April 11, 2015

Excerpts

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I won’t waste time with a long introduction. This week’s My Sexy Saturday snippet is from my newest release, Just Right, which came out on Tuesday. Callie, who’s pretty handy thanks to her handyman father, has volunteered to help the Behr brothers work on her house. Ty, the hero of the story, has asked oldest brother Will what she can do.

***

Just Right | Arlene HittleShe felt Will studying her, sizing her up. She narrowed her eyes and drew herself to her full height, five feet, four inches. At times like this, when dealing with judgmental men who looked at her and saw nothing but a helpless female, she’d gladly give up stardom for six inches of height and ten pounds less hair.

Finally, he spoke. “You know how to swing a sledgehammer?”

“I think I can manage.” It couldn’t be much harder than swinging a twenty-pound kettlebell, right? She could do that in her sleep—and sometimes did, when premiere parties ran long and interfered with her workouts at four in the morning with Gunnar Glory, personal trainer to the stars. She’d completed more than a few sweat sessions less than half awake.

He nodded. “Good. You can help Ty knock out the kitchen cabinets.”

Ty looked worried. Probably afraid she was going to clock him with the sledgehammer.

His words confirmed her suspicion. “Isn’t there something…easier she can do?”

Perhaps clocking him was a good idea. Might knock his sensibilities into the new millennium.

Like what you read? Just Right is available now at Turquoise Morning PressAmazonBarnes & NobleKoboiTunesAll Romance eBooks and Smashwords. Or add it to your TBR list on Goodreads.

April 10, 2015

Just Right

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I’m celebrating this week’s release of JUST RIGHT by bringing back the “eight terrible titles” game that made the rounds on Facebook a couple of months ago. But since this is “Friday Five,” I’m only going to list five terrible titles.

Umm…have I mentioned I’m mathematically challenged? 😀

Just Right | Arlene HittleJust to catch you up, JUST RIGHT is the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, reimagined. Callista Gold escapes from Hollywood—and the scandalous photos hackers leaked to the tabloids. She buys a cottage in northern Arizona, sight unseen, and heads for what she thinks will be a mountain retreat. But like her now-tainted reputation, Rosewood Cottage needs some major fixing-up. Contractor Tyler Behr—one-third of Behr Construction—is just the man for the job. Problem is Ty had other plans: buy Rosewood and flip it. He agrees to work for the frosty beauty, with thoughts of delaying the project long enough for her to get bored and go back to wherever she came from.

But Callie is no prissy miss. She jumps in to help with the renovations, perfectly at home with construction—and one particular construction worker. Sparks ignite between them with every swing of the hammer, until a photo of Ty and Callie in a compromising position creates another scandal for her and a dilemma for him. He’s never been big on sharing, not even something as simple as loaning power tools to his own brothers. How can he share the woman he loves with the movie-going public?

1. Battered Plastic Trash Can

2. Caught with Her Pants Down

3. The perfect potato

4. Falling for His Brother

5. I’ve Seen Her Handle a Sledgehammer

Intrigued yet? I would be.

Snag JUST RIGHT at AmazonBarnes & NobleKobo and iTunes.

 

April 8, 2015

Just Right

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My grown-up Goldilocks tale, Just Right, has hit all the major booksellers, and I couldn’t be more thrilled!

Just Right is my fifth book with Turquoise Morning Press. It’s available now as a standalone, and at the end of the month, it’ll be released as part of the “and they lived Happily Ever After” boxed set.

Fairytales are hot right now, what with ABC’s “Once Upon A Time” and NBC’s “Grimm.” I had a blast brainstorming my own adult twist on the stories I grew up hearing.

Here’s the scoop:

Just Right | Arlene HittleAmerica’s Sweetheart, Callista Gold, needs an escape from Hollywood—and the scandalous photos hackers leaked to the tabloids. She buys a cottage in northern Arizona, sight unseen, and heads for what she thinks will be a mountain retreat. But like her now-tainted reputation, Rosewood Cottage needs some major fixing-up. Contractor Tyler Behr—one-third of Behr Construction—is just the man for the job. Problem is Ty had other plans: buy Rosewood and flip it. He agrees to work for the frosty beauty, with thoughts of delaying the project long enough for her to get bored and go back to wherever she came from.

But Callie is no prissy miss. She jumps in to help with the renovations, perfectly at home with construction—and one particular construction worker. Sparks ignite between them with every swing of the hammer, until a photo of Ty and Callie in a compromising position creates another scandal for her and a dilemma for him. He’s never been big on sharing, not even something as simple as loaning power tools to his own brothers. How can he share the woman he loves with the movie-going public?

 Available now at Turquoise Morning PressAmazonBarnes & NobleKoboiTunesAll Romance eBooks and Smashwords. Or add it to your TBR list on Goodreads.

April 6, 2015

Musings

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Happy Monday! I hope you all had a relaxing and rejuvenating Easter weekend. I picked up the milk to make myself one of those Cabury Creme Egg Egg Creams, but have yet to pull the trigger. Maybe tonight after work …

Okay, in truth, even though I’m sure it’ll taste ah-mazing, I’m the tiniest bit scared. I’ve tried escargot, frog legs and alligator, but scrambling a Cadbury Creme Egg makes me quake in my hot-pink Reebok Skyscapes. Go figure.

With JUST RIGHT coming out tomorrow, it’s going to be a busy week for me. (Not that I’ve been counting down or anything …)

Just Right | Arlene Hittle #romance #tmpress-2

If getting your name out there is half the battle, I should be winning this war. I feel as if I’ve been screaming my name from the top of the Empire State Building and scattering my book titles to the wind.

Among the places I’ve been popping up:

• Abigail Sharpe’s newest newsletter. Abs and I go way back. She’s the one who called me to tell me BEAUTY AND THE BALLPLAYER finaled in the FCRW Beacon. The phone rang as I left the post office with receipt in hand for mailing BEAUTY to RWA HQ for the Golden Heart. (Yes, in 2010-11 you still had to mail hard copies.)

I love the idea of including friends’ releases in my newsletter, so I might just steal it. You’ve been warned.

• I’ve been invited to be a guest on author Kim Smith‘s Writer Groupie podcast. My first podcast — and I’ll be doing it via Skype, so it’ll be on YouTube, too.

Gulp. On video, I can’t hide the extra pounds I’ve picked up since taking my author photo …

Seriously, though. I’m both nervous and excited. Now that the antenna fell off my car and I can’t get it to stay on, I’ve only recently started listening to podcasts. Some radio stations still come in, but they fuzz in and out, so I’ve been listening to podcasts on the drive to work, or on longer drives out of town.

I find them informative, inspirational and entertaining. If I can manage to be one of those three, I’ll consider my podcast debut a #win.

We’re set to record the interview Friday night, around 5 p.m. my time. I’ll link to it when it’s ready.

• BREAKING ALL THE RULES is now listed on Night Owl Reviews.
Night Owl Reviews

It hasn’t been selected for a review yet (that I know of), so if you know anyone who reviews for Night Owl and likes romcom with a geeky bent, feel free to talk it up.

• BREAKING ALL THE RULES got its first review on Amazon — four stars!

Amazon review of Breaking All the Rules | Arlene Hittle

Thanks, sjh in SLC!

• The 2015 Goodreads Author Cyber Convention starts Friday.

Author Cyber Convention - Banner Image

Click the banner to visit the fairgrounds. My “booth” is here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2223533-let-the-games-begin-arlene-hittle-s-contemporary-romantic-comedy.

I’ve promised to give away a $5 Amazon gift card to a new newsletter subscriber … so get on it. (You can subscribe using the form to the right of this blog post.)

• I joined Camp NaNoWriMo. Been adding new words to an old, old story that I’m revamping as a Harlequin Blaze. I submitted the first chapter last month during the #BlazeBlitz on Twitter, and now have everything crossed in hopes that they like it and want to see more. I could handle being a Blaze Babe.