OPEN CONTESTS!

Just a reminder! There are two open contests!!! Don’t miss the chance to win something because you think you have forever to enter! DO IT NOW!

🙂 Like my nagging?

1. Ava Cuvay: It’s Better Down Where it’s Wetter (Giveaway) — Win a FREE sexy book!
2. Kat Baxter: Knocking Up His Best Friend (Giveaway) — Win a FREE sexy book!

Take part in this series title poll!

I’m narrowing down my possible new series title. But I could use your help one last time. You can choose two.

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I have been a romance reader since I was a teenager. It’s my jam. I started writing my first romance novel when I was in college. I published my first novel in 2005 (historical romance under a different name) and have stuck to that particular subgenre pretty much the entirety of my career. And then something changed. Frankly I don’t really know what it was, but suddenly this romance world was much bigger than I’d ever acknowledged.

It started with a handful of steamy contemporaries. I’ve become a reading machine in the last three years (I’m not going to wholly blame it on the political climate, but that is a big reason…) Being a voracious reader isn’t entirely new for me as I was like this as a child, but somehow once I started writing I read fewer and fewer books. It made me sad it made it infinitely more difficult to fill my writing well when my reading well was bond dry.

But then I sorta got burnout and to compensate, I made reading a priority. Authors like Kate Canterbary, Pippa Grant, Mariana Zapata, Sally Thorne, Helen Hoang, Penny Reid and the list could literally go on FOREVER… and they just inspired me. I devoured their books and plenty of others. I went back and read a huge chunk of Susan Elizabeth Phillips backlist titles – ones I’d honestly never read. Somewhere in all of this I discovered science-fiction romance and hello mail order brides for aliens…yes, please! And y’all, I filled my well. My well was so overflowing.

So I started to write. And I wrote my first ever contemporary romance. It stretched me as a writer, but it also allowed me to play. To get a little naughtier. To use harsher language (f-bomb anyone – can’t really use those so much in traditional historical romance) and to just have a damn good time. Thus Kat Baxter was born. First in the form of a novella in the Men in Uniform anthology headlined by our hostess with the mostest (btw that word totally autocorrected to moistest – glad I caught that! LOL!), Delilah. Now in the my first full-length book, KNOCKING UP HIS BEST FRIEND, a best-friends to lovers/marriage of convenience/friends with benefits romance.

My goal, no matter what I’m writing – or reading for that matter – is to hit on authentic characters, people that feel like your friends or neighbors, real emotions….all the sexy feels, the laugh out louds. I want all of that.

So let’s chat books. What’s been your favorite read so far this year?

Knocking Up His Best Friend

Ally

Hot guy, medical intervention, turkey baster,
Whatever it takes.
I want a baby,
And I want that little bundle of joy now.

So when life knocks me down,
I decide getting knocked up is the only option.
And Cooper Janns is–has–a perfect specimen.
I want him–and his baby-making stuff.

But crossing that line with your best friend,
Just may be a disaster in the making.

Cooper

Anything.
I would do anything for Allyson Patterson.
Always have,
Always would.

After all, we’re best friends,
Have been since acne and raging hormones.
I’d cross any line she’d ask.
Even if it means offering an easy-peasy marriage
of convenience (and hopefully benefits.)

But, I’m in this for the long haul.
Knocking boots or knocking her up,
Either way, it’s a deal.
For good,
Even if she doesn’t know it yet.

*~*~*

Readers are already calling Kat Baxter’s KNOCKING UP HIS BEST FRIEND, laugh out loud funny, sweet and sexy and deeply emotional. Don’t miss this best friends to lovers, fake-relationship steamy romance with a sweet dirty-talking hero (who has been love with his best friend for years) and a sassy heroine (who will do just about anything to get a baby.)

GIVEAWAY

Free copy of Knocking Up His Best Friend. To play along do one of the following (or all of three!). And comment and tell me about your favorite read of the year.

Join Kat’s reader group – Baxter Babes https://www.facebook.com/groups/455684435169876/

Add Knocking Up His Best Friend on Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48144412-knocking-up-his-best-friend

Follow Kat on Bookbub – https://www.bookbub.com/profile/kat-baxter
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48144412-knocking-up-his-best-friend

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XWN8B4N?pf_rd_p=183f5289-9dc0-416f-942e-e8f213ef368b&pf_rd_r=QMJ7AFNASYWCJ53431YM

“Darling it’s better, down where it’s wetter, take it from me.”
–Sebastian the Crab, “The Little Mermaid”

Those innocuous words from an animated children’s movie were the inspiration for my newest release: A 16K-word mermaid short story entitled (wait for it) Better Where it’s Wetter.

(It’s safe to say I went there: it’s definitely sexy under the sea, and you’ll no longer wonder what’s a fire and why does it—what’s the word?—burn. 🙂

My story doesn’t have an Ariel, but it does have an Alana who has dreamed of being a mermaid.

It has a Prince Eric, but he doesn’t hesitate to kiss the girl.

There’s no sea witch, but there is an impressive sea snake.

Sorry, no impromptu song & dance numbers, just my interpretation of mer-sex.

Basically, I had fun with it and hope you’ll also enjoy my quick little roll in the seaweed. It was originally published as part of a now-defunct anthology, so I added several thousand words and a love scene to it and have an awesome new cover to show here (made by Fiona Jayde Media… LOVE her work!).

And, because Delilah let me announce my new release on her blog today, I’m going to offer a FREE Kindle version of it to anyone who comments below between now and Friday, October 5^th!

Better Where it’s Wetter

Alana LaRue assumes the sexy merman pictured on the lake house wall is “just art.” Then a violent storm topples her into his arms and she discovers the ocean isn’t the only thing that gets her wet.

Excerpt:

He flashed me a smile that would have made my knees go weak. If I had knees.

“With legs, perhaps. But this takes a different skill-set. Trust me.” He pulled me forward. I tried to kick, to undulate in an amateurish butterfly stroke. I only succeeded in convulsing and rolling to the side. His hand on my waist stopped my efforts. I gulped at how his warm hands practically spanned my width. “You don’t have hip or knee joints anymore. Our lower skeleton is strongest in a side-to-side motion. Pretend you’re parading through a crowded bar trying to catch someone’s eye.”

“You want me to walk through a bar? With no legs?”

“Yeah. You know. Strut your stuff. Swing your hips.” He leaned close enough to whisper in my ear. “Make every man want you.”

The mental image of his words and the warmth of his breath against my neck washed another shiver of need over me. My nipples puckered, and I couldn’t blame the room’s ambient temperature this time. My merman—the one whose image had inspired all manner of fantasies these past weeks—was now within arms’ reach, urging me to make him want me.

Hell yeah, I could do this.

*~*~*~*

My release is so fresh, I don’t even have buy links yet! But check out my webpage for links when I get them (https://avacuvay.com/books/) or look me up on your favorite purchasing site. E-book now available, and print version coming very soon! “Thanks!!” to Delilah and all of you for letting me announce my new release here today!

Note: As of today, there is at least one link—on Amazon. Click the pretty cover to see!

I’m still recovering from my night with Joan Jett and Heart! Recovering, I say, because my poor feet and back are aching! Between having to stand to see anything and traversing up and down a million stairs for beer and bathroom breaks, I’m a little sore!

Oh, to be twenty again! But hey! Another two great bands scratched off my bucket list!

Joan Jett was exactly what you’d expect—basic rock ‘n’ roll, totally fun! Heart was a mixed bag. Ann Wilson sang some very strange songs among her greatest hits, but just to hear that voice live… I nearly cried when she took the stage I was sooooo happy. Damn, that woman can still sing!!

Anyways, I’m a day late posting this, or anything, really. Catching up today. Here’s a photo from Joan Jett’s “Crimson & Clover.” It’s not a great quality shot, but have fun with the puzzle!

Okay, so the picture gave it all away. I can barely contain a really loud squee!

I’m seeing HEART! And JOAN-Badass-JETT! Here it is…SQUEE!!!!!

I’ve been a fan since the late 70s when I was in college! Yes, I’m THAT old. But Heart is part of what has kept me young at heart all these decades. Seeing them is a long-held ambition. I have a few more on my bucket list…Robert Plant, with or without Led Zeppelin, Disturbed, and John Fogarty (of CCR!). I’m not overly ambitious. It’s hard getting to places where I can see great acts, living as I do in Central Arkansas. When I saw the tickets go on sale for Heart in Little Rock, I jumped on them!! The cost kept it down to just TWO tickets, but my sister-in-crime, my dear daughter, will be at my side. She’s torn between buying a Joan Jett tee or a Heart one, but if I have to buy only one, it’s going to be HEART! God, I love Ann Wilson!

Okay, so I need to calm down. I have hours to go, and I need to conserve strength in my elderly body (pffft!) so I don’t fall asleep by the time they make it on stage. What am I saying? As if!

It’s been a few years since I’ve been to a rock concert. I think the last was Aerosmith or Marilyn Manson when I lived in San Antonio. Over my many years, I’ve seen bands like: Uriah Heep, ZZ Top (2 times), Doobie Brothers (3 times), John Denver, Fleetwood Mack (on their Rumors tour!), Lynyrd Skynyrd (before the plane crash), Queens of the Stone Age, Stone Temple Pilots, Audioslave, Incubus, Wet Willie (that was at a weekend concert in a farmer’s field a la Woodstock), Bachman Turner Overdrive (I worked the lights), Blood, Sweat, and Tears, U2 (2 times), Metallica, Simply Red, Tears for Fears… Mostly rock, except for John Denver. Oh, and I somehow got roped into seeing Tim McGraw with Lady Antebellum—sorry, most boring concert ever… Oh, and the very first concert I ever went to (I was 12 years old) was…The Carpenters. Yeah, it was the ONLY concert my parents would approve of me going to see. And I know there were more artists I’ve seen, but my mind goes blank… Remember, I’m old.

One note, at the Marilyn Manson concert, I ended up on the mosh pit with the teenagers. I was bruised, but oh so happy! My dd, who was a teen at the time, was mortified. She realized that the clove cigarette I was given by some guy had marijuana in it, and I was lit up! LOL. Love that I can still embarrass her.

Anyways, I’m just sharing my joy today. I’ll be dragging my tail tomorrow, but today, I’m riding high!

I have been blessed to be surrounded by incredible women my whole life. My mother is one of three sisters. She had four daughters who had four daughters. So in my family alone, the estrogen factor was significant. And I am not exaggerating when I say that these are all accomplished and educated women. With sisters, aunts and nieces (not to mention a wonderful cousin or two) you would think I didn’t need girlfriends.

You’d be wrong. While I had girlfriends growing up – some of whom I remain friends with today – it wasn’t until my mid-20’s that I learned the true value of friends.

I moved away from home at age 26 and discovered the meaning of loneliness immediately. I lived in Boston – vibrant, young and exciting – but I explored Faneuil Hall, the Common, the Garden and everywhere else, alone. I worked with only eight people and they were men. I missed the women in my life until I met a few wonderful neighbors, just in time to move again. The process repeated.

I have found that it takes a while for women to develop true friendships. They need to find common interests and build rapport, then history. But I kept moving before I could make all that happen. I left New England with one friend – a lifelong friend, a true blessing in my life.

My career took off from all this movement and my husband was definitely wonderful company, but I know you’ll understand when I say that a job and a husband cannot replace a girlfriend.

After six years, I was finally blessed. I joined a huge company full of interesting people and I stayed in North Carolina, then California, long enough to forge friendships with amazing women. These are friendships that have outlasted our jobs, built now on history, mutual respect and admiration and the fact that they are empathetic and fun, really fun.

Recently, I spent time with 11 of them, and I was inspired to start a new romance series where my heroines are loosely based on my friends. The plots will be fictional, but the inspiration for my characters will come from these loving, generous, remarkable women. For example, my friend who walks a mile twice a day – rain or shine – to feed a stray cat that has come to love her. Or my dear friend who loves Broadway Theater, travel, romance and has friends across the globe. There is an amazing woman from Italy who left her home and family for the man she loves, while another married her high-school sweetheart. There are two who actually owe their happy marriages to introductions I made. All are smart, funny, quirky, and relatable.

The series – tentatively titled The Double Dare Romances – will offer glimpses of their stories occasionally, but mostly it will offer a hint of who these women are to me – supportive, kind, a family without the biological roots. Their strengths, and their quirks, will be lovingly conveyed through my heroines.

I hope you will enjoy the stories inspired by the wonderful women in my world. The series will be available mid-year 2020.

While you wait for this great new series check out my Beguiling Bachelors series. Bedazzled is the first book in the series and is only $.99 or free if you have KU.

A Chance Encounter Can Change Everything…

Keeli Larsen is second-guessing her decision to support herself as an independent jewelry designer. She has no money, no friends, but she knows she has talent…

Amazon Buy Link: https://amzn.to/2CSoJzy

Social Links:
● Website: https://madisonmichael.net/
● Maddy’s Romance Madness: https://www.madisonmichael.net/maddys-romance-madness/
● Maddy’s Blog: https://www.madisonmichael.net/maddys-blog/
● Facebook: https://facebook.com/madisonmichaelromance
● Twitter: https://twitter.com/madisonmichael_
● Amazon Author Page: amazon.com/Madison-Michael/e/B01EVUGG6G/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
● Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/madisonmichaelromance
● Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madisonmichaelromance/

During the Regency era, merchants allowed aristocrats to purchase products even if they didn’t pay back money owed for years. Shop owners hoped that once it was known that an aristocrat or well-known person had purchased a particular product from their shop, sales would follow. The emerging middle class was eager to own the same items being consumed by the upper classes. There were also more products available for purchase as a result of industrialization.

Many of the streets where people shopped during the Regency—Piccadilly, Bond and Oxford, among others—remain busy shopping areas today. A few stores in these shopping areas have been in existence since the eighteenth century. Piccadilly has been home to Hatchard’s Book Shop since 1797, and Fortnum and Mason since 1707. Other shops remaining from the Regency era are Locks for hats, Floris for perfumes and the Berry Brothers Wine Shop.

Research is important if writing in a historical era. Some of the shops listed above have never been renovated, providing insight as to how stores were laid out and decorated in the seventeenth century. At Floris, they have archives of orders placed by notable people such as Queen Victoria. Their Limes perfume, which has been selling since the 1700’s, is still available for purchase. These stores provide a way to experience the past through scent, their furnishings and samples of items created in the past.

Resources:
Jane Austen’s World, “Shopping in London During Jane Austen’s Time,” https://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/category/shopping/

Jennifer Kloester, “Shopping,” in Georgette Heyer’s Regency World (Illinois:,Sourcebooks, 2010)

The Perfume Society, “Floris”, https://perfumesociety.org/perfume-house/floris/

About the Author

Cynthia Capley is working on her first novel set during the Regency era. She enjoys writing stories with strong characters that triumph over challenges to achieve their happily ever after. Cynthia lives in the Pacific Northwest where the rain and numerous coffee houses make the perfect writing companions. She lives with her husband and a menagerie of pets and likes to spend time playing fetch with Natasha, a tortoiseshell-colored cat with an attitude.

Website: https://cynthiacapley.com