MICHELLE SHARP
Hi everyone. My name is Michelle Sharp and I’m the author of the new Dream Seeker Series. I’ve thought long and hard about this worst pick-up line thing. Time and again, I keep coming back to one infamous night. Not because it was terribly exciting or anything, but because me and my best friend still laugh about it today.
So first off, let me set the scene. I’m an eighties girl. Big hair. Z-Cavaricci Jeans. (Wow, I loved those jeans.) The flash dance off the shoulder shirts. I would post a picture but it doesn’t reflect well on me. LOL. Come on…I’m not the only eighties girl here, am I? Man, I feel old.
So I’m in college, out with my friends and its girl’s night—no guys tonight. And of course there’s… “that guy.” You know, the one who is not nearly as hot as he thinks he is. Not quite as funny as he’d like to be. And just a little too sweaty. His specialty is capturing random, unsuspecting women on the dance floor if they are unfortunate enough to accidently turn in his direction. Yes, that would be me and my friend, who is still my BFF today.
So, in order to not be rude, we kind of dance… well, sort of next to the guy, not really WITH him, but not wanting to totally dis his Michael Jackson moves either. When the song ends, we make a hasty retreat to the bathroom. But when we finish and exit, he’s waiting for us. Apparently he mistook our “dance” as an invitation to a threesome. He puts his arms up to trap us in the small hallway we’re in. In his most stud-like voice he says, “Stop. It’s Hammer time.” My friend and I of course look at each other and without missing a beat, push him hard in the chest and reply in unison, “Can’t touch this.”
Okay, so I told you, not that great of a story. But Cindy and I still say to each other, “Hey, remember the MC Hammer dude?” And I got to say, I quite miss the eighties. So I’m going to post some pictures of things I loved most about the eighties. And if I can figure out how to scan, I will post some totally hideous pictures of myself in the eighties.
Now, whoever posts the funniest eighties picture, (the one that makes me spew coffee on my keyboard) I will send an autographed copy of Dream Huntress. Come on eighties girls…I know you’re out there. And by the way, to get you in the mood, go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otCpCn0l4Wo -I dare you to watch that and not smile 😉
Tamed by the Outlaw Blurb
Author Jessie Jameson is the Bad Girl of romance, making a huge name for herself writing love stories with sizzling hot sex scenes. No one needs to know that her real-life inspiration is sexy publishing exec Grayson Reynolds. Or that after the hottest sex of her life, Grayson walked out on her.
Grayson’s finally taken the reins of his family’s publishing business, and he’s determined to sell off the romance division. But Jessie Jameson’s contract is complicating things. It’s like she’s been trying to ruin him ever since the mind-blowing night they shared—the night she walked out on him.
Now the sparks are flying. Heated, sexy sparks. It’s a Wild West showdown between Jessie and Grayson. But when Romance ends up in bed with Business, only one can walk away…
About Michelle Sharp
Award-winning author, Michelle Sharp, has been nominated for a 2014 National Readers Choice Award for Best Romantic Suspense and Best First Book. In addition, her debut novel Dream Huntress has been selected as a finalist in the 2015 Daphne Du Maurier award for Excellence in Mystery and Suspense.
Although she has a degree in Journalism from Southern Illinois University, she finds weaving tales of danger, deception, and love much preferable to reporting the cold, hard facts. Her goal in life? To team resilient, kickass heroines with the sexy Alpha’s who love them.
As most authors probably are, she is an avid reader. Her family may even call it obsessive. Growing up in St. Louis has made her a die-hard Cardinals fan, and having a child with Down Syndrome has made her passionate about any issue regarding special needs kiddos. She’s also a fairly big sucker when it comes to anything with fur or feathers.
Michelle is a proud member of Romance Writers of America and Missouri Romance Writers. You can learn more about her at michelleshapbooks.com, where you will also find links to her social media.
KRISTINE BRIA
You know the beginning of the movie Grease where Sandy and Danny are having their beautiful romantic innocent fling? The brief relationship that was so beautiful, they each wrote a song about it? Mine wasn’t like that.
We didn’t have a moment where we locked eyes across a crowded room. We didn’t see each other standing on the beach. He wasn’t a millionaire trying to woo me with a bottle of champagne. None of those were even close.
I was at the beach with my sister and some friends. Being hot, young, single girls, we went to one of those “meat market” clubs that exist for the sole purpose of encouraging sunburned college students to party. A friend of a friend knew the owner and took us to the second floor of the club to visit with him in his office. We enjoyed it, mostly because he was a fun guy. I guess you would have to be to run a joint like that. On the way back down the spiral staircase, I was the last in line.
I would never describe myself as particularly coordinated. That night was not an exception. Narrow spiral staircases are tedious even for the graceful, at least that’s what I tell myself. These steps were a beautiful black cast iron with scrollwork that was all but imprinted on my backside as I slipped and nailed the last three with my rear.
My sister isn’t mean; she just has a wicked sense of humor. Nevermind that this type thing doesn’t ever happen to her. She had an image to uphold so she kept walking and didn’t look back. I sat there on the floor of the club in my pale pink mini-skirt stunned, embarrassed, and alone. While I wondered if 1) I was hurt, and 2) if it was possible to regain my dignity, the crowd parted for a muscular, tan guy with brown hair and green eyes who leaned down and gently asked, “Are you okay?”
The consummate gentleman, he helped me off the floor then asked, “Will you dance with me?”
Beautiful, right?
Not when he’s the guy that you and your sister had spent the evening evading because he had that certain something…that you don’t want in a guy. He wasn’t ugly or impolite. He was just plain uncool. We didn’t want to be seen with him let alone be with him. And I had no graceful way out.
Sure, I could’ve blown him off, but I couldn’t have done it with a clean conscience. The guy had done nothing to deserve any disrespect from me. He had linked himself with the club’s token klutz. I had no room to judge. So I danced.
Not Quite Home Blurb
Adam’s life is headed south—to the hometown he swore he’d never see again. Adam’s plan is to head home to settle a pending lawsuit and then get out fast. The last thing he counted on was falling for sexy Kate Braswell. The slow burn that starts when they meet soon begins to sizzle, but Kate is putting down roots in the last place he wants to be … how can they build a future? Newcomer Kristine Bria is pleased to present Not Quite Home, Book 1 of her new contemporary romance series, Moss Point.
Architect Adam Moultrie’s bad-boy past is catching up with him and his blossoming career. Inheriting the Moss Point plantation he never wanted, he can’t get rid of it fast enough. Even though he paid someone to board it up, a local teenager breaks in and gets hurt. Her mom, Adam’s ex from high school, seizes the opportunity to get revenge on the guy who abandoned her at the plantation on prom night fifteen years earlier. With a professional partnership in Portland slipping through his fingers, he heads to his hometown on the Georgia coast to resolve the lawsuit as quickly as possible.
Kate Braswell gave up everything to open Local Flavor, her coffeehouse showcasing art, but her builder shatters his leg—and possibly her dreams. Facing bankruptcy and failure, Adam is the only one who can save her and her shop. He becomes her unlikely hero, but the last thing he needs is a sexy woman in pink lip-gloss. Kate doesn’t want a man, even smoldering Adam, regardless of what her hormones say. Still, he can’t keep his hands off the conservative Kate, using all his bad-boy moves to show her what she’s been missing.
Adam and Kate’s sexual attraction eclipses their attempts to dodge an affair that neither wants. She adopts Moss Point while he longs for Portland. His exile is her home, and both must decide if either can survive a compromise.
About Kristine Bria
Kristine Bria was the annoying teacher’s pet who always made straight As. Sure, she used to ride to and from school with the principal–it wasn’t her fault they lived next door to each other. Carpooling made sense. She shared her toys and played well with others. In short, she was a good girl.When you have been a good girl, people around you have high expectations of you. Kristine knows all about how stressful it can be when friends, family, and bosses want different things at the same time. What do you do? How do you decide? What happens when you don’t (because you can’t) make everyone happy? There are fabulous stories all around us, and she loves to tell them.
Kristine also likes to write about who we are in public versus who we are in private. With whom do we reveal our true selves? Why does someone get to see the real us inside?
Hint: It must be love.
P.S. Kristine is good…but not too good. It turns out she has a bit of a wild streak that likes to come out and play as Kristi Hancock. Kristi writes erotic novellas where good girls are very, very bad and bad boys are very, very good.
REBECCA THOMAS
My name is Rebecca Thomas. I’m the author of two historical romance novellas with Entangled Publishing and I’m about to launch my Alaskan Hero contemporary romance series. So excited about this! I’ve lived in Alaska my entire life. My husband bugged me for years to write an Alaska story. Finally I did, and now I have an entire series planned. The first book in the series is Her Alaskan Hero and it will release on August 25th. I also have a novella entitled Sweet Home Alaska, as part of this series that is available now in a boxed set entitled Small Town Summer.
I recently attended a writer’s conference at a very nice, very large hotel. Hundreds of women roamed every floor and hallway of this hotel. It was about eight o’clock at night when I tried to check into my room. However, my room wasn’t ready and my roommate hadn’t arrived yet, so even though this was annoying, I wasn’t about to let these circumstances bring down my happy mood. I was at a writer’s conference and I was on vacation.
So I waited in the lobby with a book in hand and almost immediately I was approached by a man who asked if I was here for the writer’s conference. I said, yes. He introduced himself by saying, “I’m Anthony, I’m an attorney and I’m from the Bahamas.” And then almost as an afterthought he asked, “What’s your name?”
I gave him my name, then he immediately asked, “Do you have a roommate?”
So there is nothing so horrible about this conversation except clearly he was trying to impress me with his profession and/or place of residence. And who knows if he was actually trying to pick me up, but of course I told him I had a roommate and I expected her to arrive at any moment. So Anthony went along his way and left me in the lobby.
As I watched him leave, my romance writer’s imagination took over. I envisioned myself saying. “No, I don’t have a roommate.”
As a side note, in my head he was much more attractive and gorgeous and sexy too. Next thing I know he invites me for a ride in his private jet where he takes me to his mansion in the Bahamas. And you know the rest of the story—we lived happily ever after of course.
But back to reality, I mean, really, what did he expect me to say? And if I did say, no, I don’t have a roommate. What would he have said? I guess I will never know, I can only imagine.
Was there ever a time you wish you’d said something else in a similar situation? So the story would have ended differently?
Her Alaskan Hero Blurb
After being left at the altar, California girl Sabrina Tate needs to make a fast getaway. With her famous overbearing parents and the paparazzi hot on her heels, where else is a jilted bride to go to lick her wounds but Alaska? With only her tropical honeymoon clothes in tow, she makes her escape. For two weeks, she’ll live on her own and prove to herself—and her family—that she can make it without a husband.
Zak Forrester is a man on a mission. He’s turned his rugged yet luxurious Alaskan lodge into a hotspot for hunters, all in the hope to make up for a painful event in his past. But when Sabrina—one of the rare women to enter his rugged realm—stumbles into his world, he can’t get rid of her fast enough. He has no time for her yoga, vegetarian meal requests, or Scrabble.
Soon, neither can resist the other, and two hearts collide. With time ticking away, they have to decide where they belong. Is a life in a different world better than being a world apart?
About Rebecca Thomas
Rebecca Thomas enjoys a love-hate relationship with Alaska. She lives there with her bush pilot husband and two teenaged sons. When she isn’t reading, writing, or playing board games, she is cheering for her sons at their hockey games and tennis matches.
A reluctant reader as a child, she didn’t become interested in books until her teen years when she discovered historical romance. Now she loves all sub-genres of romance and can’t decide which one is her favorite.
Rebecca earned a bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Alaska and was employed in the airline industry for several years before working in her current position as a program manager in a higher education.
Books and Warpaint 