A Preview of DESTINY'S MOUNTAIN

My romantic suspense, DESTINY'S MOUNTAIN, will be released September 30th, 2010 from Red Rose Publishing. I have revamped my blog by showcasing the beautiful autumn leaves that New Hampshire is famous for. Here's an excerpt to whet your appetite:


     A footpath led off to his left. Picking his way through the smaller overgrown trail, which looked more like a deer path, he followed the sounds. Both the sweet melody and the roar of falling water grew louder.
     Abruptly, the beautiful singing turned to playful splashing.
     Peering through a blueberry bush, conscious of the possibility of berry-eating bears, he focused on the magnificent waterfall. From his vantage point, he couldn’t see the top of the falls, but at its base, a round pool of silvery foam churned under the weight of the falling water. He didn’t see the singer.
     Did I dream all this? In the middle of the day? He leaned closer. Prickly branches weighed down by fat, juicy blueberries clawed his shirt. A sudden splash of foamy water pulled his attention toward a woman as she burst up out of the pool, her glorious back to him. A long gold braid fell between her tan shoulder blades, reaching the top of her well-rounded bottom. Froth dripped down her slickened body.
     “Beautiful!” he shouted. Uh-oh. He clapped his hand over his mouth Too late.
     She turned his way, as if searching the thick vegetation for a voyeur…, which was him. Water dripped over her milky skin, and...
 

 
Well, you get the picture. My books start out during the crisp early autumn of September, and ends in the midst of an early November snowfall on Destiny's Mountain.
 
The winner of my last blog's question is Kristen Paul! She came closest to the answer I was searching for. Congratulations, Kristen! A gift is on the way!

I'M FISHIN' FOR YOUR VOTE...

SECRET LOVE MATCH is up for best cover in the YOU GOTTA READ COVER CONTEST. Red Rose Publishing cover artist, Nika Dixon, did a magnificent job using elements of my story to come up with a beautiful cover for my sensual story about a tennis ace with her sights set on an Olympic berth. Please VOTE for COVER #8 AT

http://yougottareadcovers.blogspot.com/2010/08/month-2-voting.html

then come back and read the blurb and free excerpt, below! Thanks!


BOOK  BLURB

Rebecca Delacourt has played and taught tennis for the last three years. At twenty-one, she knows what she wants. Without help from her wealthy parents, she buys a condo in Glen Cove, NY and plans to be on the Olympic Tennis team.

She has no time for men, marriage, or children. Her mother gave up her acting career when she became pregnant with older sister, Laney, whose illegitimate son is mute due to recent emotional trauma. She does charity work for breast cancer in Baltimore every year.



Taylor, a former TV actor, notices Becka. She knows him—she’s dreamed of his TV persona for years. They meet at her parent’s country club. He thinks he’s found gold in the athletic blond. After beating him at tennis he meets her parents. Too bad he knows them—a former co-star, and the man helping get him auditions.

Her sister moves in—thwarting any privacy. She’s hiding out and is attacked. Taylor finds himself falling for Becka. Will he change his arrogant ways, save her nephew from kidnappers, and realize she’s the one? Becka wonders if dreams can still be reached with someone beside her. Will they reach their dreams together?


EXCERPT

    “Hi,” he said. He stopped opposite the low bench, not intruding on her space. His hands lay motionless at his sides. One fist gripped the borrowed tennis racket against shorts that suddenly grew tight. He slid his other hand into his front pocket to camouflage a growing bulge before taking a slow, steady breath. She might not approve of a rampant erection making its presence known so early in their relationship.

     “Hi, yourself.”
     “Could I challenge you to a set?” Taylor kept his voice calm while his chest pounded from a sudden desire to run the other way. What the heck was going on? Where had his macho Hollywood persona, built to perfection during cattle calls and late night parties, gone?
     With another deep breath, he watched her thinking. He could almost detect her mind as it quickly evaluated the man standing in front of her.
     “I see you’re considering my request before answering.” He hoped he wasn’t out of his league, here. Yes, he might be twice her age, but he kept his body trim and healthy with daily workouts. He jogged wherever he happened to be, no matter where he traveled. He’d cut out smoking long before it was in vogue to do so and had slowly cut out the drinking. His friends might not agree with that statement.
     Yeah, I still have a way to go with that problem.
     He hadn’t joined Alcoholics Anonymous. He didn’t follow their teachings. He’d take a drink now and then, but he no longer drank to excess.
     He towered over her. Her eyes flashed with desire as she checked him out. Is she staring at my hair?
     During his show’s run, the studio added white-blonde highlights. He’d detested the look, but the fans loved it. Gray hairs had so far refused to make an appearance.
     Her gaze settled uneasily on his face. Supermarket tabloids touted his eyes as his best feature. They described them as “The deep blue of the night sky just before sunset.”
     Get real!
     He fought the urge to laugh aloud. Contacts kept his vision going strong. The blue-tinted lenses made the color even more intense, but he didn’t wear tinted ones due to vanity. In all honesty, they were easier to find when he dropped one.
     He took pride in how his skin pulled tight across his jaw and he still had all his hair. His slightly crooked grin was legendary due to the show. His smile, perfected on his television show, had turned women’s heads for years. He hoped it worked on this cute blonde.
     “I was going to have lunch with my parents, but…”
     Why did she hesitate? Listening intently, he waited to see how she’d finish her sentence. Surely playing with him would make better use of her time than a family get-together. Maybe the little beauty is hungry.
     Hopefully she is hungry for more than just food.
     He didn’t want her to starve, but he could certainly persuade her to get to know him better. After that, who knows where they may end up?
     “Could you delay fifteen minutes or so? Won’t they wait? It’s such a lovely afternoon. My host is attending to business. I came here to play tennis, but if my partner-in-crime doesn’t show up soon, I’ll have to leave without my exercise. Please?”
     Crap! Now he sounded desperate. She gazed over his shoulder at someone before returning her attention to him. Then she smiled. His heart thumped inside his chest.
     “Okay. I can give you one set. Then I have to eat before I leave for an afternoon appointment.”
     Her bright smile flashed a heated spark straight to his groin. She set her water bottle back down on the bench and grabbed two tennis balls. She tossed them his way and Taylor caught both then stuffed the balls in the back pockets of his tennis shorts. She grabbed two more.
     “As a guest of the country club, why don’t you serve?”
     “How do you know I’m not a member?” he asked. “Am I wearing some kind of sign across my chest?”
     “You mentioned your host is off somewhere.”
     Dropping her gaze to his waist, she walked to her side of the net. Was she admiring how he filled out his shorts? Their cut left little to the imagination. Only fair since he had quite the imagination concerning her. As he made his way to the service line, he smiled at her quick deduction that he didn’t belong here. Nodding to her, he bounced the ball twice, set his feet by the right-hand serve box, and swung the racket. Relief flooded his body when the ball made it over the net and landed on his opponent’s court. It wouldn’t do to embarrass himself in front of her so early in their relationship. They hadn’t even exchanged names, yet.
     In a flash, she flew across the court and the return volley sailed past his racket. He watched as the bouncing bit of yellow hit the court inches inside the fault line.
     She got me.


*any idea why I updated my blog with autumn leaves? First correct answer earns a prize. Make sure you leave your e-mail address so I can contact the winner.

ROMANCE WRITERS OF AMERICA CONFERENCE

Another year is over and the mystery of “How are they gonna pull off moving a huge conference from one part of the country to another in about two months?” has been answered. Michelle Monkou and her fabulous staff at the Romance Writers of America headquarters came through. We will all feel disappointment over not visiting the lovely, yet too wet Nashville area, but Orlando and the Dolphin/Swan Resort complex welcomed us in style.


There were too many events to report at this time, so I’ll give some highlights. The Chapter Leadership all day meeting was an eye-opener to this new vice president (me). I want to publicly thank my wonderful roommate, Florina Craven, President of the Charleston Chapter for surviving my bout with food-poisoning. The Literary signing was a well-attended madhouse! I was unable to visit all the authors on my list, but was happy a few new authors (my chapter mates) were there; Katherine Ashe, Qwillia Rain, and Kelly Gay to name a few.

The workshops I attended were great; I survived my agent appointments; my new friend and virgin conference attendee Carla Smith…oops, I meant to say FIRST TIMER Carla Smith, had a fantastic first-ever agent appointment…the agent requested she send her full manuscript!

The Golden Hearts were awarded to deserving not-yet-published writers and many new faces won the Ritas. The after-award party in Sabrina Jeffries suite was well attended and we love having her as part of the Heart of Carolina RWA here in the Raleigh area. She comes to most meetings and freely gives of herself whenever a struggling new writer (or one who has been around the stacks) has a problem. She looked fabulous and her party started off with fun and laughter when Nancy Berland and Lori Keizer were caught wearing the same outfit…from necklace to sparkly shoes! ( see photo)

Nancy Berland and my friend, Lori Keizer, laugh about their RITA dresses!

The write up posted today at PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY’S BLOG is wonderful. Please visit  

http://blogs.publishersweekly.com/blogs/beyondherbook/?p=1846&cpage=1#

 for a full-length shot of these two lovely ladies. My shot was taken over a few heads, but I think I caught the happy hijinks.