice is calm and firmly matter-of-fact, the way Ferrin has so often heard her speak whenever he’s forced to attend a board meeting with her, “I’m going to be CEO someday of a multi-billion-dollar multinational company.  Your family’s multi-billion-dollar multinational company.  It’s ruthless and cutthroat, and a spouse’s strengths and talents are just as important to an executive’s rise as the executive’s own skills and talents, especially in Macon-Jones Enterprises.  You know how outright Machiavellian your family can be, and that’s when they’re arranging Christmas!  If you think they’re ruthless in their personal lives, they’re ten times worse in the boardroom, trust me!”

“Yes, I know,” Ferrin says drily, and is almost glad he’s starting to feel something—anything—now.  “I have met my cousins and I’ve even been to a board meeting a time or two.  Abram seems to have done all right without a spouse to support him.”

She snorts.  “He’s Chair and he was handed the job by your great-grandfather!  He’s never had to prove anything to anybody!”

His laugh is harsh and barking.  “Now you’re the one who’s forgotten what my cousins are like!” He waves his words away.  “Doesn’t matter.  You knew when we met that I do everything I can to avoid anything to do with the company.”

“You’re not supposed to avoid it by giving your vote to whichever cousin gets to you first!  Besides, you’re your father’s only surviving child, the last of your particular branch of the family!  You out of all your cousins shouldn’t avoid the company at all!”

Ferrin flinches.

She grimaces.  “I’m sorry; that was low...but you know I’m right.  You could wield enormous influence and power in the company, and not only with the family when they want something, if you’d just take an interest!  If you would listen to me, let me guide you, advise you so you don’t believe everything you’re told, and let me stop Carson, Dyson and Jack from constantly distracting you, you could be the next Chair of the Board instead of Jack!”

“So I’m not only gullible and a wimp, I’m also so stupid I can only trust you to advise me?” he says, incredulous.

“Of course not!  But you’re wasting your potential—and your birthright!  Your father was Abram’s second-in-command, for God’s sake!  All you have to do is step up and follow in his footsteps!”  She runs a hand through her hair and groans.  “Face it, Ferrin, I’m never going to be CEO if I remain allied with you, not unless you change your approach to the business.”

Ferrin rears back and stares.

“‘Allied’?” he says slowly.  “Is that what the last five years have been about, Olivia?  An alliance?”
“No!  Of course not!  I love you.  I do!  You’re a wonderful man, Ferrin.  But you’re...” She spreads her hands and shrugs helplessly.

“Weak,” he says flatly, “and obviously a little stupid.  Have I got it right?”

“Ferrin…”  She takes a step towards him, but he quickly retreats.  She stops and stares at him, her large, brown eyes brimming with tears.  For once, he’s unmoved.

“I’m sorry I’ve been such a disappointment to your professional ambitions,” he grates out, a bitter twist to his lips.  He turns and heads for the exit.

“Where are you going?”

“I have no idea,” he says, and slams the door behind him.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Victoria Bernadine (a pseudonym) is, as the saying goes, a "woman of a certain age." After twenty-something years of writer's block, she began writing again in 2008.

Victoria enjoys reading all genres and particularly loves writing romantic comedy and post-apocalyptic science fiction. What those two have in common is anybody's guess.

She lives in Edmonton with her two cats (The Grunt and The Runt). Along Came Jones is the second novel she felt was good enough to be released into the wild.



Buy the book:
Amazon

FEATURED AUTHOR: ZOE EFSTATHIOU

ABOUT THE BOOK

While sharing a bottle of wine with her flat mate after yet another bad date, Sophia advertises for her perfect man online. He must have a multi-million pound business, the face of Robert Pattinson and the body of Daniel Craig. He must have a fluffy cat and a massive penis. The profile is just a bit of fun, but what happens when a man who meets pretty much all the criteria actually replies? Has Sophia finally found her perfect man, or is he not quite as perfect as he seems? As she uncovers some dark and disturbing secrets, Sophia’s dream man turns out to be her worst nightmare. 

A romantic comedy set in London, Would Like To Meet . . . explores the weird and wonderful world of online dating. A light-hearted, fun and easy read, it will appeal to fans of Sophie Kinsella.



INTERVIEW WITH ZOE EFSTATHIOU

Zoe, what's your favorite thing about the writing process?
I love it when you have the seed of an idea for a book and the more you research and write, the more the idea develops and grows. It feels like the story takes on a life of its own—eventually it has twists and turns and layers that you could never have envisaged at the beginning. I find that process really exciting.

What do you think is hardest aspect of writing a book?
For me, the hardest aspect is the isolation. When I wrote Would Like To Meet . . .  I barely my saw family or friends for a month. I wrote four to five thousand words a day and I only really left the house to walk my dog (luckily, I had saved up enough money to take a month off work to do this). It know it sounds weird to be this isolated, but at the time I was so swept up in my idea that I didn’t care.

I’ve tried juggling real life and writing - writing 500 words here and there, but it doesn’t work for me. I can’t handle thinking about my everyday life while also trying to imagine a detailed imaginary world—it’s just too much for my brain!

I know what you mean. What books do you currently have published?
I recently self-published my romantic comedy novel, Would Like To Meet . . . which is about a woman who advertises for her absolute dream man online.

I tried online dating in 2015, and I often wondered what would happen if I just stopped beating around the bush about what I was looking for and spelled out exactly what I wanted in my ideal man. I never actually did it, but the idea inspired my novel. To her surprise, Sophia, my main character, gets a response from a man who meets all her incredibly picky criteria. She can’t figure out if she’s finally got lucky and met the man of her dreams, or if there’s a terrible catch.

My travel writing was published in 2014 by Bradt in, The Irresponsible Traveller: Tales of Scrapes and Narrow Escapes, a travel anthology which also features the work of Michael Palin, Ben Fogle, and Simon Calder.

Do you have any secret talents?
I’m a white belt with three yellow tabs in Judo. Yep, that’s right. Watch out!

Yikes! Is writing your dream job?
Absolutely. I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was about 14—way before I knew how to write. As a kid, I used to love curling up with a good book. I love how books can transport you into another world, stretch your mind and change the way you see the world. At 14, I thought that was the coolest thing ever (I still do), and I decided I wanted to write books capable of entertaining other people the way my favorite books entertained me.


What is the worst job you’ve ever had? What did it teach you?
I’ve done lots of menial jobs, from making sandwiches in a sweaty kitchen to working eight hour non-stop shifts in a busy bar, but I don’t think they taught me anything particularly worthwhile (although, I do know how to pull a great pint of Guinness . . . ).

It may not sound like a job from hell, but my experience of running a beauty blog turned out to be my most valuable in terms of life lessons. I’m not particularly interested in beauty, but three or four years ago, I started a beauty blog because I thought I could make money through it. Even though I put quite a lot of effort into it, the blog never really took off. I think it came down to the fact that I wasn’t genuinely passionate about beauty, and people can sniff out a fake, even online. It also became a total drag to be working on something I didn’t really enjoy. I was making a bit of money and perhaps I could have persevered, but ultimately I realized that money is not enough of a motivator for me; I want to enjoy my daily life. I shut down the blog and decided to focus on my true passion instead: writing.

Do you have any marketing tips you could pass on to indie authors?

Use Instagram! Before I self-published, I hadn’t really bothered with Instagram, but the book community on Instagram is amazing. There are so many nice, supportive people. I’ve had book bloggers contact me and ask to review my book, and it’s also really encouraging when people ‘like’ quotes that you post from your novel.


Name one thing you’re really good at and one thing you’re really bad at.
I’m really good at coming up with crazy get-rich-quick business ideas. I have a new one practically every week. For example, I live in Greenwich, in London, and a few years ago it occurred to me that even though there’s a big park and lots of dog owners, no one was selling dog jumpers. So naturally, I decided to bulk buy them from China and sell them at the Greenwich Market. In the end, I got commissioned to do some writing work and didn’t have time to sell the dog jumpers so now every spare drawer and cupboard in my flat is stuffed full of them! At least I know my dog, Bella, will never be cold again! (Email me if you want to buy one!)

I’m really bad at public speaking. I don’t know what it is about speaking in front of a crowd, but I find it terrifying. And when I say crowd, I mean anything more than about five people at once.

What would you name your autobiography?
FML. I am a magnet for embarrassing, awkward moments and silly dramas, so FML would be a suitable name for my autobiography.

What’s one thing that drives you crazy?
People who walk slowly in the street or have no spatial awareness and take up the entire pavement. I see red!

What’s your favorite/most visited Internet site?
These days, it’s Amazon and my author account. I keep obsessively checking my sales figures every half an hour. I check them last thing at night and first thing in the morning. It’s not healthy and I’m trying to cut back!

Sadly, I think it's a writer affliction. 
What is the wallpaper on your computer’s desktop?
At the moment, it’s my dog, Bella, but for a while it was Robert Pattinson. I think he’s so good-looking, to the point that he inspired me to come up with the character of Daniel in, Would Like To Meet . . .

If you had to choose a cliché about life, what would it be?
You create your own luck. I don’t believe in asking the universe for anything. I believe that the harder you work and the more you learn, the ‘luckier’ you get.

What are you working on now?
In a couple of weeks, I’m going to throw myself into writing my next romantic comedy novel. Although I’m really excited about my new idea, I’m also a bit nervous about getting started, because I know it will take over my life!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Zoe Efstathiou is a freelance writer living in London. Would Like To Meet . . . is her first novel. Although it is a work of fiction, it is richly inspired by Zoe’s personal experiences of the London dating scene.



Zoe has previously been published by travel publishers, Bradt in, The Irresponsible Traveller: Tales of Scrapes and Narrow Escapes.
When she is not writing, Zoe enjoys going to the theatre, walking her dog, and making jewelry.




Connect with Zoe:

Website  |  Instagram  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads 
Buy the book:
Amazon

FEATURED AUTHOR: ZANNA MACKENZIE

ABOUT THE BOOK

After Lizzie's new boss, celebrity chef Armand, is stabbed in his own kitchen, Lizzie finds herself at the top of the suspect list. 

Determined to clear her name she’s forced to enlist the services of her new neighbor, Celebrity Crimes Investigation Agency (CCIA) special agent Jack Mathis, who’s been suspended from his duties for reasons unknown. 

Can Lizzie save herself from getting arrested and manage to resist her special agent sidekick’s considerable charms and gorgeous smile? Will they solve the culinary murder mystery or will she end up in a prison cell?




INTERVIEW WITH ZANNA MACKENZIE 

Zanna, what's your favorite thing about the writing process?
I adore the bit where I get to create the fun characters for the book! I get my star signs book out and check the personalities for different zodiac signs and decide which traits will suit the various characters I have in mind for each book. I love to layer up each one – star sign, personality, quirks, likes and dislikes, favorite foods, where they live etc. For the appearance side of things I keep a folder of pictures of famous people who I think could be the visual inspirations for the character creation phase of a book. I’ll select an image I think feels right and use that to build up the looks, style and clothing preferences for the character. I love it!

What do you think is the hardest aspect of writing a book?
Being patient! Creating a novel is a long process, and I confess I’m not the most patient person in the world.

What books do you currently have published?
I have the Amber Reed Mysteries which are fun romantic mysteries involving the Celebrity Crimes Investigation Agency – there are 5 books in that series so far.

Then there’s the Celebrity Mystery series which has three books so far and follows wannabe baker and amateur sleuth Lizzie and her yummy neighbor Jack.

I also have a paranormal romantic comedy and a contemporary romantic comedy. There will be a new paranormal romantic comedy mystery series out later this year, I am working on it the moment.


What do you wish you’d done differently when you first started the publishing process?
Built a platform to connect with readers and other authors. Before I was offered contracts with two publishers in the same month, I had never used social media at all. My publishers both ran closed information groups for their authors on Facebook so I had to create an account and get to grips with how the systems work. They encouraged me to set up a Twitter account and join Goodreads. It’s been a steep learning curve.

What five things would you never want to live without? 
Water. Food. A book/my Kindle. My lip balm. A hat (for warmth if it’s cold or shade from the sun if it is hot!)


What drives you crazy?
People being inconsiderate to others, animals or the environment.


What do you like to do when there’s nothing to do?
Garden, walk the dogs with my husband, or read. I love watching romantic comedy movies too.
How often do you read?
Every day. I’ve always loved to read. I was rather late getting a Kindle, but now I have discovered ebooks as well as paperbacks and read both. I probably get new books far too often as I have a To Be Read backlog, but I simply can’t resist them!

What is your writing style?
I’d describe it as light, fun, fast-paced, layered with intrigue and romance.


What do you think makes a good story?
An intriguing plot that has you hooked from the beginning and great characters you really care about and feel drawn into their world.

What’s one of your favorite quotes? That would be the one from Albert Einstein: “Logic will get you from A to B but imagination will take you anywhere.” So true!

What’s your favorite/most visited Internet site? Probably imdb (Internet Movie Database). I love movies and like to check out reviews and trailers for them before watching them on TV or buying the DVD. It’s probably a close-run thing between IMDB and the BBC Weather website – I’ve always been fascinated by meteorology and like to keep up to date with the weather forecasts.


If you had a talk show who would your dream guest be? Probably the English TV presenter Kate Humble. She seems bubbly and great fun, and I admire all the work she does for the environment. Plus, she has a smallholding in the middle of nowhere with her husband and dogs – something I’d love to achieve one day – with my husband  though of course, not hers! LOL.

Where is your favorite place to visit? 
A deserted beach on the Lincolnshire coast in the UK. There’s nothing there but miles of sand, sea and dunes. Bliss. The wind is usually blowing a gale and it’s inevitably freezing cold, but it’s the most wonderful place to walk the dogs with my husband. Sadly, it’s a long way from where we live so we don’t get to go there very often.


What’s one thing that very few people know about you?
I have a fascination with the weather. As a child my dad made me a wooden Stevenson Screen for in the garden where I kept my weather recording instruments so that they gave a true reading and were not affected by direct sunlight or wind chill. I used to have a big notebook, and every day I noted down temperature and humidity and rainfall amounts. I did it for many years. I guess I’m a bit of a geek!


What is the wallpaper on your computer’s desktop?

A photo of mountains in the English Lake District – one of my favorite places in the world.

What are you working on now?
A fun paranormal romantic comedy mystery series set in the highlands of Scotland.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Zanna lives in the UK (Derbyshire/ Leicestershire border) with her husband, 4 dogs, a vegetable patch that's home to far too many weeds, and an ever expanding library of books waiting to be read.

She loves it when the characters in her novels take on minds of their own and start deviating from the original plot.

Zanna's hobbies include gardening, walking the dogs, weather watching and reading.


Connect with Zanna:

Website  |  Blog  |  
Facebook  |  
Twitter  |  Goodreads 

Buy the book:
Amazon 

FEATURED AUTHOR: ROSA TEMPLE

ABOUT THE BOOK

Career minded, Natalie Spencer, had never been in love. She could never understand what all the fuss was about. But when she met Jackson Humphries during Fresher’s Week at University, that all changed.

Utterly infatuated, Natalie quickly discovers the meaning of love and, before she knows it, she's heading up the aisle – for the first time, that is.

This is a tale about four wedding dresses, a runaway groom and a girl who got so carried away, she couldn’t see true love staring her right in the face.

INTERVIEW WITH ROSA TEMPLE

Rosa, what's your favorite thing about the writing process?
It has to be the feeling of freedom it gives me when an idea comes to mind and I can just run with it and let my imagination go wild. It’s one of the best ways I have of winding down. Even if I start a story and I don’t finish, it’s okay because I had a surge of creativity and for the time I was writing I might have been anywhere in the world and meeting people (albeit on paper) I could never hope to meet. How great is that?

Pretty great! What books do you currently have published?
I have a novella called, Sleeping With You Best Friend which was published last year. Natalie’s Getting Married will be my first full length novel to be published.


Is writing your dream job?
Yes it is. It took a while to get here, but I’ve finally found the thing that makes me want to get out of bed in the morning, even though the money is awful.


How often do you tweet?
I’m a fits and starts tweeter. I’ll think I have something important to say and I’ll say it again and again on Twitter. But then I’ll go a week to ten days and never tweet at all. I think that’s bad practice but I never said I was a good tweeter. I do re-tweet as much as I can though.

What five things would you never want to live without?
Music. There is no such thing as a world without music. I listen to all kinds but my favorite is jazz and soul. Books. What would life be without some stimulating material to sink your teeth into? Chocolate. But only the good kind; dark with 80% cocoa. I’ll take Belgian or Swiss, thank you. Red wine. Need I say more? And lastly, floss. Did you know plaque can cause heart attacks?

Good to know! What’s your favorite fast food?
I’m a Londoner, so it’s good old fish and chips without a doubt. But it has to be bought in the right place. My favorite chippy is always busy on a Friday evening. I’m talking queues out the door. But please don’t get me wrong, I don’t have fish and chips every Friday – my skinny jeans wouldn’t allow it.



What do you wish you could do?
I wish I could get to grips with social media and technology. I manage to have a blog, a Twitter account and a Facebook page and that’s it. Some people have endless on-line platforms and I wonder: a) how do you even use things like Pinterest and Instagram? and b) how do you find the time?

I don’t even know how to use half the functions on my phone – any picture I take is dark and foggy. Seriously, I could have an album full of complete strangers for all the good I am at technology. Yes I wish to be more technologically minded.

What do you like to do when there’s nothing to do?
Easy. Watch terrible films on television. That’s what Channel 5 and all its sister channels were made for. A cup of tea and an awful, predictable, badly acted film with a lousy cast is somehow really refreshing to me. Do you know the type I mean? The ones that went straight to television because who in their right mind would pay good money to see them at the cinema? I go for the love story dramas, they’re the best kind. They have titles like: The Girl He Met On Line, Her Biggest Mistake or Dangerous Lessons. I’d love to be in one of those films.

Would you rather be a movie star, sports star, or rock star?
This is mean, why can’t I be all of them? Okay I choose rock star. If I were a rock star, chances are I’d be pretty fit so I looked good in music videos making the sports star option a waste of time. Also, as a rock star there’s a pretty good chance I might get asked to do a movie. Yes! I can have it all.


Brilliant! Do you procrastinate?
Oh yes! You know how many fitness regimes, healthy eating plans, learning of new languages etc I’ve put off? Only about a million. If I hadn’t procrastinated I would have been a saxophone playing, roller-blading, ballet dancer who tap dances and plays the bongos, is fluent in five different languages, and is very often seen in the lead role of the local amateur dramatics society production and has read War and Peace.

I see your point. What’s in your refrigerator right now?
Right, just had a quick check. It’s the end of the week so not much in there right now. I have a bowl of apples – should have been having an apple a day but only managed two. Chicken breasts defrosting for my casserole tomorrow. Half a punnet of blueberries for my healthy, daily smoothies – of which I managed to make one this week. Rice milk, low fat and mine; cow’s milk, full fat and everyone else’s. The dregs of some juice in a bottle – don’t know why my son couldn’t have just finished it. Garlic, ginger. Two kinds of spread, one low fat one heart attack packed. Fast acting pain relief gel and some satsumas.

What choices in life would you like to have a redo on?
This might be shallow but I wish I’d never given up piano. I don’t know why I stopped. I began taking lessons as an adult and I bought myself an electric piano. Maybe it was lack of time but my piano now sits in the corner of my writing room, gathering dust. I have lots of musician friends who come over to my place and sit and tinkle out a tune on my piano, and I’ve forgotten how. I think, somehow, it would have been a nice interlude between writing to sit and play a tune, don’t you? Maybe I’ll start again . . .

I think you should! What’s one of your favorite quotes?
I did come across some writing quotes that helped to inspire me whenever I might have been blocked or running out of steam. In particular this one struck a chord because of how tough writing can get sometimes:
“It is perfectly okay to write garbage – as long as you edit brilliantly.” - C J Cherryh

Very true. You have a personal chef for the night. What would you ask him to prepare?
In the UK there is a program called Masterchef (probably there are versions all over the world). If I’m not too busy I’ll watch the series, and for some reason I am transfixed by people cooking in a kitchen. Why? I don’t know, but I get fascinated by cookery terms like: friccasee, compote, en croute, and jus! So my personal chef would cook a fish dish – because I never cook fish well – using any of those fancy styles. But I’d simply have to have a dessert that involved masses of chocolate, or should I say chocolat?

Describe yourself in 5 words.
Beautiful, multi-talented, super-fit, ambidextrous . . .  and a big fat liar.



Good one! What is your favorite movie?
This is hard to pin down. I always claim that this is Breakfast At Tiffany’s, but then I might watch another firm favorite, like one of the ‘Before’ Trilogy, and swear blind that this is the one. I guess the answer changes depending on what sort of mood I’m in.



Understandable. What are you working on now?
Right now my brain is working overtime on new stories I’d love to write. I’ve already started two new books. The first is an idea for a Christmas novel which came to me at (guess when?) Christmas, and I had to start scribbling away. I more or less have the whole outline mapped out in my head and just need to get it down. Alongside that, I started writing the novel I’d like to publish next year. Both are romantic comedies but with serious undertones. I was struck by comments of Natalie’s Getting Married when reviewers said they laughed and cried along with my heroine, and I’d love to re-capture those emotions in my next books.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rosa Temple began writing romantic comedies and chick lit because of her passion for what she calls the 'early chick lit films', like: Sabrina, Barefoot In the Park and Breakfast at Tiffany's. She honed her skills as a ghost writer, gaining experience writing romantic novellas, both sweet and on the slightly steamy side. In her notebooks, she constantly jotted down story ideas of her own, and she eventually completed her first novella Sleeping With Your Best Friend and now, the full length novel, Natalie's Getting Married.
Rosa Temple is a Londoner and is married with two sons. She is a reluctant keep fit fanatic and doer of housework and insists that writing keeps her away from such strenuous tasks. She spends her days creating characters and story lines while drinking herbal tea and eating chocolate biscuits.

Connect with Rosa:


Website  |   
Facebook  |   Twitter  |   Goodreads  

Buy the book:Amazon US   |  Amazon UK  

FEATURED AUTHOR: DONNA MCDONALD

Contemporary Romance / Romantic Comedy

Date Published: 5/17/2012

They say life gets more interesting after 40. Chloe sure hopes so.

Freshly divorced at 40, Chloe has few illusions left about her ability to make any of her dreams come true. She is never going to be thin, never going to be a famous singer, and obviously never going to be sexy enough to keep a man like her handsome ex-football player husband from cheating. Thank heavens she at least has great friends.

Celebrating her return to Cali with a long weekend at the 5-star Blue Skies Hotel and Spa with them seems like just the thing she needs to jump start her “do over” post-divorce life. How much Chloe ends up liking sexy owner, 45-year-old Jasper Wade, is a surprise though. So is the way Jasper's unrestrained kisses send lust and renewed hope singing through her.

EXCERPT FROM NEXT SONG I SING

Chloe had laughed so much in the last hour that her face hurt. And several mai tais had put a humorous haze over pretty much everything.

“Emma, those quizzes are all going to say that I can’t get a guy because I have some sense of decorum about not groping a guy’s crotch in public. Do women in their twenties actually follow that advice?” Chloe demanded.

“Yes,” Emma said firmly. “And I think they have a lot of sex.”

“But do they ever find a genuine love-that-lasts kind of relationship?” Taylor asked, trying to sound wise.

Emma scrunched up her face. “Well, two of them found mine and Chloe’s husbands, so I think the answer is yes in some cases. Of course, this is assuming they actually love our ex-husbands and vice versa.”

Chloe snorted. “Well, I say good luck to them for trying. My ex’s new woman better stay skinny for the rest of her life.”

They laughed again and took another sip of their drinks.

“Okay—okay,” Emma said more soberly, “one more question and I’ll quit.”  She paused until she knew Chloe and Taylor were paying close attention.

“You and your best friend are having lunch. She tells you there’s a hot guy checking out your breasts,” Emma said seriously. “What do you say in reply? Taylor—you go first.”

Taylor laughed, the drinks having worked their magic on her by loosening her tongue. “Well, I would dip into the sarcasm I hold back just for these special situations. I would say ‘Sure, him and every other guy’ in my best, most confident voice. Then I’d do this.”

Lifting her small breasts in her hands like an offering to the gods, Taylor pursed her lips in a smooch, and leaned over the table to her friends. They laughed so hard and so loudly that all the people in the pool starting leaving.

“Just like the old days,” Taylor said. “We’re clearing the area.”

“Okay Chloe—what would you say?” Emma said, swinging an innocent gaze in her direction.

“If the man is checking out my breasts, it’s because he’s not used to seeing so much untanned flesh in the state of California,” Chloe declared, laughing and holding the edges of her lapels open as wide as she could to peer into her dress. “Look—the girls and I haven’t seen sunlight in five years. It will take me months to tan all this.”

They all looked at Chloe’s large and very white breasts, giggling without denying her statement. It was the truth after all.

“Maybe you can start with one of those self-tanners or a bronzer. You have to work your way up to a real tan again,” Emma said with a laugh.

“Emma—that question didn’t sound like the other quiz questions,” Taylor commented, looking at her not-so-innocent friend who was giggling softly and looking guilty.

“Okay—fine. It wasn’t a real question on the quiz. There’s a good-looking guy in the dining room who has been admiring Chloe’s cleavage since we sat down to have lunch,” Emma said, laughing. “I think she should practice her subtlety theory on him.”

“Well I’m certainly in the mood to practice after three mai tais. Show him to me,” Chloe demanded on a tipsy laugh.

Emma’s eyes grew larger as she giggled and whispered. “Okay I will, but just don’t turn around. He’s headed to our table. Just smile at Taylor and pretend to be fascinating.”

Chloe’s eyes widened as she heard the deep voice at her side.

“Good day, ladies. I’m Jasper Wade, hotel manager. I hope you’re enjoying your stay. If you need anything while you’re here, please let me know,” he said gallantly, his gaze taking in all of them before coming back to Chloe and her breasts.

Chloe, full of mai tai and happy laughter, turned her head and smiled into his very nice face, sighing with ego happiness as she watched Jasper Wade’s gaze straining to stay away from her cleavage. The day was certainly turning out to be a very nice way to celebrate her return to California.

“Well, aren’t you sweet, Mr. Wade? I was just going to look for the ladies room,” she said, laughing. “Can you point me in the right direction?”

“It’s in the hallway just outside the dining area. If you like, I’d be happy to show you,” Jasper said, his heart beating rapidly as she rose slowly to her full height.

Jasper couldn’t remember the last time he had been so excited by a woman he didn’t even know. She was tall, smiling, and quite an alluring woman altogether. It was all he could do not to reach out and put his hands on her to assure himself she was real.

Chloe purposely stayed bent over the table until the last minute, and then straightened slowly, her breasts following her slow moments. “Sorry. I seem to be a bit tipsy. Too many mai tais.”

“Lovely way to enjoy a sunny afternoon by the pool,” Jasper said with a smile, placing a solicitous hand on her arm, or at least he hoped it was coming off that way.

Chloe took two steps and stumbled slightly, forcing Jasper to catch her, which momentarily squashed her ample cleavage against the front of him. “Oops—sorry.”

She watched his eyes darken and had to restrain the giggle fighting to be set loose. Behind her, Chloe could hear Emma and Taylor’s in-drawn breaths at her boldness.

Turning innocently to look at them, she had to fight laughter at their obvious surprise. She didn’t need a damn quiz to tell her how to interest a man. She just needed the good-looking motivation currently with his hands on her. It was the most wickedly confident thought she’d had in years, and it brought an equally wicked smile to her face.

“I’m fine girls, but I guess I need to walk off a little of the buzz. Don’t worry. Mr. Wade seems quite dependable. I’m sure he won’t let me fall,” Chloe said, winking at their wide-eyed expressions.

Chloe turned back slowly, brushing her breast lightly across his sleeve as she put her arm through Jasper Wade’s. He inhaled sharply at the contact, but Chloe pretended not to notice or hear, though of course she had. It was all she could do to bite back a sigh of happiness. “Sorry again. Can’t believe I’m so tipsy. Thank you for helping me, Mr. Wade. You really do have a nice hotel.”

“Really?” Jasper asked, his voice breaking on the word so he cleared it. “Sorry. I mean—thank you.”

About the Author

Donna McDonald is an active dreamer and finds writing to be the best way to use her creativity. Needing to satisfy both sides of her brain, she is a cross-genre author of contemporary, fantasy, and paranormal romances. Her books appear on bestseller lists for humor, romantic comedy, space opera, and more. She craves laughter from her readers and focuses her attention on making that happen as often as possible. She loves to hear from anyone who has read her books.

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