LOVE IRRESISTIBLY cover blurb (and a giveaway!)

Please note: the giveaway is closed. Winners to be announced shortly.

About time, right?

I finally have the cover blurb for Love Irresistibly, and I’m thrilled to tell you more about the book. As many of you know, Love Irresistibly is part of my FBI/US Attorney series and will be available April 2nd.

Now, lots of you have asked who the hero of Love Irresistibly is . . . . So without further ado, I thought I’d share a photo of a bottle of wine Mr. James gave me on the day my editor accepted the proposal for the book.

You probably remember Assistant U.S. Attorney Cade Morgan as Rylann’s co-worker/friend in About That Night. I have to say, I’m really excited about his story. (Although I may be a tad biased.)  And I’ve got the perfect heroine for him–even if they don’t see it that way at first. (Ha.)  Here are the details:

HE’S USED TO GETTING WHAT HE WANTS…

A former football star and one of Chicago’s top prosecutors, Assistant U.S. Attorney Cade Morgan will do anything to nail a corrupt state senator, which means he needs Brooke Parker’s help. As general counsel for a restaurant company, she can get a bug to the senator’s table at one of her five-star restaurants so the FBI can eavesdrop on him. All Cade has to do is convince Brooke to cooperate—and he’s not afraid to use a little charm, or the power of his office, to do just that.

AND WHAT HE WANTS IS HER.

A savvy businesswoman, Brooke knows she needs to play ball with the U.S. Attorney’s office—even if it means working with Cade. No doubt there’s a sizzling attraction beneath all their sarcastic quips, but Brooke is determined to keep things casual. Cade agrees—until a surprising turn of events throws his life into turmoil, and he realizes that he wants more than just a good time from the one woman with whom he could fall terrifyingly, irresistibly in love . . .

* * *

Back when I started writing Love Irresistibly, I stumbled across a photo that looked exactly how I pictured Cade. So if you’d like to be–ahem–inspired by the same visual as me, here you go:

Matt Bomer in USA's "White Collar"-- a show I obviously need to start watching.

Want to read a little bit more? How about a short excerpt from the book? Caveat: this is an unedited excerpt. As in the my-editor-hasn’t-even-seen-it kind of unedited.  But I wanted to share a little more about the book.  Some of you may even recognize a familiar face in this scene. . .

Wholly, completely unedited excerpt from Love Irresistibly:

“Do you have some sort of court order to do this?” Brooke asked Cade.

“No.”  Seated across the desk from her, flanked by the two FBI agents, he appeared unconcerned with such pesky details.  “But I can get one, if necessary.”

From his self-assured tone, Brooke had a feeling that Assistant U.S. Attorney Cade Morgan was a man who was used to getting his way.  He certainly looked the part, with his tall, athletic build, angular jaw, dark brown hair, and cobalt blue eyes. He was remarkably good-looking—she would have to be a fool not to notice that—and she had no doubt that this played very well for him both inside and outside the courtroom.

“You probably could get an emergency judge to grant you an order allowing you plant a few bugs in the restaurant,” she conceded.  “But you would still need someone on the inside to make sure your target sits at the right table.”

“It would be very difficult for us to pull this off without your help.”

At least he could acknowledge that much.  “Before I’d even consider agreeing to this, I need to know who the target is and what that person or persons is being investigated for.”

Cade shook his head. “I’m afraid the nature of the investigation is confidential.  As for the identity of the person or persons of interest, after we have your agreement to cooperate, we’ll provide you with that information at the appropriate time so that you know who to seat at the bugged table.”

For Brooke, however, this point was not up for debate.  “I have a responsibility to protect Sterling’s interests, Mr. Morgan, and that includes the safety of its employees and customers.  For all I know, this so-called ‘person of interest’ is an organized crime boss, a drug kingpin, or some other sort of dangerous criminal.  What if these two men discover that the table is bugged?  What if they identify Agent Huxley and his fake date as undercover agents and pull out guns and start shooting people?  Can you imagine the liability I’d be exposing the company to if someone got hurt and I’d had advance notice that there was a potentially dangerous sting operation going down in one of our restaurants?”

Cade considered this point.  “I can’t reveal the nature of our investigation,” he said finally.  “But I can assure you that neither of the two men who will be at Sogna on Sunday night are considered dangerous.  Nobody’s pulling out guns and starting a shoot-out in the middle of your restaurant.  This isn’t the O.K. Corral.”

“I’d still like the names.”

His blue eyes held hers boldly. “You drive a hard bargain, Ms. Parker.”

“I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t.”

“Hmm.”  He stretched out in the chair, looking effortlessly handsome and every bit the successful trial lawyer in his tailored gray pinstripe suit.  “Now, normally, this would be the point when I’d have to give you the tough-guy speech about how, if you were to reveal to anyone the confidential nature of the information I’m about to give you, you could be charged with obstruction of justice and face a possible felony conviction and imprisonment.” He flashed her a dashing grin. “Luckily, though, since you’re a lawyer and obviously know that already, we can skip over the tough-guy stuff.  Which is nice, because that part of the conversation can get really awkward.”

Maybe it was the fact that Brooke, admittedly, was having a bad day.  She’d been dumped by the Hot OB, had just spent three hours on the phone haggling with the Staples Center lawyers over every tiny, miniscule part of their hospitality deal, and had done it all on two measly bites of a chicken taco and a melted strawberry-mango smoothie.  She was tired, hungry, and had, up until ten minutes ago, been looking forward to the first weekend in a long time where she did not have to work.  So, yes—she was, perhaps, feeling extra-cranky because of circumstances that had nothing to do with anyone sitting in that office right then.

But Cade Morgan was seriously beginning to piss her off.

He’d come here, to her office, seemingly to ask for her help.  Now he was threatening her with obstruction of justice charges—and most annoyingly, he was doing it with a smile.

So she returned the favor.  “That is nice, Mr. Morgan.  Because in response to your tough-guy speech, I, in turn, would’ve had to give you my tough-girl speech, about where, exactly, federal prosecutors who come to my office looking for assistance can stick their obstruction of justice threats.”  She smiled ever-so-charmingly. “So I’m glad we were able to sidestep that whole ugly business. Whew.

Although her attention was focused on Cade, out of the corner of her eye, Brooke could see Agents Huxley and Roberts looking at the wall and ceiling, seemingly trying to hide their smiles.

Cade looked momentarily caught off guard, the first time since he’d waltzed into her office, then his eyes flashed with something else entirely.  Amusement, perhaps.

That annoyed her even more.

 * * *

But there’s more! To celebrate the reveal of the cover blurb for Love Irresistibly, I’m giving away five copies of About That Night, the book in which Cade first appeared on the Chicago FBI/US Attorney scene. Winners can choose either a signed paperback or a Kindle, Nook, or Kobo ebook.  The giveaway is open internationally, and will remain open until 9pm CST on Wednesday, August 22nd.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below. Good luck!

Preorder Love Irresistibly at: Amazon (paperback), KindleBAM, or Powell’s.  Will be available at other retailers soon–they just don’t have the preorder links up yet. : )

 

Where I’ll Be– RWA Anaheim

Tomorrow I’m heading to Anaheim for the RWA annual conference. (Fun!)  For those of you either attending the conference or in the Anaheim area, below is some info on where I’ll be.  I hope I get to see many of you there!

Wednesday, July 25, from 5:00–8:00 p.m.
“Readers for Life” Literacy Autographing
Anaheim Convention Center (next door to Anaheim Marriott)
700 West Convention Way
Anaheim, California 92802
Note: author seating is not alphabetical this year; I’ll be at table 304.
Printable map of the author seating chart is here.
Event is open to the public; there is no admittance fee. No outside books will be allowed in (per RWA).

Thursday, July 26th, 2-3pm (workshop)
The Contemporary Challenge: How to Write 300 Pages of Romance without Demons, Death, or World Destruction (CRAFT)
Speakers: Julie James and Beth Kery
Best-selling authors Julie James and Beth Kery discuss what happens after boy meets girl in real-world settings and how to tackle the challenges of writing contemporary romance.
Please check conference program for location

Saturday, July 28th, 9-10:30am
Berkley signing
Please check conference program for location

Winner–Something About You Audiobook

Big thanks to narrator Karen White for dropping by to chat with us about audiobooks and the release of the audio version of Something About You.  Without further ado, the winner of the SAY audiobook is…

Gail Leslie!

(comment #8)

Congratulations! Gail, please email me at in**@*************ks.com and we’ll discuss the audiobook format options.

Thanks to everyone who entered!  Happy reading (and listening)!

Release day–Something About You audiobook! (interview & giveaway)

Please note: the giveaway is now closed.

It’s here!  Something About You is now available as an audiobook from Tantor Audio.  If you can’t tell, I’m super-excited about it–as the first book in my FBI/US Attorney series, Something About You has a special place in my authorial heart. And, well, I just think Cameron and Jack are too darn cute and sexy together.

Joining us today to provide a special behind-the-scenes peek into the making of the audiobook is Karen White, the narrator.  I first became acquainted with Karen after she narrated the audiobook for my first novel, Just the Sexiest Man Alive, and I’m absolutely thrilled that she’s back for Something About You.  So without further ado . . .

Julie: I have to admit, I’m relatively new to audiobooks. In fact, the first one I listened to was Just the Sexiest Man Alive (which you rocked, by the way).  Maybe you could start by telling us how you got into being a narrator?

Karen: My training is in acting, and the majority of my experience has been in the theatre.  A friend suggested that I’d probably be good at doing audiobooks — she had a friend in Seattle that would probably answer any questions I had about getting into the business.  That turned out to be the venerable Kate Fleming (aka Anna Fields) who very generously set me on my path.  Long story short, I met Dan Musselman who produced books at Dove Audio in Beverly Hills and he hired me to edit audiobook recording sessions, as Dove only worked with celebrities.  Then about 9 months later, he hired me as his assistant at the new Books-on-Tape studios in LA, where I started narrating as well as directing, casting and editing.  It was a great crash course in audiobooks and it’s been a great thirteen years of work.

Julie: Would you mind taking us through the steps of the recording process?  You’ve just received a new book to narrate–what happens from there?

Karen: I am pretty detail-oriented (OK, anal) person, so I always do my homework!  I read the book all the way through, highlighting and underlining all words that I don’t know how to pronounce, all the characters and all details about them (physical descriptions, etc.) as well as all specific descriptions of dialogue (i.e. she said breathlessly).  Then I create an Excel spreadsheet for the pronunciations and a Word doc where I type up and organize all my characters.  If there are dialects that I’m not well-versed in, I research and practice those.  I also try and choose a “hook” for each character – a placement in my body, or a rhythm, or a famous person or even a tag line – that helps me get into their head.  I like to get everything set up so that when I’m recording I can let go of all that left-brain work and just go from my gut.

Once I’m in the studio (either my own in my garage, or at a production company here in LA) it’s all about staying present while staying on schedule.  And the right snacks.

Julie: How about the creative process?  What is your approach to narration with each new project?

Karen: We narrators are basically “cast” to match the writer’s voice.  So while I play all these characters in the dialogue bits, the narration is usually pretty close to me.  But, each writer (and each book) has it’s own specific tone and point of view.  To me, that’s the “gut” part I was talking about before.  Once I’ve read the whole book, I have a feel for its tone.  I try not to intellectualize this part, but to just go with my instincts.  And that’s what’s really fun about it, I think – to let the text tell me where to go, to essentially perform this one woman show, and to go on the emotional rollercoaster with all the characters.

Julie: I’m sure readers would love to hear anything you would care to share specifically about working on Something About You.  Any particular challenges with that book, or behind-the-scenes anecdotes you can pass along? 

Karen: For this book, the Chicago accents were a challenge.  I’ve lived in New York and Boston, but not Chicago.   I want the characters to not be caricatures, and the dialects to not be distracting, but assist in the differentiation between characters.  Hopefully I succeeded (but as always I am sure there will be critics!)

Julie: You’ve narrated several novels in the romance genre, which often can have scenes with, shall we say, “adult situations.”  Okay, I’ll just be blunt: do you ever get flustered reading the sex scenes?  Or is it all just part of the process?

Karen: Well, speaking to the “behind the scenes” peek you mentioned in the previous question – I was able to record Something About You at my home studio – which, for the most part I prefer for all kinds of reasons (like I can pick my kids up from school and do laundry or walk the dog on my breaks).  JTSMA was really my first romance, and I recorded it at Deyan Audio with a very nice young man engineering it.  I have to say that while in the moment of recording the “intimate” scenes I was able to stay in the scenes (thank goodness they don’t have windows in their booths so I couldn’t see the engineer), it was always a little awkward when we’d take a break.  I’d feel compelled to make a joke like, “wooo, it’s steamy in here” or something equally lame.  At home, it’s just me all by myself so no awkwardness – except when my husband or my kids sneak up on me and I glance to the left (where I have a window in my booth) mid-uh-rapture and there’s a face staring at me.  Luckily the booth is sound proof.

Julie: Tell us what you’re currently working on, and also some of the other novels where readers can hear your work.

Karen: I just finished recording an interesting family drama called The Roots of the Olive Tree.  It’s about 5 generations of women, all alive (the eldest is 112!) and the secrets that both tie them together and keep them apart.  I feel fortunate that I am offered a wide range of genres – so just in the past few months I’ve had a really cool science & contemporary culture book, Zoobiquity, a history about Booker T. Washington and Theodore Roosevelt called Guest of Honor, a thriller about Jack the Ripper and a young woman who may be his descendant called Riptide and a paranormal romance called Enemy’s Kiss (gargoyle sex anyone?).  But I do love the contemporary romances.  They are like dessert.

Julie: Thanks so much for coming by today and telling us a little about what you do, Karen!

And now for the giveaway part . . . to celebrate the big release, I’m giving away a copy of the audiobook of Something About You to one person who leaves a comment below.  The giveaway will remain open until 8pm CST on Monday, July 2nd. (Please note that because of shipping restrictions/costs, this giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.)

Those of you who are interested in finding out more about the SAY audiobook can do so at the Tantor website.  Or maybe you’d like to hear an excerpt?  I’ve got one for you right here:  SAY audio excerpt

And for a second chance to win the audiobook, check out Karen’s blog, where she’s giving away a copy and interviewing me!

Happy listening!

 

Winners–Four Men and a Romance Novel

Looks like the Four Men and a Romance Novel discussion was a big hit!  I might have to bring those guys back some day . . .

Without further ado, the giveaway winners are:

Leanna H (comment #51)

Connie (comment #107)

Kim (comment #37)

Chele (Goodreads comment #15)

Jeannei L (comment #78)

Winners, please email me at in**@*************ks.com and let me know (1) which of my books you would like, and (2) if you prefer a signed paperback or a Kindle, Nook, or Kobo ebook.  If you would like a signed paperback, please include your snail mail address.

And for everyone else, don’t despair–there’s going to be another giveaway tomorrow. (Yes, tomorrow!) So be sure to check back then.