Contemporary Romance

Release Day Party: Making the First Move by Reese Ryan

July 22, 2013 by ReeseRyan

I can hardly believe it. Release day for Making the First Move is finally here! So a little partying is in order. Since Making the First Move is an e-book, it felt entirely appropriate to have the party online. So thank you for coming, and for helping me celebrate the release of my debut novel.

Party central will be on Facebook. Make yourself some hors d’oeuvres and an adult beverage. Coffee, tea, champagne, a mojito, champipple–whatever you like. We won’t tell, and you don’t have to share. That’s what makes online parties so awesome. 😉 Then feel free to mingle and chat here, on Facebook, and at as many of today’s party events (listed below) as you’d like. Don’t forget to register for the tour grand prize! You’ll find the description below.

Release Day Party Events

All Things Girl — Brief intro & excerpt
Contemporary Romance Café — Brief intro & excerpt
A Thought Grows — Book Highlight
Shaken But Not Stirred — Interview
Rhet Effects –Interview
Like a Bump on a Blog –Book Highlight
Ruth A. Casie Blog — Book Highlight
Writer & Cat — Interview (by Meankitty–an actual cat)
Kate Davies Blog — Book Highlight
Word Wranglers — Guest Post
Christi Barth’s Blog –Book Highlight
Facebook — All day, clothing-optional party 😉

Thank you again for celebrating this very special day with me!

Hugs & Kisses,

Summary

Making the First Move by Reese Ryan — *Making the First Move* is available at these fine booksellers:
Amazon | B & N | B-A-M | iTunes | Amazon United Kingdom | Audible

Melanie Gordon has spent the past five years obsessing over her career to dull the pain of a devastating breakup and the loss of her father. Her effort pays off when she receives the promotion that could be her big break. Only it means returning to her hometown to face her past while leaving behind the man who could be her future.

Selfless (and insanely sexy) philanthropist, Raine Mason, is committed to his cause. But his passion for rescuing high-risk young males from the road to disaster is fueled by his own dark and tragic past.

When Raine is ready to take his casual friendship with Melanie to sizzling new heights, her one-way ticket to Cleveland is already booked. But a steamy night of passion leaves them both wanting more, even if Melanie is afraid to admit it. She reluctantly agrees to a long-distance relationship with no promises and no commitments.

Melanie may finally be ready to give Raine her heart…but then she discovers startling news that causes her to question everything she knows about him. Worse, he’s harboring a dark secret from his past that threatens to shatter any hope of a future for them unless he can convince her that their love is worth the risk.

Excerpt

I rummage in the back of our tiny office refrigerator for the bottle of Perrier I promised Jax. A wicked grin spreads across my face as I imagine how delicious it would feel to smash this bottle upside his smug head. After the contract had been signed, of course.

I hand Jaxson the chilled bottle of lemon Perrier and smooth my skirt before sitting in my high-back leather chair. I’m glad my chair sits several inches higher than his.

“Thank you for considering Jasper & Gravel for your executive search.” I force a smile through clenched teeth. “As you know, I’m a long-time basketball fan. I’m thrilled that the WNBA has decided to bring another team to Cleveland, and about the prospect of working with your organization.”

Jax takes a sip from the bottle. “Basketball fan is an understatement.” He chuckles. “You still got that tattered old Mark Price jersey your dad gave you?”

My spine tightens. I place my feet firmly on the floor. The last thing I need is a stroll down memory lane. The memories are far too painful. For me, at least. I take a long sip of my tea then place my mug on a coaster. “So you were saying you need a new senior vice president of marketing and a vice president of sales and service.” I refer to the notes I scribbled on a napkin.

Jaxson gives me a conciliatory smile. My maneuver isn’t lost on him. “The candidates I hoped to go with were offered more lucrative positions with NBA teams.” He crosses his legs and scoots back in the chair. He looks comfortable, like he’s settling in for the winter. “I realize this may take some time, but it’s more important to me that we get the best possible candidates in these positions.”

“Of course.” I nod. “Our mission is to find candidates who are well-qualified and fit seamlessly into your organization. It appears Brett Hanson runs his organization like a tight-knit family and that he’s determined to make the Monarchs a title-winning franchise as quickly as possible. How would you describe the company culture?”

“I couldn’t have stated it better.” Jaxson steeples his long, slender fingertips. “Speaking of family…how about you? Are you married? Do you have kids?”

My patience is wearing thin just five minutes into our meeting. “Can we stay on topic here? That’s the only way this will work.”

“I’m sorry.” He straightens his purple and green Ermenegildo Zegna necktie. “It’s just that…the homemade coasters…it’s the kind of thing only a parent would bring to the office.”

“They were a gift from my assistant’s seven-year-old daughter.” I take a deep breath and try to pull it together. This is harder than I imagined, and believe me, I imagined it would be pretty damned hard. “Do you have job descriptions and job requirements for each position?”

“They’re back at the office, along with an entire file of information I should have brought for this meeting. Sorry I’m not better prepared. I didn’t expect to run into you today. It was quite a surprise to see you.” He leans forward in his chair again. “I honestly didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”

“Neither did I.” There are a few choice statements I refrain from adding. “But here we are. Perhaps we should reschedule for a time when you have all the necessary documents. I can come to your office next week. I’ll have Leslie call you tomorrow with some options.” I rise to my feet and extend my hand to him, signaling the end of our meeting.

Jaxson casually climbs to his feet and takes my hand. He doesn’t shake it. He holds it in his.

My legs are unsteady and my head feels light. How can the simple touch of his hand still take me back to those intimate moments between us, despite everything we’ve been through? I yank my hand away and take a step back. My cheeks burn and my eyes sting with the tears I refuse to let fall.

Jaxson comes around the desk and sits on the edge of it, leaving a safe distance between us. “I’m sorry,” he says, his head down, hands folded between his legs. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. It’s just…seeing you today brought back a lot of memories. It felt so natural, holding your hand like that. It wasn’t something I intended to do. Muscle memory, I guess.” He runs his hand over his hair.

I want to scream to the top of my lungs and tell him I don’t give a fuck about his unresolved feelings or muscle memory. But I’m a goddamned professional. I know what’s at stake here. I have to make this work.

Bio:

Reese Ryan writes sexy, contemporary fiction filled with colorful characters and sinfully-sweet romance. She secretly enjoys torturing her heroines with family and career drama, reformed bad boys, revealed secrets, and the occasional identity crisis, but always rewards them with a happily ever after.

Born and raised in the Midwest, she now resides in Central North Carolina with her husband and young adult son who tolerate her propensity to sing and dance badly. A self-proclaimed Bohemian Southern Belle, she treads the line carefully between being a Northerner and a damned Yankee–despite her insistence on calling soda pop. Reese gauges her progress by the number of “bless your lil’ hearts” she gets each week. She is currently down to two.

Visit Reese online at ReeseRyan.com. Follow her on Twitter @ReeseRyanWrites. Connect with her on Facebook.

Making the First Move Blog Tour Grand Prize

$25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble Gift Card
Digital copy of Making the First Move by Reese Ryan
Digital copy of The Winning Season by Alison Packard
Digital copy of Knowing the Score by Kat Latham
Digital copy of Personal Assets by Kelsey Browning
Digital copy of Derby Girl by Tamara Morgan

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Talking About Inspiration Over at the Contemporary Romance Café Today

May 7, 2013 by ReeseRyan

The theme this month over at the newly launched Contemporary Romance Café is “Inspiration.” It’s been fun hearing the inspiration behind the writing and novels of fellow Carina Press authors.

Today it’s my turn to host the Café and I’m chatting about my inspiration for writing everyday heroines, setting my stories in the my Midwest hometown of Cleveland, OH, and the specific idea that prompted me to write Making the First Move, my debut novel launching this summer.

Grab a cup of coffee and join me for a chat over at the Contemporary Romance Café. While you’re there, don’t forget to enter to win the weekly Amazon Gift Card giveaway and our Grand Prize. I’m saving a space on the couch just for you.

M is for Making the First Move

April 15, 2013 by ReeseRyan

So today, as Mike Meyers’ character, Linda Richman, would say in his old SNL Coffee Talk skits, “I’m feeling a little verklempt.”

Anyone who has ever dreamed of seeing their words–and the characters that came to life in their heads–available to be read by others can understand what an emotional rollercoaster the road to publishing is. Each accomplishment is met with a sense of utter joy. But that feeling of euphoria can be dashed just as quickly, leaving you a broken, thumb-sucking, blankie-cuddling mess.

Today I got to see something I’ve long imagined, my debut novel, Making the First Move, is currently listed on Amazon for pre-order. There’s no cover image yet, just the basic facts and the back cover copy (BCC). Still, it’s a big moment and I’m pretty excited. I didn’t waste a second putting together my Amazon author page, and Goodreads page.

So, does this mean I’ve arrived? Seriously, I’m not that delusional. However, it means that I’m moving forward, making a little more progress toward those goals every day. That is something I am quite proud of.

So while I don’t have a book cover to show you today, I thought I’d give a brief synopsis of the story, and a small excerpt. Both are below.

Synopsis

Best. Day. Ever.

In less than 24 hours, headhunter, Melanie Gordon’s life turns completely upside down. Her dream promotion, and the man of her dreams, fall at her feet, and in her bed, unexpectedly. Only neither is exactly what it seems. Mel must decide whether she will fall apart, as she did five years ago, or let go of her misguided expectations and go for what she really wants.

Excerpt

Chapter One

Damien Jasper is brilliant and asshole in equal amounts, wrapped in one stunningly handsome, well-dressed package. And he’s headed directly toward me.

This cannot be good.

There are only two reasons Damien Jasper visits the peons this early in the morning. He’s in hot pursuit of a new female employee, or the building is on fire. We haven’t hired anyone new, and the building isn’t on fire. So I’m pretty sure I’m screwed.

His intense eye contact is unnerving. Especially since Damien’s idea of eye contact usually lands somewhere in the vicinity of my boobs.

“Good morning, Ms. Gordon.”

I force a smile. You’d think shoving your tongue down a woman’s throat would give you the right to call her by her first name in perpetuity. But the rules in Damien Jasper’s world are pretty hard to follow. “Good morning, Damien.”

“When you’re done with your phone call, please come to my office.” The muscles in his face barely stir. His voice is a deep, low rumble.

My shoulders tense and a hard knot forms in my gut. I nod and force a smile so stiff it’s more of a grimace.

Damien turns on the heels of chestnut-colored loafers that cost more than my rent.

My heart is beating a mile a minute. I’ve completely forgotten I’m on the phone.

“Melanie? You still there?”

I take a deep breath and nod. “Sorry. Yes, I’m here. I’ve got, like, three minutes.” I look at my watch. “What’s up?”

Raine clears his throat then attempts to speak. His words come out too fast and at least two octaves higher than his normal speaking voice, like an old vinyl record that’s been sped up.

“What was that?”

“Sorry, I just…I wanted to talk to you about…” He sighs. “You know what, you’re busy. We should do this later.”

“Why don’t I give you a call later tonight or over the weekend?” I watch as the elevator door closes behind Damien.

“Okay—”

“Great. I really have to go. Talk to you later.”

As I return the phone to its cradle, my glass of water topples over. Thank God only my copy of the San Francisco Gazette gets wet. I toss the paper in the trash and take a deep breath. My hands shake like crumpled, brown leaves barely clinging to the trees at the end of fall.

Damien Jasper’s late-night trysts with overeager female employees are legendary here at Jasper & Graevel. A fact I wasn’t privy to that late night two years ago, when I was invited to accompany him to a client dinner.

We nailed our pitch over dinner and snagged the new client. Damien, in turn, tried to nail me. I’d had a drink or two more than I should have, at his urging, but I wasn’t drunk enough to believe that screwing the company CEO wouldn’t end badly. I politely extracted his tongue from my mouth, inserted my knee into his crotch and excused myself from the elevator we’d been sharing.

Jasper & Graevel is a major player in my industry. So rather than raising hell over the incident, I chose to ignore it and hoped Damien would do the same. For the past two years we’ve nodded politely and exchanged pleasantries whenever the situation required it. Still I’ve always had this nagging feeling that one day Damien would exact his revenge. That day, I fear, is today.

My throat is parched. Wish I had that damned glass of water. I survey my cubicle. Maybe I should box up my things now, rather than suffer the humiliation of stuffing my things in a box while two impatient rent-a-cops hover over me. Legs wobbling, I climb to my feet and take small, wooden steps toward the elevator.

“You’ve done it this time, Gordon.” Priscilla Cohen, Miss Prissy when she isn’t in earshot, leans against the outside of her cubicle, one hand on her waist. She arches her back to provide us all with a proper view of the size-D cups acquired during her last “vacation.” Her walking-stick-thin frame strains to hold them up.

I pretend not to hear her, but Priscilla is part pit bull, part crazed stalker. She will not be ignored. She steps into the center of the aisle, her arms folded over her chest.

“I told you not to hire that fat guy. He could barely talk for all that damn wheezing.” Priscilla hunches her shoulders and imitates Edmond Bennett, the man to whom she’s referring. She draws snickers from a few occupants of nearby cubicles. I garner looks of pity from a few others.

My cheeks sting, but I’m compelled to defend my candidate. My eyes lock with hers. “Mr. Bennett was a solid candidate with impressive credentials. I haven’t had a single complaint about him or any of my other placements.”

A menacing smile spreads across Priscilla’s face. “Until today.”

I sneer and push my way past her. Priscilla teeters on her four-inch heels and grabs the cubicle wall to steady herself. I conceal a wicked smile and nod to acknowledge mental high-fives doled out by a few of my coworkers. If this is going to be my last day at Jasper & Graevel, I’m going out with a bang.

I punch the Up arrow. The elevator doors creak open. I step inside, half expecting the floor to give way and send me careening down a tube into the basement—where J&G rejects belong.

I press my back against the wall to steady my legs. Forget wispy-winged butterflies. I’ve got a frickin’ Cirque du Soleil performance happening in my belly and I’m afraid I might lose the raspberry Danish I had for breakfast.

The elevator jolts to a stop and does a little bounce. Marilyn, Damien’s assistant, buzzes his office and whispers into the receiver as I approach.

“Hi, Marilyn.” I press my lips into a feeble smile. “I’m here to see Damien.”

“Yes, I know, dear.”

I fight the urge to fling myself at her feet and plead for information.

“Have a seat. He’ll be out when he’s ready for you.” She gestures to an arrangement of chairs covered in buttery leather.

“So this is where they keep the good chairs.” A high-pitched hyena laugh escapes my lips. I clear my throat. “Thanks, Marilyn.”

She tells me he won’t be long then hurries down the hall.

I squeeze my eyes shut, take a deep breath and think of things that make me happy. Things like keeping my job.

Pre-order a copy of Making the First Move on Amazon here.

B is for Blogging #AtoZChallenge

April 2, 2013 by ReeseRyan

Despite my tendency to blog with great irregularity, the medium definitely appeals to me. However, I needed to rethink how and why I was blogging. This led to a few changes regarding where I was blogging.

So I forced myself to let go of a blog I’d long-held, but that didn’t necessarily serve my purpose anymore. Next, I committed to building my author blog here. The final piece–participating in other blogs–was a bit more complicated.

Guest blogging is a wonderful way to connect with readers, and fellow writers, especially for a debut author, so I’ve been making plans to do that and am truly excited about the invitations I’ve received to be a guest on some wonderful blogs. But I also wanted to be part of a group author blog.

There are lots of excellent group author blogs out there. But I couldn’t find anything that seemed quite the right fit. So it occurred to me that perhaps I should start one. I posed the idea of starting a group contemporary romance blog on the Carina Press author loop and discovered that many of my fellow authors were extremely interested and ready to become founding members.

The Contemporary Romance Café will be serving up contemporary romance from sweet to sizzling. The Café launches on May 1st, and I’m thrilled to be joining my fellow authors in the venture, and to invite some of my favorite contemporary romance authors as guests of the Café.

Are you a blogger? If so, how have your blogging goals changed or been refined? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Contemporary Romance Cafe logo created by Amber Lin of Book Beautiful.

A is for Action #AtoZChallenge

April 1, 2013 by ReeseRyan

Because I am a very remiss blogger, I figured that the A to Z blog challenge would be just the thing to get me into a rhythm, doing what good little bloggers do. Not to mention that the entire concept brings back fond memories of one of my all-time fave programs, Sesame Street. So today, A is for Action.

No matter how big or small our dreams are, nothing gets done without action. Common sense, no? So why do we so often find ourselves dreaming big, but doing very little to bring those dreams to fruition?

I’ve been an avid reader who loved stories for as long as I can remember. But when I read Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, I knew I’d found the thing I wanted to do for the rest of my life–craft story of strong, witty women, the men they love, and their supporting cast of characters. It was fabulous to have this big dream in my little head. Making it happen, that was a different story.

Back then it wasn’t the writing itself that was the issue, it was the action of putting myself out there, and the possibility of being rejected.

Fast-forward nearly twenty years. I renewed my dream of being a fiction writer. The action I struggled with then was completing a novel. I had several partial manuscripts, including a couple of ambitious affairs featuring ensemble casts. However, it took me several years to get it together and finish one of those stories. That action prompted me to complete two others in a relatively short time. But that was only the beginning.

I’ve had to continually force myself beyond my comfort zone in order to advance toward my goal of being published. Taking writing craft classes. Joining a critique group. Attending local writer events. Submitting queries to agents and publishers. Volunteering in my local RWA chapter. Each action helped me move forward. At first it felt like I was inching along, but later it felt like leaps and bounds.

My debut novel, Making the First Move, will be published this summer by Carina Press. But the number of actions required of soon-to-be published authors (and multi-published authors) is no less. Instead, the added responsibilities of building a platform, guest blogging, and finding ways to connect with your audience are added to the mix of plotting, writing, revising, submitting, etc. So I’ll keep moving forward, remember that each action is bringing me closer to my ultimate goal.

What are some of your dreams or goals? What actions are you taking to achieve them? Please share in the comments.

Music Monday 1 – Love is Complicated

March 25, 2013 by ReeseRyan

I’ve been watching on the sidelines for a few weeks and today I was inspired to jump onto the Music Monday Blog Hop hosted by Meg at the Book Asylum. Music Monday is a blog hop that showcases songs which remind us of specific books.

The inspiration for my first Monday Music pick struck when I heard Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated” while riding in the car the other day. I still love this song, and haven’t been able to get it out of my head for the past three days.

Complicated – Avril Lavigne

Makes me think of . . .

I love me some Mary J. And while this isn’t my fave Mary J. Blige song, I think she expresses a sentiment with which many can identify in “Mr. Wrong.”

Mr. Wrong – Mary J. Blige

Makes me think of . . .

So Music Monday #1 has revealed my current Jami Alden addiction. The woman has sexy contemporary romance on a string. Seriously.

So What About You?

Do either of these songs make you think of a specific book? Or do any of these books make you think of other songs? I’d love to hear what you think in the comments below.