Friday, August 31, 2012

Ripped Release, Juicy Tidbits and a Give away!




Okay, how can anyone not admire that gorgeous chest and want to lick the water droplets from those abs? And that's just the cover!

The Blurb:
Lifeguard/artist Gavin White has been holding the ripped shreds of his life together by the seams. Facing the anniversary of his sister's death, he fights the dark call of dependency and is at the edge of succumbing when his best friend since preschool returns to his life. Handsome geek-turned-hunk, Erik Clarke, wasn't afraid to come out and had been bold enough to kiss Gavin the last time they were together. Damn that kiss. Gavin wants more. So much more, but he was never brave enough to tell Erik his dreams. With his future hanging by a tattered thread, Gavin must trade one temptation for another or risk ripping his life apart.

The Juicy Bits:
Ripped was supposed to be a short, fun m/m for the Boys of Summer series. I like conflict, and one of the heroes, Gavin, has a bit of baggage, which wasn’t revealed to me until I got to a certain shower scene. He’s a child of an alcoholic, and he suffers a lot of guilt and pain from that past. This wasn’t a direction I really wanted to go, seeing I am also a child of an alcoholic, and some of Gavin’s issues were my issues. But I considered it a way to purge, so I wrote it. The story is in no way autobiographical, and I think Gavin had the harder road to travel.

Two interesting things I discovered while writing Ripped. One was how I still have a very strong concept of ‘safe,’ meaning safe havens, safe people, safe jobs. When your home isn’t a safe place as a child, you tend to create these pockets of safe in your life. I had a huge upheaval of safe places this summer when I lost a job of 12 years due to sale of the company, and that was hard.

The other interesting thing was that Erik, Gavin’s best friend since preschool, never knew the extent of Gavin’s suffering. I have a friend I’ve known since I was ten, and she verified that no, I don’t talk about that aspect of my life. She knew my dad yelled, but she never knew why I practically lived at her (safer) home.

Anyway, that's a little bit about what went into the story. Since you've been good and read to the end, leave me a comment and I'll give away a copy of Ripped, your choice of e-format. If you're not into m/m (silly rabbit) then I'll give one of Spy Games: Trained for Seduction or Exceeding Boundaries.

The book isn't on B&N yet but my awesome publisher has all of your format needs!
http://www.wilderroses.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=87&products_id=897

Buy Links for the Amazon lovers: http://www.amazon.com/Ripped-Boys-Of-Summer-ebook/dp/B0093VE2M4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346386242&sr=8-1&keywords=ripped+mia+downing

Friday, August 24, 2012

Rachel Leigh Visits!


Please welcome today's guest, 

Rachel Leigh!

Rachel's here to talk about the inspiration behind her newest release, Hot Summer Sands, as well as what's next in the future. 

Rachel, I could really use a vacation right about now, and a romp on a Greek island with a hot man sounds perfect. What inspired you to write about the island of Zante? 

We actually went there on a family holiday back in 2009 and I knew I would write about it someday. The beaches are gorgeous, the people friendly and lots of emigrated Brits now call Zante their home. The idea of a Brit setting up a restaurant came to me immediately but I thought it would be the heroine who ran it rather than the hero’s sister. That’s writing for you!

Sam Clarke sounds divine, and the perfect hero. Reformed party boy with a conflicted past. What secrets can you tell us about Sam? And how does he end up on the island of Zante, or is he a native? 

Ooh, I can’t give away his secrets, you’ll have to read the book for that! He ended up moving to Zante from England a few years before the book opens. He and his sister left their warring parents to a messy divorce and start afresh as young adults.
They’ve never looked back…

Michelle Hutton has a lot of growing to do from the blurb. How does her conflicted past figure into the story? Any seductive food scenes to look forward to? 

Plenty of seductive scenes and plenty of growing and learning too! Yes, Michelle comes to Zante full of anger and hurt over her mother’s betrayal. She wonders how someone so close to you could lie for so long and decides that some of her own selfish needs will be met for a while. The trouble is, being selfish is a hard thing to do when you’re not that way naturally.

From another blog I gleaned some inside information (yes, I'm a snoop) that your next book involves British show jumping, revenge and hopefully hot sex. Can you tell us a little about how you'd research for this sort of story? And maybe when/where we could look for this exciting story line? 

The setting for my next book was inspired by one of my favorite series of books by Jilly Cooper. She is a fabulous British author who writes sexy “bonkbusters” and her most successful series is set around the horse world. I had just finished reading “Polo” and knew I had to try my hand at an equestrian story too. As far as research goes, I spent time riding and attending trials as a young teenager, so I am used the visuals from my memory and the rest from fantasy J

Since the viral explosion of erotic romance in the media, people have been eager to expand their horizons. Besides interesting settings like Hot Summer Sands, what can readers expect when they open a Rachel Leigh novel? 

More than anything, my stories are grounded in high emotion. Erotic romance is primarily about the emotion, wants and desires of the characters rather than the actual sex. The sex leads from whatever problems they are trying to work out at the time.
Readers should view erotic romance as “Romance” rather than “erotica” – the erotic part means you can expect some hot, graphic scenes but in the main, it is what’s going on inside the characters that is important.

Hot Summer Sands is available now from The Wild Rose Press. Here’s the blurb and a sneaky excerpt:

Chef Michelle Hutton flees her controlling mother in the UK for the sun and freedom of Greece, longing for a new beginning and maybe just a bit of Zante’s local heat. Sexy, pro-bono lawyer Sam Clarke might just be the one to teach her to let go. He's sexy, capable, and totally in control. And too damn hard to resist.

Sam Clarke and his best friend had once been the baddest boys to hit the local party scene— sex, booze, and more sex—until his friend is killed. Sam turned his back on the blatant sexuality of the island years ago, but can’t resist Michelle’s desire to bask in the sun and explore the need that grows between them.

Excerpt:

Closer and closer he came, rounding the counter and standing so close to her that Michelle was forced to tip her head back to meet his eyes. The smell of him – warm, musky and clean--wafted under her nose. She inhaled…and really wished she hadn’t as her knees quivered. She took another step back until her ass hit the steel countertop behind her.
His gaze darted over her face, lingering at her lips. Michelle put a hand on his chest without thinking and then whipped it back to grip the counter.
Trepidation mixed with arousal pooled like liquid in her stomach. “Sam, talk to me. What’s wrong?”
His eyes dropped to her chest and unmistakable lust flared in eyes, darkening them to a gorgeous midnight blue. Desire pulled at her core and her nipples tightened.
He met her eyes. “Everything.”
She was trapped by the raw animal need to have him. To feel his hands on her bare skin, his mouth on hers. She licked dry lips. “You look like you’re either going to attack me or--”
“Fuck you?”
She flinched. The harsh expletive shocked and aroused her in equal measure. “What?”
His hands clamped onto her hips, possessive and unyielding. A feral storm raged in his dark blue gaze. “I need to know.”
She stared, unable to move or breathe. “Need to know what?”
“Need to know if this…these feelings…are just--”
“Lust?” The word slipped from her tongue, her mind blank of everything but Sam. The way he smelled, the lickable square line of his jaw. The yearning to have him on her, in her, over her.


If people haven't read a Rachel Leigh novel or novella after devouring Hot Summer Sands, they're going to be hot for your back list! What else can I get my greedy paws on, NOW?


 Hot Summers Sands is my third novella, but readers can also buy “Explicitly English” and “Coming Back”. Both these stories featured English people in England. Enjoy!




Buy Links for Hot Summer Sands and Rachel’s other novellas:

Hot Summer Sands:


Coming Back:


Explicitly English:


Want to chat and hang out with Rachel? Here's where to find her!
Rachel’s Links:



Twitter: @rachelwriter

Thanks for stopping by!






Sunday, August 19, 2012

I'm blogging today with Trish Milburn of Romance Bandits and talking about my scorching hot spies! Stop by, leave a comment and get in the prize pool for a copy of Spy Games: Trained for Seduction. http://romancebandits.com/mia-downings-scorching-hot-spies/

Friday, August 10, 2012

Squee! Release day!!!

Today is the release day for Spy Games: Trained for Seduction. It feels like Christmas, because I woke up to an interview posted The Long And Short Reviews, a great review posted by Christi Snow, two glowing reviews on Amazon and all of you to share it with! I'm giving away a copy of Spy Games: TFS, too, so stay tuned.

First, Interview: http://whippedcream2archives.blogspot.com/2012/08/interview-mia-downing.html?zx=ec159ba73bb98877

Such fun! I only mildly feel like someone listening to my own voice on a recording, only it's words. But lots of interesting questions and things you never knew about me...

Second, this lovely gift of a review by Christi Snow:
http://smittenwithreading.blogspot.com/2012/08/spy-games-trained-for-seduction-by-mia.html
She had wonderful things to say about Spy Games: TFS!

Lastly, links to the book: http://www.wilderroses.com/ (and if you have Kindle or Nook, you can still buy at TWRP) or if you like Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Spy-Games-Trained-For-Seduction/dp/1612175392

So if you made it this far, tell me who your favorite fictional spy is, and leave your email addy. Someone will win a copy of Spy Games: TFS in the file of choice.

Have a great day!

Monday, August 6, 2012

Drool Bib needed--new cover!!!

Here's the new cover for my late August (8/30 I think) short novella release, Ripped, for the Boys of Summer line at The Wild Rose Press (www.thewilderroses.com) 


Visit www.designingdiana.blogspot.com for more of Diana's covers

You can go get a napkin and wipe the drool from your chin. The talented Diana Carlile, also my editor, designed the cover and I am all sorts of wiggly in the chair over this one. Yes, he's surface of the sun hot. The story, however, though hot, is about a man more than just ripped in the abs. It's quite angsty for almost 23,000 words. 

The Blurb:
Lifeguard/artist Gavin White has been holding the ripped shreds of his life together by the seams. Facing the anniversary of his sister's death, he fights the dark call of dependency and is at the edge of succumbing when his best friend since preschool returns to his life. Handsome geek-turned-hunk, Erik Clarke wasn't afraid to come out and had been bold enough to kiss Gavin the last time they were together. Damn that kiss. Gavin wants more. So much more, but he was never brave enough to tell Erik his dreams. With his future hanging by a tattered thread, Gavin must trade one temptation for another or risk ripping his life apart.

Soooo excited for 8/30! Be looking for my next release, 8/10, when Spy Games: Trained for Seduction is released, an exciting erotic romance with a bit if suspense and m/f/m at the end. 

So my question for the day...what catches your eye from a cover to help clinch the sale from an unknown author?