Focus On...Elaine Lowe

I'm delighted to welcome Elaine Lowe onto my blog today, to talk about her latest release.

Hi Christina, thank you so much for having me as a guest on your blog. I'm Elaine Lowe, and I am happy to announce that my latest book, http://www.jasminejade.com/p-9413-magic-eights.aspx Magic Eights, is out today! Short but hot, Magic Eights tells the story of a happily married couple that still has a lot to learn about one another, and the touch of magic that helps them to do it. What is a woman to do with eight copies of the man she loves? Have a lot of exhausting fun!

This book is light-hearted and fun, a departure from some of my more plot-intense, research heavy historicals. I really had a lot of fun writing this summery romp, and I hope you have fun reading it.
Check out my website, http://elainelowenovels.com/ Elaine Lowe Novels and follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/elainelowe
Have fun and keep reading! 
Elaine Lowe

Here's an excerpt from Magic Eights to whet your appetite...

Will stood in the doorway for a moment, taking in the soap-obscured view of her

naked body and flashing her a brief but devastating grin that still made her heart go

pitter-patter.

“Hello my water nymph. How do you find your bath? And is that incense I smell?”

He turned away from her and to the toilet, nonchalantly taking a piss, while she

observed the curve of his ass in the ancient pair of khaki shorts that he wore.

“Bath’s searing hot, just like this nymph likes it. And no, the scent is something

Esme sent us for our anniversary.” She looked him up and down. “Care to join me?”

Her voice dripped with invitation, but she knew he didn’t share her particular fetish for

baths.

“You’ve got to be kidding me! It’s like ninety-five in the house, and it’s only going

to get hotter. How you can stand to take a hot bath in this weather is beyond my ken!”

With a drip and a zip and a quick wash of his hands, he turned back to her, his eyes

eating her up and making her throb even more than she had been. With his dark

shining eyes carrying that edge of lust and his wicked goatee reminding her how much

she liked the drag of his chin against her thighs, she was practically melting with need

for him. But she didn’t let it show. Her appetite for him was simply ridiculous after all

the years they’d been together and she’d never been completely comfortable letting it

all out. He was everything she ever wanted, and she didn’t feel like scaring him off

now.

Will seemed to read something in her expression though, and he looked apologetic.

“I promise to take a bath and have fun with you when it’s not scorching hot. Besides, I

just got a call from work and the server is having a meltdown. I’ve got to log on and fix

it before the CFO starts having kittens. Which would be bad, because he’s very allergic

to cats.”

Susanna crinkled her brow and blinked. Will always did have a cock-eyed sense of

humor. She loved it and the unexpected twists his brain would occasional make. “But

you are supposed to relax this weekend! You’ve been…”

“I know, I’m stressed out and I desperately need to get away from the computer.

But I’m an addict, what can I say. And I think I’ve done quite a bit of restorative

relaxing.” His eyes flickered over her once again and that lazy lecherous smile

appeared, the one that could make her blush like a sixteen-year-old virgin. “So let me

go off and slay some electronic dragons, or fix some bugs, and I shall return to indulge

in all the bounty milady has to offer.” With a wink, he turned around and shut the door,

leaving her in the swirling steam and foamy water of her bath. All alone.

His parting words had sent all kinds of naughty images tickling her brain...

Passion in  a sultry bathroom - exactly the thing to put the zing back into a marriage! 

Thanks for blogging here today, Elaine, and good luck with Magic Eights!

Exciting Times

The year is dashing by - I can hardly believe the longest day has come and gone already. It won't be long before the honey harvest, which happens here in mid to late July depending on the weather. I don't take much, as I keep bees more for the enjoyment and environmental benefits than for what they can give me. Though I get hours of free entertainment (and sometimes disappointment and frustration) out of them as well! In anticipation of the harvest, I ordered just a few odds and ends of equipment - as I thought. It arrived in three huge boxes, though luckily none were very heavy. It's amazing how much space a thermometer, some flat-pack carpentry and a few sheets of wax can take up when everything is individually packed in tons of shredded paper! Does your hobby end up filling the house from top to bottom with bits and pieces?
By the same post,  I got some some copies of the Japanese version of The Count of Castelfino and the French edition of Count Giovanni's Virgin. I like to get these as the cover art is always subtly different from country to country. This means my bookshelves are filling up, so I'm going to be giving away a copy of each of these most recent additions to my collection. If you have Japanese or French friends, they'd make an unusual present!
To get your name into the draw for one of these signed copies, just email me via my website, http://www.christinahollis.com putting either the word 'Japanese' or the word 'French' in the subject line. Good luck in the draw!

Address Book Burgling

WARNING: If a message gets posted on your Facebook page containing a survey allegedly from me, please mail me direct at christinahollis@hotmaildotcom (replacing word 'dot' with an actual dot) to check before continuing. I've heard of a couple of instances lately when questions have been posted asking people 'Do you think Christina Hollis is smart?' or 'Do you think Christina Hollis will make a good parent?' These are clearly spam and have absolutely nothing to do with me. It's this kind of thing that is rapidly putting me off Facebook. I suspect these messages are automatically generated in response to requests for access to on-line address books, so the system can trawl for other 'friends' to contact.

I don't like to think of questions being generated in my name like this. It might seem a minor gripe, but Facebook is so widely used the opportunities for bullying are immense. Imagine an insecure young person seeing their name attached to a question such as 'Do you think so-and so is pretty/fat/smart?'. Social network has revolutionised life for millions of people, and when used for good it's great fun and a vital link between people who would otherwise never meet, but it has its down side.

Have you come across any problems like this? Do you find the benefits of Facebook, Twitter etc outweigh the problems?

A Sense of Place

Here's the view from the hotel I stayed in recently. It's Canary Wharf, part of the Docklands development in London. The Thames ran past our windows, and at low tide all sorts of flotsam and Jetsam was exposed. Almost exactly one hundred years ago, this was where my grandfather's family made their living. They were mudlarks, salvaging and selling on anything they could. It was the nineteenth century version of reuse, repair and recycle, but it can't have paid very well. Grampy ended up in Barnardo's. Once he was old enough to be useful, he was to be sent to Canada but didn't think much of that idea. One night he ran away, lied about his age and joined the British Army. It sounds very romantic, but I suspect it was anything but!

My New Work In Progress...

...is another Modern Romance for Harlequin Mills and Boon Modern Romance. Leo Cassini is a bad boy made good - but his determination to be the best has cost him the two people who meant most to him in the world. Embittered and cynical, he finds consolation in his work.

 It’ll take a strong woman to iron out Leo’s flaws. So step forward, Alexa Crane!

That’s her, hiding behind this comforting pile of pancakes.

On the outside, Alexa is a hard bitten business woman - but that’s only because she has become an expert at hiding her problems. Unknown to everyone, Alexa is leading a bizarre double life. Whenever things become too much to bear, she eats.

So it’s a good job Leo’s ex-wife has left him with a deep suspicion of scale-jockeys…

News and Views

I had some great news this week. My Mills and Boon Modern Romance, The French Aristocrat's Baby, has gone on release in the US. It's published as a Harlequin Presents Extra, with a new title: The Count's Challenge.  You can see the details here:  http://www.eharlequin.com/storeitem.html?iid=23974

I've also been busy updating my author biography and photographs. If you'd like the new information, please mail me via my website, http://www.christinahollis.com .

Here in the UK we've had some beautiful weather over the past few weeks. I hope the weather is good where you are, too!

Congratulations...

...To Minna and Judith, who won signed copies of The Hot Headed Virgin collection in my May Competition. Thank you to everyone who entered!