Happy Tuesday readers.
To round out March on a high note,
I have author Joyce Holmes and her new book,
Dare to Risk All.
Welcome Joyce, it's wonderful to meet you. Tell me three words that describe yourself starting
with A, B, and C.
Amiable
Busy
Conscientious
What are your three favorite things?
Family
Animals
Nature
Are you self- published or with a publishing company
(if so, which one?)?
I’m fortunate to be published with two publishers, Sweet
Cravings Publishing and The Wild Rose Press.
Is there a process you stick to, or do you just write
as it hits you?
I fall somewhere in between. Usually I come up with a
character or two, and a basic premise, then see where it goes from there. As
for my writing process, I always edit as I go along. Each day, before I start
writing fresh, I read what I’ve written the day before and do some light edits.
Sometimes when I hit a roadblock, I go back and read/edit from the beginning
and that either helps get me back into the story or it points out where I
headed in the wrong direction.
How much is your character like you?
I certainly don’t have Tessa’s marketing smarts, but we
do share several traits, now that I think about it. We’re both diligent and
have been under-appreciated at work. We don’t put a lot of stock in our appearance,
and we’re both short, although that’s where the similarities in our looks end.
We love animals and our dogs are a big part of our family. We believe in
happy-ever-after.
When not writing, what can you be found doing?
My hubby and I love to travel as much as we can, and I’m
an avid picture taker, which I probably over-share on my blog. We also like to get
out into nature, hiking, biking, and our newest sport - kayaking. I’d really
love to spend more time with my family, but my three boys have all scattered
across this vast country so I don’t see them nearly as much as I want to.
When writing, which do you prefer to write with,
computer or paper and pen?
I make lots of notes with pen and paper, but the actual
writing is done on my laptop.
BLURB:
Tessa Caldwell’s carefully structured world is thrown into
chaos when the handsome stranger she had an uncharacteristic fling with
reappears in her life. Ben not only gets the promotion she thought was hers,
but is also intent on resuming their physical relationship. Although Tessa’s
rational mind insists on a professional association, both her heart and her
traitorous body have other ideas. Can her sensible nature possibly win against
such temptation?
Memories of the petite blonde with large, blue eyes have
haunted Ben Dunham for months. When he transfers to her branch, he anticipates
picking up where they left off. Reality doesn’t match memory when the cool and
collected lady wants no part of him. If he intends to pursue Tessa, he has to
earn her trust. The problem is, Ben carries a dark and dangerous secret. How
does he get Tessa to trust him when he can’t trust himself?
Excerpt:
“Morning, Tessa,” Ben
and Travis chorused as she came down the hallway toward them the next morning.
She had arrived at
least twenty minutes early, so why was Ben already at work? Sharing small talk
and coffee with Travis in the hall outside their office. Brownnoser. And he’d
effectively stolen the advantage of being the first to settle into the new
office.
Ben’s gaze moved
coolly, shamelessly, over her body in a deliberately appreciative manner. His
sensuous mouth curved into a smile that made her legs go rubbery and had her
wishing she’d chosen a pantsuit instead of the curve-clinging wool dress.
Not that she had any
actual curves worth clinging to.
“Morning.” She smiled
pleasantly at Travis first, then nodded briefly in Ben’s direction and turned
her back on him, hoping he wouldn’t follow her into the office.
He did. And he closed
the door behind him.
She went to her desk,
using it as a barrier between them to help cope with his presence. Her temper
tended to subside as quickly as it flared, and yesterday’s outburst already
shamed her. After careful consideration, she realized she’d behaved
unreasonably toward Ben. Because he was right—he had offered to stop before they’d
made love, and she had been the one to convince him otherwise.
Despite not feeling
very logical right now, common sense told her she shared in the responsibility
for what had happened between them. She needed to put aside her personal
feelings and concentrate on work. Because there was no room for personal
feelings at the office. Not irritation, or resentment, and definitely not
regret or any residual and unwanted desire.
She’d never be
oblivious to the attraction of Ben’s sea-deep green eyes and flashing smile,
but as far as she was concerned, that would be the extent of it. What had
happened on the cruise was attributable to the circumstances, the romantic
setting. Nothing more. Trying to continue with that type of behavior here at
the workplace would be a recipe for disaster, or at the very least, she’d run
the risk of losing her job. She’d always managed to keep her career goals
clearly in sight. Now should be no different.
Ben shrugged out of
his suit jacket and hung it across the back of his desk chair. He paced
restlessly around the room, then moved to the window and stood in front of it
with his hands in his pants pockets. Tessa surreptitiously watched his every
move, enjoying and appreciating his casual grace and masculine beauty. As she
grew aware of the direction her thoughts had headed, she irritably stopped
herself and focused on her desktop instead. The photo of her and Lauren lay
face down in the middle of her desk, and she placed it in its usual spot at the
far left corner.
“The fellow who moved
your desk and filing cabinet said something about hooking up your computer
later this morning.”
“That’ll be fine,”
Tessa muttered as she reached out and nudged the picture frame a fraction of an
inch to the right.
Ben crossed the room
to the computer table. From where she sat, Tessa caught a whiff of a sensuous
blend of spice and citrus as he passed her desk. She swallowed. Hard.
“I take it this was Ed
Hardy’s computer and now it’s for my use?” he asked after a moment.
“I guess,” Tessa
agreed. Needing to concentrate on something other than how sexy Ben smelled,
she dug in her drawer for her appointment book to see what she had on her
schedule for the day. Morris wanted her to clean up any outstanding work by the
end of the week, leaving her free to focus on new accounts with Ben. She had
been developing some ideas to pitch for spec work, which were almost in the
final stages and wouldn’t take long to finish once her computer was back up and
running.
Ben walked over to her
desk, folded both arms across his chest and gazed down at her. “Ya know, this
polite stranger thing is getting pretty old.” When she looked up, he braced his
arms on the edge of the desk and leaned in. “Are we talking to one another or
what?”
Tessa dropped the book
and flattened into her chair. That now familiar breathless feeling constricted
her throat. His stance, his closeness, gave her an exhilarated, restless
sensation. Her body reacted to the message she read in his eyes, little jolts
of desire mingling with spurts of resentment. The treacherous way her body
responded to him embarrassed her, and if she read his smug expression
correctly, he knew exactly what effect he had on her.
No matter what or how
she actually felt, her pride demanded that she prove this impertinent man
wrong.
Publisher:
http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=6123
Amazon:
Barnes and Noble:
Media Links:
Amazon page:
Goodreads page:
Blog:
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Hi Joyce, welcome to the blog. It's so nice to have you on.Great blurb and excerpt!
ReplyDeleteThanks for having me, Angela. :)
DeleteGood luck with your book, though TWRP is the better publisher, ya know.
ReplyDeleteLol, I feel blessed that they both wanted to publish my work.
Delete