Summer Shorts!

Life is crazy busy these days and it’s easy to get caught up in the day to day juggle of all our responsibilities. Often we don’t have the luxury of an hour, or sometimes day, long reading binge. Then right when you’re at the best moment in the book, Especially when your brain is obsessing over what happened to the character in the book you were just reading.

Short stories are the perfect solution for those nights when you think “I’m going to start this book but just another chapter or two” and then it’s 2am and you have to get up in four hours knowing you’re going to get exhausted at work the next day.

It’s the instant gratification of being able to enjoy a story in the tub and be relaxed when you get out safe and secure in the knowledge that the characters are living their happily ever after.

As an author, I love building the rush between the characters exploring love at first sight or the moment when the character loose as a friend and realizes there is so more more to them than friendship. The challenge of making it realistic or at least plausible capturing that moment for my readers to experience. 

My newest release is tomorrow and I loved the theme of the short stories included in this anthology. Mature couples! Writing about a heroine I can personally relate to made this even more enjoyable. While you don't have to be in your 40's to enjoy these stories, they are a celebration of love at every point in our lives. 

Release Date June 27th!!

In the world of working women and glass ceilings, these heroines have kept their eye on the prize. Until now. The prize has suddenly shifted, and they're ready to break the rules, and get wild. From past loves, to forbidden strangers, these good girls are swooning for bad boys, and you're invited to join in.

From 12 NYT and USA Today bestselling authors, these tales of seduction will leave you panting for more...
Featuring stories from: Adaline Raine, Elizabeth Kirke, Ever Coming, Kate Richards, Katherine Deane, Kayleigh Malcolm, Krista Ames, Michele Ryan, Monica Corwin, Nicole Morgan, Tina Donahue, and TL Reeve

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MEANT TO BE – Kayleigh Malcolm

Cassandra Jakes’ career gave her more satisfaction than her ex ever did. Making time for relationships was pointless, because at her age, Mr Second Chance wouldn’t be an easy find. She’d kept her inner bad girl locked in a cage for so long, there was no easy way to change that now.  

Remy Moraes had a two week maximum on any relationship and enjoyed the fact that no one expected a commitment from him. Cassandra was the only woman who could have tempted him to stray from his eternal bachelordom, but she was too far out of his league.

When Remy interrupts Cassandra’s solo camping trip, the two of them fall into an erotic weekend of unbridled passion. Returning to the world of indoor plumbing, they both have a lot of baggage to unpack. Can they work out their differences and accept they were meant to be?

Excerpt:

Forest air tasted different, Cassandra inhaled deeply and smiled. It smelled better up here too. No car exhaust, city structures, rush hour, or gridlock. A 20 minute hike into the woods to her site had her almost light headed though. Especially since she did it twice in order to get most of her gear up to her site, the rest she left in the car. After only a couple of nasty swear words her tent was up and food stored away in the bear boxes, the last thing she wanted to do was to have any big fuzzies show up for a visit.

            Why didn’t she ever think of this sooner? The sun was setting over the mountains painting the sky in shades of purple and red. A perfect end to a beautiful day after spending the afternoon wandering along the marked trails, and enjoyed the simple beauty around her. 

The only smudge to the picture perfect sunset was a large black cloud formation in the sky adjacent to the vibrant shades. The weatherman hadn’t said anything about bad weather yesterday and she hadn’t double checked this morning. A little rain never hurt anyone. 

With a small fire going in the safety pit, she relaxed in her chair and read. Around her the forest was alive with sounds of little critters and hooting owls. There were already a couple chipmunks she’d bribed a return by tossing a handful of peanuts on the table for them.  She reached for her cell to call Jenny only to find it wasn’t in her pocket. Damn, she vaguely remembered tossing it on the passenger seat. That hike could wait till morning.

            A bottle of Alsatian Gewürztraminer sat on the cooler, a partially filled glass next to it. She held her hotdog over the crackling flame, toasting it perfectly on all sides, a bun in her lap already with horseradish mayo on it. This was the life, no worrying about what her breath would smell like, or if she made a mess. It was going to be a perfect weekend.

            A flash lit up the sky above her, followed moments later by a deep roar of thunder. She loved thunderstorms and her earlier thought of crawling into her tent with some of her toys crossed her mind again. She wished she was brave enough to go at right here and now, there was the slim possibility that someone might stumble across her. Exhibitionism was not her thing, neither was voyeurism. Both embarrassed her and that had been one of the nails in the coffin her marriage had been buried in. Karl was willing to do anything anywhere. Getting caught by a stranger while playing with herself was an intriguing fantasy but not one she wanted to experience. Unless it was Rémy….no! Not Rémy. She could feel her cheeks burning and was certain the heat from the fire didn’t have anything to do with it. Rémy Moraes was a fantasy all on his own and one that would have to stay that way.

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            Rémy was going to throttle Jenny Jakes and her mother Cassandra.  The former because the silly twit had run off and gotten herself married in Vegas of all places. No doubt she had some Elvis impersonator do it too. His daughter, Tiffany had filled him in on a few details. Flighty and irresponsible. Apparently Jenny’s boyfriend/now husband had his feet a bit more on the ground, but then after this latest stunt he was going to have to question that previous impression. If this was a grand gesture to win Jenny’s affections back, the man was an idiot.

            Anyone could have seen that Jenny had been pining for him. Moping around, bursting into tears at the slightest mention of him. As much as he loved Jenny, and considered her like another daughter, whenever she came by to cry on Tiffany’s shoulder, he’d beat a quick escape from the house.

            Contrary to his long time impression, apparently Cassandra was as flighty as her daughter. Taking off on a solo camping trip? What was she thinking? She wouldn’t know the difference between a hatchet and a hammer. No doubt almost chopped all her toes off by now trying to break a stump into kindling while wearing a pair of dainty strappy sandals on her delicate feet. That thought distracted him enough that he almost drifted into a tree. Damn, she had sexy calves too, terrible thing if she cut herself.  Shit! He snapped his attention back to the road steering his truck off the gravel shoulder. His wipers barely keeping up with the onslaught of rain pounding against his windshield.

            Goddamn, that woman always had that effect on him. Ever since highschool, when she’d been far too good of a girl for him to ever consider speaking to. She’d hugged the walls when she walked, her head in a book. A riot of black curls surrounded her pale skin, she’d never strayed far from her pack of silly twittering girlfriends. Even at that age he’d know she’d doing more with her life that he ever would. She had a seriousness about her and a drive to succeed he later found out was from her parents high expectations. She'd done well for herself and matured into an incredible woman.

            It wasn’t that she was a snob or anything. Cassandra Banks was a delicate hot house flower and he spent his days as a National Park Ranger. He loved his job, loved being outdoors and to get involved with someone more comfortable in a boardroom then in a forest wouldn’t be fair to either of them. But, here he was driving out into the middle of nowhere at ten at night to find a woman because she’s failed to ensure her phone had a signal. He’d do the same thing for anyone else who’d called him concerned about a family member. She’s not going to drown or get struck by lightning, be attacked by bears, starve, or die of exposure.

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Clean Sweeps with @elle_rush

Spring has sprung.

The grass is riz.

I wonder where

The birdies is?

It’s here. Old Man Winter can take a hike. And with that, he can take all the salt and sand from the streets, and the unwashed windows with five months of dust spatters on them, and all the extra layers of clothes.

You know what I’m getting at, right?  It’s time for spring cleaning.

Out with the old, in with the new. So long, clothes that don’t fit anymore, or that you know you won’t want next winter. Goodbye, shoes you found at the back of the closet that have a hole in the sole that you never got around to throwing away last fall.

Some people tend to accumulate things. I’m a person who never throws anything away. I went through my filing cabinet and found 1-year warranty cards for things that I bought in 2005. I wish I were kidding. My recycling bin is filled to overflowing this week.

Cleaning is not a romantic idea but it’s a fact of life. (Unless you have a significant other who does half of the cleaning and the laundry, in which case it is a labour shared and still not fun but it's only half the work.) On the plus side, you can reward yourself for all your hard work with a book at the end of the day.

I got a little lucky. My spring cleaning was combined with moving, so everything was getting scrubbed and washed anyway. I purged bags and bags of junk, and put together half a dozen boxes to go to Salvation Army and the like. My house is literally lighter than it used to be. [Correction – not everything got scrubbed. I still haven’t done the windows. But I did do the kitchen cupboards.]

I even did the junk drawers. And my bookshelves. Yes, there is stuff in my bookcase that can go. I can’t bear to throw out a book, although I have recycled a few when I’ve had to buy replacements copies. I may be the only person you’ve ever met who has bought three copies of French/English and Spanish/English paperback dictionaries and used them to death.

I often read books I enjoy more than once, which is a problem when I don’t enjoy them. I probably have a shelf’s worth of books that I don’t plan on reading a second time, or that have been in storage for so long I’ve forgotten why I kept them in the first place. What do to do with them?

In Winnipeg, we can donate them to the Children’s Hospital Book Market.  (You may have something similar in your area.)  You can trade them in a used book store, give them to a second-hand/charity store, or donate them to your library if they are new enough and in good enough condition.

I’ve recently discovered a third option.  Long-term health care facilities, nursing homes, and women’s shelters often are looking for books too. If you have some good quality paperbacks and hardcovers, consider donating them at a centre near you.  Call the main desk and ask if they have a library that takes donations.  Romances are always appreciated. Mysteries are too. I’ve found that biographies – particularly about sporting figures – are also very popular.

This is less of a problem now that I have an e-reader. Whether you have one book on it or a thousand, it still only takes up half an inch on your bookshelf.

If you’ve done your spring cleaning, or are saving it for March Break, I salute you. 

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May I offer you a free read to celebrate after you are done?

Free e-copy of SCREEN IDOL - Hollywood to Olympus Book 1

When an actor who will do anything for a part has to romance a woman on a fundraising mission who wants nothing to do with him, he’d better hope Hollywood magic is real enough to give them both a happily-ever-after. 

Sydney Richardson should have trusted her instincts and locked the door when a Greek god appeared on her doorstep at sunrise. After months of work, she needs every second of the day to wrap up a two-part fundraiser for burn victims like herself and she can't afford to waste time with a TV hunk, no matter how good he looks in a toga. 

Chris Peck, worshipped by millions as Zeus on the hit drama Olympus, desperately wants to prove to the producers of a soon-to-be-cast romantic comedy that he doesn’t need fight scenes or special effects to make the jump to the big screen. Acting as the slave-for-a-day in the show’s fan appreciation contest was supposed to cement his everyman credibility but the winner wants nothing to do with him. 

Chris is captivated by the woman who refuses to fawn over his looks and fame, and he promises to put her fundraising efforts over the top if she’ll spend the day with him. However, just when he convinces Sydney they could have a chance together, the movie’s producers offer him an audition that would mean breaking his promise and leaving Sydney in the lurch. The king of the gods has until sunset to prove to his new off-screen love interest that Hollywood magic and reality can co-exist.

#Beachreads with @elle_rush

Hello there! It’s nice to meet you. My name is Elle Rush and I’m a romance writer from Winterpeg, Manitoba. Yes, I know it should be Winnipeg, but since Christmas we have had 24” (60 cm) of snow to shovel and a truly horrific cold snap, so the nickname suits. And as bad as all that shovelling is, it does have one excellent benefit. We will never suffer a winter zombie apocalypse; the undead will all freeze solid well before they get here.

I realize that I’m stretching to find a bright side to the situation, but I do love where I live. I’m just in a period where it’s hard to remember why. I think the weather is part of the reason where there seems to be a disproportionate number of Canadian romance writers. We have to feel the heat on these cold January nights! I can't think of better way than burning it up in the sheets.

I’ve been lucky enough to go on a handful of tropical winter vacations. Not this year, mind you, but I’ve done it. Sun, fun and rum -- all you need for a good time while your neighbour grudgingly clears your driveway.

Canadian winters are a rite of passage. If you can survive one, you can survive anywhere on the planet. But after you survive one, you need a break the next year. I have a list of places I’d like to escape to:  Hawaii, Jamaica, Bermuda, St. Thomas, Costa Rica, Fiji. I’m actually trying to win a trip to Jamaica from a local radio station. I’m that desperate for some beach time. Let’s be honest, the sand can get into some inconvenient places, but it can’t give you frostbite.

I’ve found there are three kinds of sun-destination travellers: those who sit by the pool for a week and don’t move, those who do a different excursion every day, and hybrids like me. I’ve discovered I’m willing to leave the resort once or twice week, but the rest of the time I’m sitting in the pool with a romance novel in one hand and a daiquiri I.V. in the other.

It’s not just escaping the cold that makes these vacations so wonderful. I’ve seen the historic city of Havana, and the ancient Mayan ruins of Tulum (abandoned centuries before Canada even became a country. How cool is that?). I’ve learned how to snorkel (while wearing a life jacket – this prairie girl isn’t used to the ocean and its currents) and have had several salsa lessons. I’m a traveller who thinks that if you go to a new place, you should try to make an effort to experience it.

How about you? Have you gone south for a tropical getaway? Do you need to see and do it all? Are you a beach bunny or pool person? Or a shade-of-a-palm-tree and 100SPF lounger because you burn even thinking about sunshine, but you want to be outside in shorts in January simply because you can?

The next time the weather gets you down, pull out your summer vacation photos, snuggle under a blanket, and relive warmer times.  If you haven’t made a holiday to the sunny south, grab your blender and get some margaritas flowing, crank up the heat for a couple hours, see if you can find that old copy of “Pirates of the Caribbean” and your imagination can take it from there.

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To keep myself in a Caribbean frame of mind, I’ve written a trio of short resort romances. The third #ebook (Dominican Stars) is coming out next month, but here is the first in the series – CUBAN MOON

Lisa Kleyson, representing the bride, didn’t intend to hook up with anybody while on her first Caribbean vacation, but when she lays eyes on the groom’s brother, her best laid plans go out the window. She doesn’t consider herself to be doctor’s wife material … but he’s not on duty.

Dr. Hank Anderson, representing the groom, will do his duty to his brother, but he’d much rather be spending time with the music teacher who’s caught his eye. It’s nice to be the one doing the chasing instead of fending off women who want to take advantage of his position.

Hank’s pursuit is booby-trapped with a stalking maid-of-honor, a Gilligan-worthy boat tour and bad crab cakes, but he is determined to catch Lisa and convince her to start a romance under the Cuban moon.

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Wishing you a roaring fire and lots of travel points this January,

Elle

www.ellerush.com