Month: January 2013

Here we are again. Has another week gone by already? I’m still enjoying the release of my first book, CROSSROAD TO LOVE, from Lazy Day Publishing. The encouraging notes I’ve received from readers has been amazing. Men, as well as women, are telling me how much they like the story line and characters. I’m getting messages from people telling me that usually they aren’t romance readers, but really liked my story. I love it!! Thank you, everyone, for being so supportive of me in this new venture.

Next week, on February 3, Rebel Ink Press will release one of my romances that isn’t part of the series. This one is UNLIKELY LOVERS and I promised you the blurb and an excerpt, so I won’t keep you waiting any longer. Enjoy!

Blurb:

When Army Major Jessica Walsh meets local factory worker, Cody Jones, she finds herself staring straight into the eyes of the man who’s been haunting her dreams for the past few nights. Fresh from a breakup with her cheating ex, Jessica sets out to seduce the sexy brown-eyed man in the hopes of a brief rebound affair. Getting more than she bargained for, she falls in love with him, but has kept a secret about who she really is.

On the night she plans to tell him the truth, Cody plans to propose. But before either of those things can take place, they run into Jessica’s ex, who cruelly spills the beans. Angry and heartbroken, Cody ends the relationship, turning to a bottle for comfort. Jessica’s hurt, she accepts his decision. While they find they can’t stay away from each other, they can’t seem to work out their differences, either. Will the unlikely lovers be able to overcome the obstacles in their lives and find their happy ever after?

Excerpt:

“And I’m Cody,” the sexy man with the brown wavy hair said, flashing a smile that sent shivers up and down Jessica’s spine. He extended his right hand.

She took it saying, “I’m Jessica and this is Missy, nice to meet you both.” The simple touch of his hand was enough to make her want to get closer to him, much closer. Her hand felt as though it had been scorched as she pulled it away.

“Thanks for the beer. You two ready to get beat by a couple of girls?” Missy looked at Andy, laughing.

“Bring it on,” he answered with a wink.

They bowled two games, girls winning one, and guys winning the other.

“How about a rematch to break the tie and the losers take the other team out for pizza afterward?” Cody challenged.

“You’re on. Right, Missy?” Jessica looked at her friend.

“Right, let’s show ‘em what we can do, girlfriend.”

To prove her point, Missy threw three strikes in a row.

“I think we’re in trouble, man.” Andy chuckled as he looked at Cody.

“We’ll see about that!” Cody threw the next strike as the four of them burst into uncontrollable laughter.

The girls won by two pins, much to their delight.

“We’ll let you off the hook and go Dutch since you came so close,” Jessica said as she changed out of the ugly shoes and back into her boots.

“Sounds like a deal,” Cody answered with a smile that set her pulse racing again. And then she knew. His eyes. There was something about them.

They decided where to meet and as Missy drove to the pizza parlor, Jessica turned to her and said, “Thanks for talking me into coming out tonight. I haven’t had this much fun in ages.”

“I haven’t either. But let’s not tell them too much about ourselves. Okay?”

“I agree.” The girls knew from experience some men were intimidated by a female officer.

“Aren’t they hunks, both of them?”

“Oh, yeah, especially Cody,” Jessica said dreamily.

“I prefer the blonde look, myself.” Missy giggled as she pulled into the parking lot.

“That’s good, since I have my eye on Cody.” The mere thought of sharing a bed with the wavy haired man was almost more than Jessica could bear.

When they got out of Missy’s car, the two men were already there waiting for them in the parking lot.

“After you.” Cody opened the door of the restaurant for Jessica, following behind her.

After they’d all decided on a supreme deluxe pizza complete with anchovies and ordered a pitcher of beer and soft drinks for the two drivers, they began to talk.

“Why haven’t we seen you two ladies around before?” Cody inquired as he looked at Jessica with that same sexy smile that had first drawn her to him.

“We’ve not been bowling for a while.” She returned the smile shyly.

“We keep pretty busy with work,” Missy added, looking at Andy.

“I hear that. We’ve been putting in all kinds of overtime at the plant,” Andy replied.

“So you both work at Goodyear?” Jessica asked.

“Yeah, like most folks around here that aren’t lucky enough to get out of town.”

“What do you girls do?” Cody asked.

“Uh, we both work on post,” Missy answered vaguely as she took a sip of the Coke that had just arrived.

“Ah, another place a lot of folks around here work,” Andy observed.

Jessica was incredibly intrigued by Cody. He had the most gorgeous brown eyes she had ever seen, like huge drops of chocolate candy…almost identical to the man in her dream. She began to imagine his hard working hands roaming her body, rocking her world, taking her to the ends of the earth and back…Jessica, get a grip, she told herself as she found herself staring into those beautiful eyes again.

The other three continued with light banter as they enjoyed the pizza while Jessica tried to concentrate on what they were all saying. It wasn’t easy with the brown eyed man sitting next to her. And long before she was ready, the evening was coming to an end.

Andy and Missy had exchanged cell phone numbers already as Cody asked Jessica for hers. She gave it to him and watched as he put it in his phone. She did the same with his.

“I’ll call you soon. Count on it, Jessie,” Cody said as he waved goodbye.

“That’d be great. I’ll talk to you soon.” She flashed him her sexiest smile.

Once they were on the road, Missy said, “Wow, Jess, that Andy is one sexy hunk of man. I’d love to see him again.”

“And I could get real cozy with Cody, if you know what I mean,” Jessica remarked thoughtfully. What would be the harm in a brief fling with a sexy local factory worker?

Missy glanced at her friend. “Jess, that doesn’t exactly sound like something you’d do. Are you really considering it?”

“Maybe, we’ll just have to see now, won’t we? All I can say is Cody Jones is one hell of a sexy man.”

After Missy had dropped her off at home, she prepared for bed with a smile as she remembered what he’d said. I wonder if he really will call.  She was just settling in between the cool sheets when her cell rang. She answered sleepily, “Hello.”

“Hey, Jessie, it’s Cody, calling to say goodnight.”

“Hi. When you said you’d call soon, you weren’t kidding.” She giggled and continued, “I’m glad to hear from you so soon.”

He chuckled. “I had a great time tonight, just had to call and tell you. I’m looking forward to seeing you again soon.”

“I had fun, too. We’ll definitely get together soon. Call me.”

“You can count on that, baby. Sweet dreams.”

“Goodnight.”

She soon fell asleep, dreaming that a handsome, wavy haired man with huge, velvety chocolate brown eyes was sharing her bed. He kissed her lips then moved down her body, nuzzled her neck, stopping to whisper love words in her ear as he’d done in her dream the night before. She awoke, alone again, more determined than ever to make this particular dream become a reality, and the sooner the better.

Well, that’s it for now!!! Have a great week.

Love,

Anna 🙂

I really don’t know where to start this week.  First of all, welcome back to Anna’s beautiful world. And it is a beautiful world!

Crossroad to Love was released last Wednesday! It’s been a whirlwind ever since. It’s doing amazing so far! Getting 5 star reviews on Amazon, B&N, and Goodreads and has reached Silver star status on ARe. People can’t wait for the next book in the series, which will be out in March, The Road to Her Heart. I’m speechless…and people who know me, know that doesn’t happen very often. My dream of turning this book into a series is becoming a reality. People love my characters as much as I do. As many of you are aware, the inspiration for this book came from my own lifelong friendship with a group of girls I went to school with. We have remained friends to this day, and we get together for trips, much like the girls in the book. Those friends surprised me on Friday night. We planned an overnight trip, to celebrate the book release and let me tell you, those girls had it planned down to every detail, from cake and champagne, to presenting me with a sky wifi smart pen. The pen was from all of them, but I was told later that one of the girl’s husbands was so excited for me, he insisted on shopping for and choosing the gift himself. He could easily fit into the role of any one of the husbands in the book, in a good way, of course. You’ll see in future books just how great the husbands can be. And the people from my hometown, many of whom I hadn’t seen or heard from since high school, have been amazing!!! One of our male classmates met us for dinner the night of the party to help celebrate and another guy actually read the book, loved it, and gave it a glowing review. So many of them have purchased the book and are spreading the word. It’s true what they say…there’s no place like home. The support I’ve been shown is something I’ll never forget. Many of these people live away from the area now, but have become interested in my new career as an author, and are spreading the word to people they know. Lazy Day Publishing has been amazing, as well. I received an email from Staci Taylor with Lazy Day on Friday afternoon, telling me to have fun at my party that night!!

I have another release coming up, two weeks from today, from Rebel Ink Press. Unlikely Lovers will be out on February 3. This book is not part of the series. It’s a love story all of its own and I hope everyone loves it as much as I do. I’ll post the blurb and an excerpt for it next week. I’ve been interviewed on three blogs this week. Thank you, Tricia Drammeh, Angelica Dawson, and Ginger Ring, for allowing me to invade your space. I hope to return the favor soon.

There will be article in the local newspaper on Tuesday night. Wow! That’s all I can say…speechless again.

Well, lots to do so I’m going to end this for now. Be sure and stop back by next week for the blurb and excerpt from Unlikely Lovers. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Love,

Anna