Our Sexy Thanksgiving? Not really, but I DO have a Special Announcement for My Sexy Saturday

Gentle Readers,
How are you feeling today? Alas, I feel like crap. I have had what I think must be the flu all week. How is it possible for eyeballs to sweat?
Nevertheless, after being scarce not just on my blog but from social media in general while I wrote one novel, edited another, and worked 45-50+ hours at my soul-sucking day job, I was determined to participate in this week's "My Sexy Saturday" blog hop!

The theme this week: "Our Sexy Thanksgiving"

"We know what you’re thinking. Thanksgiving is about families. What’s more sexy than family? After all each started with a story about a man and a woman finding each other and deciding on a family. Think of all the wonderful romances that happen at this time of year. You know the ones we’re talking about. Sister brings home friend, brother falls for friend and on and on.

"So this week show us all the characters love family. Maybe it’s someone who doesn’t have one and suddenly they find themselves with one. It could be about someone who has always looked in and wanted a home with all the trimmings including a family. There are many ways to be thankful and we’d love to hear some of those wonderful stories."

Guess what. I don't have anything about families or Thanksgiving in any of my novels or works in progress. And I love Thanksgiving! Food and football - What's not to love? So I started not to participate....until....

You might recall a little novel I wrote a few years ago called All My Tomorrows. A modern take on Pride and Prejudice, it won several awards and got me some attention and about 14,000 readers got it for Kindle alone.
ANNOUNCING: All My Tomorrows has been retired. That's right, you won't be able to get it anymore. Why? You are the first to know! Because it has now been reworked, expanded, and enhanced and has now been released as The Proud and the Prejudiced. This enhanced novel has two new chapters and 9900 more words - that's 15% more than the original! I don't know; it might be a disaster like "New Coke" (although no one will ever convince me that wasn't all an ingenuous advertizing ploy), but I do hope readers will enjoy the enhanced version even more that the original.

Here is the first peek at the new cover:

What do you think?

So today's theme reminded me of Alice, who is still grieving over the loss of her mother; but there is something about Peter that feels...familiar. One of the reasons he makes her nervous is that he does feel so comfortable, and she doesn't want to be seduced by an infamous womanizer.

The novel takes place on the set of soap opera; and in this scene, the star Peter Walsingham has asked to speak with headwriter Alice about some suggestions about the script, specifically moving a dramatic scene out of the show's hospital cafeteria.

Without further adieu, here are seven short paragraphs from The Proud and the Prejudiced....

“But even to discuss the script, I asked if we could speak in private. She is a neurosurgeon. She should have her own office at the hospital.”

He did have a point. “We do have a doctor’s office around here somewhere. This is really going to piss off all the extras in that scene.”

“Maybe we could start in the cafeteria and move to her office. Here, let me show you.” He opened the script and handed it to her and then, coming behind her to read over her shoulder, pointed out the section. “We could go ahead and keep all this...”

He spoke low, his breath against her ear, and his nearness disconcerted her. Her already-tiny office continued to shrink around them. Is he sniffing my hair?

Focus! “And, uh, right here she could say something like, ‘We should discuss this in private. Let’s go to my office.’” He smelled good. Under the aromas of make-up and hairspray and soundstage, she could detect a spiciness that reminded her of pumpkin pie and yet somehow masculine. Warm and familiar, like holidays at home.

“Yes, exactly,” he said softly against her neck.

She flinched then turned around to face him and took a step back. She waited for her heart to start beating again before speaking. “I...um...I like it. I’ll talk to Mr. Peacock.” When he didn’t make a move to go and continued to stare, she asked, “Is there something else?”

OK, maybe not very sexy-sexy, but we are definitely getting somewhere! I hope you will check out The Proud and the Prejudiced once it's available. You can read the blurb below the linky list!


PLEASE CONTINUE ON THIS SEXY SATURDAY BLOG HOP BY VISITING THESE OTHER AMAZING AUTHORS

About All My Tomorrows The Proud and the Prejudiced

All My Tomorrows is losing the ratings war. For headwriter Alice McGillicutty, the past year has had enough drama. Her mother passed away, her last relationship ended in disaster, and now poor ratings are catapulting her long-running soap opera toward cancellation.

For comfort and creative inspiration, she begins reading The Edge of Darkness, an old melodramatic paperback she found among her mother's belongings.

When scandal rips Hollywood bad boy Peter Walsingham off the tabloids and into her studio, Alice doubts the small screen is big enough for his ego - or his entourage. In their battle of pride and prejudice, will Peter's vanity and arrogance compel Alice to write him out of her script, or can she find a role for him in All My Tomorrows?

This contemporary romance not only follows Alice and Peter as they wrestle with misunderstandings, pride, and prejudices, but also the trials and travails of Alexandra, the heroine of the absurdist novel The Edge of Darkness. Full chapters of the book-within-the-book are included as Alice reads and allows that story to influence her own.

Though the plot of the primary novel is vaguely reminiscent of Pride and Prejudice, Peter and Alice are no Darcy and Elizabeth but fully-formed characters from the twenty-first century.