Welcome, Misty Evans!

You know, I believe women deserve the right to vote and wear pants and all that good stuff, but there is an irrepressible part of me that loves the damsel in distress story. Like, way back in the 70s, when Star Wars came out, I could not get enough of that movie. She was a princess! She was in danger! She needed a hero and she got not one, but two. (Three if you count Chewy.) And that moment when Luke grabbed her and swung across the abyss like a pirate of old? Holy moly, talk about tropes.

Anyway, that's all to prep you for a fantastic boxed set that is only available until January 31, 2015--8 Nights with a Hero. If you like suspenseful romance, this is the set for you.

In today's spotlight, I have USA Today Bestselling Author Misty Evans. Ms. Evans has published over twenty novels and writes romantic suspense, urban fantasy, and paranormal romance. As a writing coach, she helps other authors bring their books – and their dreams of being published – to life. Misty likes her coffee black, her conspiracy stories juicy, and her wicked characters dressed in couture. When not reading or writing, she enjoys music, movies, and hanging out with her husband, twin sons, and two spoiled dogs.

Her novel, Operation Sheba (Super Agent Series, Book 1), sounds terrific. Here's the back cover copy and a short excerpt.

Julia Torrison—codename Sheba—is keeping secrets.

Seventeen months ago she was one of the CIA’s super agents, facing down dangerous terrorists with her partner and lover Conrad Flynn. After a mission was blown and Conrad died, Julia was yanked back to Langley and given a new identity. She is now the Counterterrorism Center’s top analyst, spending her days at CIA headquarters and her nights in her boss’s bed. Her former life as a secret agent has been sealed off with her heart.

Former SEAL Conrad Flynn—codename Solomon—has his own secrets.

For starters, he’s not dead. Going under the deepest cover possible, he faked his own death to save Sheba’s life. Now he must tear that new life apart and ask for her help to hunt down a traitor inside the Agency’s walls.

Is Conrad a rogue operative or a jealous ex-lover looking for revenge?

Julia must risk everything for the man who still holds her heart in order to decide. Drawn into a web of seduction and betrayal, she is forced to play the spy game of her life, flushing out an Agency mole and stopping a hostage situation using nothing more than her iPod and her intuition.

________

The wind chimes outside the patio doors clanged gustily in the wind. Julia sat on the floor, arms wrapped around her bent legs, watching the wind blow sheets of rain across the cracked concrete patio.

“Would it help,” Conrad said quietly from behind Julia, “if I said I was sorry? Again?” His silhouette reflected in the glass as lightning ripped through the black sky.

She had sought solace in her apartment, locking the door behind her and leaving the lights off. An attempt, Conrad knew, to keep him out so she could hang her head and lose the control she had been fighting so hard to keep after learning of Michael Stone’s betrayal.

“No. It wouldn’t help.” Her voice sounded steady and yet still smart with emotion. “You’d be lying. You’re not sorry it’s Michael.”

“But I am sorry the asshole did a number on you.”

Julia’s eyebrows rose as she calmly accused him. “The pot calling the kettle black.”

Conrad clenched his jaw to fight back a response that would only get him in deeper shit. He couldn’t win this argument. No sense trying.

Julia, sensing his refusal to argue, shook her head mildly and ignored him again. A crack of lightning, the follow-up roll of thunder a few seconds later. Long minutes of silence.

Conrad shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Damn this sucked. He wanted her to lash out at him, yell, slam a door, cry in his arms again—like that hadn’t freaked him out a little, she never cried, but even that was preferable to this sudden silence—do something to blow off her anger and hurt. Then he could help her. But this…this withdrawal wasn’t healthy. The emotions would detonate inside her.

Maybe he should get in her face, argue with her until she broke. Tell her why he wasn’t like Stone. She would break, he knew that, and he damn sure would be there to pick up the pieces this time. “You have to talk to me, Jules.”

“No, actually, I don’t. Leave me alone. I need some time to think.”

“I have more information, more proof, if you want to see it.”

Julia cut her gaze to him as the rain continued to pelt the concrete. “I’ve seen and heard enough. The less I know, the more…how did Smitty put it? Effective? Yes that’s the word. The less I know the more effective I’ll be in your little sting operation.”

“So you’re going to help us?”

She snorted. “Do I have a choice?”

No, he wanted to say, his need for her help almost as bad as his need for her forgiveness. At the same time he felt compelled after what he’d put her through to give her an out. “You always have a choice. I can’t force you to do this, to work with me.”

Her body tensed and he knew he’d said the wrong thing, although he wasn’t sure why it was wrong. Her help was critical to the success of the operation, but he didn’t want to push her into a corner. It would only backfire on him.

Her attention went back to the night outside the door. “What if,” she said, her voice controlled, deliberate, “the roles had been reversed seventeen months ago? What if you thought I was dead, Con, and it was your fault?”

Taking a step back, he let his back slide down the wall on the west side of the patio doors. He let himself think about it for a moment, but a moment was all it took. “I’d have gone crazy.”

Her response was just as quick. “But you’d have survived, just like I did.” And accurate.

Lightning flickered, illuminating Julia’s body with a blinking, strobe-like effect. The green eyes were black, her lips set in a grim line. Behind her set face, he knew she was coming to grips with Stone’s betrayal. With her current situation. With his request for her help. He watched as she continued to stare out at the night. She was right, they were survivors. Whatever the outcome of this operation, they would both survive.

He waited for her to tell him that. To assert that she would be fine. But silence was all he got.

Life with Julia had never been easy, but then he had never opted for easy in his life. To him, nothing easy was worth having. Challenge was what made his blood flow, his pulse pound.

Conrad had a superior operational mind and the balls to put his ideas into action. Intelligence mixed with cool logic and hyperawareness made him excel at everything from running agents to troubleshooting tickets for a sold-out game. Always ready for the next opportunity, he was an artful and cunning risk-taker. He loved the game and he loved to win.

In the 007 version of the Intelligence world, Conrad was an outstandingly good spy.

The problem was he had fallen in love with Julia, his opposite in ways the Myers-Briggs assessment test couldn’t begin to measure. And although her scope of assignments had been more limited than his, she was operationally his equal. That had caused just a few problems.

Being a good spook was the antithesis of being a normal person. Those who excelled at flirting with terrorists, assassins, drug dealers and the rest of the Earth’s scum usually sucked in the everyday departments of spouse, parent, or friend.

That’s all right, he thought. Take all the time you need, love. I’m not going anywhere. I’m never leaving you again…

To celebrate the release, the authors of 8 Nights with a Hero are holding a giveaway. There will be two tour-wide prizes (two winners, US only):

   First Prize: $40.00 Amazon or Barnes & Noble Gift Card

     Second Prize: Box of Swag with contributions from all the authors

To buy 8 Nights with a Hero:

Amazon:  http://amzn.to/1CDpWHu
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1pQvvfR
Google Play: http://bit.ly/1v7SkfS
All Romance: http://bit.ly/12lJZt9
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1vLcOtH
Apple: http://bit.ly/1vgaGq2

To find out more about Misty Evans: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Newsletter

I Lost My Podcast Virginity

The Royal Half and All the Kings Men are two powerhouses in the Los Angeles Kings community and I have long been a fan of their work. They are masters of GIFs and graphics and their wit is well-known to LA Kings fans like me.

In fact, if you heard the TV announcers talk about "That 70s Line"--Jeff Carter (#77), Tyler Toffoli (#73), and Tanner Pearson (#70)--that nickname was coined by The Royal Half on their blog.

See what I mean about their graphics? Hilarious.

Anyway, recently they asked if I would agree to an interview on their podcast. I was terrified to do it. What if they made fun of me, my books and/or the romance genre? Hockey fans are hardcore. I envisioned myself being a babbling, incoherent mess and condemned to knowing that anyone could download my meltdown from iTunes and have themselves a laugh riot.

However, I knew that this was a fantastic opportunity for promotion. I hoped that any embarrassment I felt would be offset by a few sales. Surely there were some readers amongst those combined 17,000 Twitter followers who might enjoy reading an escapist hockey romance.

It turned out to be totally fun. I did stumble some and ramble a lot. At one point I forgot my point and had to admit I had no idea where I was going, but while I didn't ace it by any long shot of the imagination, I didn't crash and burn. The guys--there were three of them, so my first foursome!--were gentlemen and very respectful. I actually adored their nervous laughter when we started talking about the sex scenes. And my sales got a very respectable bump that week.

Thank you, The Royal Half and All the Kings Men. You guys rock.

Without further ado, here is Episode 381, Kate Willoughby.

Fresh Fiction: The Silly Side of Hockey

Stop 2 on my mini blog hop is Fresh Fiction. I asked them if I could write about hockey pranks, since pranks are so prominent in my books and they were nice enough to host me again.

So, check it out. There is a short video of some Blackhawks playing a prank, which I found hilarious, and an excerpt from Across the Line in which Calder and Mac initiate certainly the most elaborate prank in the In the Zone series to date.

There's also a giveaway in which you can choose which In the Zone book you would like to win!

Give Me Books Giveaway!

My blog tour for ON THE SURFACE has officially started! The Give Me Books blog is helping us promote all six Sports Week romance releases from Carina Press. They created this very cool graphic for us.

I've been very lucky to be working with some terrific ladies, Kat Latham, Michele Mannon, Rebecca Crowley, Rhonda Shaw, and Allison Parr. They are the other authors whose books are part of Sports Week. We're giving away a $20 gift card and a copy of all six e-books. The contest ends on Release Day, so enter at the Give Me Books blog or below! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Guest Blogging at RomCom

The folks at RomCom invited me to be a guest blogger and my post is up. It's exciting to be on the same blog as such popular authors as Erin McCarthy, MJ Davidson, and Deborah Cooke.

Of course, I'm blogging about my recent release, Once Upon A Kiss, and all the other Be-Wished books. I'm also offering a free e-book to one lucky commenter, so get over there and comment. :)

The Big Day

O happy day! Once Upon A Kiss is finally available! It's the very first book there on the front page of Ellora's Cave. I'm very excited. It's even next to Cricket Starr, a very popular and long time Ellora's Cave author.

All week I've been blogging about the book and anyone who commented was entered into a drawing to win their choice of one of my books. This morning I wrote all the names on bits of paper. If you commented twice your name got written twice, and so on. I'm happy to announce the winner is...

Terri Osburn!!! Terri, email me to arrange the details. kate_willoughby at yahoo, etc. Thank you, all you other commenters.

If you're in the mood to read a fun, sexy romance, get yourself a copy of Once Upon A Kiss. I think you'll have a good time.

Once Upon A Kiss Celebration Week - Day One

Welcome to the countdown until Once Upon A Kiss comes out! I'm very excited about this because it's the third book in my Be-Wished series. The premise for the series is that three friends made wishes on "magical" woven bracelets while on vacation in Mexico. Little did they know that the Universal Wish Federation exists and that soon a fairy would make their wishes come true. It started with All In (Mariah's story), continued with A Wolf at Her Door (Paige's story), and now we have Livvy, the last of the three friends to get her wish granted. To start off the week, I thought I'd offer an excerpt from Chapter One of Once Upon A Kiss. I hope you enjoy it.

“What?” the fairy asked, a worried look on her face.


“Well, I…I had an idea. Can you, ah, manipulate time? See, I was thinking maybe you could bring us back to just before I told you to get lost…”


Paige put a hand over her heart. “Oh my God, that would solve everything.”


But Davina was shaking her head. “No. Sorry, no can do. Turning back time requires like ten tons of red tape, clearance that I don’t and probably will never have, not to mention a unanimous vote of the regulatory court, and those old fogies are so conservative they never vote for anything. I’m still PO’d about their decision on de-legalizing… ” She trailed off and stared into space.


“Davina, what is it?” Mariah asked in a low voice. “You thought of something just now.”


“No, I didn’t.”


“Yes you did, you crafty fairy, you. I distinctly saw that I-thought-of-something-just-now look on your face,” Mariah said.


“I saw it too,” Paige piped in.


“Well,” Davina said, “to tell the truth, I do feel that the three of you were a package deal, seeing how you all wished at the same time. Even though technically I’m not obligated, I feel obligated to see this through.”


Livvy felt a faint flicker of hope.


“So, what I thought of is this,” Davina said glancing left and right. “I can try to grant you a wish under the table. Because you relinquished a claim on the other wish, I’m not allowed to use Federation magic on you, but there’s magic out there on the black market I could get.”


Mariah looked all for it, but Paige’s expression was pinched. “I don’t know. I’ve had experience with bad magic.”
“Black market magic isn’t bad necessarily,” Davina said. “It’s just not guaranteed. Sort of like generic drugs. Same thing, but without the big company to back it up. Sometimes you hit a minor glitch but I should be able to handle whatever comes up. However, if we do this, you can’t speak of it to anyone.”


“She’s totally not kidding,” Paige added. “You have to be super careful.” She went on to explain how she’d gotten Davina in trouble when she’d mistakenly blabbed something to the wrong person and it had almost ended in disaster.


“But you do have to tell the guy involved. That’s Rule One that I had to learn,” Mariah said.


“No, actually, this is non-Federation, so the pamphlet doesn’t apply to her,” Davina said. “But it is generally a good rule of thumb to not keep secrets of this magnitude from your true love. So if we’re all agreed?” Davina arched her brow and looked at each of them in turn. “Good.”


The fairy then whisked away the gelato with a flat-palmed sweep of her arms and garbed herself in an austere black pants suit, aviator glasses and a short-brimmed trilby hat with a leopard band.


Leaning forward, Davina said, “Now here’s the thing, Liv. Because we’re using the street stuff, you have to be broad when making your wish. In fact…” Davina held her hands up in front of her, her eyes wide. “Pretend I’m Tiger Woods. I am the Tiger Woods of magic.”


“Oh, brother,” Mariah said.


Davina ignored her. “Now, you wouldn’t make Tiger tee off in a closet would you? Of course you wouldn’t. You have to give him room to maneuver. So think in broad terms. You don’t have a certain person in mind, do you?”


For one crazy moment, Livvy thought of Joe, the next door neighbor who had moved in not long ago. The man was ripped. Like Rambo ripped. He had a buzz cut and a wicked-awesome tat of butterflies on his upper arm.


He was also severely handicapped.


The property manager had told her he’d served overseas in the Army and come back disabled, which explained his military bearing, evident even though he used a wheelchair. This filled Livvy with compassion and admiration. She’d suddenly become eager to meet him. She’d gotten along very well with Henry, the man who’d lived in the apartment before. That sweet old guy had found love, gotten married and moved away, leaving his handicapped-accessible townhouse behind as a rental.


One Saturday soon after the ex-soldier moved in, she saw him and a friend coming out of his house. She had baked cookies for him a few days ago, but hadn’t seen him until now. Worried she might not get another chance before the cookies went stale, she hurried outside.


“Oh, hey, wait!” she called.


They stopped. The neighbor, dressed in khakis and an Army t-shirt, turned his chair toward her. He wore a cap and sunglasses and didn’t look like he’d shaved in a couple of days. His legs leaned toward the right, perfectly parallel—knees, ankles, feet, all side by side.


“I wanted to introduce myself,” she said, a little breathlessly. “I’m Livvy. I live next door.”


“Hey, good to meet you, Livvy. I’m Joe.” He flashed a dazzling smile at her. “This is Noah, my caregiver. Are those for me?” he asked, gesturing toward the bag of goodies.


“Yes. They’re to welcome you to the neighborhood.”


“That’s really nice of you. They look great.”


As he took the bag, Livvy noticed his eyes dropping to her breasts and lingering there. When he again met her gaze with a half smile playing around his full lips, her breasts tingled and she felt a flush of desire between her legs. A split second later she remembered he was in a wheelchair and got so flustered that when he invited her to go with them to the movies, she’d babbled a lame excuse. Later, she felt embarrassed and angry with herself. Having lived next to Henry for so long, she had always thought of herself as very accepting of and savvy about paraplegics. For instance, she knew that some of them had healthy sex lives, but for some reason, when faced with the prospect of actually having sex with a man in a wheelchair, she’d freaked out. Irritated at her apparent prejudice, she berated herself soundly and resolved to be more tolerant and open the next time she saw him, but hadn’t seen hide nor hair of him since.


“Earth to Livvy,” Davina said. “Do you have someone special in mind or don’t you?”


Livvy started, then shook her head. “No. No one special. I trust you to find the right man for me, Davina.”


Davina raised a brow and graced both Paige and Mariah with a smug look. “That, I shall,” she said. “Just make your wish.”


“Something with possibilities,” Livvy confirmed.


“Exactly.”

Hopefully, you're well and truly hooked and will want to buy Once Upon A Kiss when it comes out next Wednesday, August 25. Until then, every comment made during this celebration week will be an entry in the contest to win your choice of any of my electronic books, either from Ellora's Cave or Liquid Silver Books.

Leap of Faith Celebration - Day 4

The Incan civilization was grand. Although, I learned a lot researching for this story, I took some creative liberties, especially concerning the punishment for defiling a Sun Virgin. But hopefully the result justifies the tweaking of historical fact.

I was going to make up a trivia quiz for today's blog entry, but saw that there are many perfectly good quizzes already out there. Why reinvent the wheel (which the Incans didn't have, by the way)?

Take this quiz if you want. If you'd like the chance to win a free e-book from my backlist, to to the comment section and let me know something you learned about the Incas that you didn't know before.

My score: 40% (How embarrassing!) The quiz was hard!

If you'd like to purchase the book in which those creative liberties were taken, go here. :)

Leap of Faith Celebration - Day 3

Turns out that no one would be brave enough to try cuy. Maybe I shouldn't have answered myself. Maybe I turned people off to the idea of roasted guinea pig...

Since no one wanted to do my Mad Lib, I decided to have a go at it. You were supposed to think up

• a period of time
• a name
• a verb
• four nouns
• an adjective

And here is the Leap of Faith blurb with the Mad Lib words inserted:

A split second ago, Vladimir blew up the Incan flip flops and has since been condemned to a life of pancakes and dirt. Only through tongue will he find forgiveness. But is it his tongue that is required, or that of the young woman who stumbles into his busty world?

Well, that was pretty funny, if I do say so myself! Feel free to provide a list of zany words, and I'll insert them tomorrow.

Today I'm posting a short excerpt from Leap of Faith. I hope you enjoy it. I even hope you buy it!

Sometimes what seemed enchanting at night lost its glamour by light of day, especially when it came to men, but even in the bright sun Amaru was one spectacular example of masculinity. The man was all muscle, not a scrap of fat on him, and although his face wasn’t handsome in the classic sense, the rugged, primitive strength Kira saw there was just as appealing as any of the pretty boy looks she might find on the pages of a men’s magazine.

He thrust his head under the stream, washed his unshaven face, then combed his hands through his hair. The water ran in rivulets down his neck to be soaked up by his tunic. Until today, she’d never considered necks to be particularly sexy, but if her lips had had free will they would have been on his neck like magnets on a fridge.

Reluctantly, she pulled her eyes back up to his face, but judging from his smile, he knew she’d been ogling him and he didn’t mind one bit. In fact, still grinning, he said, “It is already hot today and I am somewhat sweaty from working the garden."

And sweat never looked better.

Then, to her shock and delight, he stripped off his tunic to reveal his magnificent body clothed in nothing but an honest-to-goodness loincloth. Having never seen a loincloth in person before, she realized now how little they actually covered.

Her lips suddenly had a different destination in mind.

Question for today: Would you prefer your hero garbed in a loincloth, chaps, a tux, or a kilt? Answer in the comment section and you may win a free book at the end of the week.

Leap of Faith Celebration - Day 2

Well, the Mad Libs thing was a roaring success.



But I shall blithely go forward.

In the course of revising Leap of Faith, which you can buy here, I found out that Peruvians like to eat guinea pigs. Roasted on a spit. I don't find this disgusting, like eating live baby octopi, but I don't know if I could ever taste guinea pig. Especially since they serve it still looking like a rodent. If it was like a McGuinea Pig Strip, I might try it, but otherwise...

Anyway, today's question is, would you try "cuy" as it's called in Peru? Answer the comment section and you might win a free e-book from my backlist.

Leap of Faith Celebration - Day 1

It's release day! Leap of Faith is now available for purchase. I'm going to be celebrating all week. Make a comment any day this week and I'll enter your name in a drawing to win any electronic title from my backlist. If 10 people comment, I'll pull five names. If 12 people comment, I'll pull six names. I suck at math, but I think that might mean you have a 50% chance of getting a free book.

Let's do a Mad Libs sort of thing today.

Think of:

• a period of time
• a name
• a verb
• four nouns
• an adjective

Put your answers in the comments and I'll insert them into the mini-blurb for Leap of Faith and post the (hopefully hilarious) results tomorrow.

Booksigning Tomorrow

I will be signing copies of Ellora's Cavemen: Seasons of Seduction, Volume 3 tomorrow. It's an anthology of six hot stories. Mine is called "A Man of Vision."

Location: Barnes & Noble Encino, corner of Hayvenhurst and Ventura.

Time: 12:30 - 2:00(?) I'm not sure of the ending time, but I'll stay until the enormous line of fans dies down. LMAO

I'll also be passing out the personalized M&Ms I got just for this occasion. If you come and buy a book (or books) make sure you take one of Los Angeles Romance Authors' (LARA) flyers and bring it to the register with you. LARA gets a percentage of the sales. The money will help our organization continue to provide support and education for published and aspiring Los Angeles area romance authors.

Choco-Promo

No, it's not a new cereal! It's my newest promotional tool. See the pretty picture? These are my new sexy business cards and some personalized M&Ms that say:

QUIRKY ROMANCE
FUNNY ROMANCE
EROTIC ROMANCE
MAGICAL ROMANCE

I'm handing these out at my very first book signing evah, October 18, from noon to 2 p.m., at the Encino Barnes & Noble. Here's a flyer with all the information. Come visit if you're in the neighborhood. You get free chocolate! (And my book, too, but that you have to pay for.)

Promo Goodies

Okay, I just ordered some of those customized M&Ms for my booksigning. I can't wait until they arrive. They're cheaper than they used to be. I almost got some of the Dove squares that have customized wrappers, but those came out to be like a buck a piece! Outrageous and ridiculous. When the M&Ms arrive, I'll post a picture of them. I think I was able to choose four messages and I chose:

Funny Romance
Erotic Romance
Quirky Romance
Paranormal Romance