Showing posts with label The Efficiency Expert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Efficiency Expert. Show all posts

Tuesday, 31 May 2011

Latest from Walk on the Wild Side Books


RISQUE BUSINESS

Kari Reynolds is a human resources specialist on a short-term assignment at Coleman Engineering. It’s her job to lead workshops but there’s one big problem – the boss, Matt Bradford.

Being near Mr. Tall, Dark and Smoking Hot brings out Kari’s naughty side. One look at him makes her forget what’s appropriate in the workplace, and she’s smart enough to know the heated glances he’s shooting her way have nothing to do with business.

Now all she has to do is convince Matt to ignore her job title and try a little office pleasure…

Approximately 11,000 words

Check out this delicious 'fireworks in the office' erotic romance from the wonderful HelenKay Dimon. I love these workplace conflicts that turn into hot sexy confrontations! Find out more at:


<shameless self promo> ps. if you're a fan of the office love/hate/shag theme, check out my shortie The Efficiency Expert - which has a similar dynamic </shameless self promo>

Saturday, 9 April 2011

On entering a brave new world...


What's this? A new Portia Da Costa title? Why has this suddenly appeared when I've posted no advance news, tweeted no tweets? How come it's appeared out of the blue?

Well, the answer is that I've entered a brave new world for me, the exciting realm of digital self publishing. It's something I've had on my mind for quite a while now, but I've hung back, and hung back, afraid of messing up the technology, to be honest. But in the last few weeks, circumstances have propelled me into learning about how to do the "stuff" and this unexpected new release - THE EFFICIENCY EXPERT - is the result. It's only really a "test" publication, a fairly short story - I just wanted to understand how the processes worked on a variety of platforms. But it'd still be rather nifty if I sold a few!

THE EFFICIENCY EXPERT has already been published as part of an anthology, PASSION edited by the wonderful Rachel Kramer Bussel, but if you just fancy reading my story alone, here's your chance. [I'd still heartily recommend getting the anthology, though, if you like what you've read in my story]

So, here's the blurb of THE EFFICIENCY EXPERT

Still stinging from a stringent efficiency review, office girl Susie encounters the very last man she wants to meet when she hits the bar to relax and unwind. Hunky Noah Stevens is the ruthless company troubleshooter who's been making her life hell for the last three weeks, but Susie soon finds that after hours, and in the bedroom, Noah's devotion to "efficiency" yields a delicious erotic bonus.

You can read a short excerpt here, or take the plunge and buy it from:

The Efficiency Expert - Kindle UK

The Efficiency Expert - Kindle US

The Efficiency Expert - Smashwords [Lots of formats here]

The Efficiency Expert - All Romance eBooks [Several formats here]

Wednesday, 8 December 2010

What's happening at the moment...

Gah, sorry for the long silence here. I'm the most hopeless blogger on the face of the earth. Even when I've got news to announce, I tend to blank on ways to convey it and blog about it. Shameful, when writing is my trade...

So what's the latest?

My most recent publication is a short story in the lovely Rachel Kramer Bussel's PASSION anthology.


This is a selection of hot but romantic stories from a variety of authors including Rachel herself, my brilliant critique partner and all round literary life support pal Saskia Walker, and other online buddies like Justine Elyot and Charlene Teglia, plus many more fabulous folk. My effort is THE EFFICIENCY EXPERT and features an unlikely hero, a hated and feared 'management consultant' who comes in to sort out the company where the heroine works. But when Susie meets Noah out of hours, in a bar, she discovers he's not quite the ogre she's made him out to be at work... in fact, he's a sexy hunk with a much more amenable side to his nature.

Here's a mini snippet of THE EFFICIENCY EXPERT, plus some links so you can buy PASSION!

In terms of what I'm writing at the moment... Well, I'm working on the early stages of a proposal for my second Spice novel. I have one or two different notions... I won't grace them with the word ideas as they're still so vague they hardly earn that title... but the strongest contender seems to be something I'm just calling Diamonds for the moment. It involves a Victorian inheritance, and a pair of distant cousins with issues - both between one another, and with other people and situations. Adela and Wilson Ruffington don't really like each other all that much, although they can't deny a mutual attraction. Both are somewhat spiky and difficult characters, and not what you'd classically call "beautiful people". I'm at the very early stages with Diamonds, though, and have only written half of a scene... and have very little plot to speak of, as yet.

Prior to working on Diamonds, I completed A Gentlewoman's Dalliance, which is #4 in my Victorian Ladies' Sewing Circle series for Harlequin Spice Briefs. In this one, naughty prime time lady, Mrs. Mary Brigstock indulges in kinky fun with her hubby... and a handsome young 'specialist'. Oooh, la, la! I'm hoping to post a teaser of that one soon on my web site, along with one from #3, A Gentlewoman's Rescue, in which lady bicyclist Lucy falls off her bike and almost straight into the arms of Ethan, a deliciously earthy hunk with a secluded country cottage.

These two stories won't be available until September 2012 and March 2013 respectively, alas. Sob, sob, sob... But in the meantime, you can still whet your appetite for my Victorian writing with my first two Ladies' Sewing Circle outings: A Gentlewoman's Predicament and A Gentlewoman's Ravishment, the risqué adventures of Circle members Sofia and Prudence respectively.


That's all for the moment, but I hope to post again tomorrow [yeah, right...] with news of what's in the pipeline for next year and beyond in terms of writing and book and story releases...

Monday, 7 June 2010

PASSION - I'm in it!


I'm thrilled to announce that my short story THE EFFICIENCY EXPERT will be included in the forthcoming PASSION anthology, edited by the fabulous Rachel Kramer Bussel!

PASSION will be published in November 2010 and you can find more info and a mini snippet of my story here.

Isn't the cover divine?