As a physician, I’m always concerned (okay, completely anal 🙂 ) about infection control. I taught my three kids to wash their hands whenever they came home from school, after playing outside, really anytime they walked into the house. We all have separate toothbrush holders, and we each have our own tube of toothpaste. And don’t even get me started on sharing drinks. Infectious mononucleosis, influenza, herpes simplex, even hepatitis A lurk everywhere. So imagine my chagrin when, now that they’re older, they taste-test each other’s beer or share water bottles on the bench when they’re playing hockey!

This crept into Behind the Bench, the second book of my In the Game Hockey Romance series. Dr. Danni Angelo is the team physician for the local professional hockey team. She’s forever chirping at the players to use their own water bottles. The players tolerate the advice, even appreciate her concern, but they pretty much ignore her. She’s not giving up though – and she’ll add her two cents about the merits of full-face shields while she’s at it.

I also want to wish you Happy St. Patrick’s Day!! May your day be touched with a bit of Irish luck, brightened by a song in your heart, and warmed with smiles by the people you love!

 Behind the Bench
(In the Game Hockey Romance series, Book 2)

Dr. Danni Angelo is the team physician for the Clarington Quakes hockey team. She’s worked hard to earn the players’ respect, but the new coach, Trey Mason, is stirring things up, and Danni’s worried her job may be in jeopardy.

Trey finds Danni…distracting. Beauty, brains, and sexy moves on the ice have him uncomfortably attracted. He’s the new guy on the block. He has a reputation to build and a standard to set. The last thing he needs is a complication.

When the team spirals out of control and Danni and Trey get caught up in a drug scandal, things heat up on and off the ice. It’s a whole new game plan…Behind the Bench.

Excerpt

Danni watched the tail end of the in-house broadcast of the news conference and flicked off the screen. How could you not be impressed with that? Trey Mason was confident and eloquent, and spoke in a relaxed and engaging way. The beach-bum blond hair, sculpted cheekbones, and easy smile would win over the non-hockey fans, and his passion and knowledge of the game would impress the followers. He had it all, and landing in a town like Clarington must be a dream come true. For him.

And a nightmare for her.

She had worked part-time as the team physician for the Clarington Earthquakes, Quakes for short, for the past three years. It had taken time to gain the players’ confidence. Being a female physician for a men’s hockey team hadn’t been easy, but she’d built a solid professional relationship.

She loved everything about the job – the energy of the games, working with high-level athletes, and a new clinic in a state-of-the-art arena. She certainly didn’t want it to change because of a new head coach.

Trey Mason couldn’t fire her. Theoretically. That would be up to the owners of the team. He could, however, make her life miserable. And if there was friction between them, it would affect the players, and ultimately, what affected the players influenced the owners. There were two other physicians who shared the job with her and a few more who would be eager to take it on.

He, on the other hand, could be set for a long run if he delivered half of what he’d promised today. She certainly hadn’t seen any charm when he’d walked into the pressroom, and yet it came out in spades when he spoke. She could only hope that her initial impression had been wrong, because between the two of them, it wasn’t likely that he’d be leaving any time soon. Bottom line – she needed to suck it up and get along with the new guy. She sighed. She hated sucking up. She’d thought she was done with that. Apparently not. She shook her head and gritted her teeth. Time to smile and play nice.

Buy links:

Behind the Bench is part of the Coming in Hot: Rescue Me Romance Collection. It’s available for preorder for only 99cents. Coming April 17!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07942MKP1

Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/coming-in-hot-gina-kincade/1127238374

Contest

For a chance to win a Kindle Fire and a big box of books, enter the Coming in Hot: Rescue Me Rafflecopter:
https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/1be7623365/

About the Author

Linda O’Connor started writing a few years ago when she needed a creative outlet other than subtly rearranging the displays at the local home décor store. It turns out she loves writing romantic comedies and has a few more stories to tell. When not writing, she’s a physician at an Urgent Care Clinic (well, even when she is writing she’s a physician, and it shows up in her stories 😀 ). She hangs out at www.lindaoconnor.net.

Laugh every day. Love every minute.

Website:  https://www.lindaoconnor.net
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/LindaOConnorAuthor
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/LindaOConnor98
Amazon Author Page:  https://www.amazon.com/Linda-OConnor/e/B00S7CNLEA
Newsletter Sign up: https://www.lindaoconnor.net/contact/

The cover’s pretty, right? In Too Deep is the second of The Triplehorn Brand stories, and it releases next Tuesday. This one features a very sexy couple. They can’t keep their hands off each other.  Be sure to pre-order your copy!

Excerpt from In Too Deep

With the window of his Ford F-150 rolled down and a breeze whipping his face, Gabe Triplehorn didn’t mind the sultry, mid-summer heat. For the first time in years, he felt completely free.

Free of responsibility.

Free of Colt telling him what he ought to do with his life.

Free of Tommy giving him disgusted glances, because the last thing Gabe wanted to do lately was ride behind a herd of cattle kicking up dust in his face.

But he was especially free of the evidence of domestic bliss stinking up the air in the Triplehorn ranch house.

Gabe wasn’t usually this grumpy, but he’d lost sleep for weeks due to the lusty goings-on inside the Triplehorn ranch house. Unaccustomed to sleepless nights when he was home and lying in his own bed, and irritated at having to keep himself decently dressed every time he stepped foot outside his bedroom door, he’d become as nasty as a growling bear to be around.

And who could blame him? Sounds echoed down the bedroom hallway into the early morning hours. Sexy sounds—soft moans, warm chuckles. Sharp, urgent cries. Sounds that put erotic images into a horny man’s head. Stuffing a pillow over his face didn’t muffle them enough to cut through the pictures flooding his mind, especially after he’d gotten an up-close eyeful of one particularly hot-’n’-heavy petting session in the kitchen. Thankfully, neither one of the newly married couple had noticed as he’d hastily backed away from the door. But after that, he couldn’t look at melted chocolate or Zuri’s small breasts in quite the same light.

Not that he wasn’t happy for his brother, Colt. The eldest of the brothers deserved every bit of the happiness he’d found with his new wife. He just wished the two of them had kept their newfound wedded bliss a little more private. Having a beautiful woman under the same roof, one whose lusty spirit apparently matched his brother’s stroke for stroke, played hell with Gabe’s own desire. The fact he hadn’t had time to court a new playmate to handle his excess frustration only added to his ill humor.

At least, Gabe had at last gotten over the major case of indigestion that adding Zuri Prescott to the family had caused. She’d turned out to be all right. Far from the heartless heartbreaker he and Tommy had pegged her for.

Still, it was hard to shrug off over a decade of animosity and resentment in just a couple of months. Harder still to listen to the sounds of his brother’s hard-won satisfaction night after night. Read the rest of this entry »

If you live anywhere near Nashville, you might want to head to the Airport Marriott on Saturday. From 3-6 PM a slew of wonderful authors, including myself and my sister Elle James, will be signing books! I’ll have print copies of Reaper and Texas Cowboys, Volume 1 & Volume 2.

For more information about the conference, click on the picture above!

Hey, everyone! I’m so glad to be back on Delilah’s blog today to share my newest release, Thirsty. It’s the first book in my Eastside Brewery series, starring a family of gangster ex-cons who start a craft brewery in their old neighborhood.

Thirsty launched yesterday. Please enjoy this short excerpt and enter the special release week giveaway below.

THIRSTY

A gangster hiding from his past. A single mom fighting for her future. Can she show this bad boy the man he’s meant to be?

My name is Salvador Rosas. Back in the barrio, my past is written on the walls: ESHB. Short for East Side Hollenbeck, my father’s gang—my gang. Hell, it’s a family tradition, one that sent both my brothers away. They used to call me “Ghost” because I haunted people’s dreams. Now I’ve got nothing going for me except a hipster gringo mentoring me in a new career. An ex-con making craft beer? No mames.

Still, people in this neighborhood look out for one another. That’s how I became Vanessa Velasco’s unwelcome tenant. Chiquita pero picosa. She’s little, but with curves so sweet they’re dangerous. I remember Vanessa from the old days, the straight-A student with big plans. Plans that were derailed by another kid stupid enough to think he was bulletproof. Now Vanessa knows better than to believe in empty promises. There’s fire in her . . . and if I touch her, I might get burned.

I’m trying everything I can to go straight. But when East Side Hollenbeck comes calling, I might have to risk it all to find out if there’s a future for Vanessa and me. Because she’s the only one who can quench my thirst for something real.

AVAILABLE NOW
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Google Play | iBooks | Kobo
Add THIRSTY to your TBR pile on Goodreads

“Thirsty held me captivated from its first page to its last with its heartrending, raw and beautiful story…It is a singular reading experience.”—USA Today

“Thirsty is a sizzling, emotionally intense story that is both gritty and heartwarming, an addictive page-turner that will stay with me for a long time to come.”—New York Times bestselling author Cathryn Fox

“Thirsty is sexy and soul-wrenching, with Sal’s irresistible voice luring you through a living, breathing Los Angeles. Vanessa and Sal’s chemistry sizzles right off the page. Five smoldering, tattooed stars!”—USA Today bestselling author Sierra Simone

“Thirsty is an amazing read! I stayed up way too late to finish and haven’t stopped thinking about the characters. Highly recommended!”—USA Today bestselling author Molly O’Keefe

EXCERPT

The ride starts with a burst of music like a jack-in-the-box. We glide backward and over a couple of times. The Ferris wheel stops to let other passengers on. At the very top, our carriage swings back and forth before it goes still.

Now I can see my neighborhood from a different viewpoint, high above. The lights of the carnival are bright and beautiful. The smells of tacos, hot dogs, and popcorn fill my nose. People pack the church parking lot. Cars line the street, and in the surrounding houses, lights in the windows show where families are talking or watching TV or having dinner.

“How are you doing?” I ask.

“I’m all right.”

She’s looking at the same things I am. I wonder if she is seeing the same details. I stroke her hair and take another risk. “So what do you think?”

“About what?”

“Starting something with me?”

She takes a deep breath but doesn’t say anything.

“What are your doubts?” I say.

“Are you kidding?” She snorts. “You’re seriously asking me that?”

I laugh a little. “Okay, well. Besides the obvious.”

“You have your own life. I have mine. You’re trying to rebuild from the ground up. I’m trying to secure my daughter’s future. We’re heading in different directions.”

She isn’t wrong. Life has disappointed her in such deep and cruel ways, I don’t blame her for protecting herself. But even as she tells me this—the truth about how we’re not right for each other—I feel how right it is to talk to her, to hold her hand, to show her who I am. “I have an idea,” I say. “Probation.”

“What?”

“I’m only around for two months, right?”

“Right.”

“Spend those two months with me.” I look into her eyes. “I want to be with you, Vanessa.”

“Sal—”

“I’ll be gone before I have a chance to disappoint you.” When the words leave my mouth, I try to ignore how pathetic they sound. “We’re adults, not dumb kids. We won’t lose our heads.” I run my fingers through her silky hair. “I swear to God, every time I look at you, I feel . . .” I reach for the most honest word I can find. “Thirsty.”

ABOUT MIA HOPKINS

Award-winning author Mia Hopkins writes lush romances starring fun, sexy characters who love to get down and dirty. She’s a sucker for working class heroes, brainy heroines and wisecracking best friends. She lives in the heart of Los Angeles with her roguish husband and waggish dog.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Newsletter

SPECIAL THIRSTY RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY

Would you like to win an Amazon gift card? I’m giving away one $20 card and two $5 cards. Enter the Rafflecopter by clicking here.

I’m buried packing for conference, getting nails done, and wrapping up an editing job I’m already late completing! So, here’s a quick puzzle to play while I continue stressing out. 🙂

Hint: This one’s coming March 20th! Isn’t it pretty?!

One of my favorite things about my friends in the romance community, aside from their stellar writing skills, is their passionate commitment to having romance novels depict healthy, loving relationships featuring people of all orientations falling in love in varied combinations. The premise for this anthology is that indie bookstore owner Emma Davis and her best friend, college professor Rose Everheart, both owe a debt of gratitude to the literacy foundation that changed their lives. When they’re trying to come up with an idea to raise money for the foundation, they combine the viral popularity of Hot Dudes Reading with the enormous success of the Naked Rowers charity calendars and the idea for Hot Naked Guys Reading is born.

The calendar will feature men who are not only irresistibly sexy, but have been named to Top 30 Under 30 lists in their respective fields, posed in famous libraries throughout the country. The Expose Yourself to a Good Book campaign draws the attention of photographers, reporters and other professionals. People often find love where they least expect it, when they’re not looking for it, so this anthology explores the journeys of not only the models but the crew, the organizers and all the people brought together in the creation of this charity calendar. And, because in the real world there are people of all sexualities, gender identities and preferences, readers will find m/f, m/m, f/f and ménage stories, told by award-winning and bestselling authors from the romance community in this limited-release collection.

As someone who’s written both m/f and m/m romance for many years, it is my hope that the writing community—both readers and publishers—will become more open to series with mixed pairings. Many television shows have finally managed to incorporate LGBT characters into their ensemble casts and no longer just as the humorous sidekick, but as central characters depicted in relationships that viewers can cheer for—who doesn’t love Oliver and Collin on How To Get Away With Murder? I would love for the romance world to embrace this concept, and it’s starting to, but isn’t quite there yet. The publishers of my m/f books didn’t want me to give my LGBTQ secondary characters their own books even when other side characters had been allowed their own stories and my m/m publishers publish only LGBTQ characters, so my straight secondary characters couldn’t get their own books either. This anthology was a chance to take things even a step further and try to have as many different pairings as possible represented in one collection.

And, since the Naked Rowers charity calendar was part of  the inspiration for the story, I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity to support their work. If you’re not familiar with them it’s a charity calendar that features artfully photographed groups of naked members of the Rowing team at the University of Warwick. Out of their student Straight/Gay Alliance they came up with the idea to raise money to combat homophobia in sports with these beautiful calendars featuring beautiful naked men. They’re really an amazing organization (and their calendars are truly beautiful—as are the sexy naked men featured in them!) so if you haven’t heard of them I highly recommend you check them out by googling Warwick Rowers. You’ll not only find their website but tons of videos, interviews and other information about the good their charity has done and how much their organization has been able to expand since they started a few years ago. Projects like this also give me hope for a more positive society where everyone is treated equally and with respect, so I support them whenever and however I can.

Links to find the Anthology, which is only 99 cents!

Amazon https://amzn.to/2C8PkWV
iBooks https://apple.co/2BR74KR
Barnes & Noble https://bit.ly/2Bln8U3
Kobo https://bit.ly/2nWp6lz

Exposed

Hot. Naked. Guys. Reading.

When the sexiest Top 30 Under 30 men agree to pose naked for the “Expose Yourself To A Good Book” charity calendar, their hot bodies aren’t the only thing that gets EXPOSED. Ten brand new romances with M/F, M/M, F/F and ménage pairings from bestselling and award winning authors, there’s something for everyone in this limited release anthology.

About the stories in the collection:

Level Up by Annabeth Albert: When Landon, a genius physicist, is picked for a charity calendar, he must deal with an inconvenient attraction to Bailey, his rising-star photographer. Can he slay enough demons from his past to ensure a future together with him?

Wishing by Karen Booth: Jobless and painfully single, Samantha agrees to drive musician Duncan to a photo shoot. He’s in town for only five days, so sexy, and she’s eager for a no-strings fling. But Duncan shoots straight for the heart, making her unsure how she’ll ever survive his goodbye.

Kate Likes Girls by Amy Jo Cousins: Garden center manager Kate Rhee is on a mission. No more hook ups with women or second-guessing her recent break up with an unavailable man. Too bad the foxy, pink-haired bar owner she meets at a naked calendar photo shoot has sworn off girlfriends. Because Kate isn’t doing casual. She can totally resist that temptation. Totally.

Ghost by Robin Covington: Oliver Burns publicly bragged he’d sign the reclusive artist “G” — creator of the First Nations graphic novel, Ghost Warriors — to his comic publishing company. But that gets tough when “G” is Gareth Rain — the man he pulled a post-one-night-stand runner on years ago and the man he’s never forgotten.

Rigged by Vanessa North: For Kaitlyn, seeing her best friend Gordon naked is no big deal—until watching Sean tie him up changes everything.

Thrown Off Track by Tamsen Parker: Teague has been License to Game’s bassist for over a decade, during which time he’s slept with almost everyone in his path. But it’s always felt like going through the motions. Until he sees his bandmate Christian naked at a charity photoshoot and suddenly, he knows what it is to want.

Natural Enemies by Roan Parrish: When buttoned-up botanist Stefan Albemarle meets freewheeling urban gardener Milo Rios, it’s hatred at first sight. But hatred quickly turns to lust as Milo shows him how exquisite it can feel to lose control. When opposites attract, love blooms in unexpected places.

The Watermark by Tiffany Reisz: Jason “Still” Waters’ life looks perfect from the outside—money, fame, and the words “World Champion Bull-Rider” after his name. But Jason has a secret, one he never planned on telling anybody…until he meets Simone. She’s the kinky girl of his dreams…and his conservative family’s worst nightmare.

Legal Briefs by Karen Stivali: When organizing a naked charity calendar puts Rose’s tenure bid in jeopardy, the last person she wants help from is Michael, the gorgeous, arrogant lawyer she butted heads with during his shoot. He’ll defend her for free, but if their secrets come out they could both pay with their hearts.

About Karen Stivali

Karen Stivali is a prolific writer, compulsive baker and chocoholic with a penchant for books, movies, and fictional British men. She’s also the multiple award-winning author of contemporary straight and LGBTQ+ romances. She writes novels about love…like real life, only hotter.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/karenstivali/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarenStivaliAuthor/
Website: https://karenstivali.com/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/karenstivali/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/KarenStivali/

Or vice versa. In the writing of my latest release, Spirits of the Heart, I had a very creepy event occur that literally stalled the completion of the book for over eighteen months.

In June of 2015, I was in the middle of crafting my new supernatural suspense, set on the grounds of an abandoned mental asylum in the town where I grew up. My sister, Terri, who is a professional photographer as well as my cover designer, spent the day with me driving around the old campus of the Middletown Psych Center. The asylum, which officially closed the doors of its last building in 1996, had stood vacant for almost twenty years. While some of the buildings were repurposed, others were left to crumble under the cruelty of time and vagrants. One building in particular, Talcott Hall, called to me.

Terri took photos for the cover and book trailer while I spun tales in my head about what would happen next in my novel. Although it was surrounded by eight-foot tall chain link fence, we spent most of our time there. It had served as the “maximum security” unit—the one reserved for the most disturbed, the most violent of patients. The vibes around this monstrous brick edifice were almost palpable. It was as though the walls themselves had absorbed some of the pain, fear, loneliness, and desperation of the patients it housed, and could be felt even from behind the chain link barrier.

My research into the history of mental health facilities revealed the horrors patients endured throughout the 1800s, and well into the next century. Admitting diagnoses ranged from melancholia, or depression, to epilepsy, and even diabetes. Because the medical community did not understand the causes for the seizures caused by the two latter conditions, they labeled them as mental illness, and people were locked away. Families often abandoned their kin there, sometimes not even taking responsibility for their burial after they died. It is rumored that wealthy men who tired of their wives admitted them for melancholia, then had the marriage annulled and went off to find another wife.

“Treatments” could more accurately defined as medieval torture. Unruly patients were often bound like mummies, wrapped tightly in cold, wet sheets until they became more tractable. Many asylums housed rows of porcelain bathtubs in their basements, where patients were soaked in hot water for long hours until it drew the fight out of them. Not to mention the drugs, experimental surgical treatments (like lobotomies), or electric shock treatments.

It is no wonder that old asylums are considered by paranormal investigators to be the most haunted of places. If ever there were ever good reasons for a spirit to be confused, trapped, and unable to move on, these poor souls had them.

In Spirits of the Heart, Talcott Hall is where the spirits of many tormented souls, including a little girl and her father, remain trapped.

Spirits of the Heart

Addiction counselor Laura Horton returns from college to move in with an old friend and start her career. But her homecoming is jarring. Her friend moves out, leaving Laura alone with the gorgeous but intimidating ex-boyfriend—in a house that snugs up to an ancient graveyard.

Officer Miller Stanford is a man with a shattered past. His alcoholic dad destroyed their family, a weakness Miller is terrified will consume him too. The last thing he needs is a sexy, blonde addiction counselor watching his every move. When he begins to see specters in the dark, he starts questioning his own stability.

But Laura sees her too—a pathetic child-spirit searching for her father. When Laura starts digging into old asylum records, the eerie events escalate . . . Can Miller and Laura uncover the secrets of Talcott Hall without jeopardizing their love—and lives—in the process?

Buy Links:
Createspace | Amazon | Book Trailer

After spending that day with Terri collecting photos and vibes from Talcott Hall to complete the writing of Spirits of the Heart, my muse was on fire. I was nearly halfway through writing the novel when . . .

Two weeks later, the building burned to the ground in a mysterious fire that was labeled arson, with no suspects ever apprehended.

For over a year, my “muse” went on strike. It seemed no matter what I did, I couldn’t write another word on my book. I had known how the story ended (or thought I had), and had already outlined almost have of the novel. But I was so heartbroken that the building, my inspiration, was gone, I just couldn’t write about it.

Until I figured out a way to weave the fire into the story. I contacted one of the firemen, Nick Elia, and gained permission to use some of his fantastic pictures of the blaze in my trailer. At one of the book signings in Middletown, I met Nick in person, and he related the strange occurrences that happened the night of that fire.

He was off duty, but heard the first alarm pulled on his radio—to a location clear across town from the Psych center. His colleagues reported that when they got to that location and found no fire, they were summoned to another alarm downtown. Again, no fire. This happened three times before they finally saw the smoke billowing from over the Middletown Psych Center. By the time the trucks arrived, the entire building was engulfed. Being a photography buff, Nick came to the scene to shoot the fantastic pictures I used in my book trailer. These, along with the photos taken by Terri two weeks earlier, are the last photographs in existence of Talcott Hall.

Claire Gem

About the Author

Strong Women, Starting Over
~Redefining Romance~

Claire is a multi-published, award winning author of five titles in the genres of contemporary romance, supernatural suspense, and women’s fiction. She also writes Author Resource guide books and presents seminars on writing craft and marketing.

Her supernatural suspense, Hearts Unloched, won the 2016 New York Book Festival, and was a finalist in the 2017 RONE Awards. Also in 2017, her women’s fiction, The Phoenix Syndrome, was a finalist in the National Reader’s Choice Awards, and her contemporary romance, A Taming Season, was a Literary Award of Merit finalist in the HOLT Medallion Awards. Her latest release, Spirits of the Heart, was a finalist in the 2017 “I Heart Indie Awards.”

Creating cross-genre fiction she calls “supernatural suspense,” Claire loves exploring the paranormal and the unexplained, and holds a certificate in Parapsychology from the Rhine Research Center of Duke University.

A New York native, Claire has lived in five of the United States and held a variety of jobs, from waitress to bridal designer to research technician—but loves being an author best. She and her happily-ever-after hero, her husband of 39 years, now live in central Massachusetts.

Claire is available for seminars & media interviews & loves to travel for book promotional events.

Media Links:
Website: https://www.clairegem.com
Blogs: https://www.clairegem.wordpress.com
https://www.hauntedpathways.wordpress.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clairegem.author
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/gemwriter
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8284235.Claire_Gem
Amazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/2nabvbm
Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO-vB7WDZhEQ8U4YpC937ng