Extreme Jock Giveaway

If you like sports romance, check out the Give Me Books Extreme Jock Giveaway! On the Fly is included :) There are over 140 individual prizes to be won including a massive 44 Signed Paperbacks, 97 Ebooks, 19 Ebook sets, Amazon gift cards and awesome swag! There is an International and US Only rafflecopter for this one so make sure you enter both if you are a US resident. There are over 140 individual prizes to be won!
http://givemebooksblog.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/give-me-books-presents-extreme-jock.html

Vegas Vows!

Exciting announcement! A while back I wrote a Sinners short story meant to appear in a Crimson Romance anthology. Crimson decided to go with baseball stories this time around, so I have a gift for my awesome readers. I made Vegas Vows into a PDF complete with a cover :) E-mail me at ken9002@setonhill.edu with the very last thing Carter says to Jacey in On the Fly, and I'll send you their wedding adventure!

Full Strength Snippet!

Missing Nealy? She's back in fine form in Full Strength!

Sunday, May 12^th

            Shane closed his eyes and tried to will away the nausea. He’d made it to Nealy’s office door, and that was hard enough. No one else on the executive level today, but after practice, her majesty had requested a word. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, his heart beating like a jackrabbit’s. No idea what she wanted, but mandatory meetings were rarely good.

            “In or out, Reese, don’t be a tease.” Her tiny voice came through the wall as if she could sense him hesitating.

            He eased inside, closed the door and stood in front of her desk. “Wanted to see me, Coach?”

            “Have a seat. And for God’s sake, take that look off your face. I’m not going to demand your firstborn.” Expressionless as usual, but a lighter, more teasing tone than normal.

            A smile started at the corners of his mouth but didn’t quite make it. He dropped into the chair opposite her and folded his hands over his stomach, thought better of it, and set them on the arm rests.

            “Christ,” she said in mock disgust and shook her head. She stared at him for a long minute. Was that compassion in her eyes? “I want you to start in game one.”

            He blinked. “What?” It sounded like she said she wanted him to start. But that wasn’t possible. If it was a joke, her sense of humor had taken a wicked turn.

            “You heard me. You’ve been through your bullshit. Gotten it out of your system. I liked what I saw in practice today. You’re ready. Gotta get back in the saddle and lead this team to the finals. You’re the franchise goaltender, and it’s time to remind people of that.”

            Funny. Felt like she was reminding him. A warm and fuzzy moment with Nealy never seemed possible before, but damn if he didn’t want to hug her now. “Thanks, Coach.”

            “You want to thank me? Win on Tuesday. Simkins had a comfort level with the Sharks, got in their heads. You have an undefeated record with the Blackhawks. This one’s all you.”

            He nodded. Instead of pressured, he felt raring to go. Tuesday couldn’t come fast enough.

            “All right, now get outta here. I gotta solidify the rest of the lineup.”

            “Yes, Coach.” He grinned and couldn’t stop, even as she shook her head watching him leave.

Hot Heroes Faceoff!

Crimson Romance authors love their leading men and are willing to fight for them. Join us on July 2 for Round 6 of the Hot Heroes Faceoff! The event lasts all day with the heroes posting details about themselves and their books—and yes, there will be many hot photos as the heroes rally for votes!

Our two heroes squaring off are horse rancher, shape-shifting wolf, and Round 3, 4 and 5 Winner Aidan Gael from Fated Souls by Becky Flade and challenger Carter Phlynn, NHL All Star from On The Fly by Katie Kenyhercz.

Here’s a little background on our hotties:

Aidan Gael lives in forced solitude with his secrets and his grief. He spends the days on his ranch in the sunlight with his horses. But his nights are spent in the forest, running through the tress as the wolf, Gealach. This handsome green-eyed man guards his heart even better than he does his secrets. Tragedy has defined him; a curse binds him; and he is determined to protect the woman that loves him – from him.

Carter Phlynn has known nothing but hockey his entire life. Drafted into the NHL at age eighteen, winning the Stanley Cup is all he's ever wanted. Nothing has ever disrupted his focus. Not until he meets his new boss. Carter has never had a relationship last more than a month, but all that's about to change.

Our heroes took time to answer one question as they prepare for Tuesday’s Faceoff.

 Aidan, how did you celebrate your Round 5 win against the 70’s rock legend?

Aidan: Maggie and I arranged for a babysitter. We packed a cooler with sandwiches and soda, then drove two hours in the Impala to the closest remaining Drive-in theater in Minnesota. We then made out like a couple of teenagers during the double feature. It was great.

Carter, how are you preparing to defeat this three-time champ?

Carter: My team just won the Stanley Cup. In between celebrating, I've been hitting up the workout room and running miles on the neighborhood trails in as little clothing as possible. Vegas summers are hot. I understand my competitor is formidable, but I've always been able to handle myself in a faceoff.

Two men enter, one man leaves. Who will it be? The shape-shifting wolf or the NHL All Star? That's for you to decide. Join us at:

http://www.facebook.com/events/301763299957370/

Join the conversation on Twitter, get updates on how the heroes are training, and pick a team. #HotHeroFaceoff #TeamAidan #TeamCarter

Carter needs your vote! Support your Sinners! Oh Captain, my captain ;)

A Year In Love Crimson Romance Blog Hop

For Crimson Romance's one-year anniversary, we authors are posting chapters from our books. This is Chapter Nineteen from On the Fly! Stuff's about to get steamy!

Chapter Nineteen

Monday, October 31^st: End of the Night

Jacey leaned against the taxi window, legs crossed. She tried to make herself as small as possible to accommodate the two extra-large hockey players beside her. Carter took the middle seat to shield her from the one-hundred-proof Kevin Scott. On a good day, the six-foot, four-inch left wing could charm with the best of them, but tonight his auburn hair looked like crazy porcupine quills, and the dark circles under his eyes weren’t from costume paint. The Eau de Bourbon cologne didn’t help. Shortly after Carter had angled him into the cab, Kevin’s head lolled back, his eyes closed, and the snoring began. At least the cab driver’s loud, Simply Sinatra radio station drowned most of it out.

“You really know how to show a girl a good time, Phlynn.”

“Now you call me Phlynn? We are so moving in the wrong direction.”

“I kind of want to kill Scotty. Is that a normal, ownerly feeling?”

Kevin’s head dropped onto Carter’s shoulder, eliciting a disgusted wince from the captain. Carter pushed him back against the door. “Oh, he’ll pay for interrupting our date. There’s an afternoon practice tomorrow. He sleeps through it, Nealy skins him alive. He shows up like this, he’ll wish he was so lucky.”

Even though she’d already sort of known, it was different to hear him say it. “Date?”

He stared at her a minute, his expression unreadable. For a brief second, she thought he’d take it back, say he misspoke. The hope in her voice was embarrassing enough to make her consider tucking and rolling right out into the street. Then his smile flickered back. “I know these aren’t the most romantic circumstances right now, but the night started off pretty well.”

Heat crept up into her face as the first hot kiss replayed in her mind. He’d caught her mid accusation, and once the shock wore off, her Id came out to play and shoved Super Ego Jacey in the closet. She couldn’t remember ever letting go like that. Her pulse sped up at the memory.

Carter curled his fingers into hers and kissed each knuckle slowly. His lips felt warm and smooth as silk against her skin. She shot a nervous glance at Kevin, but he was dead to the world. And Carter didn’t seem to care one way or the other. He turned her hand over and kissed the pulse point at her wrist. “Night’s not over yet.”

Id hip-checked Super Ego Jacey back in the closet and threw away the key. I am so gonna regret this.

* * *

After they dropped Scotty off at his house, only the cabbie’s occasional, rear-view-mirror glances kept Carter a gentleman. Jacey looked like a sexy super villain in the glowing horns and that dress. The glittering black flame hemline kept inching up her legs. The black wig looked hot, but he wanted to take it off and run his fingers through her soft curls while he kissed the responsible out of her. Arms folded under her chest, he could see her mentally wrestling with something. He’d bet anything its name was Madden.

“You trust him, right?”

“Who?”

“The brother you still picture with braces and acne.”

“I don’t…okay, maybe I do. It’s just…”

“Diamond Cove. Here we are!” The cabbie turned the music down and slowed the car to a stop in front of their neighborhood gates. Carter handed over the fare and tip then helped Jacey out. She’d been relaxed around him all night, and he couldn’t get over it. The no-nonsense woman who’d turned his life upside down step by step actually had a soft side.

He key-fobbed them in and offered his arm. She took it without reservation, and as they fell into step, he felt something hit the back of his leg. Her devil tail. For a minute, he stared transfixed as it swayed from her backside. A sharp poke to his stomach snapped his head back around.

“Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to leer at a lady with a pitchfork?”

“Ahh, let me think. ‘Wear a helmet. Homework before hockey. Stop picking on Shane; he’s smaller than you.’ Nope, must have missed that one. And I was not leering. I was admiring.”

“Uh huh. Shane?”

“Reese. We grew up together. Closest thing to a brother I’ve had.”

“You’re lucky.”

“What did Madden do? I mean, aside from sleep with the enemy. You were about to say.” Carter directed his gaze to the sidewalk lit by the fancy streetlamps. He didn’t want to put more pressure on her by staring. She didn’t pull away, but he could feel her tense up.

“You don’t have to answer that…”

“He always had a head for numbers. Mix that with poor impulse control, and you get a world-class gambling addict. Twelve-step programs for Madden were more like thirty-six steps. But supposedly, he did it—quit. I knew Vegas would be bad for him. He ran up a huge debt with a loan shark. To a normal person, the answer to debt isn’t more gambling. To an addict…”

“I get the picture. He keeps making it worse.”

“He’s not a bad kid. He has a good heart. But I think we’ll have to sell the house. I was going to anyway, eventually. It feels more like a Hollywood set than a home. We’ll pay his debt, and then I’ll make sure he—”

“Jacey, stop.” Carter stilled and gave her no choice. She faced him, her expression curious, and it broke his heart a little. “You didn’t ask for any of this, did you? You probably had some job lined up with a Fortune 500 company. Then your father passes and leaves you with a basically new hockey team to run all by yourself. The way you talk, I can tell this isn’t the first time you’ve assumed responsibility for your brother. Why do you do it?”

“What else would I do? My father is the reason I had the chance at the best education, made the best contacts. This team was his soul, and he left it to me. I can’t walk away from that. I won’t. And Madden…he’s the only family I have left. Yes, he’s a screw-up, but I’m not giving up on him. He needs me; I’m there. It’s who I am.”

The passion in her voice and the certainty in her eyes touched him. What would it be like to have someone feel that way about him? Shock set in as he realized he wanted to be on the receiving end of that devotion. It was a scary thought and one he immediately questioned, but the answer remained the same. Any man would be lucky to have Jacey on his side.

He stepped forward. When she didn’t back away, he cupped her jaw and kissed her. It started out soft, but when she didn’t protest, he deepened it. A few seconds went by before she returned it, tentative. He pulled back just enough to rest his forehead against hers and looked into her half-lidded eyes.

“What was that for?”

“Being you.”

She smiled and leaned up to kiss him this time. He slid his free arm around her waist and hauled her closer. It elicited a surprised purr from the angelic devil woman, and the sound stole his last scrap of reason. “Your street’s one block over. Mine’s around the corner, and it’s still relatively early. Do you want to come over for a while?”

He fully expected her to say no. Jacey, the list-maker, the pro/con weigher, the only person who could define Type A better than he could would never agree to it—especially on a work night. He could see the mental war on her face, and every silent second made his heart beat harder. Had he gone too far? They’d more or less obliterated the boss-employee professional boundary tonight. But if she said yes, they were likely to do something they couldn’t take back or laugh off.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“I don’t know what this is. I know professionally that I shouldn’t, but tonight, as crazy as it was, I relaxed for the first time in a really long time. I like being with you, God help me.”

The last part sounded so resigned that he had to laugh. “Gee, thanks.”

“You know what I mean.”

He brushed a light kiss to her lips, the corner of her mouth, then the base of her ear. “I like being with you too. Let’s go work on that relaxation some more.”

To find out what happens next, check out On the Fly here:
Amazon
Barnes&Noble

For more tantalizing tales, check out chapters from these hot Crimson books!

Fresh Legs

There's a term in hockey called "Fresh legs." It means you want to put a player on the ice who has had some time to rest and refresh. I always thought this was a peculiar term, because this is what comes to mind when I hear it:

Y'know, like fresh lemonade? But as my Pittsburgh Penguins are facing double overtime, it would be nice if it were this easy to find fresh legs. My boys have to be exhausted. But if they can pull out a win, we'll be up 3-0 in this series! Wish us luck. And fresh legs.

iHeart Hockey

I get some interesting reactions when I tell people I write hockey romance. I guess I look more Cinderella than Slap Shot. I started getting the reactions long before my writing days. I would tell people how much I loved the sport, and the most common response was raised eyebrows and, "Really?" Yes, really.

So the next question was how did a girl like me get into a sport like that? This is how :)

That's me at fifteen playing roller hockey in a small, local league. There was one other girl on the team, and she was the owner's daughter. It was...interesting. Still, you're thinking there has to be more to the story than one day I said to myself, "I know. Roller hockey." Right around this time, I went through my first ever breakup, and you know how that is. I felt like I needed to re-invent myself to move forward. I started going to the Skate Zone every weekend and even to night sessions during the week. It was a release, an escape. And I could skate. Those Rollerblades were like second feet. My favorite thing was beating the boys in speed races. Remember the scene in On the Fly when Carter challenges Jacey and she pretends to be a newb then sprints to the other end? I didn't pull that out of thin air :)

One day, I saw a flyer for the hockey league, and everything clicked. I'd never participated in contact sports before. Swimming, gymnastics, dance, sure. This was stepping into another realm. I was completely in over my head, and while it was fun, I didn't really know the rules at the time, so I just tried to follow whatever orders Coach barked from the sidelines. 

Know what's different about roller hockey? You don't have half as many pads. There are a lot of unprotected areas, and while you don't have a frozen disc of vulcanized rubber flying at you, you do have a small, hard rubber ball. Imagine taking a short-range slap shot to the forearm. Biceps. Sternum. You get the idea. I was covered in red, donut-shaped welts. The league dispersed on its own, but I'd already decided I liked hockey better as a spectator.

I started watching Pittsburgh Penguins games around the time Sidney Crosby came on the scene, and it's been true love ever since. Me and hockey, that is ;) I'm addicted to the excitement, speed, grace, and precise skill of the game. The intense bonds and joking brotherhoods of the players. That's what I want to come across in my Sinners novels. 

These days I settle for skating in the park. A few years ago, some roller derby girls saw me and wanted to recruit me--an honor--but I'll tell you a secret I was forced to admit to them. While I'm confident on my blades, put me in quad skates, and I'd probably break an ankle. Or two. I started out on quads as a kid, but as soon as I switched to in-line skates, I couldn't go back. The balance is all different. I prefer the freedom of movement I get from my blades and the ability to turn on a dime.

So that's the whole story :) Do you have a sport that gives you butterflies? How did you fall in love?