Blog Tour Stop: "Over the Edge" by Suzanne Carroll

Today, I'm hosting a blog tour stop to celebrate the release of Suzanne Carroll's Over the Edge.

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Summary

In six weeks Zoe Harper will marry Dan Costi in an over-the-top Sydney society wedding, complete with fire-eaters and belly dancers. But when she receives an unexpected gift from her future mother-in-law, Zoe realizes she’s making a huge mistake. In a blazing sidewalk argument, she breaks up with her fiancé, and his mother—who has joined the fight via conference call.

Following the advice of friends and co-workers, along with some inspiration from late-night-television self-help guru Dr. Pam, Zoe sets out to find the life she thinks she should be living. Always a planner, she makes a list of goals: travel, career, tattoos, and no romantic entanglements. It’s all carefully laid out, until she meets Angus Creed.

Angus is supposed to lead the opening waltz at a charity ball in New York City. Only problem is the handsome billionaire construction magnate with the tabloid past can’t dance. Not one step.

Tainted by gossip and with a well-publicized failed engagement behind him, Angus has become a master at keeping an emotional distance. Until he meets Zoe.

What starts as dancing lessons, slowly becomes something more. Angus begins to let down his guard and open his heart, even when his past makes an unexpected and unwelcome return. As Zoe discovers the real man behind the headlines, she questions where her new choices are taking her. Her goals look good on paper, but are they what she really wants? And by the time she realizes where her heart lies, will it be too late?

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My review:

I should start this off by saying I don't usually read comedy. Or books written in first-person. Or present tense. Suzanne Carroll may have changed my mind about that.

The first-person narrative, and the use of present tense, was perfect for this novel, which is not only a story about a woman falling in love, it's also a story of a woman finding herself again.

Zoe has lost herself when the novel begins. She's engaged to a slyly manipulative man who has completely taken over her life. His mother is just as bad, and the pair of them have bullied Zoe into compliance with their choices. Dan has given over the planning of his wedding to Zoe to his mother, and the novel begins with Zoe's frustration and despair when she discovers Dan's mother has taken away the sole choice Zoe was allowed to make: her wedding cake. But Dan thinks since his mother is paying for the lavish circus, Zoe should stop being so stubborn and ungrateful.

Later that night, she finally breaks.She and Dan had picked out a house, but Dan's mother has bought them a wedding present. An apartment. In her own building. When Zoe protests, Dan accuses her of being selfish and ungrateful, and chastises her for wanting to see him slave away the rest of his life to pay for the crummy house she chose... As I was reading, I was picturing Dan's mother sitting in their apartment every day, demanding Zoe fold clothes her way and buying them a new vacuum because Zoe doesn't sweep properly...

The camel's back finally snaps. Zoe has a ferocious argument with Dan, finally seeing him for what he is. She walks away a free woman, not really having an idea of where she's going, but reveling in the freedom none the less.

While Zoe is recovering her sense of self and trying to work out what she wants to do with the rest of her life, her path crosses that of Angus Creed, the owner of the company where she works. Both of them are very cautious because both of them have been wounded before. Theirs is a slowly unfolding relationship, friends evolving into lovers.

Angus is what I like in a romance hero: sweet, considerate, and willing to communicate. He's grounded and hard-working, a perfect foil for Zoe. It's hard for him to trust, but you get the sense he realizes rather quickly that Zoe is worth it. Most importantly, he gives her the respect she's been missing for so long.

It was a charming love story and I look forward to seeing more of Suzanne Carroll's work in the future.

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A question for the author...

Seeing that this book revolves around dance, what music inspires you to write... and get your groove on?

It’s not usually music that inspires me to write, it’s more likely to be something I see. Like a guy walking along the street carrying a bunch of flowers. Or a picture of an empty beach in someone’s holiday snaps. Those sorts of things start me thinking. A friend has a photo from a trip to Europe - it’s a picture of a young guy in Paris and he’s riding a vesper with a huge smile on his face. The Arc de Triomphe is in the background. It’s a great image, and makes me wonder where he’s going, and why’s he smiling…and a story could really grow from there.

But I do love music. All sorts of music. The Clash. Katy Perry. Clannad. They Might Be Giants. Pink. The problem is, if I have it playing while I write I end up dancing in my chair and singing along and the writing doesn’t happen. Yeah, I’m easily distracted like that.

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Author Bio:

Suzanne lives in Sydney with her husband and children.  By day she works in an office where she sneakily scribbles plot ideas on yellow sticky notes and hopes they don't accidentally end up on the departmental monthly report.

One such sticky note has turned into her first novel, Over the Edge.

Buying link: http://ph.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/books/detail/74 

FREE Things You Can Do to Help an Indie Author

--"Like" their Facebook book or author pages. Lots of book pages feature indie authors and post links to their FB pages. When you see one of them as you're scrolling through your FB timeline, hover over their names and click "like" when the box appears. If you're not interested in seeing their updates on your timeline, un-check the box that appears when you over over "liked."

-- "Like" them on Amazon. If there's no button on their book page, click over to their author page and "like" them there.

-- Shelve them on Goodreads. You don't have to rate them or review. Simply putting them on a shelf -- according genre, or whether it's first-person, love triangle, whatever-- helps make the book more popular.



-- If you have read the book, please give the author a review. It doesn't have to be glowing or wordy. Just saying one or two things you liked, or even stuff you didn't like, is sufficient. Post your review on Goodreads, Amazon, Shelfari, B&N, iTunes... The more places, the better, and it's okay to cut-and-paste the same review to each site.

--Tweet or post on Facebook about books you liked.


--If Amazon sends you an email about the book, give it a click. It helps the book gain rank in the algorithm.

-- Re-Tweet or share their posts about their book, sales, excerpts, etc.

-- Next time you're at the library or bookstore, ask them to carry the book.


If you know of any other tips to help out indie authors, please post them in the comments.

My Day as an Author at the Ohioana Book Festival

This was my first year at Ohioana, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. My only other experience with this sort of thing was at the Texas Book Festival last October. Then, I had my publisher and a large group of fellow authors with me. For this one, I would be mostly on my own, though my fellow TWCS author Sherri Hayes was attending, too.


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2009 Ohioana Book Festival from Ohioana Book Festival on Vimeo.


I was seated in a row of authors, between romance and mystery, which I guess was a good place to put me, since I don't really fit in any particular category. On my left was mystery author Casey Daniels-- who also writes as Kylie Logan for HarperCollins-- and on my right was Harmony Evans, from Harlequin. I was the indie filling in a Big Six sandwich.

I was also the only indie at my roundtable discussion. As the discussion started, we were asked to introduce ourselves and tell how we got into the writing gig. I was the last in line, and it felt a little odd telling my story after hearing the other authors' tales of determination and the publishing struggle and agents...

Jillian Kent, Harmony Evans,
 me, and Yolanda Tonette Sanders 

So, I timidly stammer out my tale and a bit about my books, at one time finding myself on a bit of a blather about Gertrude Stein and Somerset Maugham and reeling myself back in with effort. (I could probably talk about Verdun for an hour, but they were here to talk about romance novels.)

One of the first questions I got: "What is fanfiction?"

So, I explained how a writer might take two existing characters from a published work and send them on new adventures, like writing a story which features Catherine and Heathcliff in modern day America. And that's when the author beside me mentioned That Book.

"Fifty Shades of Gray was once fanfiction... And you're with the publisher who first published it, right?"

This was the audience:

Okay, maybe not that bad, but some eyebrows were raised. And then I sat there, feverishly wondering if I should say, "But I don't write erotica! Not that there's anything wrong with it, but that's not what I write." And by the time my brain-- which is notoriously sluggish about supplying dialogue for real life-- had decided on what to say, the discussion had moved on.

Back at my table, it was busy. The crowd had really increased. It was hard to weave my way back to my table without spilling my tea. And speaking of tea, did they have a nice spread! They had a break room for the authors with tea and coffee. Breakfast was out when I arrived, and then at noon, they served a nice lunch, too. They also had water carts which went down the rows of tables, and volunteers who stopped by periodically to see if we needed anything. I felt positively pampered by the attentiveness.

This was the biggest crowd they'd ever had, I was told, and the festival gets bigger every year. This year, they had ninety authors. Fortunately, I had my True Love with me and he could do most of the "heavy lifting" when it came to the social interaction.

I had a TV set up, playing my book trailers, which you can see to my left in the photo above, and I had Sam and Ghostie with me, the two little mascots I carry to all of my promo gigs. Poor Sam is looking pretty battered after all of his travels! At one point, he was picked up off the table by a toddler and gnawed upon, and I blurted. "Oh, no, you don't want to chew on him. He fell down a mountain." Meaning, of course, that it's not terribly hygienic, but I've never been very good with words verbally. That's why I write, instead.

There was a really cool experience I was glad I got to have: a reader stopped by my table to have a photo taken and get her books signed. She was Emily from Book Jems. She was one of my fanfiction readers and she gave The End of All Things a fabulous review when it first came out. It was awesome to get to meet her.

Afterwards, we went out to dinner with Sherri Hayes and her husband. She has about half a dozen of these things coming up this year. I don't know where she gets the energy!

Cover Reveal and Giveaway! Kahlen Aymes, "A Love Like This"

Today, I'm revealing the cover of A Love Like This, the highly-anticipated final volume of the Remembrance Trilogy by Kahlen Aymes. There is also a giveaway of three ARCs (Advanced Review Copies) and of the first two books in the trilogy! Enter using the Rafflecopter widget at the end of this post.

Synopsis:

Settled in New York City, Ryan and Julia Matthews seek to enjoy their idyllic newlywed life together. Julia’s high-profile job at Vogue and Ryan’s promising career in medicine will surely set them up for everything they could ever want. Their only obstacle seems to be finding enough time to spend together.

When a scuffle at Ryan’s hospital puts his life in danger, a colleague steps in to save him but is critically injured in the process. In a heroic and unwavering effort, Ryan manages to save her life, but her injuries irrevocably change her future forever.

What happens next will push Ryan beyond human endurance, when he is forced to decide how much he will pay for his new friendship and Julia, what she is willing to sacrifice in order to spare herself the unspeakable pain of watching someone else try to replace her in Ryan’s heart.

Join Ryan and Julia in the heart-wrenching conclusion to the unforgettable story of an incredible love… worth every single sacrifice…

For there is nothing more sacred than… A Love Like This…

Where to buy:

Amazon
Smashwords 
Barnes and Noble 

Also available on sony.com, kobo.com and apple stores.

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And now, the cover...

A Love Like This will be available June 24th.

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About the author:

Kahlen Aymes grew up in the Mid-Western United States and was educated at a private university. She is divorced with one daughter, has a B.S.B.A. degree in business/marketing and began writing as a way to network a business venture. Soon, writing turned into her passion and morphed all other career goals.

Kahlen is an award-winning author of sizzling hot, deeply moving contemporary romance. Her stories are filled with intense love, passion, angst and emotion that breathes life into her characters and leaves her readers captivated. She lives near Omaha, Nebraska with her daughter, Olivia and their three dogs. Creative by nature, she enjoys the arts, music and theater... But the love of her life is writing!

She adores hearing from her readers, so don't be shy.

Represented by Elizabeth Winick-Rubinstein of McIntosh & Otis Literary Agency, the first two books in her series; The Remembrance Trilogy are available now. Come and experience Ryan and Julia's mad, mad love.

Find Kahlen on Facebook, email or follow her Twitter accounts; @kahlenaymes & @kahlen_Aymes & blog.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sneak Peek Sunday: Allie Jean's Legacy of a Dreamer 2

In anticipation for the release of Book #2 in the Dreamer Series, Allie Jean has released her book trailer of

Legacy of a Dreamer

Trailer by Lindsey Gray Productions

Chantal Breelan is a ward of the state, living under the care of a woman who is cold and heartless. Her past is a mystery, and her future is even more uncertain. She can’t recall why she had been taken from her parents and so she’s left with nothing but an empty hole where her childhood should have been. When she awakens from her nightmares, she’s left with terrible, violent images, as well as a boy whose face is oddly familiar, yet can’t be placed.

Scared and alone, Chantal begins to confide in an imaginary friend – a shadow in the shape of a man who stands in the corner of her room. She is comforted when she believes he listens to her.

 On her eighteenth birthday, Chantal is forced to leave her foster home. She moves to New York City, but the start of her new life doesn’t begin as smoothly as she’d hoped. One night at a subway station, Chantal meets a young boy who runs away from her, and she’s compelled to follow him down into the tunnels. But this Rabbit Hole reveals a world where reality is a nightmare.

Mathias is a descendant of a Fallen Angel and beholden to wage an unfathomable war against an ancient evil, spawned by greed and spite. A powerful fighter, he and his brethren of Warriors vow to pay recompense for the sins of their fathers by guarding the most precious, piercing light against the darkness – the females of their kind. The Warriors' pledge is to find and protect the Oracles, their sisters and kin. Long have they fought, shedding sweat and blood, hoping that their struggles are not in vain. Yet in his sacrifice and service he may find life’s ultimate reward – a love to surpass all time.

To contact Allie Jean

                 

IWSG: Comparison is the Thief of Joy

Last week, I was quietly horrified to hear the story of an author who had assumed a "sock puppet" identity and had used it to trash other authors in her genre, apparently in the hope that readers would flock to her after seeing the others had such bad reviews.

Putting aside the terrible ethics of the situation, this author was afflicted with the notion that her fellow writers are competitors, that the readers are a finite resource, and any success of others takes away from her own. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Envy is a natural reaction when human beings encounter another person who is far more successful in their chosen field. We've all seen the over-night Cinderella success stories of Amanda Hocking, E.L. James, and Molly McAdams. Every author dreams of their book being widely read, and it's tempting to fall into jealousy and perhaps snipe that the successful ones don't really "deserve" to be where they are. And the most dangerous pitfall of all: comparing our work to theirs.

We might think our work is better. We might think it's worse. We might question what they have that we don't. We could become disdainful of the public's taste, or consider altering our work to be more in line with the current trend. We might find ourselves in that sticky tar pit of self-doubt. Whatever the case, this sort of comparison rarely has any positive outcome.

The quote is attributed to Franklin Roosevelt. Comparison is the thief of joy. Wiser words have been rarely spoken. 

We cannot compare our experiences, journey or successes to other authors because we're all so very different. We're not producing the same "product" so there's no logical way to make a direct comparison that provides any meaningful-- or helpful-- analysis. All of us are on a different journey on different roads, using different forms of transportation. It's not a board game where all players are on the same path to a SUCCESS box, dependent on a correct roll of the dice or being able to "bump" another player back a few spaces. 

Everyone is playing their own game, with their own rules, their own challenges, and their own definition of winning. And it's a game we all can win.

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You can see my other posts for the Insecure Writer's Support Group here, and visit the main blogroll here.

Two Historical Fiction Authors View VIKINGS, Episode IX

Welcome back to our series on The History Channel's VIKINGS. Sandi Layne, author of Éire's Captive Moon, is with me again to chat about last night's episode.

Final verdict on the show? 

Sandi: The costumes were very good, save for a few noticeable exceptions. The scenery was exceptional and felt very authentic. The culture was presented, I think, fairly. I noticed differences between these Vikings and the Northmen I studied for my trilogy, but it is clear that a great deal of effort went in to the crafting of this series. History Channel deserves many kudos.

Lissa: The costumes and sets were, hands-down, the best I've ever seen in a historical television series. The attention to detail was remarkable. I recognized many props that were replicas of artifacts. Except for a couple of minor you'd-never-notice-it-if-you-weren't-a-geek flubs, the show demonstrated a real commitment to historical accuracy, and I adore them for it. I also love how they wove details from the legends into the story line. It gets my history geek thumbs-up!

And now, on to the final episode!

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Lissa: We've come to the final episode now and what a magnificent journey it has been.

Sandi: It really has. Thank you for suggesting we do this. This series has been amazing.

Lissa: Last night, I fell in love with the show all over again, torn between raging and fangirling over how many details they incorporated from the saga. The tree that doesn't lose its leaves... Ragnar's riddle-challenges to Princess Aslaug... Even details I wish they HADN'T incorporated. For once, I was almost hoping for historical inaccuracy!

Wikipedia Commons

Sandi: Gasp! lol I am not as versed in the Saga, of course, but I appreciated the story as it came at us. The riddle was well-done and I appreciated how Aslaug answered it. That dress? Uh-HUH. And the wolf was great.

Lissa: I want to hate Aslaug as a "home wrecker" but I can't. She's probably been waiting her entire life for a worthy suitor to come along and uniting her forces with those of Ragnar makes political sense, even if it's painful, emotionally. She's the daughter of a famous shield maiden... Is she a warrior herself? The show didn't give us any indication of that.

Ragnar set out on his journey to negotiate a settlement with the rebellious jarl for Horik, but it seems this might create a schism within his own house. In trying to include his brother, he may have seen the last threads binding them together severed. Rollo finally gave into the dark side. And I don't think Ragnar even realizes his brother was tempted. It's going to be terrible when he realizes he's been betrayed.

Yggdrasill, the
"world tree."

Sandi: I am still of the mind that Rollo doesn't want Ragnar dead. Rollo doesn't wish ill on his brother; I believe he loves him sincerely. But he feels left out when he believed that they would be equal. He feels slighted and unnoticed and for a man of his nature, that's a powerful motivator for undertaking actions he might not otherwise consider. The actor, Clive Standen, did a great job displaying this in understated acting during the final scene with Jarl Borg. There will be a feeling of betrayal, of course, but I do hope that the brothers can reconcile. The Jarl played Rollo like a fiddle. I hope that comes to light.

Lissa: I think you're right. I don't think this came as an easy decision for him, despite the things he'd said to Siggy about wanting to be earl. And maybe he never allowed himself to follow those thoughts to their natural conclusion. (If he's jarl, where is Ragnar?) Even now that he's agreed to go to war with him, he may be imagining this scenario can be solved without having to take Ragnar's life.

Speaking of betrayal, I agreed with you that a bit of a tumble wasn't seen as big a deal as we modern folks think of it, but I was anguished at the pain it was causing Bjørn  He's seen his parents as a united front, passionately in love, and now, suddenly, he sees his father beginning to distance himself from his mother. Bjørn witnessed poor Lagertha begging Ragnar not to leave her during the festival, so he knows his mother is hurt by his father going off to play around with other women. It wasn't the sex as much as it was a symptom of a deeper problem between them.

Sandi: Yes, and I am hoping this will be addressed. Relationship tension will be interesting in Season 2, but there are so many other problems to be addressed as well.

Lissa: I was impressed that Ragnar kept his vow to Bjørn at least until he learned Princess Aslaug was pregnant. In this detail, they deviated from the sagas, because in the old stories, the princess refused to allow Ragnar into her bed until they were married. Will Bjørn reject his father if he decides to leave Lagertha?

Sandi: This is hard to say. Bjørn is close to his father and wishes to emulate him, but a boy ("man" or not, the lad's young) is naturally protective of a mother he has seen honored and loved all of his life. He believes all the best about Lagertha. Will that filial emotion cause him to shield her from hurt or defend her or urge her from Ragnar? Something I think that has been well handled is how the death of a child, even an unborn one, can affect a couple's relationship.

Odin at the World Tree

Lissa: I was glad the show didn't go for the "low-hanging fruit" and turn it into a simple "power corrupts" story line. He didn't start partying like a rock star when he assumed the mantle of the jarl. Ragnar has made some decisions I dislike emotionally, but he's acted quite sensibly when it comes to ruling his people. Even his relationship with Aslaug, I think, will be decided more on what's best for his jarldom than his own, personal desires.

Back home, tragedy has struck. The plague scenes were so well done. The smoke of the pyres hanging low, the emptiness of the once-bustling little village ... Lagertha looked exhausted from tending the ill, who were packed in like sardines on the floor of the jarl's house. Once again, she proves herself to be a fine leader, quite possibly better at the job than her husband.

Sandi: I will jump on the Lagertha Bandwagon, here. She does (and has always done, as far as I have seen) a great job with crisis. She keeps a cool head and leads her family, her people. She's a rock, even while frightened about her husband's mission and their relationship and his future. Just an amazing woman.

Lissa: I can't see Ragnar cutting her completely out of his life. He truly does love Lagertha, even if he feels the gods are leading him in another direction. It remains to be seen how Lagertha will react to what's happened, and whether she'll accept a secondary position in his life. I doubt if Aslaug would accept the lower-status!

I was anguished for her when she lost Gyda; Ragnar is going to be shattered by the loss, and I fear it will be even more of a wedge between he and Lagertha. Siggy also lost her daughter... will this change her path? Will she reconsider her plans to topple Ragnar and Lagertha because they have both lost a daughter in the prime of life? Will she feel guilty that she was the one who brought the plague to Kattegat?

Siegfried awakens Brünnhilde

 by Otto Donner von Richter

Sandi: This will be the second child that has been taken from Ragnar, even if he seems to have been successful with engendering more. I do hope that Ragnar doesn't do something stupid. I hope he brings his strong right arm and gets his people back to a good place when he comes home. And Siggy! That threw me. What about her relationship with Rollo, in light of what has happened? Her guilt about the plague will remain to be seen. She has disrupted the whole community, without malicious intent, and this will weigh on her. Still, I hope that the Rollo/Siggy storyline isn't abandoned. 

Lissa: Rollo doesn't really want Siggy. He wants Lagertha. And if Ragnar divorces her...

Sandi: Indeed! And wouldn't that be interesting...?

Lissa: Thank you for all of the wonderful discussions we've had. This has been great fun, and I look forward to next year's episodes!

Sandi: Thank you! It's been a delight, to be sure. :)

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And thank you to everyone who joined us for this series.