• Shine
    Blog

    Happy New Year and welcome to 2021

    Shine

    Welcome to 2021 my lovely readers. Happy New Year!

    I think we’re all more than ready to embrace the new although I don’t think 2021 will be the instant panacea to 2020 many of us are hoping for. I’m optimistic it will be better.

    My word for the year is SHINE. I hope to shine brightly in 2021.

    I had lots of plans for last year and I achieved some. I did write a lot of words. I have a couple of secret pen names and published under those and my own name. 

    I definitely didn’t release everything I wanted to but that’s okay. I became a USA today Bestseller, I came second in the Australian RUBY Awards novella section and released several new books. We’ll take it.

    We moved out of our home of over 24 years and relocated to a new town with about 6 weeks’ notice, so I’m being kind to myself about my lack of accomplishment in the final quarter of 2020.

    The good news is those projects will be completed in the first half of 2021 so all is not lost.

    I started serializing Playing With Trouble in 2020, and I promise to get back to that and share the rest of it with you in 2021. You can catch up here with the opening meanwhile.

    The next books in the Marlin Shores world will be out in January and March and I can’t wait to share those as well. You can preorder Saltwater Tears here.

    Have you read the prequel Kissing The Captain? If not grab your copy here for free.

    We have big plans for the Cinnamon Bay romance world in 2021 so look out for news about that soon.

    I also have Upper Crust Series news…meanwhile have you seen the box sets I made for the Upper Crust series? You can grab them here and they are free in Kindle Unlimited.

    There are a couple of other exciting projects looming in 2021 so stay tuned.

    Happy New Year – 2021 here we come!

    Playing with Trouble

     

  • Blog

    July 1 – an update on my writing life

    More Thank Ornamental Graphic
    more than ornamental graphic

    It’s been a while since I posted here so I thought I’d give you a little update on what I’ve been busy doing as it clearly hasn’t been blogging.

    In June I wrote 90,000 words. That’s my biggest writing month yet. I wrote 44,000 on one novel, 10,000 on another, 20,000 on another and some words for a secret project as well…so that was a whole lot of writing and it didn’t leave a whole lot of room for other things.

    Yesterday I launched More Than Ornamental – a sweet single dad Christmas romance (It originally appeared in the 2019 Romancing the Holidays Boxset). In October and November of 2018 I asked my Facebook followers a ton of questions about what sort of story they wanted to read including tropes, location, character roles and names and this is the novella that came out of it. More Than Ornamental is set on the Australian coast so if you’ve ever wondered what Christmas downunder is like, this is the book for you.

    My next No Brides Club book releases in September and it’s almost ready to go off the the editor, fingers crossed for this week. The Sweet Kisses Limited Edition Box Set releases this month too.

    Kissing the Captain, my contribution is a prequel to my next series which will launch with a trilogy in the next couple of months…I’m expecting to get my covers this week and I can’t wait to share them with you.  He’s the cover of Kissing the Captain with the boxset.

    Kissing the Captain and the Sweet Kisses Box Set
    Kissing the Captain coming soon in the Sweet Kisses Box Set

    So that’s enough to keep me out of mischief for July I think.

    I promise the next chapter of Playing With Trouble will be live this week.

    Anyway, I hope your July is off yo a cracking start!

     

  • Blog

    Sweet Kisses Limited Edition Box Set – featuring Kissing the Captain – preorder now!

    Kissing the Captain and the Sweet Kisses Box Set
    Kissing the Captain coming soon in the Sweet Kisses Box Set

    I’m beyond excited to share the cover of Kissing the Captain, my contribution to the Sweet Kisses Box Set with you.

    This fantastic set features 21 of the biggest sweet romance authors on the planet so I’m beyond excited to be included in it. Not only am I keeping great company but we’re also raising money for charity with this one.

    The Sweet KissesLimited Edition Box Set is available on all ebook retailes now iBooks, Kobo, Barnes and Noble as well as Amazon and it’s only 99cents.  Why not grab a copy today?

    21 New Heartwarming Romance Books that’ll make you swoon

    A sweet contemporary romance anthology collection with twenty-one original, never-before-seen stories from bestselling and award-winning authors, Including WSJ and USA Today Bestselling Author, Judith Lucci.

    Each piece written for this anthology is to benefit Pets for Vets. Sweet Kisses Box Set is only available for a limited time, so one-click your copy before it’s gone. Twenty-one swoon-worthy heroes. Twenty-one chances to fall in love. Twenty-one happily-ever-afters.

    One great way to help veterans who’ve been injured in service to our country and the Pets that need them. 100% of pre-order profits will be donated to Pets for Vets!

    INCLUDED IN THIS LIMITED EDITION BOX SET:

    Tamie Dearen – The Billionaire’s Practice Kiss

    Judith Lucci – Kissing the Cow King

    Evangeline Kelly – Kissing an Alaskan Man

    Lorana Hoopes – Sealed with a Kiss

    Jo Noelle – Eight Second Kiss

    Jean C. Gordon – Trusting His Kiss

    Jessie Gussman – Dreaming of His Kiss

    Donna K. Weaver – Don’t Kiss the Enemy

    Melanie D. Snitker – Don’t Kiss Me Goodbye

    Monique McDonell – Kissing the Captain

    Michelle Pennington – First Kiss Train Wreck

    Kit Morgan – To Kiss a Sheriff

    Emma St. Clair – If You Want to Kiss a Billionaire

    Jeanette Lewis – Kissing the Mountain Man

    Anne-Marie Meyer – A Magnolia Kiss

    Judy Corry – Stolen Kisses from a Rockstar

    Bree Livingston – A Geek Girl’s Guide to Kissing a Video Gamer

    Juliette Duncan – Never Kiss a Preacher’s Son

    Vivi Holt – Meet-Cute Kiss

    Brooke St. James – Kiss & Tell

    Joy Ohagwu – Raspberry Kisses

    My contribution Kissing the Captain is a prequel to a new series I’m launching in the second half of 2020 so you’ll want to get your hands on this one first!

     

  • Playing with Trouble
    Blog

    Read Along while I write Playing With Trouble Chapter 4.

    Playing With TroubleAnother week another chapter

    I’m sorry for the delay in the next installment of the Courtside Romance series – Playing with Trouble. It’s funny how everyone is talking about life slowing down during this COVID-19 outbreak and so far that hasn’t been the case for me. It’s a coincidence that I’m finishing up my day job and pitching for new clients at the same time, as I re-open my PR consultancy after a couple of years working in house. I’d already resigned when we were all sent home but all the changes have met my cruisy finish up and handover have been anything but.

    Retstaring a new business has all kinds of administration as well as pitching to new clients and let’s not forget my book babies. So, I look forward to next week when I’m100% working for myself again and have a little more control over my time.

    Meanwhile here is the next chapter in Tiffany and Andrew’s story.

    Previous chapters:

    Chapter One

    Chapter Two

    Chapter Three

    Don’t forget this hasn’t yet been edited so there may be some typos and errors that will be fixed prior to publication.

    ***

    True to her word she was back in ten minutes and he nearly swallowed his tongue when he saw her. She wore sky-high spiked black heels and a dress made of shimmery silver fabric that was high in the front and fell low on her back like a waterfall. He was sure there was a name for that style of dress but as he could barely remember his own name, he didn’t much care. Her long blonde hair fell loosely around her shoulders and she looked amazing.

    “Wow.” Was all he managed. “Just wow.”

    “Thanks, it’s new. I bought it for the week.” He knew that meant she’d bought it for him, and he liked that. Maybe she’d relax and see that this was all still very doable if they were subtle and not overt.

    He stepped closer and put his hand on her back as he guided her towards the lift. “You do realise your dress is not helping your plan to keep me at a distance or to keep my feelings hidden.”

    “Sorry.” She probably was at least a little.

    “I’ll cope.” The lift door closed, and they were alone inside. “But you need to know I’d really rather kiss you than do anything else at all on the planet right now.”

    Her cheeks pinked and she gave him a shy smile. “Likewise.”

    He might have done so if the door hadn’t pinged and opened spilling them into an exclusive section of the casino that Axel had reserved. Thumping music came at them as did a large bouncer with a door list which had both their names on it. Andrew had never wanted to go to a party less in his life but he was going to have to take any time he could get with Tiffany while he tried to win her over and demonstrate their week long fling wasn’t going to impact either of them in any way that was less than positive. And he was going to have to do it without looking like the possessive caveman he felt like as he watched the hungry eyes of the other men in the room devour Tiffany. There was exactly one word for his current predicament and that was torture. Pure and utter torture and yet for Tiffany he would take it. It occurred to him his feelings for the woman were way more than lust but now was not the time for introspection, now was the time to be a perfect non-date while keeping the hands of the likes of Alexi well away from Tiffany.

    Axel was the first to approach back-slapping Andrew and giving Tiff a shy smile and nod.

    “You made it. I wasn’t sure you would.”

    “Sure did. Tiffany wanted to blow off some steam and I said this was the place.”

    A guy with a tray of tequila shots came by and they each took one. Tiffany smiled.

    “Looks like you were right.” She said after downing hers at lightning speed.

    “That must have been quite a day.” He said in her ear before he and Axel downed theirs.

    Andrew wasn’t much of a drinker, body of an athlete and all that. He was now two whiskey’s and a tequila in. He needed to watch it. That was about his limit during season, or ever really. He had a few beers now and then but nothing too serious. Tiffany however had been handed a glass of champagne, no doubt the very expensive stuff and was guzzling it like water.

    “Shall we sit.”

    “Or we could dance.” She said. And then to his utter annoyance she turned to Axel. “You want to dance Axel?”

    He gave a nod and she handed her glass to Andrew. “I’ll be back.”

    Okay. Well, this was not at all what he had in mind.

     

    Tiffany hadn’t danced in ages. Sometimes she felt like she was a forty-year-old woman trapped in the body of a twenty-seven-year-old. It was like she had Dylan at twenty-two and all the fun stuff the parties and the dancing stopped and the serious business of being a grownup had gone into overdrive. Ninety nine percent of the time she was fine with that. She had her cute condo, a great job, some sweet friends she’d made at mommy and me classes and now a few moms from the school she was getting to know. But they did not go dancing at exclusive parties and guzzle very pricey champagne surrounded by A list celebrities. They didn’t look at her like she was hot and young and beautiful and every so often it was nice to feel that way.

    She’d brought the dress on a mark down rack just after the tournament last year, just in case she got to hang with Andrew again this year. She’d had it hanging in her wardrobe and when she needed a boost, she would take it out and look at it and remind herself she was still a young woman with lots of opportunities ahead of her. Part of her had thought it ridiculous and the other part thought there was nothing wrong with a bit of dreaming.

    Now here she was. The man in question was standing off to the side of the dance floor being very polite to the young ingénue who was talking to him. He was holding her drink and his eyes rarely left her. Meanwhile she was shaking her thing with Axel. Wait until she told the PTA moms this, their minds would explode. If she had her preference, she’d be dancing with Andrew, but she needed to blow of some energy, and she would be so obvious dancing with him. Her dance wouldn’t say this is fun it would say, take me now and that couldn’t happen.

    The song switched and she found herself dancing with another tennis player and then by the third dance Alexi. Not at all her preference. She kept moving avoiding him touching her. She was sure the surly Russian was a decent enough guy, but she didn’t feel like that about him and his touching her felt creepy. She knew Andrew was watching and she had a feeling if Alexi’s hand went anywhere it shouldn’t there be a scene.

    “Thanks. I need a drink.” She said at the end of the dance and headed towards and her drink. She had no idea if Alexi would follow. She hoped not.

    Andrew held out her glass when she approached one eyebrow raised. It was probably because she was all sweaty. She grabbed a napkin and discreetly patted her upper lip. “Thanks.”

    The girl next to him gave her the evil eye and Alexi joined them and did the same to Andrew. The champagne tray arrived, and she took a another. The waiter swung by with some canapes and she snagged one of those too. She hadn’t eaten all day thanks to the diva’s antics, which had taken hours to smooth over. Up until now Tiffany had largely only seen the celebrity players at their best, because it was an event for cancer kids they usually behaved impeccably. Usually being the key word.

    “You are good dancer.’ Alexi said.

    “Thanks. I don’t dance much.”

    “This is shame. Pretty women should dance.” She knew he meant it as a compliment and so she gave him a small smile.

    “So, what do you do to blow off steam then?’ Andrew asked.

    “I hit the gun range.” The young woman said, as if he’d asked her.

    “Interesting.” Alexi said, turning his attention on her.

    “I have punching bag I knock the stuffing out of.” Tiffany said. That was true and a better answer than snuggle on the couch with my son, especially to a man who didn’t know you had a son.

    “Well, it would have gotten a workout tonight.”

    @Yeah dancing is more fun.” He raised his glass and they drank.

    “I know another great way that is great fun.” He winked at her and her ovaries did a dance of their own. She was in so much trouble here, but she couldn’t help but answering. “Oh yeah?”

    And then he answered. “Tennis. Great way to blow off steam.” She swatted his arm. And he feigned innocence. “Why what else could I be thinking of?”

    “Nothing, nothing at all.” She shook her head. “You going to dance with me Benjamin?”

    “Sure, I must warn you, I don’t have Axel’s moves.”

    She led the way to the dance floor and in the din of the crowd looked over her shoulder at him and said. “I’ve seen your moves, they are, way way better than Axel’s.”

     

    She wanted to kill him, apparently. Watching her shake her thing on the dance floor had him fixing his jaw and by the time Alexi muscled in he was sure he was grinding his teeth, not that the sweet girl talking to him seemed to notice she just kept flirting away. He hoped he was more subtle than he felt, and that the girl wasn’t just oblivious, but he couldn’t be certain.

    No as he followed Tiffany on to the dance floor in that dress that made her look incredible, he was going to need all the restraint in the world to hold it together and not pull his body up against those sweet curves. Hopefully the universe would throw him a bone and the music would stay fast. Tiffany headed to the middle of the floor and turned and gave him a sultry look. She was a little buzzed, but she was having way too much fun at his expense. The ridiculous part was he was getting nothing out of it but the pleasure of her company, she’d made that well not clear exactly but, he was fairly certain that was the reality.

    For the next ten minutes he let her shimmy and shake around him like he was a pole. She was so joyous in her dancing he couldn’t help but enjoy himself, but it was pure torture and that was long enough. He couldn’t leave her alone on the dance floor because it was very clear there were plenty of men happy to come and take his place and as hard as it was being here watching her with someone else would be worse.

    “How about we grab a water?” He wrapped his hand around her waist and hauled her off the dance floor.

    “Party pooper.” She said with an adorable pout. “Can I at least have another champagne?”

    “You can have whatever you like but I’m pretty sure you have an early start and divas to handle tomorrow.”

    He hadn’t released her, and he felt the groan she let out all through his body. It wasn’t exactly the sound he wanted to make her make.

    “Now you’re a total buzz kill…” she looked at the thin gold watch around her delicate wrist. “But you’re also right.”

    “Do you feel better than when you arrived?’

    “Absolutely. I love to dance. I miss it.”

    She lived nearby. There were plenty of places to dance here in Vegas, hundreds in fact. It was odd that she didn’t do it.

    “You should do it more often then.”

    “As long as you don’t have to watch.” She gave him a nudge with her hip.

    “Exactly. Come on pretty girl. Let’s get you to bed before you turn into a pumpkin.”

    “I don’t think that’s exactly how the story goes Benjamin.” She smiled. “I’m still resisting you, though you have made it exceptionally hard tonight.”

    He sighed. Hard was definitely the word for it. The man didn’t like it, but he understood.

    Want to read Book 1 – Playing at Love or Book 2 – Playing it Safe click here.

    *Affiliate links used on this blog.

     

  • Playing with Trouble
    Blog

    Let’s read along together as I write – Playing With Trouble, Chapter 3

    Playing With Trouble

    I’m a day or two behind but I hope you’ll forgive me. I’m still finding my rhythm in the work at home world.

    Things are starting to heat up between Tiffany and Andrew. I hope you’re enjoying their story. I really like them as a couple and there’s a whole lot of trouble coming their way soon.

    (Remember this isn’t edited and there’ll be changes between this and the final version).

     

    If you missed the beginning – start here.

    ***

    Chapter 3

    Andrew turned up to the tennis centre with a smile plastered on his face because he was a professional, but that smile was fake. He hadn’t slept well because he’d slept alone and not with the beautiful woman whose face and body had occupied his thoughts all night long. She’d looked so sad, and so apologetic last night in the hallway. He knew she wanted what he wanted and he was pretty sure they could still have it without her being compromised but he understood she was the one who would be impacted. She might lose her job and have her professional reputation tarnished, not him. He was mad that was even an issue in the twenty-first century but he was even madder about that kind of double-standard.

    Yeah, he was mad but he realised he was also more than a little disappointed. He knew he like Tiffany. He didn’t spend time with women he didn’t like, he was not that guy. Still, the way he’d felt in the hours since it had been made clear he and Tiffany would not be reigniting their “thing” had shown him he cared for her more than a little. That bugged him because he prided himself on staying detached and because he was not used to not getting what he wanted.

     

    On the court his young partner for the week was dressed in an outfit perfect for a music video and not so perfect for tennis. Andrew felt like there was an old man living in his head but he couldn’t help thinking the guys shorts were hanging so low he might well trip over them.

    “Axel.” He said by way of greeting. “Ready to play.”

    “I’m ready to win.” The kid replid offering him a fist to bump.

    “Good attitude.”  He had a chat to the kid and it was clear he was athletic and had at least has some lessons.

    “My agent loves tennis. So, we play sometimes. It’s a big reason I’m here and also, man, is he excited we’re teamed up. He arrives tonight.”

    The kid’s enthusiasm was infectious. Last night he’s seemed like a bit of a punk but the more he got to know him the more he could see he had depths which reminded him he shouldn’t have been so quick to judge in the first place.

    “Awesome, can’t wait to meet him. Now should we get some practice in so we can wow the crowd at or first match.”

    The kid did a fist pump and headed down court and Andrew tried hard not to think about how this week would have been perfect if he’d just been able to have Tiffany as well.

     

    An hour later he was a hot sweaty mess when the woman herself appeared courtside. The tennis complex was filling up and fans had gathered to watch them. Axel went to sign some autographs and Andrew made a bee-line towards the beautiful blonde. Her hair was pulled back in a pony tail and she wore a cap and a t-shirt with the event logo on them and cute cropped jeans and runners.  She was holding a clip board and phone. She looked like an American teenager and he felt young and foolish walking over to her.

    “Nice warm up.” She said with a smile, lifting his towel and handing it to him.

    “Thanks. I think we’ll be a good pairing.”

    “Not as good as us.” She gave him a wink.

    “No.” It was nice that she was normalising it he supposed. “I missed you last night.”

    “Likewise. I spent a lot of time wondering if I over-reacted.”

    Ah there it was hope. “Oh yeah, what did you decide?”

    “My head says one thing, my hormones say another.” Well that was honest.

    “That pesky head.” He teased. “Well you let me know when the hormones take charge.”

    “Don’t you mean if?”

    He leaned in his voice low and grvaelly in her ear. “Oh no, I definitely mean when.”

    Then he grabbed his gear and walked over to join Axel before he did something stupid like kiss her here in front of the entire crowd.

     

    Well now her hormones were in overdrive. It was her own fault. She’d walked right over  and started the conversation. She also took it in that direction, but it was like her feet and her mouth had their own plans where Andrew was concerned, just like her hormones. She watched him walk away as she pulled herself together.

    Maybe she had overeacted. As she considered that her phone rang and the reason she had to be so careful was on the other end.

    “Hey mommy.”

    “Hi Dylan baby, how are you?”

    “Good. Aunty Fran and I are going to the park today but I wanted to say hi first.”

    “Well I’m glad you called. I miss you.”

    “Me too. You’ll be home in a few sleeps right?”

    “I absolutely will. You have a great day and put Frannie on.”

    He handed the phone over and her sister’s voice came on the phone. “All good here. No need to panic mama.”

    Tiffany laughed. She did have a small tendency to be over-protective of her son. He had been born premature and sine then he’d had several struggles. He was fine now, mostly. He still had chronic asthma but that was mostly under control. Being a single mom, because Dyaln’s father had died in a car crash while he was still in the NICU, had made her fiercely protective. Dylan was her world.

    “He called me, remember?”

    “I do. You two are peas in a pod, but he’s fine. How’s it going there?” She loved Frannie and she appreciated her sister using a week’s leave from her accounting job to come and do this for her every year. It was a shame she didn’t live closer than LA and that they couldn’t spend more time together. She’d moved to Vegas with Mick and once Dylan had been born and Mick died she just hadn’t quite found the energy to relocate and now with a job she loved and Dylan settled at school it seemed the timing was all wrong.

    “All good. The matches begin shortly and the we’ll see. Good crowds and yeah, so far all good.”

    “Any cute guys?” Tiffany had not told Frannie about Andrew because it was the one thing in her whole life that was just hers. She didn’t want to dissect it or share it with anyone even Frannie who was her biggest supporter.

    “Please Frannie, we have more cute guys than you’ve ever seen in one place in your life, which may explain why women buy most of the tickets.”

    “Whatever raises the money, right?”

    “Exactly. Okay you two have fun and thanks Frannie. I appreciate it.”

    “Please, you’re my sister. I’ve got your back.”

    She hung up and headed towards the control centre only glancing in Andrew’s direction for a minute. If she wasn’t going to be getting any of that fine man she certainly didn’t want anyone even for a minute thinking she was. As to be expected it was a flurry of activity on opening day. They were sold out and there was lots of media around. Right now, Tiffany’s team was doing everything they needed to do and she was happy to be behind the scenes just waiting for whatever was going to go wrong happened early and they got it over with. That was the thing with organising events like this something always did.

    She took a seat at her designated desk and spent the next hour signing forms, answering questions and generally working like a maniac. She didn’t have time to think about Andrew or her decisions where he was concerned, except that every so often someone would say his name or mention on of his matches and she had to be sure not to look overly interested of concerned. No one said anything so she had to assume she was doing a good job.

    Just like she could assume that no one would be surprised when she went down to watch Axel and Andrew play their first match on centre ocurt against Alexi and his partner, a country music star. The tournament was round robin for points so that every pair had at least three matches before they could be knocked out. That way all the celebrities got some time and that drew in the crowds. It didn’t really matter which team won right now but she’d be lying if she hadn’t picked a favourite. She still had her headphones on and could take calls but she was able to watch most of the match.

    Andrew was different on the court. She found the dicotomy fascinating. Off court he was sweet and mellow but on the court he was focussed and intense. It shouldn’t be unexpected. No one got to be an elite athelet by lacking focus but she didn’t see that when they hung out. Then again the circumstances were entirely different. Here on the court it was obvious he was playing to win but unlike Alexi down the far end he was walso trying to make sure Axel got some skin in the game. In fact Andrew knew there were two games going on one was the tennis and the other was winning the fans over. Lots of the crwod, especially the young women were here for the celebrities and Axel was a big draw card he needed time to shine and Andrew gave him that. He was smart and strategic and as a result his team won.

    They met in the middle for back slaps and hand shakes and when he reached the courtside he caught her eye and gave her a chin tilt that said he knew she was there, she was still watching and her hormones were still in charge.

     

     

    It had been a long day. Andrew and Axel had won their match and by the end the kid had his total respect. Meanwhile andrew wondreed when he started refering to other men as ‘the kid’ even in his mind. He felt old next to the young buck who had left with a bevvy of beauties and asked ANdrew to meet him for drinks at the high roller bar at the casino they were both staying at later. Andrew wasn’t sure it was such a great plan and he for sure knew Nate would say it wasn’t but he’d also won his singles match against an ageing Czech player he’d never defeated before. He knew the other man wasn’t at peak but he’d take the win because the older guy had fought for it. Andrew had earned it and he was hapy about that.

    He and Axel weren’t playing until late the next day so maybe he’d get that drink. He didn’t have plans here in town because he had hoped he’d be spending his time with Tiffany but that wasn’t so. He hadn’t seen her since the match in the morning.

    He knew there’d been some incident with a female celebrity losing her mind over some big nothing so no doubt that had occupied a big chunk of her day.

    While he contemplated the evening ahead Andrew took a stool at the casino’s sports bar and ordered a whisky. Lucky for him it was American football on the screen so no one recognised him. He liked sports bars that way, oddly even though he was a high profile athlete they afforded him some anonymity. He was staring blankly at the screen when the seat next to him was taken and an elegant hand reached out snagged his drink and took a sip. He turned to see Tiffany eyeing him over the glass before taking a sip and sighing in satisfaction.

    It was one of the sexiest things he’d ever seen.

    “Thirsty?”

    “That day was…well there are no words.”

    The bar tender came past and he ordered two more. “I’m sorry. Do you want to talk about it?”

    She shook her head. “I can’t because sadly I signed a confidentiality agreement.”

    He knew all about those, in fact he had lots of people he worked with sign them too. “Should I have gotten you to sign one?”

    “I don’t know should I have asked you to?”

    He clinked his glass against hers. Fair play. She was fiesty tonight and he deserved it. Why were his secrets any more valuable really? Well they were because someone might pay for them but ultimately it was the privacy violation people wanted to stop.

    “Okay so no talking about it. What would you like to do instead?”

    “Well I don’t think we can do that either. My hormones and I are still in discussions. What were you planning to do?”

    “Besides hoping your hormones had caved?” She nodded. “Axel invited me to a thing with his posse.”

    “So, we could do that?”

    “Sure, although I don’t think it’s a jeans and t-shirts crowd Tiff.” He gave her ponytail a tug. “Sadly, I like this look on you.”

    She gave him a sweet smile. “Thanks. I’ll try and find something you’ll like even more. Give me ten.”

    “Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.”

    The first two books in the series are live on Amazon and you can buy them here.

    *(Affiliate links are used in this blog post)
  • Playing with Trouble
    Blog

    Let’s read along as I write – Playing With Trouble Chapter 2

    Chapter 2 a couple of days late.

    How is everyone doing on lockdown. I thought it would make me extra organised but not so far. I’m giving myself until April 1 and then I’m expecting only awesome and organised from myself. It’s good to have goals right? Sorry this is a couple of days late. I promise to do better from now on. The good news is Chapter 2 is today and Chapter 3 is tomorrow, so less of a wait!

    (Don’t forget this is unedited so there will be mistakes and those will all be fixed up before publishing.

    Playing With Trouble

    Ch 2: Tiffany

    Finally, Alexi wound up his story and she made her excuses to head inside, She encouraged him to go talk to the media before she left.

    Inside the club was pumping the heavy base of the music reverberating through her body. They did not play this music on kids television which was where her regular playlist came from.  Her co-worker and boss Cynthia grabbed her as she made her way through the throng.

    “Good crowd. Lots of celebrities and media. You’re doing an amazing job as usual.”

    She smiled, Cynthia was so generous and such a wonderful woman to work with. It made leaving Levi in day care for all those hours and now with an after school sitter so much easier. “It gets bigger every year which is so great for the cause.”

    “Absolutely.” One of the sponsors caught Cynthia’s eye and just as she was hoping find Andrew a hand wrapped around her forearm and a familiar voice whispered in her ear.

    “I was hoping I might see you here.”

    She turned and found him smiling down at her, his breathtaking smile lighting up his face and she couldn’t help but smile back. “Likewise.”

    He pulled her in for a hug. Nothing inappropriate there. She hugged a lot of the regulars. What he whispered in her ear might not have been, however and she felt herself blush as she pulled back.

    “We’ll see about that.”

    He smiled back, a wicked smile that promised he would indeed be more than happy to do what he’d said. And she just shook her head at him.

    The conversation was interrupted by Kevin Blanchard one of the regulars and one of her absolute favourites.

    “Ah the beautiful Tiffany, if I were twenty years younger and not married.”

    She watched Andrew tense beside him. She wanted to say ‘jealous much’ but that would have been wrong on so many levels. Everyone knew Kevin was the quintessential family man.

    She hugged Kevin and asked about his wife and kids.

    “Any chance we’ll be paired together again?” Kevin asked crooking his thumb at Andrew. “I could be the new Benji while his partner is out of action.”

    “You know it’s a random draw.” She said looking towards the stage where the DJ was currently set up. “Speaking of which I better get up there and make sure we do the draw or else we can’t have much of a tournament can we?”

    “Off you go honey, you go work your magic.” Kevin said sweetly.

    “I’ll catch you guys later.” She said looking between them.

    “Count on it.” Andrew replied. And she knew for sure they were on again for the week. She walked off with a little bit more of a sway of the hips than usual. She had to look professional, and she couldn’t let anyone know they were together, but he knew and that sway was all for him.

     

    Andrew watched Tiffany walk away and couldn’t help but smile.

    “Pretty girl,” Kevin said beside her.

    “Indeed.”

    “You could do worse. A lot worse.” Kevin said.

    “I don’t doubt that but we’re just friends, Kev. I see her every year and I enjoy her company. Just like us, man”

    “Sometimes friends turn into more than friends.”

    “Sometimes they do.” His tone was noncommittal. Andrew looked around the room. The tennis players he knew but the celebrities not so much. Kevin would point out a starlet or young man and give Andrew the whole back story.

    “Do you even watch TV?”

    “Not really, no.” The truth was he didn’t have a lot of downtime and when he did ,he just didn’t tend to spend it sitting. He was diagnosed with ADHD as a kid which was how he’d ended up in every sport under the sun. He’d loved them all but somehow tennis had been his thing and he’d excelled at it.

    “You, my friend are bad for business.”

    The music wound down and the DJ announced the draw was about to happen. Fifteen minutes later the official proceedings were done and Andrew was teamed up not with Kevin, sadly, but with a young up and coming movie star who got his start in kids TV according to Kevin.

    “Axel is Bit of a punk but it could have been worse.”

    Poor Kevin was paired with a young Greek hothead. He definitely drew the short straw. Maybe it was random after all. He caught Tiffany’s eye and she just shrugged a “don’t blame me” kind of shrug. He didn’t and he knew it would make for a good tournament for the crowds and that was what they wanted after all. They were here to pull in the crowds and raise some serious coin. He’d meant what he’d said to Nate, sure a win was nice but here it was all about the kids.

    He spent an hour making small talk with his new team mate and some of the other celebs, smiling and hamming it up for the cameras before seeking out Tiffany again. She was stuck in a conversation with Alexi. Andrew knew enough about her body language to knows she wanted that conversation done and dusted and fast.

    “Hey Alexi, Tiffany.” He did a chin tilt in the direction of each of them. “Great party Tiffany, am I right Alexi?”

    “Da, is great.”

    “Thanks. Las Vegas is a party town so its hard to have an impact.”

    “The wait staff in the old fashioned tennis whites is doing that.”

    He wanted to get her alone but ten minutes of small talk with the Russian continued. It was tedious but Andrew knew it was important for Tiffany that their annual fling stay under wraps. She’d said it might make her look unprofessional and he understood that. He wasn’t used to being the sort of guy that women hid, he was much more likely to see them share a connection all over social media, but he had agreed to that. A decision he was regretting at present. Luckily Alexi’s phone rang and he had to step out and take the call.

    “Thank goodness,” Tiffany said rolling her eyes. “That man can talk.”

    “Do you say that about me when I walk away.” She just rolled her eyes at him in response. “So, when can you leave?”

    She looked around, the crowd was starting to thin. “Maybe half an hour or forty five minutes I guess. Why what did you have in mind?”

    He had a couple of things in mind but first dinner. “I need to eat. Maybe a steak, a glass of wine?”

    She nodded. “Sounds nice.”

    “I’ll make us a reservation at the Club Room in the hotel. Does that work? Is it okay to be seen alone with me or do you need cover because I’m sure Kevin would be happy to go with and maybe your boss?”

    “Maybe we should do that, at least tonight.”

    “There will be other nights then?” he asked, his voice a combination of hope and suggestiveness.

    “If you’re lucky.” She gave him a wink.

    He definitely felt very lucky indeed right now. He knew he’d been looking forward to seeing her but that promise of spending time together was now real and he knew he was grinning like a fool. He liked her. If his life was different, he were a different guy he’d pursue it further, but he wasn’t. He had no plans to settle down ever and he was fine with that but he had a feeling Tiffany was very much the settling down type. Maybe not today, but in a year or two so he would enjoy every moment he got and be grateful for it.

    “Okay I’ll book for four and make it happen.”

    “Thanks.”

    And he headed off to do just that. It was no hardship but he would much rather have been eating alone with Tiffany, preferably naked. But that could wait.

     

    Torture, that was the word Tiffany would have used to describe the dinner. Andrew sat across from her rubbing his foot up and down her calf as she ate. It was not at all fair and he knew it. It wasn’t that she hated it, it was just that it wasn’t enough.

    Then of course there was the fact that her boss started to tell a story about inappropriate staff fraternisation with celebrities a while back. Andrew’s guilty foot slunk away from her calf.

    “People are adults, they should be allowed to do what they want.” Kevin responded.

    “We’re a children’s charity, that’s all. It doesn’t look good.”

    “I don’t think should matter.” Kevin added.

    Andrew sighed. “I’m so sick of people’s private lives being a matter for anyone else but them. I kind of get the celebrity fascination but who cares otherwise. I mean you’re good hardworking people trying to make a difference in the world. That’s what people should focus on. I’d be disappointed to think any organisation I worked with would judge or penalise a staff member for their after hours decisions.”

    “Well, no of course we would never,” Chelsea said clearly trying to back track but she wasn’t especially convincing and the warm happy buzz Tiffany had been experienced was gone.

    “Excuse me for a minute.” The men stood when she went to leave. Such gentlemen. That was the thing. People could make her relationship, friendship or whatever the heck it was seem sordid but it wasn’t. He treated her with respect and kindness always. When she stepped out of the powder room he as waiting for her.

    “Hey.” He didn’t stand too close he just snagged her wrist. “Are you okay?”

    “Yeah, I just…I can’t lose my job Andrew.”

    “I know. I would never let that happen.”

    “Not intentionally, I know that, but I don’t want to be part of some sort of a scandal.”

    He looked down at her his eyes searching her face. He didn’t know the full story, the real reason that she couldn’t take the risk and it didn’t matter.

    “Of course not, my partner Ben and his girl Abby just went through something like this. It was a hot mess and it’s part of why he’s taking a break right now. I wouldn’t want either of us to have to go through anything like that.” She smiled at him, that was right. She’d watched that story from the sidelines just like everyone else who had any interest in tennis. “In our case we’re supposed to be having fun, so if it’s not fun we don’t do it.”

    “Okay, so we just are friends with no benefits then?” Even as she said it out loud it felt wrong. It was clearly not what either of them wanted.

    “I guess so.” He didn’t look any happier than she felt.

    They walked side by side back to the table. Neither of them having much of an appetite and Tiffany wondering if she hadn’t just turned away the best thing that had ever happened to her, even if he was only a temporary best thing.

    Have you read Playing at Love or Playing it Safe yet? Playing it Safe tells the story of Abby and Benjamin (The other Benji mentioned in this chapter above).

    (Note this post contains Affiliate links).

     

  • Playing with Trouble
    Blog

    Let’s Read along Together as I write Playing With Trouble – Chapter 1

    So I had an idea that I wanted to do something here on the blog that would keep readers occupied in these trying times. I have this third book in the Courtside Romance Series, Playing with Trouble,  about half done…so I thought what if I start sharing chapters regularly – like a serial? I know other authors have done this on their websites or in their newsletters so I thought – why not?

    The book is not edited  (so don’t be surprised if you find the odd error hear and there) and as I haven’t finished it yet it’s possible (no it’s highly likely) that this version will differ somewhat from what gets published later in the year.

    ***

    Playing with Trouble -Monique McDonellPlaying With Trouble

    Ch 1: Andrew

    Andrew kicked off his shoes and sat on the sofa in his opulent suite, taking in the view of the Vegas strip. He loved Vegas. For some reason it was one of the few places he felt relaxed. When he thought about that he knew it was crazy, Vegas was not known for it’s mellow but somehow amidst all the chaos he felt at peace.

    Every year for the past eight he came back to play this same charity tournament to raise funds or teens with cancer. It helped put his own difficulties into perspective yet again. The past twelve months had not been easy. He’s missed several months nursing an injury and then just when he was back on the doubles circuit winning again with his best mate Benjamin Golden, his buddy, had fallen in love and taken a hiatus to get things right with his girl Abby.

    Ben was currently building a tennis training academy in small town America and Andrew was here alone.

    It was okay though because looking out at the madness of the strip he didn’t feel alone and maybe if he was lucky he wouldn’t be alone tonight.

    He never had any trouble finding women but that wasn’t really his style, no matter what the tabloids said. Sure he hooked ups but he tended to have two or three women he reconnected with on tour and here in Vegas it was Tiffany.

    Tiffany was the PR Manager for the tournament and somehow for the last three years they’d ended up spending the week together. There were no promises and they didn’t keep in touch in between but he liked her and if he was honest he even missed her. There’d been times this year he’d thought of hopping a plane to Vegas just to see her but that wasn’t their thing, and he was not a relationship guy.

    He’d been hurt too much in the past to make the mistake of letting someone close agai,n but Tiffany was the only woman he’d ever considered it with. Naturally he’d resisted the urge.

    Still, he hoped that he’ see her out at the pre-tournament mixer tonight. He knew shed be there but maybe she’d moved on. She could be in a relationship or just not interested, he had no idea.

    His phone rang and it was his trainer, Nate. Normally when he played on the ATP, Nate was with him but not for these charity events. It was part of the appeal, not that he’d tell the coach that. Nate was not good for his mellow. Nate usually called to bust his chops, that was the man’s idea of a motivational speech. He hit the speaker button and leaned forward his elbows on his knees, mimicking his coaches famous pose.

    “Hey Nate.”

    “You made it to Vegas?”

    “Of course. I do know how to get on and off a plane buddy.”

    “Just checking.”

    “It’s nice that you care. You’re like my work mom.”

    “Better than being your work wife. Okay ,so I know this is for charity and all that but this is a good chance for you to shine. You can win this thing.”

    “Not everything is about winning Nate.”

    “When you’re on the court it is.” Nate corrected him. “It would be good for you to have a win, set you up for the next solo gig if you insist you don’t want me to find you a temporary doubles partner while Golden Boy is out of the picture.”

    “I play doubles as The Benji’s or not at all. I’ll just play singles and I’ll play mixed doubles with Savannah.”

    Nate groaned at the woman’s name. There was a story there but neither he or Savannah were telling so Andrew didn’t ask.

    “If you say so. Well, all the more reason to nail your singles game.”

    “Nate, I’ll do my best but this tournament is about more than tennis.”

    “Yeah well just because you’re in Vegas doesn’t mean it should be all about chasing tail and drinking like a lunatic.”

    “Chasing tail? Nate who even says that?” He heard Nate growl down the phone. “Message received mommy, I’ll be  a good boy. Having said that I need to shower and get to the event mixer and get my photo taken with the fans. So we’ll talk later.”

    “Excellent.” And the phone went silent.

    The lights were coming on down on the strip. Time to get moving and if he was lucky go and find Tiffany.

     

    An hour later he took his walk along the celebrity red carpet outside the club. He smiled for the cameras, as requested. The tournament had a celebrity stream as well as the traditional tennis players and for doubles he would be teamed up with one of the celebrities. It was supposed to be random but he had a feeling it was less random than most people thought, because he’d been teamed the last couple of years with people who could actually play. That made it a much better experience. Ahead of him in the carpet was Kevin Blanchard an 80’s sitcom star he’d played with two years ago and with whom he’d won. The man was perpetually tanned and seemingly ageless.

    Kevin pulled him in for a back-slapping man-hug and they posed for the camera.

    “I hope we’re together again buddy.” He said.

    “Me too.”

    “Last year that Russian player was no fun at all. I want to win but I also want to smile.”

    “I hear you.” The cameras clicked as they struck a pose. “How about we go find ourselves some drinks and get started with the feel good vibe?.”

    Walking in he thought he spotted Tiffany talking to the Russian in question but it could have been someone else. He hoped so, Alexi was a hideous flirt and even though he had n say in the matter he didn’t want the man any where near Tiffany.

     

     

     

  • Blog

    Books I’d like to read in 2020 and why.

    Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge

    Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge

    I know I’m late but I’m no quitter and especially not in week 2!

    This post is supposed to be about what books I’m looking forward to reading in 2020 and you want to know something weird – I don’t even know.

    This seems like a strange thing for a person who reads over 200 books a year but it happens to be true.  I think part of that is because I read what appeals to me when I find it. I’m on the mailing lists for loads of authors I love and when I see they have a new book out I am all over it. If I love your books I download them on release day and if I find a new author I love I literally read every one of their books.

    I have authors who, in 2019, I read fifteen or more books of theirs because I “discovered” them. I’m what writers call a whale reader. We’re the big fish everyone wants to catch. If those authors whose names I probably don’t even know – seriously I’m the worst – put a book out I will buy it.

    I saw Lucy Score has a new book out soon. I will buy that. Kristan Higgins has a new book out mid-year, yes I will but that as well. I’ve read Whitney Dineen’s newest series recently, I’ll get book three when it comes out. I read everything Jill Shalvis and Susan Mallery publish even though I prefer their older series to the new. That’s about all I can remember of the top of my head.

    Maybe that’s because I have so many friends who are authors and I buy all their books and maybe it’s because I’m on every known email about new books and my inbox is bombarded daily with new releases and I just but the shiny thing that catches my eye, who knows.

    What I can tell you is I look forward to voraciously reading my way through 2020. I hope I discover lots of new series to devour and I hope some of those are unknown authors who crack the big time. I hope some of my favourite authors create new worlds I can delve into. I hope my chicklit friends write funny books that make me laugh and I hope my romance friends write me some swoon-worthy heroes.