Archive for the ‘Dave & Melinda’ Category
… For the news I’ve been waiting to share all week: My debut, DIVA IN THE DUGOUT is live.
It’s been a whirlwind from getting the call in July to seeing my first book available for sale. I keep pinching myself, expecting to wake up and find the last few months were all a dream.
But so far, it seems to be real. DIVA now exists in cyberspace. Type “Diva in the Dugout book” into Google and you get links to Smashwords, All Romance Ebooks and various blog posts I’ve written in the last few months.
Leave off the word “book” and the results aren’t quite as clear-cut, though. You get a Facebook page for someone called “The Dugout Diva” and the Sioux Falls, S.D., Canaries Dugout Divas. I suppose you can’t win ’em all.
The details:
Diva In The Dugout by Arlene Hittle
A Turquoise Morning Press VINTAGE CATEGORY ROMANCE #106 (and All Is Fair in Love and Baseball, #1)
Classic Romance, Heartfelt Happily Ever After
Can the Condors bad boy step up to the plate and knock out a home run for fatherhood? And if he does, will his daughter’s mamma be ready?
After a successful stint in drug rehab, Arizona Condors shortstop Dave Reynolds is still trying to outrun his bad boy reputation. When the team’s new owners tell him to shape up or be fired at season’s end, he vows to change. He doesn’t count on fatherhood playing a part in his transformation.
Melinda Cline makes a rash decision: take solace in the arms of a sexy-as-sin ballplayer whose name she tells herself she doesn’t want to know. Big mistake. Now, a single mom to a four-year-old, Mel strives to live as cleanly and quietly as possible. But fate intervenes and she comes face to face with the man who insists on being included in their daughter’s life. The attraction between them is still strong, but it may not survive Dave’s reputation or his attempts to do the right thing.
Release: October 18, 2013
Category: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary (Category-Vintage)
Rating/Heat Level: Sensual-Sizzle
Length: Novel, 51,000 words
ISBN: 978-1-62237-207-2
Ebook Price: $2.99
Digital Download – Available Formats – EPUB, PRC/MOBI, LIT, LRF, PDF
I started a mini blog tour Friday, chatting with J.M. Kelley about my book, where I do my best writing and the eternal debate: Print books or ebooks? Click through to see where I stand …
On Monday, I’ll be at the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood, talking about my trouble with the (learning) curve of a debut author. (No, I haven’t seen the movie yet, but it’s on my list.) And on Wednesday, Oct. 30, I’m guest blogging with Lynn Cahoon. We’ll talk about DIVA and the best writing advice I’ve ever gotten.
Want to get your hands on a copy of DIVA IN THE DUGOUT?
Find it at Turquoise Morning Press, Smashwords, All Romance Ebooks, Amazon. Smashwords will begin distributing to BN, Kobo, iTunes and other e-tailers within the week, my publisher says.
Check out these screen shots from the various websites:
All Romance Ebooks
Amazon.com
If you want to add DIVA to Goodreads, you can do that here.
As for me, I’m so excited, I doubt I’ll be able to sleep tonight. Time to go down copious amounts of carbs in an effort to knock myself out, because I have to drive 3-ish hours to Payson bright and early in the morning.
Can you feel the excitement? I sure can.
My debut romance, DIVA IN THE DUGOUT, will be up for sale at Turquoise Morning Press this week. To celebrate, this week’s My Sexy Saturday seven are from that story. (Yes, this time I’m using a snippet from the actual book, not something I cut.)
This moment comes at the end of a long, emotionally charged day, the day Dave and his daughter meet for the first time, under mamma Melinda’s watchful—and slightly green—eye. Mel’s having trouble reconciling how enamored Tara is with all things “Daddy,” in part because she, too, is still attracted to the man.
When Tara demands that Dave be the one to put her to bed and read her a bedtime story, Mel can’t resist peeking in. Touched by the sight of father and daughter together at last, her emotions are churning when she sits down on the couch with Dave.
***
When he reached out to brush her hair off her face, Mel reared back. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Dave’s grin flickered on in full force, and something else melted inside her. “Renewing our acquaintance.”
There had to be something wrong with that idea, but Mel suddenly couldn’t think what. She leaned into him, her lips parted, already begging for a kiss.
His lips settled over hers and his tongue swept into her mouth. Her senses swirled with the touch of his tongue until she barely noticed he was repositioning her onto his lap.
Mel’s body remembered. Her nipples puckered and her panties grew damp in response to the erection nudging through two layers of denim. Dave deepened the kiss. His hands settled on her hips, bringing the most intimate part of her more firmly in contact with him.
Caught up in old memories and new sensations, she didn’t object when he eased her back against the arm of the couch and started fumbling with the button on her shorts. She wasn’t thinking of Tara, just upstairs, or the fact that Luanne would arrive any minute.
She wanted—no, needed—this. Sex. With Muscles. She hadn’t had intimate relations with anyone since…since a disastrous reunion attempt with Bud when Tara was nine months old.
DIVA IN THE DUGOUT, out this week!
My debut novel, DIVA IN THE DUGOUT, which comes out in less than a week, has its cover.
Isn’t it a beauty? No, wait. That’s book two, BEAUTY AND THE BALLPLAYER, which is coming out next March. (Sorry. Couldn’t resist.)
I love it! The stadium and baseball glove in the background … the models … MY name on the cover …
Of course, now that my boss pointed out Dave’s resemblance to Van Wilder, I have a hard time NOT seeing it. And that’s a shame because Greg, the hero of Untitled Book 3, is actually the one I visualized as Ryan Reynolds’ kid brother.
DIVA’s on TMP’s Coming Soon page now.
I can’t believe I have less than a week to go! Time sure does fly …
Er … don’t get the wrong idea. There’s only one Wild Boy, actually.
I just couldn’t resist the chance to misappropriate another ’80s song title for a blog post. (Like The Escape Club, I’m living in the ’80s— just not headed for the ’90s. We’re smack-dab in the middle of 2013. Yikes. How did that happen?)
It’s Saturday again, and I’m sure you haven’t stopped by my blog to listen to me wax nostalgic for ’80s music. You’re here to check out this week’s My Sexy Saturday offering, right?
The rules, for those of you playing for the first time:
Post 7 paragraphs or 7 sentences or 7 words. The choice is yours. It can be from a WIP or something you already have published. Your post should be live by 9 am US Pacific Time on Saturday. Put those lucky 7s to work for you!
A while back, I treated you to seven paragraphs of deleted material from DIVA IN THE DUGOUT. With DIVA coming out in less than a month*, I thought I’d give you another seven deleted paragraphs, this time from Dave’s point of view—hence the Wild Boy in the title.
Five years ago, when he and Mel first met, Dave was as wild as they come. Now, his challenge is to shed that bad boy image once and for all and step into the toughest role of his life: Fatherhood.
Keep in mind, this is from the first chapter that I decided was really a prologue before ruthlessly slashing it from the finished manuscript. (A hero and heroine both behaving badly made neither look sympathetic.)
***
Arizona Condors shortstop Dave Reynolds cocked his head as he considered the perky blonde’s question. He was always up for a little off-the-field action.
“What do you have?”
Her smile widened as she brushed her breasts against his chest again. God, she was beautiful. The short, spiky haircut emphasized her green eyes and full, pouty lips — classic beauty queen looks some women would kill for. “You mean I’m not enough?”
When she seemed ready to pull away, Dave held her fast. Hard nipples contrasted with soft, full tits. The concierge at his team’s hotel had said the locals were friendly, but this woman’s greeting went beyond friendly. She’d plopped into his lap and kissed him “hello.” Now she wanted to party.
The party in his pants was already in full swing, due in large part to her enthusiasm. Not that he was surprised. Women loved athletes, and he took full advantage of the Condors’ road trips to get his share of tail. It wasn’t usually quite this easy, though. Apparently everything — including desire — was bigger in Texas.
“You never answered my question.” The blonde watched him expectantly.
He noted the freckles dusting her nose. Despite her objection to being called young, she couldn’t be much more than 18 years old. But at 24, it wasn’t like he was over the hill. And if this barely legal Texas babe wanted to party, who was he to say no?
Dave swallowed again. “I think you’ll be more than enough.”
DIVA IN THE DUGOUT, coming from Turquoise Morning Press the week of Oct. 15. (*Scene not included.)
Popular Posts
Reading Alley
