Thanks to Delilah for having me as a guest on her lively blog! I love reading and writing and talking about books—all kind of books. Books have always been one of my great passions. My mother swears that her labor with me was so long and difficult because I was born holding a tablet in one hand and a crayon in the other and wouldn’t let go. I was ready to write. (My mother was prone to tall Texas tales, too, so I get it honestly.)

Many, many moons ago when I was a fledgling author with a couple of romance novels published and was cavorting with a group of romance writers at a conference in Houston, someone in our bunch of six or eight suggested that we go out for drinks that evening. One adventurous soul suggested that a visit to a local club that featured male dancers would be the perfect venue. So we went.

…The place was dim, very dim, and packed with screaming women; the music was so loud that I felt it vibrate under my feet, and spotlights illuminated several small stages. Each stage featured a costumed hunk gyrating and flirting with the women going wild at his feet. We found seats, ordered drinks, and watched the show. As an astute observer of human behavior, I began to laugh at the antics of the women there. (The only men I saw were employees.) Most of the gals waving bills and making suggestive comments to the dancers were twice the age of the guys—or had at least a few years on them.

Several of the well-muscled strippers looked about the same age as students in the college psychology classes I taught—and about the same age as my son. Good grief!

What if I had walked in and found my kid on one of those stages? What if . . .

And the premise for a book was born that night.

THE RIGHT MOVES became one of my all-time favorite romantic comedies, one of thirteen that I wrote for Bantam Loveswept. And it had one of the worst covers ever. It was so bad that the publisher sent two dozen roses to me—and fired the artist. When the rights of my backlist reverted to me, I revised and updated the story and published it as an ebook—with a beautiful new cover that I love. (It’s great to have a creative director in the family.) Check it out on Amazon.

THE RIGHT MOVES by JAN HUDSON

Chris Ponder was a tough little cookie, tough enough to drive a tow truck in Houston on the weekends to help support herself and her 18 year old stepson. But the young widow was in for some surprises when she stopped to tow Nick Russo’s car and found herself waiting in a club filled with screaming women and scantily clad young men dancing for them. And holy g-string! Who was that tall kid she spotted on the stage swiveling his hips in a little-bitty Viking getup?

What was the impeccably dressed Nick Russo, multimillionaire businessman, doing in such a sleazy place? And why did her insides turn to tapioca when he gave her the once over with his bedroom eyes? He was way out of her league, and she’d been badly burned by a charming rascal before. Uh-uh. No way was she getting involved with him. But when he seduced her on a quiet night with his own dance just for her. . .

http://janhudson.com/

After publishing six books in the Perfectly Series, my next goal was to be part of a boxed set. In May 2017, I joined the Tropical Tryst Boxed Set managed by Nicole Morgan of Romance Collections. Boxed sets can have different goals like exposure to new readers or aiming to make a best-sellers list, but what I’ve enjoyed most about being in a boxed set with 24 other authors is learning about different marketing strategies.

What’s cool is that each author seems to have a “go-to” method to promote. One author posts to 25 different Facebook groups twice a week, another writes tweets and Facebook posts. Some of the authors have made cool graphics and videos incorporating all the covers in the set. Other authors have made HeadTalker campaigns, which are group tweets and FB posts. Someone started a Tropical Tryst Instagram account, someone set up a newsletter swap, and someone else organized Tropical Tryst swag giveaways. I planned a mini blog hop, and we’ll be guests on over thirty different websites including USA Today HEA – all for free (that’s my specialty :D). I love sharing marketing and promotion efforts with other authors. Writing is usually pretty solitary but being in a boxed set creates a really fun camaraderie.

The Tropical Tryst Boxed Set features 25 brand new sexy romances set in hot and tropical settings. Escape with us for only 99 cents. It’s available for pre-order now and will be released Aug. 1. Can’t wait to share Perfectly Skeptical, a Perfectly Series novella, with you!

About Perfectly Skeptical (Perfectly Series novella)

Dr. Brianna Scott looked forward to sleeping away her staycation, until a windfall meant an upgrade to palm trees, an ocean view . . . and the sexy Dr. Matt Gaelen. She’ll have fun, but can a holiday fling really turn into a soul mate for life? Doubtful.

Matt has no radar for sniffing out gold-diggers and protecting his heart. Except Brianna is more turned off than turned on by his wealth. What are his chances of getting her to overlook it? Dubious at best.

Improbable and iffy – the typical path to love.

Buy links:
Amazon:

Barnes and Noble:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tropical-tryst-nicole-morgan/1126270355?ean=9781508076988
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/tropical-tryst
Google Play:
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Nicole_Morgan_Tropical_Tryst?id=kOO4DgAAQBAJ

Where to find the author…

Linda loves to connect with readers ~
Website:
http://www.lindaoconnor.net
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/LindaOConnorAuthor
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/LindaOConnor98
Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/Linda-OConnor/e/B00S7CNLEA
Blog:
http://www.lindaoconnor.net/news-muse-and-interviews/

Visit www.tropicaltryst.com for special pre-order giveaways and join the Tropical Tryst Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/TropicalTryst/) for updates and a chance to win Tropical Tryst swag!

Ready for another full-size novel? Something with plenty of sexy Texans, humor, emotion, humor—yeah, we’re baaaack!

My sister, Elle James, and I are back with the last installment of the Texas Billionaires Club! This one features another sinfully sexy, rich Texan, who meets Ms. Right, who just so happens to live next door.

Is your reading slate set for the coming weekend now? Have fun!

Love & War

Sophie Keaton’s love life is a disaster.  Too busy with her art gallery and weekends spent with the Army National Guard, she rarely has time for a date. Her orderly existence takes a twist when her Army National Guard unit gets a new Company Commander, Captain Gage Jenkins, who dislikes the idea of women in the Army, particularly her, and proceeds to make her weekend drill miserable. To bolster her self-esteem, Sophie finally takes her love life in hand and goes out on a date.  Unfortunately, her date ends up in the emergency room with an allergic reaction to her cat.  Her mooch of a brother, Bryce, feels sorry for her and offers to take her out to pick the “perfect man”.  When she finds Mr. Perfect, she spends a passionate night with him, but awakens to discover that Mr. Perfect is none other than her new commanding officer!

As a member of the Texas Billionaire’s club, Gage has watched every one of his college buddies tie the knot. Although he’d met every challenge the group set in the early days, he resisted the last one—finding the perfect wife. Now, with his hands full expanding his construction business and whipping his new Army Guard command into shape, he has plenty of excuses to avoid that particular commitment. However, when he moves next door to one very attractive, very sexy  woman, he finds himself deliciously distracted. When he discovers that woman is the same klutzy lieutenant he’s been dogging from day one, he’s not angry. He’s amused. And intrigued.

When the pair are challenged by their warring pets and matchmaking sergeants, the rules of Love and War get complicated…

Amazon | Nook | Kobo | IBooks | GooglePlay | Print

UPDATE: The winner is…Debra!

* * * * *

On Wednesday—tomorrow, folks—the last of our Texas Billionaire Club romances hits the stores! And even though I only list the Amazon link below, it’s EVERYWHERE. Sis (Elle James) and I are super-excited to share it. Because, #1 – this is a story we co-wrote; #2 – it’s funny; #3 – many of the funny Army situations we write about are things that actually happened to us; and #4 – it’s the first story we EVER wrote. Of course, the original version was full of all our newbie mistakes, so it took some time for us to revise the heck out of it. Still, the story at the core of this romance was always one we loved.

So, if you love those Alpha Texas guys, love funny situations, love dogs & cats, and love to sink into a series with a group of guys who fall hard for Ms. Right, you will love Love & War. It’s a nice, long, feel-good read. And it’s sexy, have no fear!

Enjoy the excerpt below and if you haven’t already pre-ordered your copy, do so today! You’ll want to sink deep into this one!

If you leave a comment below, you’ll be entered to win one of the three prequel stories below. Happy reading! ~DD

Love & War

Sophie Keaton’s love life is a disaster. Too busy with her art gallery and weekends spent with the Army National Guard, she rarely has time for a date. Her orderly existence takes a twist when her Army National Guard unit gets a new Company Commander, Captain Gage Jenkins, who dislikes the idea of women in the Army, particularly her, and proceeds to make her weekend drill miserable. To bolster her self-esteem, Sophie finally takes her love life in hand and goes out on a date. Unfortunately, her date ends up in the emergency room with an allergic reaction to her cat. Her mooch of a brother, Bryce, feels sorry for her and offers to take her out to pick the “perfect man”. When she finds Mr. Perfect, she spends a passionate night with him, but awakens to discover that Mr. Perfect is none other than her new commanding officer!

As a member of the Texas Billionaire’s club, Gage has watched every one of his college buddies tie the knot. Although he’d met every challenge the group set in the early days, he resisted the last one—finding the perfect wife. Now, with his hands full expanding his construction business and whipping his new Army Guard command into shape, he has plenty of excuses to avoid that particular commitment. However, when he moves next door to one very attractive, very sexy woman, he finds himself deliciously distracted. When he discovers that woman is the same klutzy lieutenant he’s been dogging from day one, he’s not angry. He’s amused. And intrigued.

When the pair are challenged by their warring pets and matchmaking sergeants, the rules of Love and War get complicated…

Get your copy here!

Read an excerpt!

It’s all his fault!

Sophie Keaton’s boots slurped in the mud as she trudged onward, while mentally listing the numerous reasons she resented the new captain. He was autocratic, judgmental, unfeeling, overbearing… The list continued as she concentrated on putting one sore foot in front of the other to keep up with the long column of shadowy figures in front of her. Her head hurt from the weight of her helmet, and her shoulders ached from carrying the fifty-pound rucksack she had slung across her back. With her hands fully occupied carrying an M4A1 rifle, she couldn’t satisfy an itch that was beginning to grow under the elastic bands of her underwear. With each step she silently repeated her mantra, It’s all his fault!

The rain had fallen hard enough before the sun set to wash away the last trace of mosquito repellent she’d used, and a scourge of the winged creatures hovered around her, feasting on her exposed skin. The weather was unseasonably warm—even for springtime in Texas. She could feel the steam rise from the rain-soaked grass, plastering the heavy layers of her uniform to her body, and adding to her ever-increasing misery.

Her platoon’s training schedule specified an afternoon road march between the rifle range and their camp. That wouldn’t have been so bad, but the morning’s weapons qualification firing had taken longer than expected, stretching late into the afternoon.

Sophie was reaching for the field radio to request transportation to take her soldiers back to camp, when the new Company Commander, Captain Jenkins, arrived in his government-issue, desert-camouflaged HUMMV. The vehicle had the top and doors removed in deference to the heat, which made it an easy task for him to climb out in a hurry. He leaned over to say something to his driver then strode in Sophie’s direction.

She snapped to attention and executed a sharp salute, returning her arm to her side when he returned it with his more masculine, and muscular, version.

“Lieutenant Keaton, what’s the hold up? You’re an hour behind schedule.” Read the rest of this entry »

Can you believe it?!

I’m staring at what remains of 2017 and wondering where the hell the time flew! Did the year crawl for you or blur as it flashed by? Seeing as we’re almost to the midpoint, I thought I’d go ahead and post my list of stories I’ve published thus far in 2017, as a reminder—there’s a lot for you to peruse. Granted many of these are “reissued” stories for which I received rights from Ellora’s Cave or Samhain. So, if you’ve been following me a while, you’ve already read them. But there are new stories interspersed…

My personal favorites from among these?

This is the complete list of all my releases, January through June 2017…

1. 01/10/17 – STEPBROTHERS STEPPING OUT: ULTIMATE COLLECTION, Box Set 
2. 01/24/17 – RIDE A TEXAS COWBOY, reissue
3. 01/31/17 – SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT, Texas Billionaires series
4. 02/14/17 – HARD SEAL TO LOVE, Uncharted SEALs series
5. 02/19/17 – FUN WITH DICK AND JAYNE, reissue
6. 03/11/17 – BEGGING FOR IT, reissue
7. 03/24/17 – SWEETER THAN HONEY, reissue
8. 03/28/17 – STEPBROTHER’S STEPPING OUT: WITH HIS SEAL TEAM-4, short story
9. 03/31/17 – SADDLED, reissue
10. 04/18/17 – RAW SILK, reissue
11. 04/11/17 – WHO’S YOUR DADDY, Texas Billionaire Club series
12. 04/18/17 – BAD TO THE BONE, Night Fall series
13. 05/06/17 – UNBRIDLED, Lone Star Lovers series, reissue
14. 05/10/17 – STEPBROTHERS STEPPING OUT: WITH HIS SEAL TEAM-4, short story
15. 05/16/17 – UNFORGIVEN, Lone Star Lovers series, reissue
16. 05/20/17 – NERD’S BLIND DATE, short story
17. 05/27/17 – JANE’S WILD WEEKEND, reissue
18. 06/02/17 – FOUR SWORN, Lone Star Lovers, reissue
19. 06/08/17 – BIG SKY SEAL, Uncharted SEALs series
20. 06/13/17 – BLUE COLLAR, Boys Behaving Badly series
21. 06/16/17 – BREAKING LEATHER, Lone Star Lovers series

Contest

Real easy… Have you read any of my 2017 releases? Which did you like best?

Comment below for a chance to win a small Amazon.com gift card!

Can you believe it? My sister and I started this writing journey back in 2000. That’s right! We’ve been at it for 17 years and are still going strong. After many years of languishing under the bed, we’ve had the pleasure of releasing several of our co-authored stories in the Texas Billionaires Club series. WHO’S YOUR DADDY is the 3^rd in the series and we have one more! LOVE & WAR. These books are different from my usual action and suspense, but they show the lighter, funnier side of our personalities. You see, when my sister and I get together, we love to laugh. And when we do, we sound like cackling hens, which makes us laugh more. To some it might sound ridiculous, to us, it’s joyful and leaves us in happy tears. I challenge each of you to find something to laugh about today. Make it a deep, belly-laugh. They’re the best kind. And if you like to laugh, give WHO’S YOUR DADDY a try!

Who’s Your Daddy?

Amazon | Nook | Kobo | IBooks | GooglePlay

Rachel Taylor is an advertising executive who wants a baby without the complications of a husband. Jesse Jordan is just the cowboy to complicate Rachel’s neatly laid plans.

Feeling her biological alarm clock ticking, Rachel single-mindedly embarks on a search for a suitable sperm donor.  She begins her search by engaging the services of Date-Your-Mate dating service. Yet, even with the less exacting scrutiny of her best friend, Genie, she doesn’t find that certain man to spark her interest enough to be willing to procreate with him. Her next move is to place an ad in a singles column, arranging to meet each of the candidates in the neutral zone of a bar. But after a discouraging round of interviews with her hopefuls, and consuming a few too many drinks, she declares that the next man who walks through the door will be the father of her child.

In walks Jesse, the golden-haired, billionaire cowboy, whose charm and good looks automatically inspire fairy tale dreams.  Rachel’s only objection is that he is one of her clients at her advertising agency and she refuses to mix business with her personal life. He’s also one of Texas’s most eligible bachelors, who has a reputation for playing fast and loose with his women. The fastidious Rachel refuses to consider him as a possible donor.

Jesse isn’t nearly the bad boy the tabloids paint him to be. One look into Rachel’s soft brown eyes, and he finds a powerful attraction to the starchy ad executive. Her apparent disinterest only increases the challenge of the chase.

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Elle James’s Newsletter

The life of an author can be solitary. But not for me! I’ve been on the go since the beginning of the year, and my schedule isn’t slowing down a bit! April 1-9, I’ll be in Seattle for a writer’s retreat. If you’re in the Seattle area, we’re having a meet and greet at the Snohomish Library April 8^th from 1:00-3:30pm. You can check out the details on Facebook. I hope to see some of you there. I’ll be with authors Susan Stoker, Becca Jameson, Cherise Sinclair and Lainey Reese. If I don’t see you there, I’ll be at Romantic Times Convention in Atlanta May 2-7. Lots of fun things happening here! Then it’s Dallas for the Wanderlust Booksigning May 20^th. Seriously, I hope you can make one of these events to say hello. In the meantime, I have books coming soon.

April 11^th is the release of WHO’S YOUR DADDY, a romantic comedy co-authored by me and my sister, Delilah Devlin. If you haven’t pre-ordered your copy yet, there’s still time! And I have two other books up for pre-order coming to you in May. May 16^th is Montana Dog Soldier and May 31^st is Wyatt’s War. If you love military heroes and romantic suspense pre-order your copies now!

Hope to see you soon! Happy Reading!

WHO’S YOUR DADDY – Texas Billionaires Club Series Book #3

Sexy advertising executive lays out a plan to have a baby without the complications of a husband. A billionaire cowboy is just the man to complicate her neatly laid plans.

Amazon | Kobo | IBooks | GooglePlay

MONTANA DOG SOLDIER – Brotherhood Protectors Series #6

Prior-service Army Dog Handler Joseph “Kujo” Kuntz and his dog Six team with a female FBI agent to locate and neutralize a training camp for ISIS terrorists

Amazon |  Kobo | IBooks | GooglePlay

WYATT’S WAR – Hearts & Heroes Series Book #1

Army Special Forces soldier tasked with augmenting security at a high-profile international trade convention teams with the sassy convention planner to protect the delegates from terrorist threats

Amazon | Kobo | Nook | IBooks