Love Target

Love Target

by Heidi Loeb Hegerich

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

Teenager Ingrid Liebschreiber is devastated when her parents move the family from their native Munich to Los Angeles in the late 1950s. Homesick, she accepts a neighbor's offer to get her a job as a showgirl in Las Vegas.

Intent on earning enough money to return to Germany, she must grow up quickly in the neon jungle - where she is pursued by high rollers and headliners, including a vacationing Elvis.

Life's twists and turns land Ingrid in New York in the Swinging 1960s - where she is romanced by Armand: a strong, quiet, handsome businessman in "construction." Most girls dream of Mr. Right, and Ingrid's hard-won independence is challenged when she falls in love.

Will she find true romance - a man who can love her as much as she loves him? Or is "happily ever after" just a crazy fairytale?

EXCERPT:

“Rascal, you sit yourself right down there.” Elvis motioned at the bed.

He picked up a shiny guitar. It was honey yellow, and the face had a rust-red design below the sound hole, decorated with golden orbs and stems like dandelions.

“Oh, it is beautiful, Elvis!”

He held it up proudly. “This is my Gibson. Ain’t she sweet?”

He sat on a chair cradling the expensive guitar. He delicately plucked the top string with his thumb and gently strummed the other strings with his fingers.

Soft strains filled the room.

“This little number is from my first movie.”

As he began singing, I recognized the melody.

“Love me tender . . .”

Elvis gazed at me as he serenaded, his eyes big, brilliantly blue, dreamy. His song sang straight into my heart. I tingled like I’d been caught in a breeze. Could he see my skin quivering? He could definitely see my cheeks reddening.

Elvis finished with a slow downward strum, thumbing each string individually, a sweet arpeggio. He let the last note ring and fade away.

He looked up and smiled.

“Don’t I sound like Bing Crosby?”

He didn’t wait for an answer. He leaned the guitar against the dresser and in the next instant was on the bed, an arm slung around my shoulder. His other hand grasped and turned my chin.

Elvis’ mouth was warm and gentle. Our tongues met. Just as quickly, his retreated.

Our mouths puckered again. Elvis’ lips worked softly against mine. They moved away and began pecking my face with slow, small kisses. My lower lip burned. Elvis had sunk his teeth in with a hard nip.

He released it just as quickly and turned away with a bashful look. It was like he was a nervous teenager. Was this all an act? Or was he just a giant flirt?

A Word From The Author:

1.What's the best and worst part of being an author?

The best part of being an author is the feeling of accomplishment you get just from looking at a copy of your book sitting there in your house. It’s tangible proof of all the brain-grinding work you put in to finish a polished manuscript, to get the manuscript published, to bring the book to market.

The worst part of being an author is suffering through trickling book sales — knowing that your book could turn readers on if only they knew about it and took a gamble on buying a copy. Promoting a book is a slow process that takes as much, if not more, work than actually producing the book.

2.Which book of yours is your favorite? Why?

3.What are your favorite authors in the genre that you write?

Well, Margaret Mitchell wrote GONE WITH THE WIND — the one and only book she published in her lifetime — and I’ve read it three or four times in my life, the first time being when I was in my early 20s, living in New York City. The book is a classic, a romance, a historical novel, and a Bildungsroman — a long compound word from my native German language, meaning a coming-of-age story. (I probably didn’t need to provide a definition for readers of this blog!) LOVE TARGET falls into all three of those genres, as well. In a way, Ingrid Liebschreiber is like Scarlett O’Hara: fiercely independent, and not giving up her heart very easily to any man.

4.Which of your characters is most like you?

That’s easy! Since LOVE TARGET is a memoir novel — narrated in first person by the protagonist, Ingrid Liebschreiber — it’s obvious to readers that I am most like Ingrid. She is a fictionalized, dramatized version of myself in the first half of my life to date. Frankly, there is a bit of Ingrid in just about every woman.

  

Heidi Loeb Hegerich has lived in places as varied as Munich, Las Vegas, Miami Beach, New York, Los Angeles, Squaw Valley and Reno. She has worked variously as a showgirl, business executive, entrepreneur, interior designer and real estate developer. She has traveled to six of the seven continents, and vacationed in spots as different as the French Riviera, the Andes and Afghanistan. She counts among her hobbies weight training, shooting assault rifles, and racing sand rails; she found skydiving entertaining but not as much of a rush as other pursuits.

A philanthropist for the arts, among other causes, Hegerich is now embarking on her own artistic quest as an author. The novel Love Target is her first book.

Buy links:

www.lovetarget.com

http://www.amazon.com/Love-Target-Heidi-Loeb-Hegerich-ebook/dp/B00KCS0OCY/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424291237&sr=1-1&keywords=love+target

Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4E9UULoZNU

Facebook: www.facebook.com/LoveTargetNovel

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LoveTargetBook

Robin Leach book review in Las Vegas Sun newspaper: http://www.lasvegassun.com/vegasdeluxe/2015/jan/13/love-target-showgirl-reveals-elvis-pregnancy-swing/?utm_source=mostpopular&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=mostRead

Heidi is giving away a $30 Amazon/BN gift certificate to one lucky winner. Use the link below to enter. You can find her schedule at http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2015/03/vbt-love-target-by-heidi-loeb-hegerich.html

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The Gladiator's Bride

The Gladiator’s Bride

by Nhys Glover

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

Crippled by shyness, shunned for being not-right-in-the-head, gifted artist and Roman noblewoman, Marcia Mica, has only two people in the world who truly love her – her teacher, Daedalus, and her childhood friend, Asterion, both slaves in her father’s household. But when forbidden love blooms between the unlikely friends, only disaster can come of it. That disaster leaves Marcia horribly scarred and Asterion sold into the arena as a gladiator.

Years later, Daedalus brings a broken Marcia to Britannia, and Sabrina, the healer who saved his life when he was a boy, works miracles on the scarred girl. However, not all scars are physical and those Sabrina has no ability to heal.

When Sabrina and Marcia are kidnapped by a Celtic leader bent on revenge, Asterion must depend on the dreams of a Celtic Seer to find the love of his life and help foil a revolt that threatens the fragile peace in Roman Britannia. But even if he and his friends succeed, can scars that are more than just physical ever really be healed and can those whose lives are owned by others ever truly be free to follow their hearts?

EXCERPT:

Dath edged across the room towards Marcie. He hadn’t noticed the wall behind her until the bastard pointed it out. Now he saw that it was a monochrome painting: a reddish-brown scene that would have suited the Christians and their belief in Hell and Damnation. It was, he realised instantly, a picture of the night of the fire. There was Asterion, tied to the large cartwheel, his back scourged with cruel welts. There was the Master, his face a mask of such ugliness he could have made Medusa a perfect mate. And around them both were flames; a fire raging out of control, eating everything in its path.

With a shudder, it suddenly dawned on him what she’d used as paint. The brownish-red colouring could only be one thing: Blood.

Had this animal not allowed her paints? Had she been forced to work using her own blood as the medium? Or had she intentionally chosen to work in blood because it captured her agony as nothing else could?

‘Blood?’ He hadn’t realised he’d spoken the word out loud until the merchant replied.

‘She did it in burned pieces of wood in my suite. So when I moved her in here I made sure she didn’t have access to anything she could disfigure my walls with. But she outsmarted me. Made brushes out of her own hair and cut her arm to get blood.’

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

After a lifetime of teaching others to appreciate the written word, Aussie author Nhys Glover finally decided to make the most of the Indie Book Revolution to get her own written word out to the world. Now, with almost 100,000 of her ebooks downloaded internationally and a winner of 2013 SFR Galaxy Award for 'The Titan Drowns', Nhys finds her words, too, are being appreciated.

At home in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales of England, Nhys these days spends most of her time "living the dream" by looking out over the moors as she writes the kind of novels she loves to read: The ones that are a little bit steamy, a little bit different and wholly romantic.

http://www.nhysglover.com

http://www.facebook.com/nhysgloverauthor

http://www.twitter.com/nhysglover

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MS48TCC

Book Video:

http://youtu.be/CHT13QQMukM

Nhys will be awarding a $10 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Use the link below to enter. You can find her schedule at http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2014/09/book-blast-gladiators-bride-by-nhys.html 

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The Honeymoon Prize

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Melissa will award a $25 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn winner via the rafflecopter at the end of this post during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

NOTE: This book is on sale for only $0.99 during the tour.  Why not grab yourself a copy today?

He needs a wife...

Single bodyguard Nick Calhoun has been given an ultimatum by his boss--find a wife or lose his cushy, high-paying job. Clients' wives are hitting on him and putting Nick, and his boss, in hot water. But monogamy? He's never been a white picket fence kind of guy, and he's not about to embrace the happily married lifestyle now. He needs a wife who doesn't care about his steamy, extra-curricular love life...and he knows just the woman to fit the bill.

She needs a home...

Adalaide Sinclair spent years caring for her ill grandmother. Upon Grammy's death, she's stunned to find herself evicted from the only home she's ever known and labeled a thief by her inheritance-hungry family. Addie needs to find a place to live and a job--fast. So when her childhood friend, Nick, proposes a no-sex marriage of convenience, she puts her dreams of true love and happily-ever-after on hold. Finding Prince Charming can wait a little longer, right?

But will their friendship survive the honeymoon?

When Nick and Addie unexpectedly win a dream honeymoon, they decide to go their separate ways during the ten-day vacation. Too bad a camera crew is waiting for them at the tropical paradise. Acting like a head-over-heels bride and groom for reality TV wreaks havoc on their no-sex agreement...and blurs the line between fantasy and reality. Will Nick and Addie remain married in name only, or will a romantic honeymoon for show turn them into true newlyweds?

Enjoy an excerpt:

Time to focus on the present—a paradise full of beaches and sun and fruity drinks with paper umbrellas. She could swim and sail and participate in the forty-seven other activities the resort offered or read one of the novels she’d brought.

“What are you thinking?” Nick asked.

“That I deserve this lovely island.” She raised her chin, buoyed by a resolve she hadn’t felt in . . . years. “I’m going to make the most of the next ten days. Let my hair down and dance in the sand. Who knows when I’ll get to do something like this again?”

Nick’s eyes darkened, turning serious. Something rare for him. He started to speak then stopped himself.

“Your turn,” she said. “What are you thinking?”

“This is only our first vacation. You’re not going to have to wait another nine years for another one, okay?”

The raw emotion in his voice sounded nothing like the Nick she knew, but the determination behind each word warmed her heart. “Okay.”

The plane landed and motored across the water toward a long wooden dock that led to a pristine curved strip of white sand beach. Two paddleboards lay by the shore’s edge. Palm fronds blew in the wind.

Her breath caught in her throat. “It’s like a postcard.”

“Only better. This is real life. The island is ours for the next week and a half.” Nick motioned to the people on the dock. “Looks like we have a welcoming committee. Show off your pearly whites. I see cameras.”

With a degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University, Melissa McClone worked for a major airline where she traveled the globe and met her husband. But analyzing jet engine performance couldn’t compete with her love of writing happily ever afters. Her first full-time writing endeavor was her first sale when she was pregnant with her first child! Since then, she has published over thirty romance novels with Harlequin and Tule Publishing Group. She’s also been nominated for Romance Writers of America’s RITA® award. When she isn’t writing, you can usually find her driving her minivan to/from her children’s swim practices and other activities. She also sends care packages to deployed service members and fosters cats through a local no-kill animal shelter. Melissa lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, three school-aged children, two spoiled Norwegian Elkhounds and cats who think they rule the house. They do!

Website: http://www.melissamcclone.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MelissaMcCloneBooks

Twitter: @melissamcclone

Buy link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LE4Q370

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Purple Heart

I have exciting news for you.  The Wild Rose Press has lowered the price of Purple Heart to $2.99.  Since Purple Heart is one of my older books, I haven't talked much about it in the last year or so, but truthfully it's one of my favorites.  It's a simple story that packs a big punch.  I cried when I wrote the last chapter.  I made a video when the book first came out, so I thought I'd share it with you.  I'm afraid it's too long.  At the time I made it, I didn't realize that shorter was better, but if you'll stick with it for almost two minutes, you'll get a good idea what the story's about.  If you're interested in Purple Heart it's available at http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=88_119&products_id=404

Excerpt: Return Engagement

Today I'd like to share an excerpt from my new novel Return Engagement. My heroine Elizabeth is a famous movie star. My hero Richard is an FBI agent whose father is a wealthy, powerful senator. In this excerpt, Richard and his partner have gone to rescue Elizabeth who has been kidnapped.


Neither Scott nor Richard would ever forget the trip to 2341 East McJunkin Street. Both of them had worked under pressure before, but it hadn’t affected them the way this trip
did. Personal involvement made a huge difference.

Richard hadn’t said a word during the entire trip. He couldn’t. Once or twice before he had reached the point where his emotions just froze on him; that’s where he was
now. He felt strangely detached from Scott and even from Elizabeth. Some cold, chilling frost had fallen on him; he eagerly anticipated the opportunity to deal with the ones who
dared to hurt the woman he loved.

Scott had stared at him for the last block or so, and he finally snapped, “Why are you staring at me?”

Scott didn’t pull any punches. “I’m trying to figure out how stable you are. If you lose your head and do something stupid we’re in trouble. You’ll probably see some things you
won’t like, but if you want to save her, you’ve got to be cool and keep your head.”

Richard’s eyes, filled with blue fire, bored into Scott’s. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. I know what I’m doing.”

They parked their car half a block from the motel and proceeded on foot, entering the property from the back side where they saw three cars parked in the lot. Richard gestured
toward a gold Lexus. “That’s her car parked beside the Jaguar.” He read the license plate on the black Jaguar and his knees sagged. “That’s Dad’s car,” he choked.

Scott voiced a horrible thought. “You said he wanted to pick out your wife. Do you think he’s trying to scare Elizabeth off?”

Richard shot him a look that would’ve melted stone. “You’ve been around Dad long enough to know better than that. Dad’s not some kind of thug.”

“I hope you’re right, but you love your father. You might not see him clearly. I think he’d do almost anything to advance your career. Scaring a woman probably wouldn’t seem too bad to him.”

Richard barely heard this last slight to his father. With drawn guns the two men cautiously made their way toward the door nearest the parked cars. It was locked. Damn!
They’d lose precious time looking for the right place.

They tried two more doors before they came to room 205. The door moved easily when Richard tried to open it. He nodded to Scott. Soundlessly, the two agents entered the
building.

Welcome Fran Shaff

Today's guest is award winning author Fran Shaff. Fran has a new book coming out in March from Wings ePress, and she's here today to talk about it and her writing career. Welcome, Fran. Thanks for coming. I do have a couple of questions to ask you.

1.Tell us how you got involved in writing. Did you always dream of being an author?


While I have always had an interest in writing, I more or less dabbled in it without a clear focus for years. I looked upon it as more hobby than anything else. It's importance was way down on my list behind all responsibilities.

Then my cousin, a clergyman, told me if God gives us a talent, we should use it. Those words changed my entire outlook. I began to make writing my focus. I studied, wrote and researched constantly. Within a couple of years of that change of attitude, I had my first book contract from Avalon Books of New York. I dedicated that book to my inspiring cousin.


2.How do you think being a published author has changed you?


While being a published author hasn't changed me as a person, I do get a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment every time I hear from readers who have enjoyed my books. Thank you, Readers!


3.What do you think makes a book a page turner?


Great characters make or break a book. If a reader REALLY cares about the characters, she won't be able to put the book down. How many readers would have plugged along through books as long as Gone With the Wind if they didn't just have to know what would happen next with Scarlet O'Hara?


4.To date, which one of your books was hardest to write? Why?

"A Partner's Promise" was the book that gave me the most difficulty. It went through many transformations before I finally finished. "A Partner's Promise" is a young peoples' novel about an eleven-year-old homeless boy who is forced to take the orphan train from New York to Iowa in order to avoid going to jail for stealing a loaf of bread.

"A Partner's Promise" received an EPPIE nomination for young peoples' literature which I really appreciate. Even more rewarding have been the wonderful comments I've received from young people, teachers and parents. "A Partner's Promise" was definitely worth the years of work it took me to write it.


5.To date, which is your favorite book? That you've written, I mean.


When it comes to favorites, I am torn between "For Love of Maggie" and "The Trading Game."

"For Love of Maggie," which won the Write Touch Readers Award, More than Magic Award and a CataRomance Reviewers' Choice Award is the book closest to my heart. "Maggie" is a little girl with Down Syndrome who reminds me very much of my sister who also has Down Syndrome. The heroine, who is her mother, and the hero present different societal attitudes of children with handicaps. These attitudes are reconciled in heart-felt ways during the story. "For Love of Maggie," a contemporary sweet romance, will be in reprint beginning in July, 2010.


"The Trading Game" is another young peoples' novels. The characters in this story make it a favorite of mine. Set in the late 1890s it's a story about two eleven-year-old girls from opposite ends of the economic spectrum discovering the importance of love and family. I am in awe of the courage the poverty-stricken Lacey has in facing the horrible things life has given her. And I can't help but want to throttle spoiled, rich Salina, her polar opposite. Any story which evokes strong emotions like this one does, is going to be a favorite to me.

6.What future goals have you set for yourself?



I hope to keep on writing, and I hope readers who continue to enjoy my work.


7.Where can we find you on the web?

My main website is located at: http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff

I hope your readers will join me at Twitter where, beginning in March, I will be having "Tidbit Tuesdays" and "Website Wednesdays" on a weekly basis. Fellow writers will be interested in a big event I'll be having on Twitter on April 10 at 10 a.m. Central time---100 Writer Tip Tweets in 100 minutes on the 100th day of the year. www.twitter.com/franshaff


I'm also on MySpace, Facebook, JacketFlap and LinkedIn.


Readers can reach me by e-mail at writerfran@gmail.com


My books are in libraries and at Amazon.com, Smashwords.com, Fictionwise.com, BarnesandNoble.com and other places on the Internet.


8.Would you share an excerpt from one of your books with us? Don't forget to tell us where we can buy it.


MONTANA MAGIC is a March, 2010 contemporary sweet romance e-book from Wings ePress. It is a fun read with the sweetest happy ending... I don't have a link to Fictionwise or other Internet sites yet so I'll just give the publishers link for purchase information.

Buy link: www.wingsepress.com

Mini-Blurb:


Deanna Worthington spends her respite in Montana working on her Master’s thesis until C.R. Whitmore convinces her that all work and no play makes her life a bit too dull.



Below is an excerpt. To find more excerpts, go to:



http://sites.google.com/site/franshaffsmontanamagic





CR shows Deanna around the ranch....



A few miles from the ranch yard stood a cliff among the rocky ground. When they reached it, C.R. suggested they dismount and look at the view.

Deanna was pleased to be getting off the horse. They’d ridden for miles, and she wasn’t used to it. She was beginning to hurt all over.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “You’re walking like you’re a little stiff.”

“Don’t be silly,” she said, keeping her gaze on the view before her, “I’m perfectly fine.”

He walked with her to the edge of a cliff. “What do you think?”

Her breath caught in her throat as she beheld the scenic rolling hills before her. “I think you should have brought me here first. I’ve never seen anything so truly beautiful in my life. Have you?” she said enthusiastically as she turned to look up at him.

His Adam’s apple quivered, and he cupped her cheek with his hand. “I think the view from this part of the ranch is absolutely breath taking, but it’s like a trash heap compared to your beauty, Deanna.”

His unexpected touch and the tone of his words nearly stopped her heart. It took her a long moment to regain her ability to speak.

“Cade, don’t,” she said, pushing his hand away from her cheek.

“You are beautiful. I don’t see a thing wrong with telling you so.”

She turned away from him. “It’s not what you say; it’s how you say it. And it’s the look in your eyes when you say such things.” She looked up at him. “Just don’t, okay?”

He stared down at her intently. “The look in my eyes? The tone in my voice? I don’t know what you think you see in my eyes or what you think you hear in my voice, Deanna, but I don’t mean anything more than what I say.” He touched her chin with his finger. “You are beautiful.”

She batted his hand away. “You said it again with that same intonation and that same look in your eyes.”

“What tone? What look?”

“That look you give me when you say I am beautiful. It makes me think you might be falling in love or into infatuation or something like that.” She shook her head vigorously. “I don’t want a relationship with you.”

He lifted his shoulders and his hands at the same time. “Who said anything about a relationship?” He put his hands by his sides. “I thought we were friends. I hoped we could have some fun together.”

“We haven’t been acting like we are merely friends, C.R. If we were only friends we wouldn’t have been kissing like we were at Catherine’s the last time we were alone together, and you wouldn’t have taken me into your arms the way you did back at Becky’s today. Friends don’t indulge in the passion we were a part of in both of those instances.”

The look of confusion he’d shown her a moment before was quickly replaced by a rakish smile. “Sometimes they do,” he said casually.

“You’re a frustrating man.”

“Come on, Deanna,” he said, putting his hand on her forearm. “You don’t hate me. And I don’t think you want to spend all of your time cooped up at Catherine’s ranch taking care of children and working on your thesis anymore than I want to spend all of my time working on the ranch. We’re both young. Let’s have some fun. There isn’t a whole lot to do here socially, but Carington does have dances, movies and a restaurant or two. They’ve even got a golf course and a brand new bowling alley. Wouldn’t you like to go out and kick up your heels once in a while?”

She gave him a perplexed look. “Is that really what you want, C.R., just a little fun?”

“Yes,” he said.

She bit her lip and thought a moment before she responded. “After you kissed me back at Catherine’s you told me you hoped we would grow to care more and more for each other. That didn’t sound to me like you were looking only for a casual relationship. It sounded rather serious.”

“So that’s why you’ve been putting me off every time I’ve called you since then?” The look that flooded his eyes seemed a reflection of guilt. “If that’s what I said, then I was wrong to make such a statement. I know you’re here for only a few weeks or months at the most, Deanna. I don’t expect anything from you outside of friendship and fun.”

“Really?”

He gazed at her intently. “Deanna, I understand you’ve been hurt in the past.” He cupped her cheek. “I’m not Greg. I won’t make you fall in love with me and hurt you the way he did. I’d die before I’d ever hurt you.”

As his words sank into her heart she decided, perhaps, she could trust him. Maybe the two of them could have a casual relationship of dating and fun.

And if they indulged in kisses and caresses from time to time, what was the harm in that? After all, they were normal, healthy, young adults, weren’t they? It was their right to enjoy each other in every way they wanted.

“I believe you, C.R.,” Deanna said.

In the next moment she surprised him as much as she surprised herself.

She rose on tiptoes, put her hands around his neck and drew him close so she could kiss him.

She loved kissing him, so why shouldn’t she kiss him?

He took her into his arms, and she knew at once she was right where she wanted to be.

For now.



------------------------------------

Read more excerpts at: http://sites.google.com/site/franshaffsmontanamagic

Fran, thanks for coming. Your book sounds wonderful. In fact, all of them do. Come back any time.