Monday, April 30, 2012

New Release: More Than a Kiss

I'm very excited to announce my newest release is now available for your reading pleasure!

"Why two covers?" you ask? Because I paid for both, I like both, and as an indie author, I can offer both so readers can choose the one they like best. I'm actually quite curious to see if one sells better than the other.


“From the classroom to the boardroom, directors to ducklings, Stacey Joy Netzel takes you on a fun, romantic joyride with two lovable people who are just trying to do the right thing in the cutthroat world of journalism and big business.” ~ Delia DeLeest, author of NOT LOOKING FOR TROUBLE

When a kiss...

All reporter Sadie Barton wants is to be taken seriously and judged on her own merits, not her stepfather’s money. She and her actress sister left Wisconsin to get out from under his controlling thumb and leave behind the malicious whispers that they’re no better than their gold-digging mother. But California isn’t all sun and fun, and paying the rent while trying to prove herself is harder than she ever imagined.

...is more than a kiss...

Something about Sadie drew self-made millionaire Zach Robinson—and it wasn’t just the amazing kiss they shared as impromptu actors in his company's commercial. He’s used to women being interested in his wealth, and Sadie’s fierce independence is an enticing breath of fresh air. He’s falling fast—until his brother suggests acting runs in her family and Sadie might not be exactly what she seems...

Read an EXCERPT or get your copy now...


(Dark Cover Edition)



(Sand Cover Edition)

Thanks for stopping by to check out the blog and new release, and have a great week!

Stacey Joy Netzel

More Than a Kiss

"Why two covers?" you ask? Because I paid for both, I like both, and as an indie author, I can offer both so readers can choose the one they like best.


“From the classroom to the boardroom, directors to ducklings, Stacey Joy Netzel takes you on a fun, romantic joyride with two lovable people who are just trying to do the right thing in the cutthroat world of journalism and big business.” ~ Delia DeLeest, author of NOT LOOKING FOR TROUBLE

When a kiss...

All reporter Sadie Barton wants is to be taken seriously and judged on her own merits, not her stepfather’s money. She and her actress sister left Wisconsin to get out from under his controlling thumb and leave behind the malicious whispers that they’re no better than their gold-digging mother. But California isn’t all sun and fun, and paying the rent while trying to prove herself is harder than she ever imagined.

...is more than a kiss...

Something about Sadie drew self-made millionaire Zach Robinson—and it wasn’t just the amazing kiss they shared as impromptu actors in his company's commercial. He’s used to women being interested in his wealth, and Sadie’s fierce independence is an enticing breath of fresh air. He’s falling fast—until his brother suggests acting runs in her family and Sadie might not be exactly what she seems...



EXCERPT:


The moon-lit water beckoned and he sauntered over to stand in the doorway leading out to his oceanfront deck, soaking in the sounds of the gilded surf.

Bottle to his lips a few seconds later, he froze when he caught sight of familiar blond curls and a cotton-candy-pink T-shirt. One more swallow was all he could manage without choking from the sudden leap of his heart into his throat as Sadie walked toward him along the upper deck that ran the length of his house.

He lowered the beer, then had to lift his hand again to wipe the liquid trickling down his chin.

“Hey, everything okay? How’s Gemma?”

“She’s still sleeping.”

Zach was about to ask if she needed anything when he noticed her fingers were knotted together at her waist. He briefly noted her jeans and bare feet before returning his gaze to her face. Her smile wavered as her attention slid down to his bare chest before darting in another direction.

Face freshly washed, she looked nervous as hell and younger than ever.

He took pity and held up his bottle. “I was just having a drink. You want one?”

She shook her head no. Switched to a nod. Then laughed. The pretty sound shot an arrow of desire straight to his groin.

“Do you have a soda, maybe? Or a drink is fine, too.”

Zach flicked on the recessed lighting under the cupboards before opening the fridge to reach for another bottle.

“But not beer. I don’t like beer. Or anything hard.” After a one second pause, she added, “Liquor wise, I mean.”

Thank God he was facing away and had swallowed his last mouthful of beer, or he’d have spewed it all over at that last clarification. He managed to keep his laugh silent, but a wide grin split his lip open again as he relished the possibility of her thoughts running parallel to his.

The smile remained in his voice when he shut the door and straightened to ask, “How about a Sprite?”

“Sprite’s good.”

He handed her the can. She popped the tab, and then stared at his mouth without taking a drink. He hoped the stretchy material of his boxer briefs held up.

Finally, she sipped the soda, and then asked, “You got some ice in that fridge?”

“Sure.” He reached to put down his bottle to get her a glass and some ice, but she waved him away.

“I got it.”

Zach leaned against the edge of the sliding door and watched her wet a hand towel from next to the sink. She dropped a half dozen cubes in, gathered up the edges and turned toward him.

Ice pack. Made sense. Why hadn’t he thought of it?

Moonlight bathed her curves and glinted in her hair, silver blending with gold.

Dumb question.

He held out his hand, but she pointed outside to a deck chair and ordered, “Sit.”

Somewhat bemused by her switch from nervous Nelly to militant nurse, he took a pull off his beer and did as he was told. Sadie sat on the wide arm of the chair with her back to him before twisting around to reach for his face.

“You should’ve iced this right away.”

The first touch of the cold cloth on his sore lip triggered a reflexive jerk away. He hissed air through his teeth before relaxing to let it out slow.

She raised her other arm and laid her palm along his stubble covered jaw to hold him still. It seemed strange, her fussing over him like this when he could take care of himself. Warmth spread from her touch and started his heart thudding in his chest. As if someone smacked him upside the head, he realized this was the closest she’d gotten to him since they’d kissed on the set of the commercial. Voluntarily, anyway.

With her concentration fixed on his mouth, Zach let his gaze wander over her long, down-swept lashes, smooth skin, and enticing lips. Discomfort shifted to center below the waistband of his shorts. Didn’t help that she had the corner of that lush, lower lip caught between her teeth again. He wanted to nibble.

When he raised his gaze to find her watching him, his pulse stuttered. Color stained her cheeks, but she didn’t break the connection.

“I didn’t thank you yet,” she said softly.

“Sure you did.”

His grip tightened on the cold bottle in his hand. Shut up, idiot! Let her thank you however she wants.

“Not for taking me to get Gemma, I didn’t. Or helping us get out of there and taking the hit for us.”

“Two,” he reminded, throwing in a grimace for good measure. “I took two hits.”

A smile tugged the corners of her mouth upward. “Don’t worry, I was counting.”

“Good.”

She lowered the hand with the ice pack to rest on his shoulder, bracing herself as she leaned closer. The minty freshness of her breath filled his nostrils and he swallowed hard at the thought of tasting it on his tongue.

“So...anyway...thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Zach held still, afraid to even breathe in case she changed her mind. Anticipation sizzled through his body and what had been a refreshing ocean breeze now became a teasing caress on his heated skin.

Sadie’s lashes lowered as she closed her eyes and pressed her lips to his. Stomach muscles tightened in his effort to lean into the kiss, but she pulled away.

Well, damn. He had two chances here and one was already over? To hide his disappointment over the all too brief contact, he joked, “That’s one.”

The thumb of her right hand whispered across his lips. “How does your mouth feel?”

“Cold.”

He barely had a chance to draw a breath before she leaned in for take two.

~~~~~

I hope you enjoyed the excerpt and if you want to read the whole book, click on one of these links:



(Black Cover Edition)




(Sand Cover Edition)
Amazon US CA UK DE IT JP BR FR ES, iTunes, BN, Kobo, SW, ARe

Happy Reading!

Or listening...get the AUDIO BOOK 






Sunday, April 22, 2012

Sunday Share: Dedication, by Janet Mullany

Today I'm happy to welcome Janet Mullany with her Regency historical, DEDICATION. She's given us a wonderfully sensual except and is also giving away an ebook copy today!
 
"Hi everyone and thanks to Stacey for inviting me to visit today. DEDICATION is a book I'm very fond of--it was my first book and I was fortunate enough to get back the rights, rewrite, and have it published with this gorgeous cover--very appropriate for a book about second chances!"

DEDICATION, by Janet Mullany

Genre: Regency historical
Heat level: sensual 

Adam and Fabienne came of age and fell wildly in love during a time of revolution but times have changed. Now he’s a respectable country gentleman and she’s a powerful patroness of the arts and they have little in common … or do they? She’s falling in love as she exchanges letters with a reclusive female gothic novelist, and Adam can’t help responding, but surely she knows who he really is, a man writing women’s books under a woman’s name? As their lives become entangled again after two decades apart, dark secrets and betrayals from the past are revealed, threatening them and others they love.

EXCERPT (The heroine, Fabienne Craigmont, has traveled to the country to find an authoress with whom she has exchanged passionate, intimate letters. The writer isn’t home, but she meets instead her former lover Adam, who reluctantly invites her to stay at his house. She goes in search of a book to read ...)

Inside the library, she paused and looked around carefully. A candle burned on a desk heaped with papers, and she saw a coat and waistcoat tossed onto a nearby chair. Their owner could not be far away. She hesitated, looking into the darkness of the far end of the room. Nothing stirred. Well, there were plenty of books at this end, and with any luck, she could find something. She gathered her shawl more closely around herself and moved forward.

As she lifted her candle to view the nearest books, Adam’s voice came from the shadows, a sinister growl.

“What are you doing here, Mrs. Craigmont?”

She stifled a shriek and dropped her candle. It fell to the floor and rolled away, the flame extinguished. “What are you doing here?”

“I beg your pardon. This is my house, my library, madam, and I ask you again, what you are doing here.” He moved toward her.

“I am looking for a book. I wish to read something.” Her words sounded inadequate and foolish.

“I see.” He took his spectacles off and tossed them onto his desk. Now he was between her and the desk, tall and forbidding in shirt and breeches.

“Well, why do you lurk in the shadows to frighten me so?”

He held a book up. “I was fetching this when I heard you make your not particularly discreet entrance, Mrs. Craigmont. I snuffed my candle to see what you were about.”

“Oh, do not be ridiculous. What else would I do in a library but look for a book?”

“That is what I wondered too.” He paused in front of her, a little too close.

“What do you mean—” Oh, God. She was here, alone, wearing only a nightgown and shawl, her hair loosened. Did he think she had come here to seduce him? She backed away from him. “I think I had better leave. I see this is not a convenient time for you.”

“Oh, please, Mrs. Craigmont. It is not at all inconvenient. On the contrary, I think we both know what you seek.” His smile was taunting and predatory.

Fabienne stared back at him, determined not to show any fear. She was no longer a terrified girl who would beg for mercy, a victim of casual lust, Adam’s or any other man’s. She reassured herself, trying to think rationally. Once she thought she’d known this man; she’d even fancied herself in love with him.

His easy, sarcastic smile and arrogant stance angered her. “Good night, Mr. Ashworth.” She stepped back, and her heel touched the base of a bookshelf, her shoulders brushing against the uneven ridges of books. He followed her that one step back, adept as a dancer or fencer, and placed one hand on the shelf at her shoulder, half entrapping her, daring her to move.

“One moment, Mrs. Craigmont.” He trailed his fingers along her jawbone and splayed his fingers into her loosened hair, drawing her face to his.

“Stop—”

The word had hardly left her lips before his mouth blocked further speech in a kiss that was surprisingly gentle, despite his threatening aspect. There was strength there, certainly in the force of his embrace and the press of his hips, but it was as though he knew that sweetness would disarm her more than any show of force. His lips withdrew, then brushed hers, posing a hesitant question, a promise of passion withheld—for the moment.

Damn him.

Her body arched toward his, returning that implicit message as her mouth opened to his, and years and pain and her common sense faded away.

“Damn you!” She wrenched away from him.

He raised his eyebrows and fingered a lock of hair that fell on her neck, his touch as potent as it had been at Tillotson’s house, as it had always been. “Well?”

“Damn you, Adam Ashworth.” Rage made her breath fast and shallow. She hoped it was only rage. “Damn you. So you still know how to kiss. And you’re still a bastard.”

He stepped back and bowed. “Your servant, madam.”

She swung her hand back and slapped his face as hard as she could. “Good night, Mr. Ashworth.”

“Good night, Mrs. Craigmont.” He crossed to the library door and opened it, a mocking smile on his face.

Head high, she walked out of the library, willing herself not to hurry. Once he could no longer see her, she ran through the dark stone passage, blundered into something that stood in the way, and reached the staircase. Safe in her room, she flung herself into bed and waited for her pulse to return to normal, the bedclothes pulled over her head. The thunder of her heartbeat, she assured herself, was only attributable to her flight upstairs.

It was nothing to do with Adam, damn him.

Nothing at all.

Damn him, she thought, damn him, God rot him, and lay awake for what seemed like hours before falling into a restless sleep.

~*~

Thank you, Janet for that great excerpt ~ I wish you the best of luck with your book!

Readers, don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win a copy.


You can find DEDICATION at Amazon or Loose-id

And you can find Janet at:




Twitter @Janet_Mullany

BIO

Janet Mullany, granddaughter of an Edwardian housemaid, was born in England but now lives near Washington, DC. Her debut book was Dedication, the only Signet Regency to have two bondage scenes (and which was reissued with even more sex in April 2012 from Loose-Id). Her next book, The Rules of Gentility (HarperCollins 2007) was acquired by Little Black Dress (UK) for whom she wrote three more Regency chicklits, A Most Lamentable Comedy, Improper Relations, and Mr. Bishop and the Actress. Her career as a writer who does terrible things to Jane Austen began in 2010 with the publication of Jane and the Damned (HarperCollins), and Jane Austen: Blood Persuasion (2011) about Jane as a vampire, and a modern retelling of Emma, Little to Hex Her, in the anthology Bespelling Jane Austen headlined by Mary Balogh. She also writes contemporary erotic fiction for Harlequin, Tell Me More (2011) and Hidden Paradise (September, 2012).


Glad you stopped by to visit and happy reading everyone!

Stacey Joy Netzel






Thursday, April 19, 2012

Winner for my stop of Authors In Bloom Blog Hop



And the winner is...

SHADOW


I will be in contact via email for you to take your pick of one of these two books:

 

Thanks to all who stopped by ~ have a wonderful Spring!

Stacey Joy Netzel


Monday, April 9, 2012

Authors In Bloom Giveaway Hop

Welcome to my stop on the Authors in Bloom Blog Hop, hosted by Dianne Venetta. Read the blog, enter to win my giveaway, and hop along to the next stop for more prizes!

April 9th –April 18th

View full details HERE

My phrase for the GRAND Prize entry is:
Line 99: "then HEA is ours."


Happy Spring! For some of us (actually, in the USA--most of us) it arrived about two months early, but as long as our cherry blossoms and apple trees and spring flowers don't get hit by a rogue late frost, we won't complain.  (In WI at least.)
Because I'm still learning in the garden, and depend on others to give me gardening tips, I'm going to share a recipe that's super easy to make after a long day outside digging in your flower beds and planting veggies.

And bear with me here...it's not rocket science--I did say super easy, remember? This may be something some of you make all the time, but when I mentioned these at work the other day, 2 of my 3 co-workers had never thought to make them, so I'm sharing!

Chicken Quesidillas
1 pkg of your favorite tortillas
1 lb of sliced chicken deli meat
2-3 medium tomatoes, diced
shredded cheese (I love using Kraft three cheese crumbles blend)
sour cream
guacamole
~~~
Lightly spray a non-stick pan with cooking oil. Place your tortilla in the pan over medium heat, top with an even sprinkling of cheese, add desired amount of chicken slices to one half of the tortilla. Cook until cheese is melted, being careful to check the underside of the tortilla to make sure it doesn't get darker than a nice golden brown. Fold tortilla in half and remove from heat. Top with sour cream, guacamole, and diced tomatoes.
**want to add a little crunch and flavor? Sprinkle with minced dried onions. Yum!

Taco Quesidillas are really good, too. Substitute the chicken deli meat for taco meat; garnish with lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole, black olives and enjoy!

My giveaway for the blog hop is winners choice* of ebook or print copy of either Lost In Italy, or Stacey Joy Netzel Novella Collection. (*print copies only available inside the US/Canada. If winner is outside the US or Canada, ebook will be emailed or gifted via Amazon or Barnes and Noble.)

  

To enter my giveaway, you must leave a comment about the above recipe. Sound good? Got some great tasting variations of your own? Just say something. *grin* You can also earn extra entries--check them out below.