I decided to have Rebecca Vickery publish my romantic novella, Your Place or Mine. It’s been a very positive experience working with her. Be sure to visit me on Karen Michelle Nutt’s Blog today. More information below and also a blurb and excerpt for my new release!

PROMO: Rebecca J. Vickery is the author of Surviving with Love (great book - I posted about it in an earlier post), Laser’s nominee for Best book of 2009. She’s here to share her adventures with Indie Publishing and how she launched her own publishing company. Meet the authors she’s published and learn about the new books planned for 2010 and 2011.

***Drawing (will be on Thursday, July 15th): One lucky name drawn from the comments we receive will win four free reads. One of each of the books by the authors will be included in the prize. If you post as anonymous or as a guest, please make sure we have an email address to contact you should you win. http://kmnbooks.blogspot.com/

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By the way, Your Place or Mine is published under D.S. Craver because this is a highly sensual read - not what I have written in the past. It’s tasteful but just wanted to make sure you won’t be offended if you expect a sweet read.

BLURB:
Sydney Smith decides it’s time to move out of her tiny apartment and become a home owner. Blake Smith, no relation and a real hottie, also wants to see the duplex. A mix-up has them viewing it together. They both love the house. There’s also some sparks flying between the two of them, or is Sydney the only one feeling that way? A highly sensual story of fun, home-buying, and more…

EXCERPT:
After ordering their steak dinners, Sydney said, “Don’t keep me in suspense any longer. I’m guessing your proposition has something to do with you saying we have a lot in common.”

He exhaled a deep breath. “Promise you won’t leave after I tell you what I thought we could do about the house.”

“I’ll stay. I don’t want you to eat my steak.”

He grinned. “That’s a good reason. When I got my first real job─”

“What was your job?”

“I did an internship in civil engineering so had a job right after college.” He took a drink of his beer. “Three friends and I decided to buy a house together. I was thinking that’s what we could do. We can buy the duplex together. Of course, we need to learn more about each other before we even decide if buying the house will work for us.”

Whoa. Buy a house with Mr. Hottie Engineer. Could she sleep under the same roof, even though he’d be on the other side? She pulled the paper holder off her silverware and napkin. “You don’t waste time. We just met. I don’t─”

“I should’ve mentioned we’ll keep our relationship platonic which should be easy enough to do with the house built for two families.”

Staring at his lips, she wondered how Blake could look sexy while saying the word platonic. And why had he even mentioned anything about their relationship? Did he want one with her? “Hey, what’s this all about? Platonic relationship. Where did that come from? You can’t assume I’d want to sleep with you just because we bought the duplex together.”

He frowned. “I’m sorry. It came out wrong. I was afraid you’d think my proposition included that. I’m stupid, okay.”

“You’re serious about this business arrangement? You really think we should buy the dream house together?”

He nodded. “We both like it and want it so I thought this might be a possibility. I figured you don’t have a significant other right now since you didn’t bring anyone with you to look at the house.”

She ran her finger around the rim of her glass. “You’re right. I don’t have any special guy in my life. My boyfriend dumped me by a text. We’d dated less than two months, but still I don’t like that he couldn’t tell me in person, or call me to tell me it was over. But that’s okay. I’m going to get a column out of it and tell how rude it is to break up with someone by texting them.”

“I agree. You’re better off without him. I want to read your column. What’s the name of it?”

“Sydney’s Sassy Suggestions to Singles.” When another idea occurred to her for an article, she drummed her fingers on the table. “Even though I don’t think much of texting to break off a relationship, email breakup can be a good thing. It offers more privacy to the person being dumped. But an email breakup should always give an offer of a face-to-face meeting if he-or-she-who-was dumped wanted one. I’ll have to write about different ways to breakup in my column.”
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Available here for $2.99:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/18253
http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/your-place-or-mine/11722097
http://www.amazon.com/Your-Place-or-Mine-ebook/dp/B003UV8ZHQ/

Amanda reminded me last night that she wanted to wear green today! She loves pink (a lot of her wardrobe is pink) so thought it interesting how she wanted everything to be green that she wore today. She definitely has the Irish spirit!

Do you give gifts on St. Patrick’s Day? We don’t but in my chick-lit mystery, A FIERY SECRET, my character Catherine Steel receives a gift from Jake Michaels. I’m posting a short passage from my book.

EXCERPT OF A FIERY SECRET:

On St. Patrick’s Day, Jake brought me a bouquet of deep pink tulips with a light pink ribbon tied around the stems and surprised me with an Irish cottage music box playing, of course, what else, an Irish song. How sweet of Jake, but I didn’t realize people gave gifts on St. Patrick’s Day. I admired the detailed shamrocks, thatched roof and pink roses on the cottage.

“Thank you so much. I love it.” I lifted my eyes to look at Jake, feeling embarrassed. “I’m sorry I didn’t get you anything.”

“There’s something else for you in the chimney.”

As I leaned over and peeked inside, my eyes widened at the sight of a diamond ring. It was such a shock that I was speechless.

Jake picked up the ring. “I love you, Catherine. Will you marry me?”

I hesitated for a brief moment. Was it too soon for us to become engaged? You dummy. You love him. Answer him before he changes his mind.

WRITING UPDATE: Not much progress on my new story, I’m sorry to say. I revised my Christmas book because I want it to be a bit longer and I want to see it available as a Kindle book. I’m also busy getting things done before I start a scoring job next week. I’ll be scoring 11th grade Science tests - should be interesting. I hope!

CONTEST ENDS: February 28th!
PRIZE: A signed copy of A FIERY SECRET
To be entered, just leave a comment here on any February post!
If the winner lives outside of United States or Canada, I’ll substitute a download of A FIERY SECRET instead of the signed print copy! Also if the winner already has purchased my mystery, I’ll substitute another one of my Samhain print books.
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I can’t believe it’s Wednesday already. Tuesday night is movie night for us, and we saw “Extraordinary Measures” last night starring Brendan Frazer, Harrison Ford and Keri Russell. It’s based on a true story and very inspiring how the father, John Crowley, never gave up on finding medication to extend the lives of two of his children suffering from a genetic disease.

Today I’m posting two short excerpts from Chapter One of A FIERY SECRET.

EXCERPTS:

Jake Michaels made me throw up on prom night ten years ago. I never really got over it. And now he was back in my life. Obviously, we weren’t the same people. Both of us graduated from college and have real careers. I was an investigative reporter for the local newspaper, The Messenger.

When the paper’s editor-in-chief and owner, Jane Gibbons, recently decided to have a larger sports section to increase circulation, she hired Jake as the new sports editor. We both worked now at The Messenger in Park City, Ohio, where we were born and raised.

My name is Catherine Steel, and I’m five-eight with pale blue eyes. Unfortunately, last summer being outdoors a lot had made a few freckles pop out on my face. But the sun had done something good by giving my light brown hair some natural blondish highlights. Gone were the days when I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and my work uniform consisted of dress pants with a boring pastel shirt. When Jake Michaels moved back and started working at the newspaper, I knew my wardrobe had to include tight, short skirts and stiletto heels so that picking up dropped pens by his desk would be sure to drive him wild with passion. He broke my heart in high school. What he did to me was deplorable and he ruined my sophomore year. Even so, I didn’t want to ruin him. Seeing him squirm like the snake he was seemed to restore my self-respect and take some of the pain out of our past history.

But at the moment, I wasn’t the one making Jake squirm. He was doing that to me. He stood next to me as I slurped water from the fountain in the hallway. He smelled so good I knew I had to take the longest drink in Messenger history. If I lifted my head and made eye contact, I’d be a goner. What was he wearing? Every man should use that aftershave.

“Well, water kid,” Jake said to me, “maybe I’ve been wrong about you all this time.”

I stopped drinking and licked the excess moisture below my lip. “What do you mean?”

“I thought you’ve been getting all these drinks so you could constantly walk in front of my office and show me what I’ve been missing out on.”

I shook my head, noticing how he still had a summer tan. He wore a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Jake had a rugged look but he pulled off appearing preppy at the same time. I saw the challenge in his brown eyes, daring me to deny his observation. “I try to drink lots of water every day. It’s good for you, flushes all the toxins out of your body.”

“I’ve tried to ignore you walking by my office for the past four weeks, but I can’t take it any more.” He pushed me against the wall, but I didn’t object. A tingling raced through me as his hands lingered on my shoulders. “And each time you’ve made your drink run, I’ve seen how you look at me, like you’re all hot and bothered. I have a suggestion. You say you’ll go out with me and then stand me up. We’ll be even. Then we can move on and get together. Like this.” He tilted my chin and lowered his jaw to mine. He covered my lips with a breathtaking kiss, then his mouth lingered sweetly against mine.

I gave him a shove. No way was he getting off that easy. His solution grated on my nerves. I retorted with cold sarcasm, “Oh yeah, even. You’re really something. You never showed up to take me to the prom. I waited for hours in my dress, which, by the way, I spent a fortune on, and I shelled out money to get my hair done.” I decided not to mention the further humiliation when I faced my friends at school. I’d told them I was going to the prom with popular Jake, so they’d wanted to know what happened.

“Catherine, I apologized years ago. And when I asked you to the prom, I told you I’d be late.”

“Being a bit late and never showing up is a little different.”

“The track meet took longer than I thought. And my parents wanted me to wait for my medals. I told you to go ahead if you didn’t want to wait on me.”

Second Excerpt:
Walking back to my desk, I was proud of how I’d handled Jake’s kiss. He’d excited me, but I hadn’t given in. I broke it off quickly. He probably wondered how I could be so cool around him. I smiled, thinking how awesome I was with giving a little and pulling back. Even though Jake was a louse to me in high school, I did intend to go out with him sometime. With a definite chemistry between us, I couldn’t help myself. But I wasn’t going to rush it. The chase was too entertaining.

It might be fun to go to his parents’ Halloween party and wear an unbelievably sexy costume. I could kill the boyfriend off or say he had a death in the family. No. That wouldn’t work. Jake might think I was heartless not going with my boyfriend to the funeral. My mother was right. You should never lie.

I had just sat down at my desk in the middle of the newsroom when Jake appeared by my right side.

He held a paperback in his hand. “I believe this romance novel is yours. You left it in the meeting room.” He glanced at it before handing it to me. “So you like romances. I think I might be more interesting than you reading about a character kissing her man in a book.”

I grabbed my paperback, noticing several sets of eyes watching us. Sometimes I like being surrounded by other reporters and other times I’d like to have my own private office. “I’m researching romance novelists. We have several successful Ohio romance writers in our area, and I’m going to ask them how their novels are different now from several years ago.”

He grinned. “You’re just full of surprises. I never would’ve guessed you like investigating romances. If you need any help doing research, you know my number.”

I clenched my jaw as he walked away whistling. Although I made that up about interviewing romance writers, maybe I would. Jake didn’t need to know my reading habits. Truthfully, I loved contemporary and historical romances, especially ones by British authors. I did vary my reading and enjoyed mysteries a lot, but I always had a supply of romances to read.

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Review from a reader (taken from Amazon):
January 26, 2009
By katteyes2 “katteyes2″ (Sonora, Ca)

This review is from: A Fiery Secret (Paperback)
I did like this story even though it was all in single person narrative. I liked how Cat basically went though her everyday life while falling in love and investigating a murder. Cat also makes mistakes and walks into a few issues of her own making, but that what makes her so likable.
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Snippet from LASR review:
Reviewer: Lily
I enjoyed the tension and attraction between Catherine and Jake. Having been spurned in love before, by Jake no less, Catherine is determined to make a second chance difficult for him and she is bold and shameless in her flirting. It was refreshing to read a story where the main character was confident and smart, comfortable in her body and at peace with herself and her life. Catherine is looking for love, but not desperate for it. She is determined to live her life to the fullest.
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Click here for contest and prize information. Reminder: Contest ends MONDAY!

Elizabeth wants to fix Mallory with Reverend Jeremy Turner so suggests a dinner party. Well, Mallory invites Dr. Seth Whitman to get the focus off her hooking up with Jeremy. The following excerpt is after the dinner, and Seth is the last guest.

Let me know what you think of the birthday kiss. By the way, Seth mentions about it being his birthday during the dinner.

EXCERPT:

He put his hand on her leg and felt a shot of desire for Mallory. He had it bad for her. Why had Henry and Rebecca gone away for the weekend? His friends were the only persons he could talk to about his feelings for Mallory. He didn’t think it would be wise to talk to his parents about her yet. His mother would pump him with million of questions which he couldn’t answer now. Maybe he’d give his sister a call and tell her about Mallory.

“You have to get your pre-op done, so you can voice your concerns to your own family doctor. I feel safe in telling you that nothing’s going to stop you from raising Josh, but─”

“I got worried when Jeremy mentioned what just happened to that poor girl. I do trust you as a surgeon and…”

He waited for a moment, wondering how else she trusted him. Was she going to say as a friend? If they eventually started dating, being her friend would be a good beginning for their relationship. He stretched his legs and bumped the coffee table. Out of the corner of his eye, Seth saw that he’d jarred a vase of flowers. He grabbed the flowers before they fell and let out a deep breath. “I was afraid the vase would break.”

“It’s not your fault. I should’ve moved the table.” She glanced at his legs. “You have long limbs.”

Seth examined the vase. “Where did you get this? It’s pretty with the hand painted flowers. I bet my mom would like one. I could get her a vase for Mother’s Day.”

“My grandmother was an artist, and she painted vases. She gave them to me before she died. You can look at them and pick one out for your mom.”

“Are you sure you want to part with one? I’m not sure I should take a vase.”

“I want to give you one.”

“I wouldn’t feel right taking one of your grandmother’s vases without paying you for it.”

She grinned. “You can always deduct money from the fee for my surgery. After all, I could’ve raked some money from Derek if you allowed observers.” She stood. “Follow me. I have them in a closet.”

After leading him into the study, she walked to the closet and opened the white door. Vases of every size filled the closet.

“This is incredible.” He looked at her. “Did you get your grandmother’s artistic talent?”

She laughed. “I’m afraid not. I can barely draw stick figures.”

Forty-five minutes later, Seth stood at Mallory’s front door. He’d finally written her a check and told her not to look at it until he left. He’d selected a large vase with painted cherry blossoms plus a matching jar for herbs. His mom had an herb garden, so he knew she’d be excited about his gift.

He wanted to kiss Mallory. Surely a peck on the cheek should be appropriate with him being at her house. He was not her doctor at the moment. He leaned down to her. His lips brushed her cheek, and Mallory pulled him closer to her.

She whispered, “Here’s a birthday kiss for you.”

With her in his arms, he felt Mallory’s breasts against his chest. When their lips met, energy surged through him. Maybe it was only a birthday kiss, but he hoped that it could be the beginning for something much more. He could see them as a couple. But was there a chance of this happening? He had no way of knowing if he’d get the opportunity to date Mallory after she recovered from her surgery, but he knew one thing for sure.

He never wanted Mallory to think his only interest in her was as her surgeon. He wanted so much more from this incredible woman.

If this should be your first visit, feel free to leave a comment on ANY or ALL of the previous posts this week about my new release, MARRYING MALLORY! Your name will be added to my contest each time you leave a comment! Click here for the Grand Prize Winner prizes! The contest continues thru Monday morning.
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My MARRYING MALLORY TRAILER is up for the Jan. 2010 Best Video! It’s #18! If you think it’s best, please vote for it. Here is the link:
http://yougottareadvideos.blogspot.com/ And it’s easy to vote - it’s on the right side. Thank you!

I baked oatmeal raisin cookies today. Mallory baked this kind for her ex-husband, Toby, one Saturday morning, when she learned about his visit. He’d called to say it was important that he talked to her. The excerpt starts where she’s just learned that he’s plans on doing legal work in June for a fraternity brother, Jeff.

EXCERPT:

“I need to settle some things for Jeff. He fired his accountant and a few other employees,” Toby said. “They’re threatening to sue him. I’ll be leaving for Las Vegas as soon as I finish my present cases.”

Toby can’t go to church with us, but he can fly to Sin City to help a loser fraternity friend. Maybe she wouldn’t send any cookies home with him. “I’m guessing you’ll need me to keep Josh on a weekend. That’s no problem.”

He stood and walked to the counter. While refilling his cup, he said, “It might be for a month. I’m just not sure.”

“Are you sure it’s for legal work and not to gamble?” Toby had never been a gambler, but maybe he had acquired the gambling habit since their divorce. She knew what a sickness it was since her dad had been a gambling addict. He’d left them to go to Las Vegas for that purpose only.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said, irritated. “I’m not your dad. You know I don’t gamble. I’m going to be working the whole time.”

“I’m surprised you’d leave Josh for a month.”

He returned to his chair. “I’d like Josh to fly to see me over a weekend.”

She clenched her jaw. “He’s too little to fly by himself.”

“I wasn’t planning on him coming by himself.”

A thrill went through her body because she knew he meant for her to fly to Las Vegas with Josh. Thank you, God, she prayed silently. She wasn’t crazy about going to Vegas for a family vacation, but knew it would make Josh happy to spend time with both parents together.

“That’s good. If I book the flight soon, it won’t cost as much. When do you need─”

“I’ll pay for the tickets for Samantha and Josh.”

For a moment, her mind couldn’t grasp that he hadn’t meant for her to go on the plane. Instead Toby wanted his girlfriend of a few months to travel with their son.

He frowned. “I hope you aren’t going to put up a fuss about Samantha bringing Josh. She adores him.”

Her stomach tightened. No way was his girlfriend taking their little son to another state. “They barely know each other.”

“Samantha is going to spend time with us after the movie. And I’m going to have her come over more often on the weekends. He’ll be fine with her on the plane.”

Samantha being with Toby more wasn’t something she wanted to hear. Obviously, Toby cared for his girlfriend more than he’d indicated before. How could Toby move on so quickly with a new relationship? “I’m sorry but he’s not going. For one thing, he’s still in school and the trip will tire him out too much.”

“I was planning on a June visit.”

“You know he’s going to the lake house with your mom and dad in June. And his birthday’s in June.” How could she have her surgery if that trip was cancelled? Unless Toby planned on keeping Josh longer than a weekend in Vegas which she never wanted to happen.

“Well, June’s a big month and Josh’s birthday is only one day,” he said in a sarcastic tone. “He can come later and still go visit my parents.”

“A casino is hardly an appropriate place for a child.”

He drummed his fingers on the table. “So you’re saying that our son can only spend time with me in Las Vegas if you are with him?”

“You have to admit that I was being generous to bring him to you. I shouldn’t be expected to have him fly for the first time with a stranger.” She saw his eyes darken with anger. “Okay, Samantha’s not actually a stranger, but what does she know about kids? She doesn’t have any. Or does she have one hidden somewhere?”

“She doesn’t have children, but she’s great with kids. I’ve seen her with her nieces and nephews.”

She bit her lip instead of calling him a liar. He’d said that his relationship with Samantha wasn’t serious. Meeting the relatives meant their relationship might become permanent. And now he wanted Samantha in Vegas with him. Was he in love with Samantha? What other reason could he have for making sure she spent time with Josh? Of course, she knew he’d get married someday, but was hoping it’d be much later. She was not ready for Josh to be part of a new family. They hadn’t been divorced very long. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for Josh to travel to Las Vegas.”

He glanced at his watch. “I better go. I hope you’ll change your mind. Please think about it. You know I always take good care of Josh.”

Her stomach turned when she heard the door shut behind Toby.

He’d never planned on inviting her to Vegas. Was spending time with her so undesirable? She wanted Josh to see his parents as being friends and doing activities together.

She forgot to give Toby his cookies. If she hurried, maybe she could catch him. Running to the front door, she hit her knee hard on the corner of the end table. She ignored the pain and jerked open the door.

Toby stood outside his car, talking on his cell phone. Without a doubt the person on the other end was Samantha… the woman he wasn’t serious about… yeah, right.

And she knew then he wasn’t getting the cookies. He didn’t deserve them. She couldn’t stand liars and cheaters.