Monday 5 December 2011

FIRE AND ICE - officially out today

A couple of years ago, himself installed a new central heating system in our home. He did a mighty good job, and since then, in winter, we've been toasty and warm, with a boiler and radiators that perform efficiently, economically and are much 'greener' than the old system. But, for the period he was doing the installation, it was very, very cold in here, because it was also the dead of winter when he did it!

I was frozen, bundled up in layers and layers, wearing a woolly hat in the house, even. But somehow, this chilly condition was inspirational, and I got the idea for a story where the hero and heroine too had to contend with no central heating in the dead of winter. In fact, it was actually Christmas, and naturally, it being an erotic story, they found other ways of keeping warm, even though the hero had a bout of 24 hour flu for the first part of the proceedings. LOL

The result of these endeavor was FIRE AND ICE, my winter/Christmas extravaganza that originally appeared in the Mammoth Book of Hot Romance. You could say the very anthology title *really* seeded the story line, as I just knew I had to play with the concept of heat - and its opposite - in the tale.

And now, I'm self publishing FIRE AND ICE as an individual long story, with a few tweaks and polishes along the line, because we writers can't bear not to keep tinkering. As well as a seasonal story, it's also a boss and secretary, or in this case, boss and P.A. story, because heroine Cally also works for the deliciously hunky hero, Innes, in between completely adoring him.

Here's the blurb:

Surrender to sexual healing...

Super efficient P.A. Cally Hobbes is head over heels in love with her handsome boss, the urbane and delicious Innes McKenzie. Day after day, beneath her cool, businesslike exterior, she's simmering hot for him, and she knows he's not entirely immune to her either, despite their perfect, above board working relationship.

Icy weather, a broken central heating system, and a dose of 24 hour flu suddenly change everything. With Innes alone and laid low in his frozen flat, Cally's golden chance to get close finally arrives. Innes is freezing, and she's burning for his touch, so what else can a girl do but climb into her boss's bed to warm up his chilly limbs with a dose of body heat?

An overnight recovery quickly leads to a very different kind of therapy... making all Cally's dreams of passion flame into life. Sex with her beloved Innes is everything she's fantasized about, and more. Much, much more.

But will their mutual desire and tender feelings survive a return to office propriety? Working together as P.A. and boss again, can Cally and Innes share the lasting glow of love?

FIRE AND ICE is self published via the Walk on the Wild Side Books authors' collective and if you'd like to read an excerpt, you'll find one here, along with links to buy it at various online outlets. 

And this is a picture of me in that woolly hat! :)