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Monday, October 31, 2011

GUEST AUTHOR: Jenny Schwartz

With Halloween just around the corner, my special guest author today fits right into the holiday fun. She writes in the paranormal romance genre and is a member of the Dark Side DownUnder blog.


Jenny doesn't even try to fight her addiction to angels and sexy djinn. Her Out of the Bottle series is published with Carina Press and she's busily adding to it, typing with crossed fingers in the hope readers and Carina Press will want more passion, adventure and laughter.

Please make Jenny feel welcome!

Title – THREE WISHES

Setting – Syria. The Mediterranean is a fascinating region. So much history. Who can resist the romantic ruins of a crusader castle?

Hero – Andrew, a guardian angel.

Heroine – Cali, a djinni, cursed to serve humanity.

Scene you would never cut – When Andrew and Cali meet:
“Smart-mouthed djinni.”
He grabbed her before her bangles could rattle out a protective charm. The world tilted as he slung her over his shoulder like a sack of grain or a moth-eaten carpet. Cali felt the insult keenly.
“Son of a she-camel.” She slammed her fist into his lower back.
His arm tightened around her thighs. His free hand gave her bottom a stinging slap.
“Bastard.” She wriggled and kicked and found herself suddenly free.
He’s thrown me over the friggin’—
Splash!
—cliff.

Something your hero or heroine would never do or say – Andrew would never risk someone else’s happiness to claim his own. More frivolously, he’d never eat haggis. I can’t imagine ever writing a hero who would!

What's one quirky thing about your heroine? Cali stores some of her magic in her gold bangles. I love gold bangles, although I don’t wear them. Being a fidgety sort of person I’d drive everyone crazy rattling around.

What do you think the readers will like about this book? Cali’s emotional journey. When you’ve been badly hurt, it takes a lot of courage to dare to love again. I’m so glad Andrew was strong enough to understand her pain and believe in her heart.

Book blurb –  
THREE WISHES
She is the Bringer of Death. 

Cali, a djinni, has sworn to twist the wishes of humans so they die by their own greed and evil.
Her latest master is arms dealer David Saqr, a man Cali believes deserves the fate she has in store for him. But this time she finds herself up against Andrew, David’s guardian angel. He is a Protector of Life.
Andrew believes David can yet find redemption. He fights Cali for the man’s life, even as he tries to persuade her to give in to the sizzling attraction between them. He shows Cali another side of David, and invites her to trust again, to hope.
But centuries of being enslaved have hardened Cali’s heart—it’s going to take all of Andrew’s love to convince her to open it and let him in.

What's next for you? More angel and djinni stories. I’m addicted to my Out of the Bottle series—all the traditional romance of Arabia, but with modern tensions. But also (and I’m so excited about this) I have a steampunk novella coming out with Carina Press in December. “Support Your Local Suffragette” is set in Western Australia in 1895—Wild West with an Aussie twist. It was a blast to write. I never imagined I’d use (or misuse!) my history degree in quite this way.

About you...
Favorite movie of all time – “Enchanted April”, although “Shrek” is a strong rival and so is “Bringing Up Baby”.
Favorite fairytale – “Beauty and the Beast” ever since I read Robin McKinley’s “Beauty” as a teenager.
Favorite story to disappear into – So many. It depends on my mood. But I would love, love, love to visit Terry Pratchett’s Discworld.
Favorite TV program – Pick one? *wails* I love documentaries and “Media Watch” and...oh okay, if I have to pick one, it’s “NCIS LA”.
First book you remember reading – I can’t remember the title, but this guy called Dick and a girl called Dora went walking with a dog called Spot. Soon after that, I became addicted to Enid Blyton.
Dog or cat person (or other) – Dog, definitely. Toby, my golden retriever, pops up quite often on my blog. But I do miss not having a cat.
Author (living or dead) you'd most like to meet – I had a chance once way back when I was at uni to meet Sir Terry Pratchett. I’m still kicking myself for being shy. I’d have liked to meet Margery Allingham and sit down to a good long gossip about the craft of writing.
A romantic retreat for you would be...Winter, cottage by the sea, roaring fire, no phones.

What do you do to unwind or relax? Read, an obvious answer for an author. I also like to drive, not too far, maybe an hour all up, just long enough to solve any plot problems in a current manuscript. Shopping is good, too *grins*.

What era would you like to time travel and visit? And why? I’d really like to see Palmyra in its heyday with Queen Zenobia getting ready to challenge the might of the Roman Empire. I wouldn’t want to stay around for the bloodshed and destruction, but I’d love to see the ancient world in living colour, so to speak.

What does love mean to you? Passionate commitment, whether to a person, profession or cause. Love means sharing something of yourself.

Jenny, thank you for joining me on my blog today, it's been a hoot having you here in the lead up to Halloween!

Now, gentle readers, Jenny has a special trick or treat for you - she has a digital copy of THREE WISHES up for grabs (open to local & international readers). Just leave a comment (the trick) by midday Thursday, 3rd Nov.2011 (Aussie time), and you'll go into the draw for the book (the treat). Winner will be announced sometime that evening!

You can find Jenny at her website, on Twitter, Facebook, and indulging her love of pretty pictures on Tumblr.


Jenny's other books:

It's Halloween!

To anyone who's celebrating - enjoy your Halloween!

If you're looking for some online fun then drop on over to the Dark Side DownUnder blog - we're having a party! We're celebrating our 1st anniversary as a blog. There's a grand prize plus prizes for two other lucky people.


Some of the giveaways on offer include:
  • Dark Angels series (Bks #1 & #2) - Keri Arthur
  • Scent of a Man - Maree Anderson
  • King Rolen's Kin trilogy - Rowena Cory Daniells
  • Rogue Gadda - Nicole Murphy
  • Captive - Christina Phillips
... and more!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

GUEST AUTHOR: Mel Teshco

Mel Teshco grew up in Australia, where her seemingly gypsy dad and ever patient mother saw her living in many areas of the East Coast, along with her sister and two brothers.


Each new home stimulated an already over-active imagination, where she spent as much time dreaming about fantasy worlds as the real world - the fantasy sometimes being much better.


Now living on a small rural property with three horses and a handful or two of cats, she is happily married with three children of wide-spread ages and loves writing gritty, sizzling paranormals and the occasional contemporary with darker tones.

Title – IDENTITY SHIFT
Setting – Sydney, Australia.
Hero – Blake Powell.
Heroine – Alexia Leigh.
Scene you would never cut – I definitely wouldn’t cut the last scene.
Something your hero or heroine would never do or say – My heroine won’t ever doubt her deceased father’s beliefs.
What's one quirky thing about your heroine? Heroine rides a Ducati motorcycle.
What do you think the readers will like about this book? It has a little bit of everything, action, danger, humour, shifting, sex...more sex *g* 

What's next for you? I’m currently writing book 2 of the Alien Heat series. I’m also working on a 90k(ish) contemporary with fantasy elements that I’m really enjoying and I have started two other erotica novellas. 

About you...
A wife of one very patient man, a mum of three girls and a grandma of a little man. A cat lover (currently have four) a Belgian dog owner and in love with my own little piece of paradise (small acreage). I feel really blessed =)
Winged & Dangerous series
Favorite movie of all time – Avatar.
Favorite fairytale – The Incredibles & The Lion King.
Favorite story to disappear into – Lady Vixen by Shirlee Busbee.
Favorite TV program – Most reality TV: The X Factor, So You Think You Can Dance, Australia’s Got Talent, My Kitchen Rules etc. And then there’s Desperate Housewives and Winners & Losers.
First book you remember reading – Spot.
Dog or cat person (or other) – dog, cat, horse, dolphin and whale.
Winged & Dangerous series
Winged & Dangerous series
Author (living or dead) you'd most like to meet – Stephen King.
A romantic retreat for you would be...log fire, massage, cocktails and doing absolutely nothing but talking to my man.
What do you do to unwind or relax? Read. Occasionally play COD. Horse Ride.
What era would you like to time travel and visit? And why? Back to biblical times to see some of those amazing people and prophets. I’d especially love to meet Queen Esther, I’m fascinated by her story.
What does love mean to you? Give and Take. And being friends as well as lovers.

Mel, as always, it's been a pleasure having you here on my blog - I look forward to your next visit!

Mel's offering the three books of her Winged & Dangerous series (in print) for one person who 'follows her blog', and one copy of the anthology 'Something Wicked This Way Comes' (as an e-book) as a second giveaway to another person who comments.

Open internationally.

Both potential winners must answer the question:

"What do you love most about a good shapeshifter story?"

Get an answer in by midday (Aussie time), November 3rd 2011 and your name will be placed in the draw for one of the prizes.

Winners will be announced November 4th 2011.

Meanwhile, everyone, enjoy the blurb and excerpt of IDENTITY SHIFT (below).

IDENTITY SHIFT
Alexia Leigh is determined to prove big-cat shape-shifters exist. But she never expected Blake Powell, the key to the shifter race, to rescue and seduce her—never expected to want him like he's her last damned breath! She's never experienced such raw pleasure, has forgotten what it is to truly feel alive. And now she is torn between him and the proof she needs.


Links for IDENTITY SHIFT: AllRomance, Amazon, Smashwords - for the price of 99c 

Excerpt:
Guns ‘N’ Roses blared from inside nondescript apartment fourteen. She took a deep, calming breath as adrenaline surged within. She had him. At last her quarry was within reach. She raised a fist and hammered on the flimsy, peeling wooden door.
The music shut down. A baby wailed a few apartments down, a small dog yapping into life inside another. Heavy footsteps approached from the other side of the door.
“Yes.”
One word. One deep, masculine, primal intonation.
Her pulses jerked in response, her nipples beading tight beneath her black leather jacket and tight burgundy singlet.
If this is what he could do to a woman with one monosyllable behind a closed door, she could only imagine what he could do with a whole sentence, and up close and personal.
She cursed under her breath. She’d clearly been too long without a man, someone to ease the heavy ache of her breasts, the deep throb between her thighs. Just as well she wanted nothing more from him than answers.
Hesitating for a beat, she asked, “Mr. Powell?”
She closed her eyes at his long, drawn out silence. Then she heard him release a heavy sigh before returning wearily, “Who wants to know?”
Impatience drummed a loud tattoo behind her skull. A migraine was all she needed right now.
“I’m here on behalf of my father. He is—“ she swallowed back a wave of bitter loss and grief ”—was an archaeologist. You may have heard of him? Professor Thomas Leigh.” At the thick, almost suffocating silence that followed she continued more loudly, “He believed in the existence of human-panther shape-shifters—”
Her sentence ended on a startled gasp as the door flung open and she was jerked unceremoniously inside.
“Enough already,” Blake growled.
She hissed out a breath at the current of electricity sizzling through her arm’s every nerve ending; at the cheek of him dragging her inside. She tugged free, and looked up…and up.
Beneath scruffy dark blue jeans and a white t-shirt the man was a mountain of fluid muscle and sinew, repressed energy that vibrated with emotion and patently raw sex appeal.
“Are you mad?” she said through gritted teeth. “All I wanted was a civilized discussion, not to be dragged inside like I’m nothing more than…than a cave woman!”
He slammed the door shut behind her and pushed home a large bolt. When he peeled off his dark sunglasses—ludicrous inside the near dark room lit only by a naked bulb—she took an involuntary step back. His eyes were an unnatural gold-yellow. Beautiful, but deadly.
She sucked in some oxygen, forcing a calm she didn’t feel. Damn it all to hell, he really was sinfully delicious, with more vague hints of darkness beneath his honey-warm skin that tantalized and teased even as it repelled.
“I know who you are,” he said.
“You do?”
“Yes.” He sighed, tunneling a hand through his thick, dark hair that was an inch away from scruffy. “I’m sorry.”
“Wh…what?”
“About your father.”
“Why?” Her voice rose an octave, “Because like everyone else you think the world is better off without another crackpot and his loony beliefs?”
“No. I’m sorry because he was a great man who thought above and beyond the restrictions of science.”
Hostility fled her body, leaving her oddly drained and a little disorientated. How long had it been since someone had said something good about her father? Too long, clearly, for her to appreciate even a scrap of praise. Snide remarks and innuendos had become part and parcel of their life for the three long months since her father’s discovery.
“You look about ready to collapse.” Somehow his silky rich voice stroked her senses, hummed along the nerve-endings behind her eyeballs and soothed away her stress. Turning it into another tension entirely. Sexual tension. “Please. Take a seat,” he murmured.
She managed the couple of steps needed before all but flopping into a ripped, vinyl two-seater lounge. “You knew my dad?”
“No, not personally. But I read all his articles. He was ahead of his time. A brilliant and ethical man.”
And look where that had got him. Mocked and ridiculed until he’d been stripped of all his dignity, his beliefs. His life.
A wedge of hair dropped over her eyes from her scraped back pony tail. She abstractedly pushed the dark blonde length behind one ear. “Then you know why I’m here.”
He moved into the tiny kitchen, where a half-empty bottle of scotch resided on the counter. He poured them each a glass. She gulped hers down like it was a tonic for all the ills in the world.
He smiled and took a mouthful before giving a nod. “I gather since your father uncovered the bones, he also found the journal and deciphered the names on the list?”
“Only yours,” she conceded. Her father’s long held view of honesty being the best policy had burrowed deep into her psyche, despite its obvious pitfalls. “What else have you concluded?” she pressed.
He raised a dark brow. “That now you’re hoping to track down the Illawatti tribe.”
She released another long, slow breath. “Let me guess. You think I’m a raving lunatic?”
Just like my dad.
Blake stalked over to the window and peered between the moldy, almost transparent curtains. “No. Actually, I don’t.”
Wow. Was he serious? She snorted disbelief. “So you agree there’s a possibility the Illawatti tribe exist—” 
“We need to leave,” he growled.
She frowned. “No. Not until I get some answers—”
The breath whooshed hard from her throat as he threw himself at her. His weight knocked her to the ground simultaneously to the window shattering, glass raining down like blades of ice.
The dog a few doors down once again took up its relentless yapping. She closed her eyes, aware the muscled bulk of Blake’s body sheltered her. But she was even more aware of the ping of a bullet that had torn a hole through the opposite wall.
Shock pushed her heart rate into high gear. “Someone is shooting at you!”
He effortlessly scooped her up and half-ran into what had to be the only bedroom. “No,” he corrected grimly. “They’re shooting at us.”
Her blood pressure spiking, she looked up. The pool of light leaking into the bedroom allowed her to note his composed expression, his strange-colored eyes that scanned the room, seemingly considering every possible option before he acted. “What the hell are you saying?” she hissed.
She was a target?
He glanced down at her. “I apologize in advance. Your hellish day isn’t about to improve any time soon.”

Some of Mel's other books:


You can find more of Mel's books and information about her on her website, or you can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Day of the Dragon!

Ever celebrated a personal milestone by doing something special or meaningful?

Some people crack open a bottle of bubbly, some might buy a piece of bling or a momento of some sort.

I decided when I received that elusive book contract I would get a tattoo - of a dragon! I researched tattoo artists and found one on the Gold Coast - Tony Ranger at Skin FX.

They're on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Skin-fx-tattoos/130730783645775
After looking at the pictures I'd brought along, Tony drew the dragon freehand on my forearm, then began working on it.

The whole design took 5hrs from start to finish (a marathon effort on both our parts!!!). After the third hour my arm was beginning to feel tender. The last hour and a half was the most trying. The yellow shading and the wings were on very sensitive parts of my arm.

These photos are the result after it was done.

My arm ended up swollen, and it hurt like the dickens but wow, what a fantastic tattoo!!! I'm thrilled with final result!!!


Spooks, Spirits and Spectres!

Halloween (October 31st) is almost here!

The origins of this infamous holiday comes from Celtic times and was one of the most feared days in the calendar year.

People celebrated Samhain (Summers' End), an exuberant harvest festival that signified the death of the old year and the beginning of a new one.

Come evening, the eve of Samhain, spirits and other otherworldly beings ventured into the human realm. The ancient Celts also believed spells and charms were more powerful if invoked on this evening.

But with the coming of Christianity, the pagan festival was given a new name and meaning by the church - All Hallows' Eve - which was eventually shortened to Halloween.

Other countries came up with similar names and days, such as Hallowtide, Mallowmas, All Saints' Eve, and All Souls' Eve, and now most know and celebrate the day as Halloween.

Today activities commonly undertaken on Halloween include dressing up in weird and wonderful costumes while trick or treating, carving jack-o-lanterns and playing pranks.

Others like to tell scary tales, light bonfires, and visit haunted places. Some (wiccans, pagans and druids) even continue the old Celtic traditions of Samhain.

All great fun!

So, to those of you celebrating Halloween - have fun and stay safe!


Source of some of the factual information used in this blog post: http://www.familymanagement.com/holidays/halloween/origins.html

Thursday, October 27, 2011

DARK SIDE DOWNUNDER Birthday Bash


Our Dark Side DownUnder blog is one year old on 31st October (Halloween!!!!!!!!!!).

Can you believe the site is nearly one year old?

In that time, DSDU's had giveaways,
featured DarkSiders in the Darklight On, 
celebrated the good news, seen the latest releases, and 
  had fun along the way.
 
The DarkSiders have gathered and have a
 scarily amazing grand prize, followed by a couple of runner up prizes.
 
Spookily Fantastic Grand Prize....
  • A copy of Rogue Gadda AND a t-shirt by Nicole Murphy
  • A copy of Captive AND a bookmark by Christina Phillips 
  • Either a print copy of The Goblin King or an e-copy from backlist by Shona Husk
  • Love Bites Anthology volumes 2 AND 3 featuring Alexis Fleming
  • How Do I Love Thee? edited by Valerie Parv (featuring Alexis Fleming)
  • Emerald Ice by Alexis Fleming
  • Scent of A Man (ebook) by Maree Anderson
  • Vengeance Born tote bag from Kylie Griffin 
  • A choice of one ebook by  Cathleen Ross
  • A copy of the King Rolen's Kin Trilogy by Rowena Cory Daniells
  • Allegra Fairweather: Paranormal Investigator AND South of Salem (ebooks) by Janni Nell
  • Darkness Rising AND Darkness Unbound by Keri Arthur
  • Death’s Sweet Embrace by Tracey O’Hara
  • Winged and Dangerous series (three ebooks) by Mel Teshco
  • A Song and Fire and Ice calendar from Eleni Konstantine
Runner ups...
 
One
Heart & Craft includes chapters by Alexis Fleming and Kelly Ethan
The Crystal Warrior by Maree Anderson
Guilty as Sin by Denise Rossetti
Project Man by Alexis Fleming
A bookmark from Christina Phillips
Who's Your Daddy? anthology featuring Alexis Fleming
 
Two
Heart & Craft includes chapters by Alexis Fleming and Kelly Ethan
Poisoned Kiss AND Blood Cursed by Erica Hayes.
Passionate Peridot anthology featuring Alexis Fleming
A bookmark from Christina Phillips
Three Wishes (ebook) by Jenny Schwartz
 
 
What do you have to do to win?
Come along and comment during our blog bash during 
Monday October 31st, and answer the question. 
 
Don't miss out - come join the fun!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Do you judge a book by its cover? (part 1) tote bag winner!!!

Everyone's names were dropped into my dragon coffee cup and one was drawn out. The lucky winner of the VENGEANCE BORN tote bag is:

Anita Joy

Congratulations!


Anita, if you could email me with your postal address - kyliegriffin71(at)optusnet(dot)com(dot)au - I can send the tote bag to you.

Monday, October 24, 2011

GUEST AUTHOR: Christina Hollis

Christina Hollis loves romance - she met her husband on a blind date. It was one of the best things that has ever happened to her.

She lives in Gloucestershire, England, with her son, daughter, varying numbers of livestock and a very independent cat called Jinks.

Christina, welcome!
Thank you so much for agreeing to host me as part of my blog tour.

Let's jump right in and learn more about your latest book... 
Title - WEIGHT OF THE CROWN is Modern Romance for Harlequin Mills and Boon Limited.
It’s an October release in the UK, and later this year it will be available as a Harlequin Presents Extra in the US.

Setting - The fictional desert kingdom of Rosara, which translates as ‘Land of Roses’.
Hero - Lysander Kahani, Regent of Rosara, whose recently orphaned nephew, Ra’id, is the country’s child King.
Heroine - Alyssa Dene, new nanny to little Ra’id. 
Scene you would never cut - Oh, dear, I couldn’t bear to cut any of them! Each book I write becomes like a child to me while I’m working on it. Every scene a wanted scene, that’s my motto.
Something your hero or heroine would never do or say - Neither Lysander nor Alyssa would ever say “I can’t be bothered”. They are both totally dedicated to their work. Their attitude brings them into conflict when each refuses to succumb to the raw physical attraction that has betrayed them both in the past. 

What do you think the readers will like about this book? Both Alyssa and Lysander want a very twenty-first century relationship but they must both learn to give and take before they can find happiness. Everyday life is full of challenges, so I hope readers will enjoy escaping into a beautiful fantasy land of Rosara, where Lysander and Alyssa face huge challenges but their happy ever after is assured. 

Aust/NZ cover
WEIGHT OF THE CROWN
Now duty is his only mistress...
For notorious playboy Prince Lysander Kahani, playtime is over… Left with a country to run, he draws the line at playing nanny to his orphaned nephew!
Instead he sends for a professional. But one glance at buttoned-up Alyssa Dene and Lysander’s wicked side re-emerges! Wary of Lysander’s scandalous reputation, Alyssa tries to keep her distance, but Lysander draws her like a moth to a flame.
Lysander is fighting a battle between public duty and private desire but Lysander is determined to make Alyssa a royal offer she won’t refuse… 

Buy links:
Amazon    Amazon UK      Mills & Boon     Mills and Boon Aust

UK cover
What's next for you?
Right now I’m putting the finishing touches to my next Modern Romance, which is all about Dario, an Italian count who has avoided commitment since the death of his fiancee some years ago.

It takes a brilliant university lecturer to show him that there’s more to life than partying. Josie has a string of qualifications but scores zero in life skills. Dario thinks he’s just the man to show her a good time, but Josie is afraid that enjoying herself will wreck her sensible image. She can't let go, but Dario loves a challenge!

About you... 
Favorite movie of all time - This is very difficult - writing is such a sedentary activity, I like to spend my free time moving about. I must really love any film if I’m going to sit still for a couple of hours, so it has to be either something mentally stimulating such as “Lawrence of Arabia” or totally frothy such as “Legally Blonde”. And of course who could resist “Casablanca”! 
Favorite fairytale - Cinderella. It’s lovely to imagine getting that magical makeover, and leave behind the daily chores to dance with a prince for a few hours. 
Favorite story to disappear into - “Far from the Madding Crowd” by Thomas Hardy.
Favorite TV program - “The Big Bang Theory” because my darling husband is a high achieving computer whizz, and it’s hilariously (and sometimes frighteningly) true to life. 
First book you remember reading - The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, by Beatrix Potter. 
Dog or cat person (or other) - I love all animals, though we only have a cat, poultry and bees at the moment. 

Author (living or dead) you'd most like to meet - All of them - to find out what makes them tick but perhaps especially that complicated man, T.H White. ‘The Sword In The Stone’ was a set text at my secondary school, and from the moment I read his take on Maid Marian, my mother’s dreams of me becoming an air hostess were wrecked. Then J.R.R.Tolkein had Eowyn jump up and down on them, for good measure. 

A romantic retreat for you would be...A luxury chalet somewhere remote, with every modern convenience, a roaring log fire, and my gorgeous husband. 

What do you do to unwind or relax? Gardening and cooking are lifetime hobbies, and a few years ago I took up beekeeping - though that can be pretty stressful at times. It’s worse than having thousands of children to worry about! 

What era would you like to time travel and visit? And why? I love clever men, so it would have to be back to twelfth century Europe to meet William Marshal, Henry II and Henry’s great uncle, Robert Curthose. 

What does love mean to you? Consideration: physical, emotional and spiritual. To trust and be trusted in return. 

Where can readers find you on the web?
You can find out more about me at my website, blog, or follow me on Tumbler, Twitter and Facebook.
I also have an Author page created by Romance Book Paradise Promotions.

Christina, it's been lovely having you here.
Thank you for interviewing me, Kylie!

Some of Christina's other books:





Saturday, October 22, 2011

GUEST AUTHOR: Eve Summers

Eve Summers is the erotica pen name of Yvonne Eve Walus. Both have written over twenty books between them and they're addicted to words and chocolate.

Welcome, Eve, to my blog! Let's learn a little more about you and one of your books. 

About the book...
Title -
FIJI ON FIRE, FIJI ON ICE

Tanya doesn't want to be distracted from becoming the first post-grad in her family, even if Andy's bad boy aura fascinates her more than her research project. When the delicious island cocktails of tropical fruit, cream and vodka, together with their naughty names prove not to be enough to break the ice barrier Tanya has built around herself, will Andy try harder or turn to the comforting arms of a gold-digging redhead? 

Setting - seaside resort on a blissfully warm Fiji island.
Hero - The tall, dark and devastatingly handsome Andy, who acts line a poker table conman but is a medical doctor when not on holiday.
Heroine - Ice Queen Tanya, who's afraid of relationships, particularly with younger guys like Andy.

Scene you would never cut -

“Your drink, madam.”
    The holiday resort wasn’t big on whisky. Tanya took one sniff, then a small
sip. She pulled a face. It was all right to drink, but all wrong with
oysters.
    Kind of like Andy. He would be all right as a one-night stand, but all
wrong to fall in love with.
    Careful, girl. Don’t even think it.
“May I?” Andy’s hand was already on the whisky tumbler.
    “Take it easy. This stuff is for big boys.” She had meant his age, but as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she’d noticed the double entendre.
    “Was that a fishing comment, Tanya-Anne?”
    She felt the heat rising all the way from her toes, but she rode it out.
“Now that you mention it...”
    “Don’t worry. I am a big boy.” Not a trace of boasting. And no way of knowing which way he meant it.
     “Promises, promises,” she teased.
    Andy raised the glass to the light. “Nothing I can’t deliver.”
    Ye gods.
    He took his time with the whisky like a connoisseur, or like a lover relishing the moment. As Tanya watched his mouth draw near to the amber liquid, she wanted him enough to sign away her soul. “This is ghastly.” Andy put down the glass with an exaggerated shudder. “Smells like roach bait. Come to my room, Tanya-Anne. I have something much better than Glenlivet.”
    Tanya eyed the tightness of his jeans. “I’m sure you do.” 

Something your hero or heroine would never do or say:
Andy is terribly self-assured when it comes to his prowess in the bedroom - and with reason! He would never say, "I'm average in bed." 

What's one quirky thing about your hero/heroine?
Andy is a top poker player, but he never cashes in his wins.

What do you think the readers will like about this book?
Every chapter is named after a cocktail and includes the recipe for the cocktail. This comes from Chapter Five of KISS ME SLOW.

The Kiss Me Slow Cocktail Recipe
4 oz white rum
2 oz triple sec
1 oz lemon juice
Stir ingredients together into an old-fashioned glass, and serve. 

What's next for you?
I have 11 titles with Red Rose Publishing, and 2 more upcoming: SPEED DATING IN THE COLD, as well as MR RIGHT ONLINE. 

About you...
Favorite movie of all time - Love Story.
Favorite fairytale - Sleeping Beauty.
Favorite story to disappear into - my own!
Favorite TV program - LOST (Andy's backside is inspired by Sawyer's).
First book you remember reading - The Moomintroll books.
Dog or cat person (or other) - Cat.
Author (living or dead) you'd most like to meet - Joshilyn Jackson.
A romantic retreat for you would be... Definitely a Fiji holiday resort!
What do you do to unwind or relax? Take a walk on the beach, scuba dive,
read. 
What era would you like to time travel and visit? And why? Ancient Rome. There is something about the Roman decadence, the banquet food (liver of a capon steeped in milk dressed with pepper) and the orgies....
What does love mean to you? Love is fire.

Kylie, thank you for this opportunity!
It's been my pleasure, Eve. Thank you for participating, it's been a hoot learning more about you.

If anyone would like to know more about Eve, here are some links!
Her romance blog
Her website
Follow her on Facebook
And she has a book trailer for "Fiji on Fire, Fiji on Ice" 

Some of Eve's other books: