During the last few days I’ve been pondering my post for the Love is in the Air blog hop, hosted by Under the Covers Book blog. My name is Shelley Munro, and I’m an author. The obvious thing would be to tell you about my upcoming February releases Eye on the Ball and Cat Burglar in Training. See the pretty covers on the side—no!

I don’t want to bore you with promo. Back to pondering…

Then along came Bella, our rambunctious puppy, in an entirely rambunctious mood. She barked at me as she does whenever she wants to play. She’s a stubborn wee puppy and the word “no” doesn’t seem to work with her. If she wants a cuddle, she’ll wriggle her way past my laptop. I can be typing away, lost in my latest story when suddenly a puppy plops on top of the laptop.

Bella is our second dog. Our first dog, Scotty passed away a few years ago, but she also had an endearing manner. Scotty was complaining at me one day while I was writing. She wanted to go for a walk, and I wanted to finish my scene.

“Right,” I said. “If you’re not going to behave, I’ll write you into my book.” And so I did. I added a talking dog to my scene, fully intending to take it out later. But Killer, the talking dog (Scotty) made herself at home, taking over the story. I ended up keeping the scene and my Talking Dogs series was born.

This is Bella. Her brown ear normally stands up and her white ear flops, giving her a comical appearance. She digs holes in the garden and chews up all her toys. Her favorite toys are cardboard boxes and strips of fabric. She rips them into little pieces and makes a mess, but she makes me laugh. Despite her naughtiness, she’s very cute, and we can never stay angry with her for long. There is nothing better than a puppy greeting after a crappy day at work.

CONTEST: Tell me about your pet or pets. If you don’t have a pet invent an imaginary one. Would you like a purple dragon with green spots? A werewolf? A pixie or a fairy? A turtle? A spider? A cat or a dog? Or something else?

All you need to do to enter the draw is answer my question about pets in the comments section. Winners will be chosen and notified by email after 11.59 pm on 14 February. International entries are welcome.

Related posts:

1. Perfect Strangers: A Fated Love
2. Kathy Ivan Says Write What You Love
3. Perfect Stranger: Half Way to Love

I’m thrilled to contribute another story to All Romance ebooks Perfect Strangers series. Eye on the Ball, my story this year is a contemporary mm one with a rugby theme.

Here’s the blurb:

Sometimes the best games are the ones played for keeps.

For two years, Melbourne assistant rugby coach Leon Fleming has mourned the passing of his long-term partner, convinced he could’ve done something to prevent his lover’s unexpected death.

Professional rugby player Hunter Blair is having a terrible season with his Auckland team, struggling with his form and a spate of injuries. A closet gay, Hunter visits the Maxwell’s BDSM club intending to satisfy his curiosity and maybe score an anonymous one-night stand. What he finds is something quite different—a taciturn man who intrigues him. A man who fires both his imagination and his libido.

Hunter’s blatant offer shoves Leon into turmoil. It’s only sex, yet it feels as if he’s stepping into the unknown. This is a game with no rules or referee. Not a final whistle in sight, so why is his heart telling him he should play hard and win?

Preorder your copy today at All Romance ebooks

The first book in the Perfect Strangers series comes out on the 1 Feb with new books releasing daily. Find details of all the Perfect Strangers books here.

Related posts:

1. Perfect Stranger
2. Perfect Strangers: One Perfect Night
3. Perfect Stranger: Dark Sidhe Claimed

For the next week (20-27 January) I’m taking part in the Shameless Giveaway Hop, hosted by Jen at Red Hot Books, Brie at Romance Around the Corner & Michelle at Michelle’s Book Blog. Join in the fun!

Next month, on February 20th to be exact, I have a new contemporary release called Cat Burglar in Training out at Carina Press. My heroine Lady Eve Fawkner arrives home from France to find her father in financial difficulties. Generations of the Fawkner family have been cat burglars. But there’s a problem. Her father has developed arthritis and is no longer able to do the climbing necessary to carry out jewel heists. Eve suggests they retire, but huge debts and thugs trying to recoup money her father owes with threats make retirement difficult.

Eve is forced to become The Shadow, the latest in the long line of Fawkner cat burglars. She attends society balls to scope out jewels, decides on a target and sets about acquiring them.

Here’s the blurb and the intriguing cover.

Eve Fawkner had no intention of following in her father’s footsteps. But when the thugs harassing him to repay his gambling debts threaten her young daughter, Eve is forced to assume the role of London’s most notorious cat burglar, The Shadow. The plan is simple: pull off a couple of heists, pay back the goons and go into permanent retirement. But things get messy during her first job when Eve witnesses a murder, stumbles across a clue that sheds some light on her past and, worst of all, falls for a cop.

Inspector Kahu Williams would be the perfect man, if Eve were looking, and if there wasn’t the little matter of their career conflict. The man is seriously hot—and hot on the trail of a murderer. A trail that keeps leading him back to Eve…

Pre-order Cat Burglar in Training

Now, on to glamour! Earlier this week I watched some of the arrivals on the red carpet at the Golden Globes. Some of the gowns and jewelry the women wore were spectacular. I loved Jessica Alba’s pink dress and Charlize Theron looked stunning in her white number. I imagine my heroine Eve wearing gowns like these—sexy and sophisticated. Eve is around five eight in height, is quite curvy/busty and has long blonde hair. She needs sexy gowns that make the most of her assets, yet they have to give her the freedom to move easily and rapidly.

CONTEST

During the blog hop I’m giving away two prizes. One person will win one of my print books (single title not anthologies) and a second person will win an e-book download from my backlist. The contest is open to everyone, including international entries.

All you need to do to enter the contest is design a gown for my heroine, or, if you’d prefer, design special cat burglar apparel for her. When I say design I mean describe an outfit that you think would be perfect for my heroine when she attends a ball or when she’s on the job in her cat burglar role. Everyone who describes an outfit and posts their answer in the comment section will go into a draw to win either a print book or e-book download.

Follow the links below to visit other sites taking part in the hop:

Related posts:

1. Hoppin’ Again with the Mistletoe Madness Blog Hop
2. Shameless Giveaway Hop Winners
3. Black Friday Blog Hop!

Here’s the blurb:

Middlemarch Mates, Book Five

Every woman has sexual needs. Lana Sinclair, feline shapeshifter and widow, is more than ready for a fun night with a likeminded male. Hot lovin’ is compulsory because she’s determined to scratch the itch that’s driving her crazy. This time, career-girl Lana is picking a malleable male who won’t try to corral her into the housewife role.

Fellow shifter Duncan Ross is the perfect candidate. The cowboy follows the rodeo circuit and is only in Middlemarch for the bull riding. One night of mutual seduction, slick, naked bodies and pleasure, then he’ll be on his way.

Duncan is astonished when Lana propositions him, but no one could ever call him stupid. He’s always desired Lana and now that she’s ready for sex, he’s all action. It’s time to lasso the woman of his dreams with some sweet lovin’ and charm, a sexy massage and ropes spliced together with addictive pleasure. He’ll seduce her to his way of thinking—a permanent arrangement. This is one go-round Duncan is determined to win.

Purchase from Ellora’s Cave | Amazon |

Related posts:

1. New Cover and Contest
2. Cat and Mouse
3. Peeping Tom Now Available in Print

Christmas is Coming is highlighted today over at D Renee Bagby Presents First Chapters blog. The entire first chapter of my latest release is available for you to read for free.

Related posts:

1. Sale on Shapeshifter Books at EC
2. Contest to Celebrate the Price of Love
3. Reviews & Sale (of sorts)

I’m taking part in the Mistletoe Madness Blog hop. The hop is a huge one, involving oodles of authors, and goes from 16 – 23 Dec. Plenty of time for you to explore new-to-you author websites.

What am I giving away? How do you enter?

I’m going to pick four names from all the people who answer my question below. International entries are welcome. The books I’ll be giving away are:

1 x Lessons in Seduction by Sandra Hyatt (This is my friend Sandra’s last book. Sadly, she passed away earlier in the year.)

1 x Reclaiming His Pregnant Widow by Tessa Radley (Another NZ writer friend. These ones are autographed)

1 x Summer in the City of Sails by Shelley Munro

1 x Sex Idol by Shelley Munro

A few months ago I wrote this post on heroines for Savvy Authors. I’m going to reprint it below, but as a quick aside, if you’re a writer, either pre-published or a more experienced one, do go and check out Savvy Authors. You can join for free or if you’d like to take advantage of more of their resources go for the premium membership of $30. They run workshops, have chats and agent/editor pitches and are an excellent community. I highly recommend them for writers at all stages of their career. Right! Back to business. Heroines. One of my heroines wrote me a letter, and this is what she said…

Dear Author,

I realize your job isn’t the easiest one. You sit in front of a computer hour after hour, day after day creating me, along with my hero and the cast of characters who populate your stories. You spin a plot as you write the first draft, then you spend even longer polishing the story until it’s ready for submission to publishers. Without you, I wouldn’t exist.

Mostly, you do a great job, but I’d like to remind you of a few things pertaining to writing a good heroine:

1. I know popular opinion says heroines are slender and pretty, but how about making me stand out from the crowd? Make me sexy–sure. I like sexy as much as the next girl, but I can be sexy and an average size. Give me a few curves. Don’t you know I enjoy food? Oh, and if you give me curves, don’t go on and on about my size. I’m happy this way, really I am.

2. Don’t make me go down to the basement when there is a killer on the loose. Credit me with a little common sense and help me do something intelligent. I don’t want readers to snigger at me and call me Too Stupid To Live. I deserve more than that, don’t you think?

3. Don’t foist a stereotype on me. I’m not a hooker with a big heart. I’m not an ice princess. I’m not a geeky librarian. I’m a combination of a lot of different things. Give me individuality.

4. I like alpha men–really, I do, but give me a spine so I can stand up to them. Readers don’t like wimps who can’t handle their man. Let me best him now and then. It’s good for his ego if he doesn’t get his own way all the time.

5. I’m not perfect. I know that, but do you realize it too? Give me some flaws and balance them with some of the good stuff. Make me human because readers will like me better that way.

6. Give me a snarky voice. I’m cool with that, but don’t make me snark all the way through the book. Readers won’t like me if I do that. They might call me a bitch, you know, and wonder what the hero sees in me.

7. Likewise, if my hero is going to be a bastard, let him fall off his high horse at some stage. Make him see the error of his ways or at least let me use my knee in his private parts. It might hurt him, but it would make me feel better after all the verbal abuse.

8. If you want me to behave badly, give me proper motivation. Dig into my past history, exploit my emotional baggage and make the readers want to cheer for me. Believe me, I’ll forgive you if I end up with Mr. Spunky plus a diamond ring on my finger.

9. Match my personality with my actions. Make me act consistently…unless you have a damn good reason to make me look stupid.

10. And finally, if you’re into kink and want to paint me the same way—authors look away if you’re easily offended—if you’re gonna make me have anal sex, please, please, please give me lots of lube.

Yours faithfully,
A Heroine.

Now dear visitor, you’re welcome to add your fifty cents to the above letter, but what I’d really like to know is this…

If a hero wrote a letter to you what would he say? Finish this sentence and go into a draw to win one of the above books. Dear Author, you do a good job with me but remember that a hero…….

This link will take you back to the central Mistletoe Blog Hop Page

Check out these other contests while you’re here!

I’m giving away a copy of Reclaiming his Pregnant Widow by Tessa Radley. Details on my contest page. Closes 24 Dec.

Win a print copy of Sex Idol at Goodreads. Sex Idol giveaway closes 18 Dec.

And finally, I’m visiting Maria Zannini’s blog today and talking about a project to make for Christmas. I’m also doing a giveaway. Drawn 22 Dec.

Related posts:

1. Mistletoe Madness Winners
2. Black Friday Blog Hop!
3. Shameless Blog Hop: Bring on the Glamour!

Here’s the blurb:

Christmas is coming. Give your lover the gift of pleasure…

Gaby Montgomery works for Fancy Free as a condom designer. Recently she’s been designing sex toys and testing her inventions with fellow designer Marc, but they’ve parted ways. The timing couldn’t be worse because she’s stuck without a willing test subject for her sexy products.

Gaby’s roommates Liam Richardson and Fletch Darcy both want a serious relationship with her, and now that she’s free, it’s time to make a move. But how do they decide which one will date her? Fletch finally suggests they share. Liam is skeptical but agrees the scheme might work, which allows Fletch to move on to step two of his romance plan. Fletch doesn’t just want Gaby, he wants Liam as well.

The loving is hot, their days full of fun product testing, exquisite pleasure and laughter. Everything is perfect until the outside world intrudes, putting their budding relationship under stress. This time their love and friendship might not stand the pressure.

Publisher’s Note: Want to have more fun with the characters in this book? Then pick up Fancy Free!

Purchase from Ellora’s Cave

Shelley’s Shoutout Corner

Don’t forget that Maria Zannini’s Do It Yourself Christmas continues until 22 Dec.

Author Beth Revis is doing an Epic Giveaway at her blog.

Cari Quinn has a new release called Unwrapped at Loose-Id. Unwrapped is a contemporary menage. If you like spicy hot reads, this one sounds like a good one.

Related posts:

1. 30 Days of Christmas Giveaway
2. Christmas in New Zealand
3. Big Cats and Christmas Cooking

Here’s the link. Go ahead. Click over and read it. I’ll wait until you come back.

While I was wondering how to entertain you all during the Black Friday blog hop, I suddenly thought, “Hmm. What if I stole Amie’s idea and tweaked it a little?”

So that’s when I came up with THE idea—the perfect idea to entertain my blog visitors today.

We’re all fans of reading, and a lot of us read romance. Romance readers are different because we like to read a lot. We always have our noses in a book and when we’re not reading, we are talking about books.

But how do you know you’re a romance reader?

That’s what I want you to tell me today. I’ll give you a couple of ideas to start you off.

You know you’re a romance reader when the piles of books at the side of your bed are mini-mountain size.

You know you’re a romance reader when you finish reading your book and immediately need to jump your husband. (that’s an erotic romance, of course)

Now it’s your turn. Finish this statement: You know you’re a romance reader when…

CONTEST: Leave your suggestion in the comments section. Everyone who completes the statement about romance readers goes into a draw to win a download of their choice from my backlist.

Don’t forget to check out the other authors participating in the MFRW Authors’ blog hop. There are some great prizes up for grabs. The links are below.

Chris Redding
W.Lynn Chantale
Christine Ashworth
Chelle Cordero
Tammy Dennings Maggy
Shelley Munro
Debra Holland
Jane Wakely
Smoky Ziedel
Ann Siracusa

Related posts:

1. May Blog Participation Winners
2. Hoppin’ Again with the Mistletoe Madness Blog Hop
3. Jewels of Erotic Romance, Black Cats and Contests x 2

Related posts:

1. Winner Announcement & New Contest!
2. Peeping Tom Now Available in Print
3. Middlemarch Mates: Assassin Out in Print!

…the original Sex Idol cover. Lickable abs with no head.

And in the blue corner we have…

…the sexy new print cover for Sex Idol. We still have lickable abs, but now our hero has a head.

Now I like the first cover, but I love the new updated one. Call me shallow, but I let out a shriek of joy when I saw the print cover last week. I think the cover model really looks like a sex idol. I’d vote for him for sure. Yeah, yeah. I know. Shallow. I did warn you.

Which cover do you prefer and why? What would your ideal cover look like?

The print version of Sex Idol is out today at Ellora’s Cave. If you prefer an e-copy follow this link.

If you’re on Facebook or Twitter I’d really appreciate a shout out to help spread the news of Sex Idol’s release. Here are some tweet-sized snippets to save you time.

Are you Sex Idol material? SEX IDOL by @shelleymunro @ellorascave http://bit.ly/r0idVp

SEX IDOL by @shelleymunro @ellorascave This is a very naughty book http://bit.ly/r0idVp

Lord have mercy on me. SEX IDOL by @shelleymunro @ellorascave is the hottest novel on the planet ~ JERR reviewer http://bit.ly/r0idVp

SEX IDOL by @shelleymunro @ellorascave a futuristic romance about reality shows, dreams & pressure to perform http://bit.ly/r0idVp

Thanks!

Related posts:

1. Departures: Melbourne to Patigous
2. Lovers at Last!
3. Unusual Professions