Sunday Times Bestsellers List 19 Aug '12

This is my moment in the sun. I doubt it will ever happen again. Still feels completely surreal.

Click image or here to see all the lists for that day. 

Guest blogging today at Scorching Book Reviews!

I'm blogging over at Scorching Book Reviews today, and talking about power exchange, specifically the interaction between boss lady Miranda and her fabulously efficient P.A. Patrick Dove, in A VERY PERSONAL ASSISTANT.

Why not check it out... there's a prize for one lucky commenter! :)

Twelve Shades of Surrender - in print!

The fabulous 12 Shades of Surrender series of short BDSM erotica has now been released in print! This delicious dozen has been split into two fab volumes, each with a super stylish monochrome cover.

My story CHANCE OF A LIFETIME is in the UNDONE volume, along with stories from Lisa Renee Jones, Alegra Verde, Adelaide Cole, Elisa Adams and Tiffany Reisz.

The BOUND volume features my fabulous buddy Saskia Walker, along with the great Alison Tyler, Anne Calhoun, Eden Bradley, Emelia Elmwood and Megan Hart.

Also out today, for those of you who read Italian is Un Assistente Personale, the Italian translation of A VERY PERSONAL ASSISTANT.

It's available from eHarmony.it and from Amazon.co.uk

My latest read - very hard but glad I persevered

Particle Physics: A Very Short Introduction by Frank Close
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I must admit that this was a hard struggle for me to read. Not that there's anything wrong with the book. The author has a great style and explains difficult concepts extremely well. It's just a little too advanced for me. It did fill me with a great sense of wonder and awe though, at the way the universe is built and the magical world of the infinitesimally tiny. Despite my scientific shortcomings, I was able to grasp some new to me knowledge.

Beauty and the Beast!

My moment of glory in our local W H Smith store. My little book, with its beautiful cover, is their Book of the Week. I felt a little bit tearful... but this is one of the proudest days of my life! :)

New IN TOO DEEP out today!

It's a red letter day today! The new edition of my book IN TOO DEEP hits the shelves, resplendent in its gorgeous black and red glory... not to mention a sensuous matte to touch feel cover. PlushHiggs is convinced IN TOO DEEP is going to be a 'massive' success!

Here's the teasing, tantalising back cover blurb...

"I just want a taste of you. Or a touch. My fantasies about you plague my every waking hour. My only comfort is imagining that similar fantasies might obsess you too.

When young librarian Gwendolynne Price starts finding increasingly erotic love notes to her in the suggestion box at work, she finds them both shocking and liberating.

But who is her mystery admirer and how long will he be content to just admire her from afar...?"

There's a lot more to librarian Gwendolynne's erotic journey than just the naughty blandishments of her mystery admirer though. She's also got a huge crush on Professor Daniel Brewster, the super-hot academic and television celebrity who's working in the local archives. Suddenly a municipal library is the sexiest place on earth, and Gwendolynne is bombarded by sensual excitement at every turn...

You can find a lot more detail about the story here, along with a very, very frisky excerpt, describing what happens when Gwendolynne inadvertently catches "Professor Hottie McHotstuff" in an intimate moment.

IN TOO DEEP - information and excerpt

More August Excitement!

My posts are like London buses. Nothing for weeks then two on the same day! LOL

But there are two blog related events that I really must bring to your attention...

The first is a Grand BDSM Appreciation Event that is being hosted by Nix on her Scorching Book Reviews blog. This is a fab lineup of authors each posting about their take on BDSM fiction, one every day, for a month... along with a blog hop, too.

I haven't actually written my post yet, but I do already have some fun ideas, that I hope will be interesting and entertaining. :)

And to celebrate another event, that I completely forgot about in my other post... I've been interviewed by the Italian romance blog Pinkafe, to mark the occasion of my Victorian erotic historical, IN THE FLESH, being published in Italy!

The Italian title translates as OVERWHELMING PLEASURE... which pretty much sums up the story nicely!

The wonderful Hasmina has translated my answers to some questions about IN THE FLESH aka OVERWHELMING PLEASURE, and if you read Italian, you can find the interview here. 

L'Erotismo di Portia da Costa

Awesome August!

August is an awesome month for me! I hardly know where to start with news, but the above poster is as good a place as anywhere. 

IN TOO DEEP is being reissued by Black Lace with a gorgeous new cover and has been selected by W H Smith for a special 50 Shades of Grey related promotion starting on 2nd August and lasting two weeks. Obviously the fabulous half price opportunity is just for shoppers in the W H Smith stores, but it's also available at a competitive price at all the usual outlets. And still available as an ebook with its pretty in pink original cover. 

You can read a hot excerpt and explore all the buying choices here

A VERY PERSONAL ASSISTANT is now available for Kindle at Amazon.co.uk as well as other outlets, and I also heard this morning that it's been selected by Harlequin in Italy as part of their 12 PICCOLE SFUMATURE [12 Little Shades... how cute is that?] promotion.

Speaking of Harlequin/Mills and Boon's fantastic Twelve Shades of Surrender promotion, there are two new super bits of news. My 12 Shades title CHANCE OF A LIFETIME will now be appearing in print, as well as an ebook, in two anthologies, on either side of the Atlantic. 

[Does the cover image look familiar? LOL]

The two collections are 12 SHADES OF SURRENDER - UNDONE, published by Mills and Boon.

And the more simply titled 12 SHADES OF SURRENDER, published by Harlequin.

I'm also a contributor to yet another Harlequin anthology too. My stories COME AT SIX and COME AT NINE are in the SIXTY NINE anthology, edited by the wonderful Alison Tyler.

Find out more about SIXTY NINE at eHarlequin

I'm hoping to have more detailed information about all these titles in upcoming blog posts, but for now, I'm wiping my brow after grappling with all these images and links! LOL

It really is a very fabulous month for me... I'm a very lucky old girl! :)  

Like a boss...

Miranda Austin is a boss, a female executive in a high powered job who has to be a demon in the board room and shoulder a heavy load of responsibility. She loves her work, but sometimes the pressure wears her down and she secretly yearns not to have to be 'in charge'.

Patrick Dove is Miranda's PA, and he's the perfect right hand man for an executive woman, efficient, discreet, intuitive... and drop dead gorgeous. What's more, he's always desired his beautiful boss, and behind his facade of quiet discretion, he's passionately in love with her! 

One day, after a successful but particularly gruelling meeting, Patrick decides it's time to take action and relieve Miranda's stress, and he knows exactly what to do to make her feel better. He'll be her boss for a change and show her the deliciously dominant side of him she's never seen before...

A VERY PERSONAL ASSISTANT is published today by Harlequin Spice Briefs, and you can find a sexy excerpt and links to buy here.

12 Shades of Surrender

Just look at all these nifty themed covers for the exciting 12 SHADES OF SURRENDER promotion! Mills & Boon have hand selected a dozen of their sexy Spice Brief novellas that explore intense BDSM sensuality, and I'm proud to be part of such an illustrious line up. Just look at those names... it's a collection that includes some of the goddesses of erotic writing and I've made the cut. Awesome!

Chance of a Lifetime was first published in 2008, and was my first ever Spice Brief, which means it has a very special place in my heart. I'll always think fondly of my kinky modern day Marquis and his bold English Rose, no matter how many more pairs of pervy, spanky, game playing lovers I write about in future.

TWELVE SHADES OF SURRENDER

More covers!

This beauty is for the mainstream reprint of IN TOO DEEP. Yes, with any luck, Portia Da Costa will hit the supermarket shelves soon, hopefully some time after the 2nd of August!

IN TOO DEEP - excerpt

CHANCE OF A LIFETIME was first published back in 2008, and is now part of Mills & Boon's new 12 Shades of Surrender series, which has its début in July. More details to follow.

CHANCE OF A LIFETIME - excerpt

Fire and Ice - I'm at it again!

NB. FIRE AND ICE BACK AT NORMAL PRICE NOW...

... STILL A GOOD READ THOUGH, I THINK... ;)

As part of my programme to design new, matching covers for all my self published titles, here's my latest effort, the redesigned FIRE AND ICE. Hope you like it...

To celebrate this new look, I'm offering FIRE AND ICE at a new low price for a limited period of time. It's currently 99 cents/77 pence at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk for Kindle format, with epub and pdf formats available at All Romance Ebooks and Smashwords.

FIRE AND ICE is a winter story, but given the pathetic state of the British summer weather this year, I think it's also a timely read for June too. 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?

You can read an excerpt of FIRE AND ICE here.