I so wish I had a WIP to tell you about. Really in a bit of a slump here. It's not like I haven't been working mind you...last weekend I did some brainstorming with a couple of the Nine Naughty Novelists and I was excited to get started but then I got first round of edits from one editor, and cover art forms to complete from another editor (my goodness these are time consuming and brain-straining!).

The last two months have been a real challenge for me as an author. When an author says that, you can figure it is:


a. Bad review(s)
b. Rejection(s)
c. Writer's block.
d. All of the above.

When I have one of those times where I feel like I'll never be able to write again, my husband just rolls his eyes, because it's happened so many times and I always do. So hopefully...this too shall pass!

It's been a great week! Three of my books were reviewed at Sizzling Hot Book Reviews - all of them wonderful reviews! Check them out:  Sexpresso Night, Taming Tara and Rigger.

Also  - another contract offer!! This means I now have three more books "coming soon" so I'm really happy about that.  As usual, I don't like to share details until all is signed and sealed so stay tuned, but I will share a little sneak peek excerpt from Rule of Three (and can I just add, after the contract offer I reread this book, and it is HOT!):

            Then Chris was striding toward them, joining them on the dance floor. He pressed against her back, his erection hard against her, and nuzzled her neck. The three of them danced together, hard bodies pressed against her front and back.

            Chris pulled her hair aside to mutter in her ear. “That was so fucking sexy.” She pressed her ass back against him, tightened her fingers on Dag’s shoulders.

            “Your girlfriend is hot, Chris,” Dag said.

            “I know.”

            The music picked up pace again and they continued dancing, still close, just changing the tempo. Heat sizzled up and down Kassidy’s spine and she felt hypnotized by the beat of the music, the hot desire of two men, lost in the utter sensuality of it. She lifted one arm above her head and hooked it around Chris’s neck, four hands on her body. Her breasts swelled and her nipples tingled. She ached to be touched there.

            By the time they decided to leave the dance floor, every nerve ending in her body was on fire, sizzling and snapping with sexual tension.

            The three of them sat on the couch side by side again, damp with perspiration and a little breathless. Some of their friends had already left, others had disappeared perhaps into the crowd on the dance floor, and they were alone. Chris set his hand on her bare thigh and picked up his drink with his other hand.

            “I should get going,” Dag said. “I’ll come by for my car tomorrow.”

            “Why don’t you just stay at our place again?” Chris said. “Saves you a trip tomorrow.”

Kassidy’s blood surged in her veins, hot and scary, as she waited for Dag’s response. A response that seemed...significant. Weighty. A response that took forever.

            “Okay,” Dag finally said.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Lost and Found

by Kelly Jamieson

Giveaway ends June 07, 2011.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

I just finished reading My One and Only by Kristan Higgins. I'd reviewed a review of this book that wasn't so great, and I was worried that maybe there was a Kristan Higgins book I wouldn't like. But I'm happy to say that was not the case! Also happy I didn't let that review turn me off of reading this.

This book has all the usual humor and quirky charactes of a Kristan Higgins book, but I'm a sucker for a reunion story. I'm also a really big sucker for a story where the hero falls in love with the heroine at first sight and loves her forever. He knew the moment he met her he would marry her and he did. Their marriage didn't last, and I could see how they both contributed to that, and also how they were both in denial about their role in the breakdown. I loved Nick and I loved how her loved Harper.

I just started reading The Sweetest Thing by Jill Shalvis, which as it turns out, is another reunion story!

For this Friday sneak peek I'm thrilled to announce that I've signed a new contract with Samhain Publishing!  One Wicked Night will be out...well, I don't know when, but I'll announce the release date as soon as I do. So here's the blurb and a tiny, totally unedited excerpt:


If she's going to risk it all to be bad, it better be good... 

Ten years ago, Kaelin spent a hot, steamy summer home from college, hanging out secretly with her best friend’s younger brother, the town bad boy Tyler Wirth, and his best friend Nick. She thought she was falling in love until she walked in on Tyler, Nick and another girl in a shocking scene of ménage sex and bondage. That scene has haunted her safe, predictable life ever since.  

The fallout from that night tore Tyler’s life apart and he left Mapleglen in disgrace, disowned by his parents. He’s made a life for himself now in Chicago, with a successful advertising career and a unique and complicated relationship with Nick.

Now Tyler’s sister, Kaelin’s best friend, is getting married. The last thing Tyler wants to do is go home to Mapleglen, but his sister wants him there for her wedding. Kaelin doesn’t want to see Tyler or Nick again. Tension is high in the Wirth home, with undercurrents of secrets, sins and sex. But when Kaelin gets fed up with her good girl reputation and, in a crazy act of rebellion, spends one wicked night with Tyler and Nick, the web of secrets starts to unravel ― and none of their lives will ever be the same.

 Excerpt:

Tyler automatically lifted a hand to his smarting cheek and rubbed it, stunned into speechlessness. Kaelin stood there, big brown eyes wide, mouth in an O of horror.  The chatter of the guests faded into silence, only the faint saxophone strains of the jazz CD playing quietly on the outdoor speakers drifting on the evening air.

            Jesus fucking Christ. She did not just do that.

            The two of them stared at each other, the air around them hot enough to burst into flames.

            “Omigod,” she said. She closed her eyes. Opened them. “Omigod.”

            She turned as if she was going to run, and he reached out and grabbed her upper arm. “Oh no you don’t,” he said through gritted teeth, heat still stinging his face.

            “Tyler.” His mother appeared at his side and he became aware of everyone around them, gawking at them as if they were a car wreck on the freeway. Shit. He glanced at his mom, took in the tightening of her mouth, the snapping in her eyes. “What are you doing?” She hissed the words out quietly.

            What was he doing? What the fuck? He was the one who just got decked!

            Nick appeared now, too, calm, controlled. He looked back and forth between him and Kaelin.

            “I am so sorry,” Kaelin whispered to Tyler’s mom. “I didn’t intend to cause a scene.”

            Mom looked at Kaelin. “What did he say to you?”

            Kaelin just stared back at her and shook her head. “It...it wasn’t his fault,” she finally stammered, shocking Tyler. His mom cast a look of disbelief his way. Of course it was his fault. It was always his fault.

            “I’m outta here,” he muttered, trying to push his way past Nick. “Let’s go.”

With apologies to Beth Kery, I had to put her book on hold because last week was the release of Old Sins, Long Shadows by PG Forte. I've been waiting for this follow up to In The Dark for a long time and I couldn't wait to read it! I think I was even more eager after reading a little teaser PG sent me last year, a scene that she knew was going to really get me (and it did!).

This story moves from 15th Century Spain to present day San Franciso and back again. I loved reading the beginning of Damien and Conrad's love story and agonized for both of them, for the miscommunications and pride and hurt that keeps them apart when they so clearly love each other.

There are still secrets to be revealed and love to be found. I cried for Marc, near the end, but I love how he is changing and maturing. I sense there is a bigger role for him coming up in this vampire war -- and I can't wait to read more!!

Since I don't have much to talk about in terms of a WIP (I spent the last week polishing some finished mansucripts and doing research for an idea I have) let's talk about hockey. Or rather, hockey players!

I've been watching the Vancouver-Nashville series and the Vancouver player who's really been playing well is Ryan Kesler. So let's have a look at Ryan Kesler.

Alas, Ryan is not a Canadian hockey player, which the majority of NHL player are. He was born August 31, 1984, in Livonia, Michigan. He began his first professional season here in my home city Winnipeg with the Manitoba Moose, the Canuck's AHL farm team, but not for long, as he was recalled by the Canucks in November and made his NHL debut on November 24, 2003.

Holding his daughter...aw!

In this series against Nashville, two goals on Saturday, and five goals and four assists in the last four games have people talking Conn Symthe trophy.

If you didn't see this earlier this week, check out the review I got for my book Love Me at Dear Author. The review sparked a little discussion there, which is always good! Love Me was the first book I sold and the first book I published so it's a thrill to get such a good review for it at Dear Author!

AND...this week is the launch of the next serial story from Nine Naughty Novelists!! Check out Love's Savage Whiplash...warning! Do not consume beverages while reading! Spew alert!

There's a contest, too! Find out more here!

This week I finished Sweet Possession by Maya Banks. Great characters in this story. I liked how Connor has things pretty together and Lyric is the one with "issues". He's so steady and solid for her.

I just started reading Explosive by Beth Kery. I've wanted to get my hands on this book ever since it came out but it wasn't available to me at the Sony Store. But when I recently discovered the Kobo store, this was on my list!

After struggling with the spin off story I'd been working on, I set it aside and tried to figure out something else to work on. I have so many ideas, and some of them are spin off stories of books I've written but which haven't sold yet and I have to admit that I wonder if I should bother working on them until the first story sells. What if it never does sell? Spending all that time working on a spin off story would then be a total waste.

Of course I shouldn't have the idea in my head that my stories will never sell. But realistically that is a possibility.

So I started working on some ideas for completely new stories. I got a couple of flashes of inspriation, like for one example, I have the basic story idea but I needed careers for my hero and heroine, and they had to be just the right career - and then the idea hit me! It's going to take some research, and I have 3 books at the library to pick up to get started on that, but that's okay, I really love this idea!

Then as I was sitting on my deck in the sun Friday afternoon drinking a glass of wine, the idea hit me for the spin off story I'd been struggling with - the perfect solution! Why didn't I see that sooner! So now I have a few projects I'm excited about and want to work on and I have to narrow it down to one to focus on...which one will it be?

Hello Monday, and time to blog about my progress on my "work in progress" or rather, this week, LACK of progress. Actually I don't even have a WIP, unless you count the two manuscripts I started months ago and haven't gone back to.

I started working on a story idea for a spin-off story of a recently completed manuscript. I really want to write this story, I do, but...it's giving me a hard time. The funny thing is, I tried to do this once before - write a spin off story for a character who appeared in one of my books. The last time I did this, it was the story of Gabe, who appears in Power Struggle - the Master Dom who helps Tori and Dev figure things out. Many readers asked for his story, and I did plan to write it, but when I sat down to actually do it, it was really hard.

I wonder if it was hard because I had some parts of the story already predetermined, and also the character, so I may have felt a little constrained by the things already in place. For example, with Gabe - I knew he was a Master Dom who belonged to the club Le Chateau. I knew he had developed feelings for his play partner there, Tori, but he had to let her go when she fell in love with another man. I knew that Gabe had a difficult past and had tried to live a lie...but I didn't know exactly what that difficult past was.

I also had a hard time finding the right woman for Gabe. I went through several characters, developing them and then rejecting them as they weren't right for him. At one point, I envisioned him becoming involved with another couple and the story being a menage story...but that didn't work out either. I finally had to put Gabe's story aside for several months while I worked on other things, and then when I went back to it, I think I at last got it right.

Now I'm having the same problems with this story - I know some things about my character (his name is Dylan). I know he's been hurt by a woman and feels betrayed by his best friend. I know he's recently had an experience that threatens his career, which is all important to him. But as with Gabe's story, I can't seem to find quite the right woman for Dylan. And I can't seem to find the right reason to bring him home again after leaving, hurt and in pain.

So, as with Gabe's story, I may have to put this one aside for a while and work on something else. But this time I feel more confident that the perfect woman for Dylan will come to me, and so will Dylan's story.

Just saw this today! Thank you to Marika from Night Owl Reviews for reading and reviewing Breakaway!

4 3/4 STARS

"I love hockey and I really felt like I was there, experiencing everything that Remi and Jason were experiencing."
"The chemistry between Jason and Remi is off the charts. I was expecting the sex to be numerous and graphic, well, it’s more loving, touching and real. You can feel the emotions, feel the touches, taste the kisses and see the tears...I highly recommend Breakaway to any reader that wants a loving, touching and emotional rich story between two opposites that realize what they want and need in their lives is the complete opposite of what they thought they wanted or needed."

I finished Animal Magnetism by Jill Shalvis - loved this story, as I do all hers.

Now I'm reading Saddled and Spurred by Lorelei James - hot! I wanted a smokin' hot book and her always work for me!

Before I talk about my WIP I just want to note that I'm blogging at Long and Short Reviews Whipped Cream today  - find out one of my favourite things about spring!

Nobody told me that it was going to take me a week to recover from RT!

I haven't exactly done a lot of writing this week, and in fact have been in a fog all week, falling asleep in meetings at work, in my chair at my computer, on my couch. All I've really been able to do is some editing and polishing on the manuscript I finished just before RT. I also did write a blurb for that story and am now working on the synopsis, which isn't so much fun but unfortunately must be done. So I am accomplishing something!

Also worked on a trailer for the next Nine Naughty Novelists serial story. It will be unveiled later this week, so be sure to keep an eye out for it! It's pretty awesome if I do say so myself (and I  can't take all the credit for it, it's certainly a group effort, with the text written by the amazing PG Forte, who also helped located many of the images we used).

Happy Friday everyone!  I'm so glad it's the weekend because seriously, I'm still in a fog after RT last week. I had no idea a few nights of sleep deprivation could mess with my mind so badly!

Here's a little peek at a recently completed manuscript of which I will soon have news to share!! This is an unedited excerpt from Power Shift:

She scraped her fingernails across his scalp, eliciting a groan, and then she lifted her mouth from his, kissed her way over his scratchy cheek and jaw and bent her head to his shoulder. She opened her mouth on the fleshy part, sucked a little and then gently bit down.


His body twitched hard. “Christ,” he gasped, his hands tightening on her. “Reagan.”

She smiled, licked the spot and moved her mouth, using her teeth again, a little harder, driven by some unknown force, some unknown need to do this to him. He jerked and shivered and then his hand fisted in her hair and he yanked her head back. The sharp bite of pain on her scalp sent thrilling sensations right to her core. Another secret trigger.

She gazed back at him, their eyes meeting in the dim light, meeting and holding...and holding. She smiled a little, almost challenging him. His eyes flickered, his lips parted...she couldn’t read the expression on his face but a tiny frisson of alarm worked its way through her. He was big and strong and dominant, and she was playing a risky game with a man she barely knew. And yet...she felt safe.

Sort of.

It wasn’t Gabe she was afraid of but rather the intensity of the feelings he’d excited in her, a sharp arousal like she’d never experienced, a fierce lust, an almost protective tenderness. It was all kind of...confusing.

His eyelids lowered, so sexy, his mouth softened. “I’m not sure if I like that,” he said.

“What are you going to do about it?” God, where did that come from?

His eyes darkened, the long dark lashes sweeping back up. “Behave, Reagan. You don’t know what you’re getting into.”

He was right. But whatever it was, she wanted it. Her mouth softened and pouted a little, wanting more kissing. “I’m a big girl,” she said. “I can handle whatever you dish out.”

He studied her, assessing her, and she held his gaze as long as she could before she had to drop her eyes, just briefly, blinking at his chest.

As I said on Monday, do you really think I got any reading done while I was at RT? Really? I started a new book on my flight home - Animal Magnetism by Jill Shalvis. I always love Jill Shalvis. Brought home a few new books to read, several historicals by authors I haven't read before, just to add to my TBR pile.

Do you really think I got any writing done while I was at RT Booklovers Convention? Not a chance. I had thought I might do some editing/polishing on the manuscript I just finished but, not a chance of that either! Those five days at RT were a crazy whirlwind of activity!

It was SO much fun meeting people in person - the six other Naughty Novelists who were there, Meg Benjamin, PG Forte, Erin Nicholas (my roomie!), Juniper Bell, Kinsey Holley, and Skylar Kade. We were all wondering if the others were going to be the same in person as they are on line. Check out the Nine Naughty Novelists blog this week to find out!

I also met so many other great authors and we had tons of fun at the parties and workshops and, okay, I'll admit it, I spent a little time in the bar. I also met lots of people from my publishers Ellora's Cave and Samhain. I met my agent, the fabulous Laura Bradford, for the first time in person as well as some of the other incredible Bradford Bunch authors. And I met readers who love to read, which is always so awesome. I also did my first book signings, the e-book Expo and the print book fair.

I'm writing this from the airport in Calgary on my way home. I'm REALLY tired and I have no voice left, and I'm missing my Naughty Nine friends already but we had a great time and have great memories that will make me laugh every time I think about  them.

Hey, I'm posting this from the airport in Calgary! I'm about halfway on my journey to Los Angeles for the RT Booklovers Convention. So excited!

On the plan I was reading A Lot Like Love by Julie James. It totally distracted me from my fear of flying.

I also finished this week Yours, Mine and Howls by Kinsey W. Holley. A great story!  Kinsey writes awesome dialogue. I loved Becca.

Before I talk about my WIP I'm thrilled to announce that my book LOST AND FOUND is a finalist in the Passionate Plume!  Yay! Congrats to all the other awesome finalists!

I'm feeling great about my WIP this week because IT'S FINISHED! Well, first draft anyway. Although my first drafts are lot less rough (is that good grammar?) than they used to be, I do a lot more editing as I go than I did when I first started writing. Not sure if that's good or bad. Anyway, it's a 40,000 word novella and it was fun to write something short again and get that quicker gratification. But as with most of my recent projects, I felt this one could have been a lot longer. I could have taken more time to explore different facets of my characters' personalities and their problems. But I planned this to be a novella for a specific call for submissions, so it had to be short.

Now I'm off to Los Angeles early Wednesday morning for the RT Booklovers Convention and I can feel relaxed with a completed manuscript just finished. If I have time to do a little work, I can edit and revise and polish, which is much easiser to do when I just have a few minutes here and there than actual writing.