Guest Post with Author Roni Loren and Giveaway

Today I would like to welcome to the blog debut author Roni Loren. Roni is currently on tour promoting the release of her debut book Crash Into You. Guys this book looks super hot (just look at that cover!) plus, I am hearing all sorts of good things about it. I will definitely be picking this one up. So if you could please help me in welcoming Roni to the blog.

How My Road to Publication Started with the New Kids on the Block

First of all, I’d like to thank Dani for inviting me to stop over here at her blog! Any place that has a tab for mancandy is awesome in my book. :)

One of the questions I get asked often when I tell people that I have a book getting published is--how does that work? Most people outside of publishing assume it’s a pretty simple process. You write a book, slap it in an email and send it to publishers to see who wants it.

Of course, that’s not the case, but it’s not necessarily an easy question to answer because every writer’s journey is different (and often long and complicated, lol.) For me, the first book I ever wrote was when I was 15. It was a romance and was basically really awful New Kids on the Block fan fiction. *groan* I was determined though and actually went out and bought a copy of Writer’s Market to see who I could send it to.

I ended up chickening out before sending into the world (thank God) not because I didn’t think it was good (it so wasn’t) but because I was embarrassed at the thought of other people reading my makeout scenes (oh, if my 15 year old self could see what I was writing now, lol.)

After that, I put writing to the side and went about going to college and then doing the career thing for a while. But when I had a baby and started staying home with my son, the fire got lit again. I wrote a paranormal YA (blame Twilight) and sent it out to agents. It wasn’t a good book. It was my “practice” novel. But I did get a few nice comments about my voice and such, which encouraged me to not give up.

I decided to try adult contemporary romance the next time because I had a beta reader told me I wrote too sexy for YA, lol. And I fell in love. (With the genre, not my beta reader. Though I’m sure she’s lovely.) THIS was what I was supposed to be writing. I finished that one and then got the idea for CRASH INTO YOU. I had never written erotic romance before, but I was an avid reader of it, so I went for it.

Six months later I contacted agent Sara Megibow, who loved it and signed me. (Yay!) After all the rejections with that first book, it was so nice to finally hear a big YES. (Especially considering the agency saw 36,000 queries that year and only signed 9 clients.) It was a dream come true.

After doing some revisions with Sara, CRASH went out to the publishing houses. I was secretly crossing my fingers for Berkley because I’m such a Berkley fan girl. My bookshelf was/is chock full of Maya Banks, Shayla Black, Lauren Dane, Jaci Burton. Plus, Berkley covers were always my favorite.

So when Berkley Heat was the first to come back and say they loved it, I damn near exploded with glee. It took over a year from that phone call to my book being released last week, but it’s been such a great ride. My fifteen-year-old self would be very happy to know I didn’t give up on her dream--even if my book doesn’t include Joe McIntyre or Jordan Knight. ;)

What would your teenage self think of grown up you? Who would’ve starred in your romantic fan fiction if you’d written a story in high school?

Brynn LeBreck has dedicated herself to helping women in crisis, but she never imagined how personal her work would get, or where it would take her. Her younger sister is missing, suspected to be hiding from cops and criminals alike at a highly secretive BDSM retreat—a place where the elite escape to play out their most extreme sexual fantasies. To find her Brynn must go undercover as a sexual submissive. Unfortunately, The Ranch is invitation only. And the one Master who can get her in is from the darkest corner of Brynn’s past.

Brynn knows what attorney Reid Jamison is like once stripped of his conservative suit and tie. Years ago she left herself vulnerable only to have him crush her heart. Now she needs him again. Back on top. And he’s all too willing to engage. But as their primal desires and old wounds are exposed, the sexual games escalate—and so does the danger. Their hearts aren’t the only things at risk. Someone else is watching, playing by his own rules. And his game could be murder.

Places to Purchase:

| Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | 

**Excerpt**

Brynn emerged from the bathroom with a handful of Band-Aids and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. She pointed to the dining room table. “Sit.”

He dried his hands with a paper towel and fought a smile. She always had been a bossy little thing. But he knew the truth. Underneath all that tight control was a woman who, at least when he’d known her, loved handing over the reins. He swallowed hard, tamping down memories he didn’t need to rehash at the moment.

He dropped into one of the chairs, and Brynn sat across from him, her knees bumping against his. He widened his legs, and after the briefest of hesitations, she scooted forward, allowing his thighs to frame the outsides of hers as she reached for his injured hand. She circled her fingers around his right wrist, his pulse jumping at her touch, and brought his hand up to her face to examine it. His fingers itched to reach out and trace the bow of her lips.

Dammit. He took a deep breath, trying to keep his desire to touch her in check, but the citrus scent of her shampoo drifted to his nose and sent a bolt of carnal need straight to his groin.

He stared down at her. One quick grasp of her waist and he could lift her to straddle his lap, bunch up that dress, and slide right into her sweet heat—kiss away all the tension furrowing her brow, drive her to that place of wild abandon he knew she could reach.

Without thinking, he lifted his other hand and twined her broken dress strap between his fingers, brushing the backs of his sore knuckles across her collarbone in the process. The small catch of breath in the back of her throat made his balls tighten. Such a feminine sound, so close to the noise she would make as he entered her.

But she didn’t raise her eyes to him and beg him to take her like he secretly hoped she would. She simply took the slip of material from him and tucked it under her bra strap to hold it in place, sending her message loud and clear. Not yours.

Not anymore.

###

Roni wrote her first romance novel at age fifteen when she discovered writing about boys was way easier than actually talking to them. Since then, her flirting skills haven’t improved, but she likes to think her storytelling ability has. Though she’ll forever be a New Orleans girl at heart, she now lives in Dallas with her husband and son. If she’s not working on her latest sexy story, you can find her reading, watching reality television, or indulging in her unhealthy addiction to rockstars, er, rock concerts. Yeah, that's it. Her debut novel, CRASH INTO YOU, will be published by Berkley Heat January 3, 2012.

Places to find Roni:

| Site | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr |

**Giveaway**

Alright guys, Roni Loren will be giving out lots of goodies for her Crash Into You tour. So make sure to answer Roni's question and leave your email address for your chance to win. 

• 1 set of Crash Into You romance trading cards to 1 lucky person who comments on this post. 
• 1 lucky commenter from the ENTIRE tour will win a $25 Amazon gift certificate.

So make sure you leave your email address along with your comment and follow along on the tour to increase your chances of winning. Giveaway open until January 27th.