Throughout June and July, check out the hashtag #RomanticIdea to discover great books and romantic ideas for summer by the experts-romance authors.

 

~~Fooling Around With Cinderella~~

by Stacy Juba

What happens when the glass slippers pinch Cinderella’s toes?

BLURB:

When Jaine Andersen proposes a new marketing role to the local amusement park, general manager Dylan Callahan charms her into filling Cinderella’s glass slippers for the summer. Her reign transforms Jaine’s ordinary life into chaos that would bewilder a fairy godmother. Secretly dating her bad boy boss, running wedding errands for her ungrateful sisters, and defending herself from the park’s resident villain means Jaine needs lots more than a comfy pair of shoes to restore order in her kingdom. First in the Storybook Valley series, a blend of sweet romance, chick lit, and fairy tale fun.

LINKS:

Amazon / Nook / Kobo / iBookstore / Google Play 

EXCERPT:

Dylan scrutinized Jaine, arms folded across his royal blue shirt with the Storybook Valley logo stamped over the left in white block letters. “Do you wear contacts?”

“I have plenty of media contacts. Wait. Did you say wear contacts? You mean instead of these?” Jaine fingered the earpiece of her gold-rimmed glasses.

“Right. Contact lenses.”

She gave a nervous chuckle. “I scheduled a consultation in college, but was too squeamish to insert the lens. I was more comfortable in glasses.”

Was she really justifying her vision enhancement choices to her prospective new boss? Maybe he intended to discuss medical benefits. Or did he think she looked nerdy? What was the saying? Guys don’t make passes at girls who wear glasses? Not that she wanted him to make a pass even if he was hot.

“How blind are you without glasses?” Dylan persisted.

“You wouldn’t want to drive with me.”

“How about if you’re walking around a building? Are you in danger of hurting yourself?”

This interview had taken the Mad Hatter Freeway from Fairy Tale Land into Wonderland where nothing made a damn bit of sense. Did this guy have a glasses fetish, like those weirdoes with shoe fetishes?

“I should be okay. I take them off for special occasions.” In fact, Jaine’s older sister Bree, who was getting married in August, remarked just last week, “You are losing the glasses for my wedding pictures, right?”

What the hell. She’d be a good sport and hope Dylan would be so grateful to pick the brain of a real, flesh and blood, bespectacled person that he would appoint her marketing director. Jaine removed her glasses and the fine details of her surroundings fuzzed. She nodded toward the framed print hanging on a side wall, the picture a wash of symbols and colors. “I can tell that’s a park map, but the words and images smear together.”

And that was myopia in a nutshell. Jaine adjusted her glasses back into place so she could see his reaction. Dylan examined her with such intensity that a blush stained her cheeks. She patted her French braid, in case stray strands were straggling out.

“Here’s the situation,” Dylan said. “I took over the general manager position a few months ago. I’m evaluating possible changes and researching how other theme parks run. My grandfather and father have worked with a marketing firm for years to create our brochures, billboards, print, and radio ads.”

Jaine’s shoulders caved, imperceptible to him, but it felt as if her whole body was sinking.

No fairy tale job ending for her.

AUTHOR BIO

Stacy Juba got engaged at Epcot Theme Park and spent part of her honeymoon at Disneyland Paris, where she ate a burger, went on fast rides, and threw up on the train ride to the hotel. In addition to working on her Storybook Valley chick lit/sweet romance series, Stacy has written books about ice hockey, teen psychics, U.S. flag etiquette for kids, and determined women sleuths. She has had a novel ranked as #5 in the Nook Store and #30 on the Amazon Kindle Paid List. When she’s not visiting theme parks with her family, (avoiding rides that spin and exotic hamburgers), or writing about them, Stacy helps authors to strengthen their manuscripts through her Crossroads Editing Service. She is currently writing the next book in the Storybook Valley Series, Prancing Around With Sleeping Beauty.

My #RomanticIdea for the summer:

Go to a theme park and try these romantic ideas:

1. Snuggle up on slow rides such as the train.
2. Kiss at the top of the Ferris Wheel at night.
3. Share a box of popcorn during a show.
4. Get to a show early and relax in the back of the air-conditioned theater.
5. Kiss for the ride pictures.
6. Enjoy a picnic lunch.
7. Go to the park’s nicest restaurant for dinner.
8. Have your significant other play games to win you a prize.
9. Hold hands while strolling through the park.
10. Snuggle up during the fireworks.

 

Thanks to Stacy for stopping by this week and be sure to catch up with her on her website, Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, and sign up for her newsletter here to be the first to hear the latest news

 

 

For the past fifteen months (wow!), I’ve had my books available exclusively on Amazon. Doing so has enabled my series to be a part of the Kindle Unlimited subscription service that allows readers to devour books in the program for one flat monthly fee. I’ve had a lot of readers find me through this program and have enjoyed my experience.

Reaching more readers is one of my goals as I continue to advance my career. And to be a part of the Kindle Unlimited program I haven’t been able to have my books on other sites. I expanded into print books (available through CreateSpace or Amazon) but feel strongly that my audience, romance readers, embraces technology and want to get my books on more platforms.

With all that in mind, I decided to withdraw Tidal Patterns (Golden Shores Book 1) from Kindle Unlimited, effective July 11th. You’ll still be able to purchase this book on Amazon in both print and ebook formats, but now I’m able to offer the book on iTunes, Kobo, and Nook as well. My target release for the next book in the series, Coastal Erosion, is still next month and I’ll similarly offer the book on these platforms as well.

I’ll be keeping my True North series on Amazon exclusively. But if you have a nook or other device, come check out Tidal Patterns for sale at:

Nook  click here

iTunes  click here

Kobo  click here

Throughout June and July, check out the hashtag #RomanticIdea to discover great books and romantic ideas for summer by the experts-romance authors.

BLURB

She has it all Perfectly Planned . . .

Chloe Keay is on the hunt for the perfect sperm donor, but who knew it would be this hard? So many things to consider in a father – sure height and hair color are important, but what about the real issues. How does he feel about bagpipe music? Does he buy the extended warranty? Skittles or M&Ms? She doesn’t want an average Joe. She’s narrowed it down to two candidates and has the perfect plan to pick the heir and the spare.

Staff Sergeant Rip Logan, head of the elite Tactics and Rescue Unit, has a gut feeling that Chloe Keay is trouble. She’s a sexy little spark plug who radiates innocence, but it doesn’t jibe with her suspicious behavior and probing questions. The fact that he’s attracted irritates him. What exactly is she after? And should he go with his gut or follow his heart?

Planning for love – what could possibly go wrong?

 

Get your copy here: http://www.amazon.com/Perfectly-Planned-Linda-OConnor-ebook/dp/B017GGC346

 

EXCERPT

For pretty much everything her parents needed, from house repairs to health questions, they had a child on speed-dial. And bonus, funds flowed freely to pay for their place in a retirement home.

Perfectly planned.

That’s the kind of retirement plan Chloe was after. Maybe not six kids. Six was a bit of a handful, especially flying solo. But she could handle one, at least to begin with.

It would’ve been easier with Roger, but oh well, on to Plan B.

Sperm bank.

She had been poked and prodded and deemed a healthy receptacle.

But, oh how to choose which little swimmers to let loose? She needed smart (had to earn the big bucks), features similar to hers (hair color notwithstanding), family oriented (obviously had to love their momma), and not too nasally a voice (very annoying). They needed to be screened for reverse traits—ones that would make her wish she could reverse the whole process.

She needed more than the measly amount of info available online.

No problem. She had applied for a job as a weekend receptionist at the sperm bank, interviewed quite successfully (naturally), and waited patiently while they narrowed down their selection.

She had started three weeks ago.

The job was straightforward, certainly not as creative as painting. In fact, it was kinda slow. She liked the music in the waiting room, though, especially with her mouse clicking. She could get quite a beat going. Left click. Right click. Left-right-right click. She could see it catching on. In fact, it should be posted on YouTube because it’d give her something to watch at work, too.

She hadn’t lost sight of her plan, but it wasn’t obvious where all the data was stored. She had opened several files, but it wasn’t until she rocked and clicked to The Jaded Gentlemen, that lo and behold, the folder popped up.

Now, she wasn’t a computer genius or anything, but who uses 1234 as their password? You’d think all that confidential information about sperm donors would be behind a bigger firewall. Nope.

So, her two top matches now had names.

4652 Ripley Logan

2485 Jared Clayton

A few social media clicks later, and voilà, she set up friend requests with both.
Even better, it looked like Ripley’s baseball team had a rain-date game on Friday, seven o’clock, right here in Rivermede at Fairfield Park.

He was sporty. She clicked a happy beat.

She could go to the game and check him out. Try to learn more about him, but keep it quiet, fly under the radar.

She spun around in her chair and smiled. Perfect.

#RomanticIdea

Do something active together – walk, cycle, run along a boardwalk, play a sport – spending time outdoors is good for the mind, body, and soul.

About the Author

Linda O’Connor started writing a few years ago when she needed a creative outlet other than subtly rearranging the displays at HomeSense. It turns out she loves writing romantic comedies and has a few more stories to tell. When not writing, she’s a physician at an Urgent Care Clinic (well, even when she is writing she’s a physician, and it shows up in her stories 😀 ). She hangs out at www.lindaoconnor.net.

Catch up with Linda on Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and her Website. A big thanks to Linda for stopping by the blog today!