Ballroom Blitz
by Natalie Cross
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GENRE: Romance Suspense
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BLURB:
In the glamorous world of ballroom, love and dancing do not always mix.
Professional dancer Anita Goodman has learned that lesson the hard way. With her studio and her reputation on the line, she has to take a chance on the last person she ever wanted to partner with: her best friend.
Patrick O’Leary has loved Anita since high school, but he has languished in the Friend Zone for long enough. He will take this last chance to prove to her that love is greater than winning.
Neither of them realize that conquering their rising attraction won’t be their biggest obstacle. Someone does not want them to be together, and will stop at nothing to get their way.
Love, dance, and danger. It’s a Ballroom Blitz.
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EXCERPT
The ballroom still thrummed with the clack of heels and the slide of suede, though its last inhabitants had vanished over an hour before. Applause and cheering from the final night party echoed across the hallway. The tables were strewn with hair pins, empty water bottles, and sweaty towels tossed with exhilaration before another heat. The perfume of sunless tanner and hairspray drifted toward the apex of the ballroom’s ceiling, and it almost seemed that a few notes of a Viennese waltz still clung to the utilitarian white hotel tablecloths.
Rapid footsteps broke the waiting silence. Stilettos from the click click click, glimmering with crystals, a few of which scattered from the shoes with a brackish clatter as the heels struck the parquet of the ballroom floor. Heavy breathing, panting. “No!” A stumble as one heel of the red satin crystal-encrusted stilettos snapped. Sobbing.
Then another pair of footsteps, flats, fashionable. Something hard, with an edge that might draw blood. These footsteps were measured. No panic. No anxiety. Calculating.
The sobs intensified. “Please, please, please, no, I didn’t do anythi—”
A gurgle, a grimace, a thud. The wash of silk from a bone-white evening gown susurrated along the cold parquet floor. The scent of copper flooded the air.
A grunt, a vicious exhale, an audible sneer.
Then the ballroom closed upon itself again. The tables, the cloths, the chandeliers, the lights. All waiting for its new secret to be discovered.
A Word With the Author
1.Did you always want to be an author?
Like many writers, I was a reader first. I sat on the playground in elementary school, devouring book after book, while my schoolmates played.
Writing comes naturally from reading. Stories take up residence in your head, and after a lot of clanging about, they demand to be released.
I have always loved writing, but for a long time between high school and now, I put my creative expressions on the back burner while pursuing my current full-time career. As I said, though, the stories and characters wouldn’t be silent.
So I wrote them down, and it has been amazing. I feel more like myself, now that I am an author, even if I have less free time than I used to have.
2.Tell us about the publication of your first book.
I have been extremely fortunate to work with the Wild Rose Press, who published my first novel, Ballroom Blitz. I wrote the manuscript during the pandemic and had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I hadn’t written anything in over a decade, and I had never written a full-length novel before. With the assistance of the wonderful team at Wild Rose Press, they really crafted it into the book it is today. They made the process easy and fun.
3.Besides yourself, who is your favorite author in the genre you write in?
There are almost too many to name! I started out reading early Nora Roberts and Linda Howard romance suspense. Alyssa Cole writes the most wonderful, deep romance and thriller books. Her characters are so vivid, and there is so much understanding and depth of feeling in her stories.
4.What's the best part of being an author? The worst?
The best part is the writing. Seeing my story take shape on the page in the way I’ve envisioned it is…life-changing. Watching my characters come to life and having other people like my work is really invigorating.
The worst for me is putting myself out there. I am an introvert of epic proportions, so having so much of my psyche on public display is… a lot. I’ve had to figure out a lot of ways to keep myself motivated and not go down the one-star rabbit hole.
5.What are you working on now?
I have several projects right now. I am editing the sequel to Ballroom Blitz, hopefully out in 2023 with The Wild Rose Press. I am also in the early stages of a LGBT rockstar romance, but I’m not sure where that’s going yet. Then it’s on to book three of the Ballroom Blitz series.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Love is an adventure.
Natalie writes romances and cozy mysteries featuring women who want to be seen and the men and women who cannot look away from them.
Natalie lives in Los Angeles, where writing is an acceptable way to avoid sunburn. She is mom to two lovely young munchkins who despise brushing their hair and eat way too much cake. She is unapologetically terrible at taking selfies.
Ballroom Blitz playlist available at https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7LHlIjrZEKsD1aDyJAxLAU
Newsletter sign up: https://nataliecrosswrites.com/nlsignup1/
Follow Me on:
Instagram: www.instagram.com/nataliecrosswrites
Facebook: www.facebook.com/nataliecrosswrites
Tiktok: www.tiktok.com/natcrosswrites
Buy Links for Ballroom Blitz:
Universal Link: https://books2read.com/u/3yV6r6
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION
Natalie Cross will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
