If you’re looking for a good read to get you through the last weekend of Summer, INFLUENCE will be 99cents for Labor Day weekend.
Brand influencer, Lizzy Cray, is killing it.
She’s got a list of high profile clients who pay her handsomely to help their products explode on social media. Everything from cameras to cashmere, shoes to smoothies. One picture of her with a product and the money practically prints itself.
Why does this trust fund-baby need to work so hard to rake in the cash? That’s a question journalist Dominick Templeton wants an answer to, because Lizzy Cray used to be known in the gossip pages as socialite and wild-child Mackenzie Craymore.
Mackenzie disappeared from the public’s eye twelve years ago, right after her fiancé, hotel-heir, Lucky Blumenthal, died in a fiery car crash rumored to be fueled by drugs and alcohol. But now she’s back, still hauntingly beautiful, rebranded, and from everything Dominick’s researched about her, a much different person. When she ignores all his attempts at an interview, Dominick tries a different tactic and soon becomes embroiled in a world he never imagined…with a woman he’s rapidly falling for.
Instead of first line Friday today, I want to do something a little different.
My newest book, INFLUENCE ( A NEW YORK SOCIALITES ROMANCE)is releasing on August 14th and I’d like to tell you the story behind the story. Or in other words, what made me write Mackenzie’s tale.
Back in 2019 when Limitless Publishing released my bookDIRTY DAMSELSI had, in my mind, four books for the DotComgirls series. Once Limitless decided they didn’t want any more of the books in the series I was – heartbroken for sure – but I still wanted to publish the remaining books. So that’s when I decided to go independent. IT’S A TRUST THING was the first book to release. I had to change the series name from dotcomgirls to something else and THE NEW YORK SOCIALITES seemed right. The tagline Riches to rags and back again, finding love along the way, came to me in the car one day, and I was set.
WOKE, then BALANCE were published in subsequent years and I thought I was done.
Then the pandemic hit and I noticed something I never had before – the absolute power of Social Media. A new term, Influencer, popped up one day in a news report on Good Morning America, and I got an idea for a character who has burst onto the scene as one of these influencers.
Who was she? What was her story? Why does she crave the attention of likes and follows from strangers? The notion to make her a former socialite jibed with an idea I’d been kicking around for another book in the series. Mackenzie Cray had to have something, something BIG motivate her to put herself in the public eye as an Influencer. Her tragic love story with Lucky Blumenthal was born. While we never meet Lucky in person, on the page he is a powerful force behind everything Mac does.
Now I needed a hero.
One of my favorite secondary characters in my books has always been Dominick Templeton from IT’S A TRUST THING.When we meet him we think he’s sleazy tabloid journalist, but once the story unfolds, we find out just how wonderful he is – especially to his brother. I’ve wanted to give Nick a love story since then, and decided he would make the perfect foil for Mackenzie.
So I did.
InINFLUENCE, Nick has been assigned a series of articles by the magazine he writes for, detailing the past and present lives of former debutants. Mackenzie Craymore is on his list, but she’s stonewalled every call he’s made and refuses to be interviewed. Nick wonders why this former wild child trust fund baby has done a 180 in her life and is now a serious businesswoman and influencer who goes by the name Lizzy Cray. And he’s determined to find out her motivation – even though she’s not revealing it.
So, I guess you can blame the idea for INFLUENCE on the power of social media and the pandemic, LOL!
The book releases on 8.14.2023 and will be available in KU for the first few months. You can preorder your copy here: INFLUENCE.
And if you want to get reacquainted ( or meet them for the very first time!) here’s where you can find the other NYC Socialites and the book that started it all, DIRTY DAMSELS. And P.S. – Dirty Damsels is my most reviewed book on Amazon!!!
Finally!!! I’ve been waiting to get this book up for preorder for a while now!
Book 4 in the NEW YORK SOCIALITES series, INFLUENCE, will release on 8.14.2023. You can make sure you get your copy the day it releases, by clicking here: INFLUENCE
Brand influencer, Lizzy Cray, is killing it.
She’s got a list of high profile clients who pay her handsomely to help their products explode on social media. Everything from cameras to cashmere, shoes to smoothies. One picture of her with a product and the money practically prints itself.
Why does this trust fund-baby need to work so hard to rake in the cash? That’s a question journalist Dominick Templeton wants an answer to, because Lizzy Cray used to be known in the gossip pages as socialite and wild-child Mackenzie Craymore.
Mackenzie disappeared from the public’s eye twelve years ago, right after her fiancé, hotel-heir, Lucky Blumenthal, died in a fiery car crash rumored to be fueled by drugs and alcohol. But now she’s back, still hauntingly beautiful, rebranded, and from everything Dominick’s researched about her, a much different person. When she ignores all his attempts at an interview, Dominick tries a different tactic and soon becomes embroiled in a world he never imagined…with a woman he’s rapidly falling for.
If you like steamy contemporary romance, your name is all over this one, kids!
Today’s first line comes from last year’s sweet romance CHANCE, book 12 in the Last Man Standing series.
Intrigued? Here’s the book jacket blurb:
Chance Miller, divorce lawyer extraordinaire, knows the whole happily ever after dream is an urban myth. He deals with miserable and wedded warring couples every day and swears staying single keeps him sane and happy. His friends and family consider him the last single man standing and fear he’ll never find someone and settle down. But Chance relishes his carefree status and unencumbered lifestyle and has no plans to change anything.
If only his relatives would stop trying to set him up with their version of the perfect woman.
Fredrika Poole already experienced her one great love, and the widow can’t read any future romance in her tea leaves. She’s content to bake, run her business, and care for her daughter.
When Chance meets Freddie and discovers her marriage thoughts run on the same road his do, he realizes she’s the answer to his prayer for keeping the relatives at bay. But the pixie barista has a way of making Chance question everything he’s always thought about love, marriage, and wedded bliss.
Will his last man standing status go unchallenged? Or will Freddie be the one woman he wants…but can never have?
I’m proud and excited and humbled to announce that CHANCE is a 2022 Sweet Romance Novella Finalist in the HEART AWARDS, too!
Sable groaned as she spotted her oldest aunt, Teresa, moving like a heat seeking missile across the ballroom aimed straight for her.
She took a massive chug of Cranberry Cosmo from her glass, swallowed, then put what she hoped looked like a sincere smile on her face.
“There you are. I’ve been searching everywhere for you, young lady.”
“Auntie, I’ve been right here all night,” Sable said, bussing the older woman’s cheek. “What’s up?”
“Well,” her aunt slid her hand into the crook of Sable’s arm and glided her toward a quieter spot in the back corner. “I wanted to have a little chat.”
And I bet I know what about.
“Now that your brother is finally married, you’re the only single one in your generation.”
Here it comes.
“I worry about you. All alone, a single woman living in the city. It’s a dangerous place for a girl on her own.”
Goodness, you’d think I lived in an abandoned drug den instead of an Upper West Side brownstone.
“I’m fine, auntie. My apartment has a doorman and Chance had me install security locks on my door. No worries about my safety necessary.”
“Yes, well your brother is a cautious man, thankfully, but it’s time for you to settle down like he finally has. Are you involved with anyone special? You didn’t bring anyone today, but then you never do to any family functions. I would think if you’re serious about someone they would attend your brother’s wedding with you.”
Sable clamped down on the snarky reply she wanted to make. “I’m not involved with anyone, Aunt Teresa. Not right now. Work is the priority. It has to be.”
Teresa pressed her lips together in a thin line, the corners of her mouth pinching. “Your dedication to your medical practice is to be merited, Sable, but there comes a time when you need to do more than simply work. Now, I recently met this charming man I think would be perfect for you—”
Sable squeezed a hand over her aunt’s and forced a smile again. Best to get out in front of this. Her aunt was famous for her matchmaking efforts and Sable wanted no part in a family-mediated hookup.
“While I’m sure he’s as charming as you say, I’m doing fine in the dating world, Auntie. I’m simply taking my time and enjoying the process. You know the old saying? You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince.”
Sable shuddered internally as she made the declaration. So far, the amphibians in her life outnumbered the royals a thousand to one.
“Be that as it may, it’s time you start considering marriage. You’re thirty years old, Sable. Not old, but not in the first bloom of youth, either. You don’t want to have to use artificial means to have a baby because your eggs are drying up, do you?”
Was there anything more ego-deflating than a conversation about the status of her eggs with a woman who’d ended her baby-making career decades ago?
Intrigued? LOL. I’ve also got a preorder contest going on over on my facebook page. The rules are in the following graphic. If you comment down below in this post it counts!!! Good luck!
Since the pandemic I have shunned in-person shopping as much as I can, opting for home delivery when it’s available – or other online ways to get what I need.
This holiday season is no exception for me. The thought of being crammed into a mall with coughing kids and grumpy shoppers is not my idea of undiluted pleasure.
If you’re like me ( yay!), have a romance book reader on your Holiday list – or even if it’s you, and want to get them something special, take advantage of my 2022 Holiday book store this year. All the books listed are in print, $11.00 a piece – a sizable discount even from the ‘Zon, and shipping/handling is cheaper than the post office.
Why am I doing this? Simple – I want to make it easy for people to get my books without spending the horrible markups you see in retailers and online distributors. With the economy still in recovery mode, this is the very least I can offer to my readers.
The character of Amy Dorrit (Charles) is fascinating for so many reasons, but the main one for me is how she loves her 3 adoptive kids and how strongly she protects them. She also doesn’t suffer fools and calls it like she sees it, evident in this scene. She’s found a distraught Sasha crying in her apartment and after listening to the reason why, she…well, she acts like a mom who lays it on the line.
Enjoy.
After several minutes of Amy rocking and cooing to her, Sasha shifted, her tears finally starting to abate.
“I won’t ask if you feel better,” Amy said as she cupped her daughter’s chin and rubbed her thumbs across her cheeks. “A cry like that one serves the purpose of emotionally cleansing and physically exhausting a body.”
“I think I’m more exhausted than cleansed,” Sasha said, swiping her sleeve under her nose. “And now I’ve got a headache to add to it, to boot.”
With a shake of her head, Amy leaned forward and kissed Sasha’s forehead.
“Why are you home so early? I thought you were going to take the entire day to shop.”
“Took most of it.” Amy lifted a shoulder and added, “When we were done, we were done.”
“Most of the day? What time is it?” Sasha asked.
“Half-past three.”
“Oh, God. I told everyone I was only taking a few minutes and it’s been three hours. I need to get downstairs.” She tried to stand but Amy held her back.
“The diner’s fine, baby girl. The girls and Chet have been taking care of things just fine. You sit back down and tell me what got you to blubbering.”
“I need a glass of water, first.” Once Amy let her stand, Sasha filled a glass and downed it in one long draught. After that she ran cold water over her face, knowing she must look like a swollen, red-splotched mess.
Done, she plopped down next to her mother, dragged in several deep, weary breaths, and told her all about her relationship with Steve Caldwell, ending with the conversation she’d had with Kane.
“I should have trusted my instincts,” she said once she was done, the tears spent, and her voice tired. “They told me from the get-go he was only interested in me because he wanted me for the hospital.”
“I’m not sure that’s true,” Amy said.
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve seen the way he looks at you every time he comes into the diner. The man is smitten.”
Sasha rubbed her nose, then shook her head. “If he’s smitten it’s with my skills as a nurse, not as,” she blushed, “a woman or anything else.”
“I don’t like repeating myself, but I’m really not sure that’s true, baby girl.”
On the end of a sigh sewn together with exhaustion and a strangled ache, Sasha said, “It’s true enough, mom. He didn’t deny it when I confronted him.”
“Did you give him a chance to? Or did you steamroll right over him like you always do when you want to make a point?
Surprised, Sasha said, “I don’t do that.”
Amy’s brows took a steady climb toward her hairline. When they arrived and settled, her eyes opened wide and she regarded her daughter with an expression Sasha had seen dozens of times during her childhood. A don’t even think about bullshitting me glower that made the person – or child – being glared at confess any and all infractions they’d committed
That the look could still make her crumble at the age of thirty-four like an unbalanced house of cards was worrisome.
And annoying.
“I don’t.”
“Really? I can give you chapter, book, and verse on any number of times you’ve done it in your life. You’ve always been like that, baby girl. Always need to have the last word in an argument; always need to get your point across before anyone else can make theirs.”
Amy’s words stung. So much so, tears started to swell in Sasha’s eyes again. Angrily, she batted them away with her lashes.
Her mother’s expression softened. “Look, sweetie. I’m not saying it to make you upset, just to point out that you have a…tendency we’ll say, not to listen to the other person during an argument when you think you’re in the right.”
“I am in the right about this, mom. Steve was just buttering me up before asking me to work for the hospital. Kane all but proved it.”
Amy’s thin-lipped glare told her daughter exactly what she thought about Kane Barclay and his declaration.
“I know you’ve never liked him,” Sasha said. Before she could continue, though, her mother cut her off.
“I don’t dislike him,” she said. “But he has a habit of embellishing any story he’s telling to garner more attention for himself. He was always that way as a kid and hasn’t changed much as an adult.”
Sasha waved a hand in the air with a careless flitter. “History aside, this time he didn’t embellish, just told me straight out what he’d overheard.”
“You should know better than to believe any info given to you second-hand like that, Sasha Charles.”
A sudden stab of unease speared through her. Was her mother right? Should she have regarded Kane’s declaration warily?
Intrigued? I hope so, LOL
You can preorder the book here and have it delivered to your Kindle on 11.7.2022 on release day. Or, the paperback version is available right now!
Chance Miller, divorce lawyer extraordinaire, knows the whole happily ever after dream is an urban myth. He deals with miserable and wedded warring couples every day and swears staying single keeps him sane and happy. His friends and family consider him the last single man standing and fear he’ll never find someone and settle down. But Chance relishes his carefree status and unencumbered lifestyle and has no plans to change anything.
If only his relatives would stop trying to set him up with their version of the perfect woman.
Fredrika Poole already experienced her one great love, and the widow can’t read any future romance in her tea leaves. She’s content to bake, run her business, and care for her daughter.
When Chance meets Freddie and discovers her marriage thoughts run on the same road his do, he realizes she’s the answer to his prayer for keeping the relatives at bay. But the pixie barista has a way of making Chance question everything he’s always thought about love, marriage, and wedded bliss.
Will his last man standing status go unchallenged? Or will Freddie be the one woman he wants…but can never have?
Enjoy….
Even though she wasn’t nervous, the sensation of Chance’s fingers resting on her back offered a strange sense of calm and comfort.
The moment they entered the ballroom the sound level, which she’d felt knocking against her chest from the intensity, slipped to a decided hush as all eyes turned toward them.
A tiny knife strike of fear slipped in and pierced her quiet mien.
Chance’s fingers pressed against her back. “Breathe,” he murmured. “The way to handle them is to never let them see you sweat.”
She grinned at his word choice. Jimmy had said the same thing to her the first time she’d met his friends at the firehouse. Her usual state of calm bolted back.
A striking woman in a blue floor length dress and who had six inches and about forty years on her, crossed the length of the room, a man in a tuxedo clutching her hand and tagging along with her.
“Well, as usual you’re late,” the woman said, a huge, pleased smile on her face as she offered her cheek to Chance for a kiss.
He did so, saying, “You look lovely, Aunt Betty. Uncle Louis.” He nodded at the man at her side.
His aunt’s gaze shot to Freddie. If she had to put a word to the expression dancing across the older woman’s face it would be expectant.
“Allow me to introduce Fredrika Poole,” Chance said. A millisecond later he added, “My girlfriend.”
Hearing him say it aloud shouldn’t have sent a delighted shiver up her spine, but it did. Before she could contemplate on why, the woman in front of them let out a screech of delight.
“Well, isn’t this the best surprise!” She let go of her husband’s hand and pulled both of Freddie’s into hers, cocooning them.
“Happy Anniversary,” Freddie said with a smile.
“Thank you. Over fifty years with this man and every one has been better than the last.” The man at her side grinned then kissed her cheek. “But enough about us,” she said turning her full attention back to her. “Tell me, how did you two meet? Was it at work? How long have you been dating? What do you do? Are you a lawyer, too?”
Freddie blinked a few times, unsure of which question to answer first and afraid more were going to be thrown her way before she could give a reply to even one.
“Down, girl,” Chance said as he slid her hands from his aunt’s grip. “You have all night to grill her. We just got here and I’d like to make the rounds, say hello to everyone and introduce her around. Okay?”
His aunt tossed him a peeved pout, then shook her head and grinned. “Always have to be in control,” she said, clucking her tongue. To Freddie she said, “You probably already know that about him, though, don’t you dear? The original Mr. In Charge, that’s our Chancey-boy.”
Freddie hid the grin she wanted to let loose from the look on Chance’s face. Part embarrassed, part annoyed, and one hundred percent adorably miffed male grimaced next to her.
“Go on, then,” Betty said. “Go show your girl off. But don’t forget your favorite aunt. I want to hear all the deets, as my grandkids say, later on. I’m not letting you leave this party without knowing everything about you,” she said to Freddie.
“Yes ma’am,” Freddie replied.
“Terrified yet?” Chance whispered as he took her arm and propelled her toward a group of people close to their own age.
She tried not to think about how natural his hand felt against her skin as she said, “It takes a whole lot more than an aunt who shows her love by being nosy to scare me, Chancey-boy,” she said, trying to keep the grin from her face.
When he squeezed her arm and said, “I’ll pay you back for calling me that by introducing you to Aunt Theresa next. The FBI and CIA have her on speed dial because of her interrogation techniques.”
“Bring it.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Hey, everyone. This is Freddie.”
The impossibly boorish introduction made her gape at him and then laugh out loud. She needn’t have worried about it, though, because he was immediately chastised by every female in the group.
Names were thrown at her from every direction, accompanied by warm and enthusiastic handshakes and smiles. Freddie glanced over at her date to see him engrossed in serious conversation with one of the most beautiful women she’d ever set eyes on. Long, shiny, deep auburn colored hair flowed freely about a perfectly heart-shaped face framed by robins-egg blue eyes and an upturned, pixie nose and jaw.
Without being told, she knew this was Chance’s sister, Sable. The curve of their jaws and the cut of their cheeks hinted at it, but when Sable pursed her perfect lips in a pout of confusion, she saw Chance’s face stare back at her.
The younger woman glanced over at her, her delicate eyebrows lifting at something her brother was saying.
Questions flew at her left and right. Chance hadn’t been kidding when he’d told her she’d be the topic of interest tonight simply because she’d come with him.
“You’re certainly an improvement over the last girl he brought around,” Moira – she thought that was the name – said. “You actually make eye contact and smile,” she added.
“And you look like you have a brain,” said another. Kitty, maybe?
“Thanks,” she said, adding a crooked smile. “I think.”
“How long have the two of you been going out?” This one she couldn’t put a name to.
“Not long,” she replied, purposefully being vague.
“Where’d ya meet?” Moira again.
“I own the coffee station in the building Chance works in. We met by accident when he was on the receiving end of a thrown coffee cup.”
Eyebrows lifted and mouths pulled into delighted grins as she explained his client’s ex and her tirade.
“I would have paid cash money to see that,” the one whose name she couldn’t remember said.
“All of us would have. So,” Kitty said, “you came to his rescue and what? He asked you out?”
“Something like that.” She smiled when she saw him leave his sister and stride back toward their group.
“Okay, kids, that’s enough,” Chance said as he slipped a hand around her arm. “I want a drink and something to eat and I’m sure Freddie does, too. You can continue the grilling later.”
“We weren’t grilling her, Chancy-boy.” This from Kitty.
As he turned, Moira sniggered. “Should I have the waiters serve coffee now, or wait until later?”
Chance stumbled a bit while moving her away from the group, but didn’t respond to his cousin.
Gently, he tugged her toward the buffet table. “You told them?”
“They asked how we met. I wasn’t going to lie.”
His theatrical sigh pulled a grin from her.
“You can bet by the end of the night everyone in this room will know the story. My family is like a bad game of telephone.”
Love reading romance? You’ve come to the right place! Here you’ll find romance of all steam levels and genres. So take your time, have a little fun here on our event page, and please visit our official book fair page and enter to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card
My steamy romance, BALANCE, part of the NYC Socialites Series, is one of the books listed. Check it out, here: OKRWG BOOK FAIR under the STEAMY category!
She’s a wealthy socialite who survived an abusive marriage. He’s a hardworking guy raising his son and caring for his widowed father. They come from different worlds, but it’s said…opposites attract. Can they find the balance between their two lifestyles to make their love work? Or will their differences tear them apart?
Life and love are a balancing act.
BALANCE is also a 2022 Nominee in the InD’Tale Magazine RONE AWARDS. The award ceremony if set for Saturday, 10.9 at 8pm EST!
The 31st of every August is National Matchmaker day – who knew? Well, I did, for one, LOL.
Have you ever read a matchmaker-trope romance? Today would be a good day to start and as luck would have it, I have one for you: MIX AND MATCH ( Heaven’s Matchmaker) is out in the world and under wide distribution now, not only at Amazon. Here’s the universal link for other book distributors: M&M
Divorced and lonely, nurse Jasmine Green retains the services of Heaven, NH’s very own successful matchmaker, Olivia Joyner. The bar scene and dating apps give Jasmine hives and Liv’s reputation is stellar. If anyone can help guide her through the quagmire that dating has become, Olivia can.
Architect Donovan Boyd is ready to settle down. He wants the kind of marriage his parents have; long-lasting, filled with love, children, and joy. But even after a year of living and working in Heaven, he’s still considered an outsider by many. Finding the type of woman he’s looking for is hard in the tight-knit community. Retaining Olivia Joyner to help him find his forever love is one of the smartest things he’s done, especially after she sets him up with Jasmine Green.
But the red-haired, green-eyed beauty wants a different kind of marriage from the one Donovan considers ideal.
Can these two strong-willed people learn to compromise so they can both find their happily ever after? Or will their relationship forever be relegated to the friend zone?
Peggy Jaeger, Author 