Many thanks for dropping by to my blog.
For further information please visit my website http://www.michelle-smart.com/

Monday 29 April 2013

Once Upon A Secret

I few posts ago I dropped a little hint (a hint as subtle as a flying brick) that I have a secret. Being rubbish at keeping my own secrets, I've told anyone who cared to ask what that secret was, and now I can reveal it to the rest of the world. And the secret is this...

Yes, Aimee Duffy and I are releasing an anthology together on June 3rd. We've each rewritten a fairy tale. I've done Cinderella - I'll let you guess what Aimee's done. I bet, looking at the cover, that you haven't the faintest idea which fairy tale Aimee has reworked!

I'm not going to give much else away other than that these are stories you definitely won't be reading to your kids at night. But... I can tell you that come Friday, Aimee and I will be running a special competition connected with our book (I can hear the squeals of excitement already!).

I'd like to give a massive thank you to Dee Tenorino who designed our cover for us, and who has the patience of a saint. I really can't recommend her highly enough.

Until Friday!

Take care all xxx

Friday 26 April 2013

Yes, the time has finally arrived when Blood Roses, the second installment in the fabulous Blackthorn series created by the genius that is Lindsay. J. Pryor, releases. I have to admit to a definite dose of excitement here and am currently waiting (impatiently) for the postman to deliver my pre-ordered copy. He'd better pull his finger out or there will be blood (oops, already getting carried away by the *bloody* excitement of it all).




The Blackthorn series is NOT for the faint hearted. It is dark. It is twisted. It doesn't take the easy options. But... it is also a series of books you will find impossible to put down, with characters that will stay with you forever. Don't believe me? Think I'm exagerating? Well consider this - in 2010 a certain lady called Lindsay. J. Pryor entered a competition called New Voices, which was run by Mills & Boon. She entered it for their Paranormal line with an entry called Blood Roses. I entered that same competition. I remember reading Lindsay's submitted chapter. When I failed to final, I didn't care - Blood Roses did make it into the final four and I didn't have to think twice about casting my vote. Alas, it didn't win and now I am so glad it didn't. Everyone knows my love for Mills & Boon is infinite, but the Blackthorn series deserves a showcasing of its own. I NEVER forgot the Blood Roses chapters Lindsay submitted. And now I can finally read it in its entirety - and so can you. Read it. Please. I promise you won't regret it.


"She was supposed to kill vampires, not save them. Those were the rules. That was the lore." A rare and powerful witch whose blood is lethal to vampires, Leila has always viewed her serryn abilities as a curse. After seeing her mother slaughtered as a child, Leila longs for a safe, quiet life. That wish is shattered by Caleb Dehain - a vampire with a dark past and a darker heart. The most feared serryn hunter of his generation, Caleb now needs the help of one of the witches he despises to save his dying brother. A serryn who has no reason to help him. Except that he has her sister. Caleb and Leila are each other's worst nightmare- but the slow-burning spark of attraction between them is undeniable. Will Leila's blood be his damnation? Or could her kiss be his salvation? 

You can purchase Blood Roses by clicking on the following links:
     Amazon.com: Blood Roses (Blackthorn) (Volume 1)      
     Amazon UK: Blood Roses (Blackthorn)  
     Barnes & Noble


Thursday 18 April 2013

Bucket List & Giveaway

Today I'm welcoming back the lovely Aimee Duffy to my blog. Aimee's new book, Never Say Never, released on Monday and is already garnering some excellent reviews (including from moi! I loved it). More on the book will follow (yes, and the giveaway - it's coming, I promise but you have to keep reading to get there!).
 
As my regular readers will know, convention bores me, so instead of getting Aimee to answer questions she must have been asked a gazillion times already, I've got her to write her Bucket List - or in this case, the Ten Things To Do Before She Hits Thirty.
 
So, over to Aimee:

Ten things to do before I’m…thirty. Ok, here goes:
10. Quit my addiction to…chicken paste on toast. Good substitute for smoking in a way, but a killer on the waistline. Yummy too.

9. Visit Egypt. I’ve always wanted to go, but no one wants to go with me. Although I don’t want the package holiday experience. Gimme a backpack and a map, I’ll make my own way down the Nile thank you very much. Do you think that’s why people are adverse to the idea? I believe the words my ex used when I begged him were “over my dead body”. Hmmm. Can you see why he’s my ex?
8. Write an erotic novel. *Gasp* I know. I want to try at some point, and there’s no time like the present, is there?

7. Get back into my sixteen year old self’s jeans. (I can dream, can’t I?)
6. Join in at a stand-up comedy show. Not that I think I’m funny (in fact, I’m often told I’m not) but it’s one of those things I’ve always wanted to do, and only nerves are stopping me.

5. Learn to play a musical instrument. I did play the piano and guitar as a child, but have forgotten how. And when are guitars not cool?
4. Build up a tolerance for…wine. Not because I want to be an alcoholic, more so because after one glass I’m anybody’s. So that doesn’t go over well on works nights out, and with a bunch of lawyers jagerbombs and vodka are not an option. Poo!

3. Walk the West Highland Way. I’m not into the roughing it for a week part, but would like to do it. What an incredible achievement (if I didn’t pass out and need airlifted to a hospital mid-way, that is).
2. Read more books. I’m getting into paranormal these days, and this year alone have devoured all of J.R Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood books. Any good recommendations? Yes Linday Pryor, I am eagerly awaiting my next fix of Blackthorn. Hurry it up will you?

1. Get married. Okay, I can’t even keep a straight face typing that. Maybe one day, but no rush. Actually, I’d much rather travel the world. America is the place I want to start. Who knows, maybe I’ll be back on Chelle’s blog in three years typing from the States, or Egypt or Japan or Istanbul (it could happen).

Aww - maybe you'll be back on my blog in three years, posting from some exotic locale while on honeymoon...
As promised, Aimee is doing a giveaway. Never Say Never is book 2 in The Price of Fame series and she is giving away one copy of the book that kicked off this fab, glamorous series, The Monster of Fame. To enter to win a copy of The Monster of Fame, all you have to do is leave a comment, and we'll get one of my kids to pull a name out of hat (can't say fairer than that can I? The only real problem will be letting the kids decide who gets the job. There may be tears.).

Blurb: 
When pretend turns to desire, heartbreak is unavoidable.
Sander Chase needs a date for his ex-fiancĂ©e's engagement party, but he doesn't have time for a woman in his life. Between working on the TV show Do You Have What It Takes? and his band reforming, he's too busy for a relationship. What he needs is a pretend girlfriend. He thinks he may have found the perfect woman for the job, and the bribe he offers means she's sure to accept.
After losing her job in the film industry, breaking up with her movie star boyfriend, and finding out her mum has dementia, Chloe Butler returned to the UK determined to put her life back together. The last thing she needs is to parade around London on the arm of a celebrity, and after the heartbreak caused by her ex, she swore she'd never again date a star. But when Sander offers her a chance at her dream job, it's not something she can turn down.
As Chloe gets to know Sander she learns he's nothing like her scumbag ex. But she struggles to fight her attraction to him, knowing their relationship is only for show and their separation date is closing in fast.
Ignoring the insane chemistry between them should be easy for Sander, especially since he carries a secret that means there can be no future for them, but the more time he spends with Chloe, the harder it is to keep his hands to himself.
Content Warning: contains more denial than you'll find in a courtroom, more sexual tension than most people could handle, and explosive sex that some readers may find long overdue.
Author Links:

Monday 15 April 2013

A Brief Respite.

So the Tempted by Trouble Blog Tour is finally over and sanity can now resume!

For those who have never done a Blog Tour before... DON'T DO IT! Okay, I'm joking (kind of). It is an enormous time-suck, not just with the writing of the guest spots and the answering of the interview questions, but also with the need to respond to the people kind enough to leave a comment. I got about a quarter of my usual writing done. However, I can't blame it all on the tour itself, because it was my own reaction to it that caused the biggest time-suck - I've never had a book published before, I've never been interviewed before and I've never been able to click on someone elses website and see my own ugly mug staring back at me. And I've certainly never been able to spend hours at a time watching my Amazon ranking go up and down. My poor little head was spinning with the wonder of it all!

But it was completely worth it. I have 'met' some lovely people on the tour, blog hosts and readers alike, and I want to thank everyone who commented, supported, tweeted... Thank you all you lovely, lovely people. The Rafflecopter has also selected its random winner from all the entries - congratulations Karen Haas!

Before I toodle off, I am happy to say that a couple of weeks ago I was offered a new four-book contract with Harlequin Mills & Boon Modern/Presents. I bet you can't guess what my response was. (Hint, my poor ed is probably still suffering from ruptured eardrums).

One final thing... I also have some other 'news' that I will be announcing very soon (no, I'm not pregnant).

And on that bombshell,

Take care all xxx

Monday 1 April 2013

And the winner is....

Many thanks to everyone who entered the Love Is In The Air Blog Hop. All the entries were placed in a hat (okay, it was a tupperware box) and the winner's name picked out at random by my eldest son. So without any further ado or fanfare, I'm happy to announce that the winner is... Kim Matlock! Congratulations Kim - please can you send me your email address? If you're not confident leaving it on the blog, you can always DM me on Facebook, where I am about to pop off to, to make the same announcement there.

For those who did not win, you're still eligible to win the main prize of the Hop, which I have been reliably informed is a $25 Amazon voucher. The Hop organiser will notify the winner.

And that's it! My thanks again to all you lovely romance fans out there.

Take care all, xxx