The Wednesday Interview

Mad About Mirabelle – released today through Ellora's Cave! Let the pigeons loose!

Holy crap! Mirabelle Turner's new next door neighbor is the last man she expected to ever see again. It was one thing to have knee wobbling sex with this dark sexy stranger in the back of a limo but quite another to find him staying next door with his Aunt Lila. Can she resist the temptations of the boy next door?

Flynn Curtis is more then happy to tempt the delectable Mirabelle. He is mad about her. When his Aunt Lila's house mysteriously burns down he gladly accepts the reluctant Mirabelle's offer for he and his Aunt to move in with her. It is the start of all sorts of moves Flynn intends to make on his new neighbor.

Mirabelle is trapped by courtesy, lust and sudden realization that she is falling in love with Flynn. But does the person who burnt down Lila’s house have other plans for Mirabelle? And is Aunt Lila really the sweet old lady she seems? Can Flynn save the woman he is mad about?

The Wednesday Interview…

The last brilliant author of the year is the dazzling and talented Kelly Kirch – she made me say that. Her book Time For Love is released through Cerridwen Press on Feb 14, 2008. I know? How can we wait that long? So to check all Kelly Kirch sightings and machinations go to www.kkirch.blogspot.com

Time for Love – the Blurb…

Sarah Hanson opens her eyes to a darkly sexy man leaning over her and the strains of a waltz playing in the background. Further, she is no longer dozing in the taxi that escorts her from the job where she was just fired but inhaling the strong scent of beeswax and dressed in Regency era clothing.

Drake, Lord Hayworth, rake extraordinaire, is unable to reconcile his sudden attraction to the shelved miss who is meant to chaperone the daughter of a dear friend. Different from every other female he has known, he is keenly aware of the differences between her and his new fiancé--the young woman Sarah escorts.

As Sarah develops lasting relationships, she discovers the unconditional love of family and a passion for a man she is not meant to have, in a time she may not be able to keep. And for Drake, finding a pliable bride to marry so he can claim the last of his inheritance has become decidedly more difficult now that Sarah has turned his ordered life on its head.

The interview…

1. You have some sizzling sex scenes in your book. How hard is it to write sex and make it convincing? Yes, I do. It is completely difficult to write sex but to make it convincing? No, not really. If your plot calls for it, it’s because you’ve worked up to the stage where it flows naturally for the characters. If it’s forced, I’d say you have a chemistry problem with your hero and heroine or you are forcing the timing.

2. Romance and the condom. How hard do you find to slip it in or on when the action is hot between characters? A minor inconvenience but one that the edits will require. So I weigh the options. Do I want to fight the inevitable or slip on a slicker? It’s the post coital clean up I find icky.

3. Do you think romance just happens or do you make your characters work for it? I think chemistry just happens but romance, as a relationship takes work. If it didn’t there wouldn’t be a romantic plot.

4. What is it about your hero that makes him irresistible to women? He’s eye candy without recognizing it. He doesn’t know how devastating he is and he thinks the heroine is drop dead gorgeous no matter what she looks like or what she’s wearing. He goes weak-kneed for her, makes himself a fool for her, does ridiculous stunts to get her attention. It’s the kind of thing every regular woman wants to experience from a man who is beyond sexy.

5. Do you think readers want to escape or do they want to identify with a character? Oh I hope they want escape. I want escape and that’s what sparks the story. However, if they don’t identify with the character then the reader won’t stick around for the end to happen and the escape to be realized.

6. What do you think is the most important thing to remember when writing romance? The Happily Ever After. Don’t give me a story without the HEA, the joining of kindred souls through difficulty and humor. I won’t read it and I wouldn’t expect that from my audience either.

7. What are you working on now? I’m writing a Cerridwen book about an author who gets sucked into her own book as her characters are murdered one by one. She writes by the seat of her pants and never plots, like me. So she doesn’t know who the killer is, who is next, if she’ll return to reality and if she gets to keep the hero she falls in love with. Its working title is More Than Words. I’m having a lot of fun making fun of myself in this one.

The excerpt…

Sarah’s ears rang.
“Lady Billington?”
They had to be ringing. The stains of a waltz bloomed in her head. The last time she had heard something like that was when little Timmy Gustaffson had chased her in the playground and she’d run into an arching wooden swing.
Being fired felt kind of like that. The sick crack to the head of disbelief, the stomach-plummeting nausea…an arching wooden swing to her psyche.
“Lady Billington?”
Rich chocolate tones called her name. She peeked and quickly sealed that one eye back up.
Whoa! He’s hot! Maybe I should get fired more often. Love the hallucination.
“Sarah. Open your eyes.”
She did. He was lovely. “Yummy.” Oh crud! Did I just say that out loud?
Crystalline green eyes looked back at her curiously.
The angel of sex appeal bent deliciously near her. As sensation seeped back into her numb body, she also realized he held her slumped body against him. A steely arm wrapped supportively around her upper back and pressed her against the lapels of his coat. She decided his shoulder made a wonderful, albeit firm, pillow.
He smelled like heaven too. Male. Musky. And sandlewoody. She could sink into flavors like that.
“Oh, Sarah, you dropped your rose! Lord Hayworth, maybe you should take her onto the veranda while I pick this up. I should have waited until tomorrow after the festivities before I presented it to you, dear girl.”
She’d brought a woman into this fantasy? Sarah reopened her right eye. Reluctantly, she looked beyond the ebony haired vision. She had brought several other people apparently. She opened her other eye to take in the full scope. A dark-haired woman bent to collect the shards of a crystal rose and emerald stem that lay at Sarah’s feet.
Another woman, blonde and wearing a petulant frown tapped a cornflower-blue slipper. Two woolen clad male backs screened Sarah from the dancers on the floor. The crystal strains of an orchestra seeped past their guard and filled her head.
The sound system in this room is amazing. Sounds like they’re right here with me.
Sarah stood upright with Gorgeous Guy’s support.
“What is the matter with you? People are beginning to notice. Mother, make her collect herself. What if someone sees? I could be ruined.”
Fully supporting her own weight, Sarah faced the owner of the whinypitched complaint—the one with the petulant frown. The girl had to be upper-teens. She had platinum blonde hair and wide azure eyes. She was petite. Of course. She was Martha Mullen-esque, standing maybe five-two and all of a hundred pounds.
“Alexandra. Hush,” the brown-haired woman admonished. “Lord Hayworth, please.”
The beautiful man clasped Sarah’s hand to his arm. Another man followed behind, whisking her toward double French doors. She stared across the room. There was a live orchestra here? Where the heck am I?
Lord Hayworth tugged her back into motion and they gained the dark, cool safety of the veranda. Not nearly as crowded as the ballroom, Sarah was grateful for the claustrophobic relief. “You stay with her. I will be back with some lemonade.”
The other man smiled pleasantly at her before nodding to the cluster of women near the doors taking in the fresh air.
“Hi,” she said.
Confusion settled on his forehead. “Perhaps you should come to the bench and rest.” He led her to the bench, patting it. The solid thump of his hand on the stone slab seat reassured her of its reliability. She leaned back on the cool stone trying to still the cacophony of confusion swirling in her head.
Music floated out to them. A breeze ruffled the hairs on the nape of her neck. Candles burned brightly from every sconce in the room beyond. A couple waltzed past the open veranda doors. She wore an elaborate silver ball gown. He was dressed in peacock colors and a tall, stiff collar.
“Where am I?”
“At Grantham house attending their introduction ball for Miss Alexandra. You have been planning this with Lady Grantham for weeks. Don’t you remember?” The blond gentleman leaned toward her, concern written on every feature. His blue eyes shone with friendship and mild alarm.
Was she dreaming? Every sense tingled with accuracy. The cool gritty stone under her hands caught roughly at her gloves. The orchestra played sweet notes which floated on the same breeze that ruffled her skirts. Jasmine and candle wax warred for recognition. Never had a dream been more real.
Great! Getting fired has made me loopy.
She looked down at herself. She too was dressed in a ball gown. Navy colored slippers peeked from the hem of her navy satin dress. Sarah raised her hand touching the heavy pendant at her throat and higher to her elaborately piled hair. “Where am I?” Panic welled up inside her and settled about her breast bone.
“Is she all right?”
Sarah turned to the sound of Hayworth’s velvety voice.
“She seems to have forgotten she’s at the ball,” the fair-haired man said.
She didn’t know what was happening but she wasn’t about to show her hand either. “I’m fine. I just need to rest a minute. I must have hit my head harder than I thought. You know, temporary amnesia.”
“You hit your head?” Lord Hayworth asked.
“When I fainted?” she offered.
“Was there some other time I should have caught you?”
“Uh. No. Just this last time.” How come I sound English?
Lord Hayworth shook his head. “I think you’re right Lord Milstoke. She’s not well.”
She sipped the lemonade Hayworth handed her. Her eyes darted, trying to settle on something that made sense. None of it did. Her head throbbed. Lord Milstoke, the fair and Lord Hayworth, the sexy, were looking at her with marked concern.
“Perhaps you should go to your quarters,” Lord Hayworth suggested.
“And where would they be?” she asked.
Lord Hayworth and Lord Milstoke exchanged looks.
“I’ll have Elizabeth take you. I may be a common sight in the Grantham house but my escorting you to your rooms would cause raised eyebrows for which even my title won’t compensate.”
“Of course you have a reputation. How cliché.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. Don’t mind me. I’m just hallucinating. I got fired today.”
“You’ve been burned?” Milstoke asked in alarm.
“No. I was let go.”
“That’s impossible. I caught you myself. You never touched the ground.” Hayworth looked offended.
Sarah grinned. “Never mind. Take me to your leader. I need a nap.”
Lord Hayworth tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow. She turned back to Milstoke before entering the ballroom again. “Hey, if you see my cab driver, don’t tip him. I don’t appreciate the joke. It’s been a hard enough day as it is.”

www.kellykirch.com and www.kkirch.blogspot.com

The competition…

Okay, you’ve been waiting patiently for the last true love clue…here it is -

On the twelfth day of romance my true love gave to me…Twelve Tantalizing Tim Tams….what a man

So, you know your next step. Email all 12 answers to anny@annycook.com with 12 days of Romance in the subject line to win some great books. The competition closes midnight on 21st December. Good luck.

As always check out what Kelly is doing on www.kkirch/blogspot.com and Anny has the blog serial on www.annycook.blogspot.com

www.freewebs.com/amarindajones/
Go ahead: Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?