Home Alone Bash over on the NNN!

Since seven of the Nine Naughty Novelists are in LA this week for the RT Convention, we remaining two (Syd and me) are hosting a Home Alone party on the NNN blog. Stop by for chances to win great prizes, as well as find out just what's going on at the Con!

Contest Week - Win a Tote From RT!

So yes, I've been back from RT for a few weeks, but the day job has been on fast-forward since I got back and I'm just getting a chance to breathe again. I posted some photos on Nine Naughty Novelists, and held a contest on Twitter, but wanted to share the fun with you here as well.

So:

From now until Friday, May 21, at midnight PDT, all comments on the blog will be entries to win a tote bag full of goodies from RT. There'll be books, swag, candy - all sorts of fun stuff to enjoy. So comment on this post, on posts from the rest of the week, comment on all of them - each comment is an entry to win!

To kick off the contest, here's a topic to discuss:

What book are you most looking forward to being released soon?

RT Week -- Where To Find Me!

In just a few hours I'll be heading to Ohio for my very first RT Convention. I'm by turns excited, panicked, giddy, and woefully unprepared. I have seventeen thousand things to do before my flight takes off, but before that happens, I thought I'd let you all know where I'm going to be this week, both at RT and online.

ROMANTIC TIMES CONVENTION - IN PERSON!

Wednesday, April 28, 3:30 pm -- Club RT. Come hang out with me and LB Gregg, Samantha Kane, Rebecca York, and Mari Freeman as we do whatever it is we're supposed to do in Club RT. (I understand there's something called a pose-down for the cover models happening then? Might be worth investigating...)

Thursday, April 29, 4 - 6 pm -- RT Book Reviews Awards. The winners have already been announced on the RT website, so I can finally tell you guys that Lessons Learned won for best Small Press Contemporary Romance. Whee! I'll be at the ceremony to pick up my award. (Which is still MIND BOGGLING to me. O.o)

Saturday, May 1, 11 am - 2 pm -- Giant Book Fair. Open to all RT attendees, and also to the general public for a $5 entry fee. Expand your TBR pile! I'll be signing my RT Award Winning contemporary romance, Lessons Learned.

Saturday, May 2, 2:30 pm -- Lunch with Lucy Monroe and friends. This event has currently reached its attendance limit, but if you're part of the group, be sure to say hi!

STAYING AT HOME? FIND ME ONLINE!

Monday, April 26, noon -- Reader At Home Conference, Lucy Monroe's Blog. I'll be blogging about getting ready for RT. Be sure to drop in throughout the week! There are tons of fabulous authors participating, and dozens of prizes being given away.

Thursday, April 30 -- Samhain Blog. Learn about one of my least-favorite activities.

ALL WEEK LONG: I'm not sure what the status is for internet access at the convention hotel, but I know I can twitter from my phone, so if you're not following me yet and want to hear the latest in real time click here. Warning: My twitter timeline is generally full of excessive exclamation points, capslock abuse, and talk of German soap operas.

As things change/get added, I'll try to update this post. And anyone who comments either here or on the Samhain blog post this week will be entered in a drawing to win a free RT-themed gift! (I'm leaving out the RAH conference post, because Lucy is already giving away so many prizes there.)

See you around!

Read an e-Book Week -- Lessons In Love

In honor of Lessons Learned earning a Top Pick rating from RT Magazine, here's an excerpt from the first of the two books in the anthology, Lessons In Love. Enjoy!

Move over, Mary Poppins! A free-spirited teacher is about to give a buttoned-up royal something he never expected—a lesson in love.

Hungry for adventure and eager to break free of her snobby home town, Brynn Dexter takes a teaching job in a foreign country, sight unseen. But when she arrives, she discovers the Laurivenia Academy doesn’t exist. And neither does the teaching job.

Alex du Charbonneaux, crown prince of Laurivenia, is tired of intense media scrutiny, and wary of social-climbing women who stoop to feigning interest in his vulnerable five-year-old daughter in order to get close to him. So if he fudged the details of the “teaching job” to protect his child—and his privacy—who can blame him?

His careful plans begin to unravel the moment Brynn appears on his doorstep. She is beautiful and free spirited, nothing like the dowdy, obedient nanny he ordered.

While being a nanny to a princess is a far cry from the teaching position Brynn expected, she quickly realizes the child is in dire need of a little fun in her life—as is her stuffed-shirt father. As she sets out to teach both of them how to live a little, sparks fly and unexpected passion burns between her and Alex.

But Alex’s deep-rooted suspicions linger, and Brynn struggles with the feeling that she is not good enough for him. So when the paparazzi discover their affair, all bets are off.

Can the prince and the nanny find common ground—and learn to trust in love?

Lessons In Love, (c) 2007 Kate Davies



She had chocolate on her upper lip.

It took every ounce of willpower Alex had not to reach across the little table and remove it for her. To take the tip of one finger and smooth it away—oh, God, to lick it off…

Alex shifted in his chair, thankful that Brynn was oblivious to the effect she had on him. She chattered away, cupping the stoneware mug in both hands, closing her eyes in delight as she sipped the hot drink.

He shouldn’t even be there. He should be in his office, reading over applications for the Laurivenia Trust. The annual ball was coming up in just a few weeks and he still hadn’t decided which projects were the most deserving of funding.

But he’d heard Brynn out in the hall, stomping and muttering, and he was up from his desk before he even realized what he was doing.

Alex picked up his own mug and took a sip. It was smooth and rich, the perfect comfort drink. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had hot chocolate. He was more likely to be served fancy espresso drinks. But as soon as they reached the empty kitchen, Brynn had insisted on preparing enough for both of them. She had puttered around the kitchen, plucking ingredients from the huge walk-in pantry, even sending Alex to fetch a container of cream from the industrial-sized refrigerator.

She was at ease in the kitchen, keeping up a running monologue while she whipped and stirred and blended. Her earlier embarrassment seemed to have faded, and Alex was glad. He enjoyed listening to her talk. They could have been any couple, hanging out in the kitchen after a night out.

Except he was the crown prince of Laurivenia and she was his daughter’s nanny.

He could stand it no longer.

“Chocolate.” He pointed to her upper lip. Her tongue darted out, pink and inviting, to lick the creamy spot away. Alex ground his teeth together and fixed his gaze over her shoulder.

“All gone?” She laughed self-consciously. “Way to make a good impression, right?”

“You have no need to worry about the impression you make.”

“Thank you,” she said. “I think.”

Against his better judgment, he looked back at her. A tiny smile played across her lips. Her face, clean of makeup, was fresh and bright despite the late hour. An air of innocence and enthusiasm wrapped around her like a cloak.

But that was the question—was it real, a part of her, or something she only donned for special occasions?

He no longer trusted his instincts in such matters.

Alex sighed, pushing his half-empty mug away. This wasn’t something he wanted to deal with tonight.

“I’m sorry.” Brynn jumped up to clear their mugs away. “I’m sure you have far more important things to do than sit here keeping me company. You can go ahead and leave. I’ll find my own way back.” She grabbed a cloth from the sink and began swabbing the table, her nervous energy keeping her in perpetual motion.

Alex stood, too, and covered her hand with his own. Her hand stilled, as did the rest of her body.
“Leave it.” He pulled the cloth from her unresisting fingers and tossed it into the huge stainless steel sink. Then he tugged her around the table until they were standing face to face.

Brynn sucked in a quick breath, too shocked to act blasé about the whole thing. A more sophisticated person would just roll with it, she was sure, but Brynn knew she was about as far from sophisticated as it was possible to be.

No, she was more suited for the wide-eyed, slack-jawed idiot role.

He looked down at her, his gaze calm and steady. Brynn felt pinned in place, like a deer in headlights. Nothing short of an earthquake could have moved her from that spot.

“It is late. Allow me to escort you to your rooms.”

Brynn nodded, her eyes wide and unblinking. He squeezed her hand once, then let go. Before she had time to miss his touch, his hand came to rest in the small of her back, and he steered her toward the door.

A tiny part of her realized that she should be taking the opportunity to pay attention to the path back to her suite, but the other ninety-nine percent of her conscious mind was focused on the feel of his hand on her back. Heat seemed to radiate from him, warming her skin and sending a tingling sensation throughout her body. She found herself wishing that they could take the scenic route back to her rooms. Say, through Belgium.

But all too soon she found herself in front of her door, and Alex had dropped his hand, leaving her oddly unsettled. She shook the sensation away.

“Allow me.” He opened the door with practiced ease. It swung inward, revealing the dim light of the fire that had burned low in the grate while she was out on her cocoa run.

“Thank you.” She glanced up at him. “For everything.”

He nodded, his face impassive. Then, with an abruptness that startled her, he leaned over and kissed the edge of her mouth where he’d pointed out the chocolate before. Feather-light, his lips barely touched hers, but an instant, aching tug of desire curled through her. He pulled back, eyes fixed on her mouth. Was his breathing as unsteady as hers?

“You missed a spot,” he said, a rough edge to his voice, before turning and striding away.

She stared after him in stunned disbelief long after he had disappeared down the hall.

AAAAHHHH!!!

I'm so excited right now I can hardly stand it. I just checked Romantic Times online and found out that Lessons Learned is the RT Top Pick for Contemporary Romance this month!

Of course, since I don't have a subscription, I can't see the actual review until I find a copy in the store (April issue), but it's right at the top of their Top Picks page, which is so cool I can't stop grinning!

Here's to a fabulous weekend, all!

My Editor is So Cool...

Why, you might ask? Well, among other things, she's taken pity on us poor souls who aren't going to RT this year (the Romantic Times Convention, the biggest reader/author romance get-together of the year). Angie is hosting a Left Behind contest, and everyone is eligible! Here are the details...

I'm off to the Romantic Times Convention in Houston, Texas in under 24 hours and I'm feeling bad for those of you who can't go. So I put the call out to my authors: Give me prizes! We've come up with 5 prize packages that I think should knock your socks off!

Here's how to enter. On my blog you'll find each prize basket described and a list of questions under them. You can enter for one basket or you can enter for all of them but each entry must be done in a separate email.In the subject line write: Left Behind Contest and the number of the contest you're entering. As I said, you can enter each one, but each must be entered in a separate email. Entries all on one email will be disqualified. Entries with incorrect answers will be disqualified.

All the contests are open to residents of Canada/US. International readers may enter contests#4 and #5 (because of the gift cards in the prize packages 1 to 3, they cannot go to international entrants, sorry!) but you will be eligible for any extra prize draws that I do!

All entries must be emailed to contest AT nicemommyevileditor.com and must be received by Monday, April 30th. Prize winners will be emailed by Wednesday, May 2nd and will have one week to claim their prize and provide mailing information. Any unclaimed prizes will be kept by me. Okay, not really, I'll just draw a new name :)

Oh, and did I mention that I might throw in a print book or two of winner's choice from "my" authors' Samhain backlist and up the number of winners? And you never know what else I might bring home from RT and decide to throw in for prizes!