Ruby’s are red…Two nominations!

We are so proud and excited to announce our two nominations in this year’s Romance Writers of Australia Romantic Book of the Year (R*BY) Awards.

The winners will be announced August 22nd. Congrats to our Ruby Red Escape Artists, and all the nominees. Good luck!

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Nominations in the category of Long Romance Novel…

From bestselling author Amy Andrews comes a new single-title romance about putting pleasure before business, and the risks we all need to take when we find someone worth risking everything for.

Samantha Evans’s life is going to hell. Not only has she rage-quit her beloved, high-powered job, but she is suddenly afflicted by hormones, free time, and an unavoidable, unignorable, undeniably gorgeous irritant in the form of Nick Hawke, her extreme sports star neighbour, who has come home to take over the reins of his grandmother’s second-hand bookshop. Sam needs something to keep her from begging for her old job back until she’s good and sure her boss understands how wrong he was, and taking a low-risk, low-stress job helping Nick at the bookstore might be just the thing.

After all, it’s not like Nick is the right guy to help her with her hormones. He’ll just be fun to look at while she searches for the one.

Nick has six months to get over an injury before Everest and a big, fat contract beckon. That means no sports, no danger and, above all else, no risks. It means playing it safe. And Nick Hawke doesn’t do safe. So he’s going to need something to stave off the boredom while selling books he doesn’t read to people who wouldn’t know a carabineer from a crochet hook. What could be safer than hiring a cranky, unemployed accountant to help run the bookstore? Sam is efficient and methodical and messing up her neat, post-it note world could be a fun way to pass the time….

Risky Business mixes the classic romance of Philadelphia Story, the humour and wit of When Harry Met Sally, and a strong, contemporary Australian setting to create a delightful, irresistible, utterly satisfying treat of a novel.

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Jordan must save her farm from debt and sabotage – can she place her trust in a man from out of town?

Born and bred on the land, Jordan Windcroft is brave and independent. She’s had to be. Her life revolves around running her property almost single-handedly on next to no money, and waiting out her four years of probation — a rap that she took for one of her closest friends for a crime she didn’t commit.

Thankfully there’s an end to her problems in sight. Jordan’s probation period is almost up, and if she can just make the cattle sale, there’s a chance she can pull herself out of more than ten years of serious debt and keep her precious farm. The last thing she needs is for Reid Easton to start monitoring her.

Detective Senior Sergeant Reid Easton drives into Whitewater Creek on a mission to wrap up a three-year drug investigation; his only lead, Jordan Windcroft. The attraction between the two is immediate, but Reid is undercover and Jordan has a secret she can’t risk him discovering. Will either jeopardise their cause, for something as transitory as love – or will they keep their secrets to themselves?

This book is nominated under its original digital format title, Deadly Secrets.

#SydneyWives – Captivating Christa

(reblogged from AusRomToday – check out their awesome coverage: reviews, spotlights, competitions, and more!)

Tell us a little more about your housewife, Christa:
She’s quite a complex character. Cool, calm and collected on the outside but a wildness that needs to come out in the bedroom. She’s also a little vulnerable in unexpected ways.

What inspired Christa’s story:
The brief from Escape and a need to make Christa more than she seems. I wanted to play with some assumptions that people make about rich society women.

What was your biggest challenge in writing Christa’s story?
Choreography. A threesome can be quite challenging in that way. Also, I’ve never written something that was set up with connected characters. That was interesting!

Why will we love Christa?
She feels deeply not just about those she loves but about those who suffer. And she goes after what she wants no matter how unconventional it may seem.

The Housewives of Sydney series promises that we’ll “find out what goes on behind the doors of the most exclusive addresses in the country”. What was the appeal of joining this series? Similarly, what has been the biggest challenge?
The appeal was working with an amazing group of women and brainstorming ideas about character traits, houses, clothes etc. The biggest challenge was allowing myself to take a risk and see what emerged. It was a great experience!

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From the hottest writers in Australia comes a scintillating new series. Enter the world of Sydney’s elite, and find out what goes on behind the doors of the most exclusive addresses in the country…

Meet the Housewives of Sydney. They are wealthy, elegant, poised, and constantly in the public eye. But what goes on behind closed doors, in the private homes and parties where the cameras and paparazzi aren’t welcome? Delve into the most personal details of their relationships, their friendships and their lives. The only question is: can you handle the heat?

In business, as in pleasure, Christa has two rules: ask for what you want, and be prepared to get a bit creative. She and her husband, Marc, are infamous for their charitable soirees and the obscene amount of money that they raise for good causes around the world.

The secret to their success has always been well-kept, but one chance encounter with Christa is going to lead one lucky CEO to find out just how this unorthodox pair make friends and influence people.

Newly sprung in June…

We have packed June full of amazing titles this year. Glory in the bounty!

For fans of Bronwyn Parry – whoever said small towns have no secrets didn’t know about this one…

A breakthrough rural romantic suspense novel from Sarah Barrie, about a country girl doing it tough, an undercover cop on the case of his career, and the sad fact that no good deed goes unpunished.

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Heroes meets Bridget Jones in this brilliant, hilarious, debut novel about a girl who just wants to save the world…

We are thrilled to welcome Auralee Wallace to the Escape Artists with this fantastic mash-up of New Adult romance and comic books, about a girl trying to find her way in the world, a journalist looking for a break, and the mysterious superhero who just wants to be left alone.

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In the world of Regency England, only one thing matters — the begetting of an heir…

The third in this exciting, sensual, surprising, unique series of historical romance novellas, about what goes on behind closed regency doors.

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His search for her has been timeless, eternal, and ultimately thwarted. Until now…

A new paranormal romance from Jennifer Brassel mixes action, adventure, eternal curses, soul mates, and art. How can she walk away from the man whose face has haunted her canvasses and her dreams?

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Job satisfaction has never been this good…

Alexis Fleming proves that workplace romances can be just the thing for a little stress relief, and a lot of fun, when a historical restorations expert meets an uptight banker. Nude paintings, blackmail, and mind-numbing sexual frustration…will either of them survive this project?

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A small-town romance about secrets, community, and the family we make for ourselves.

This is our second novel from Louise Forster, and she takes a decidedly rural turn in this sweet contemporary romance about a big city girl who goes home to mourn her uncle and get questions answered, only to find that the answers (and the local tradies!) are nothing like she expected.

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She can buy anything she wants, except the courage to stand up to her family. That’s where he comes in. 

A beautiful coastal romance set in the same world as It’s Love, Dude, about a billionaire Cinderella with a singular need: an ’emotional’ bodyguard to help her manage her family. How can a hero resist?

 

RT Day 1

In which Kate discovers that she’s really good at double entendres (and single entendres) when she’s seriously sleep-deprived.

When I left you last, I was driving in to New Orleans at dawn, with a posse of intrepid travellers, after a very long, difficult drive.

Tuesday is an unofficial day at RT. There are sessions, and you can register, but the real conference starts on Wednesday. I had one commitment – hanging out with the reviewers and bloggers at the Blogger and Reviewer Symposium, run by Sarah Wendell (of Smart Bitches Trashy Books) and Jane Litte (of Dear Author).

But, I also had no clothes, no laptop, no swag, and no real knowledge of where any of those things were. So I had a list of things to do:

• Locate swag – I’m so glad I didn’t carry my swag and giveaways with me, but sent them via mail to myself at the hotel beforehand. I absolutely recommend this to anyone travelling from Australia, as it doesn’t affect your luggage limits, and it just makes things easier. However, I had two different swag packages, coming from two different places at two different time. One was found easily enough. The other…took some time. And, of course, the missing swag was the good stuff – USB keys full of great Escape titles. Luckily, a particularly diligent bellhop overthrew the mail room for me and found it, battered but intact, in a corner. His name is James, and everyone should send virtual high fives to him!
• Figure out the luggage situation – this was harder, as we were by no means the only people who were having trouble with American Airlines. I wish that I were exaggerating when I said that I spent more than 5 hours on hold and trying to get through to American that day, but I’m not. Eventually, after a lot of explanations, re-explanations, and (I’ll be honest) a few tears, my luggage was finally delivered at 12am Wednesday morning.
• Fix the clothes situation – With no luggage in sight, and out of clean underwear, I had to make some hard decisions about what I was going to wear for the day (and to the presentation!). I have never not wanted to do something more than put back on my airplane clothes, but I sucked it up and went shopping. Guys, this was a bright spot in an otherwise grey day – the shopping. Even in just a tiny little mall. The colours! the clothes! the variety! It was awesome.

All of this left me with no sleep before I went to the conference in time for the presentation.

It is here that I learned, (though really, I should have known), that the word ‘Bush’ in the US is not unsimilar to the word ‘Root’ in Australia. That is – you think you’re saying one thing, but the raucous laughter from your audience tells you that they’ve heard something completely different.

Here are the things I said:

• He heads deep into the bush.
• When you’re in the bush, no one can hear you scream.
• The bush is hot and dry, unless it’s hot and wet.

I stopped, eventually, and managed to talk about our amazing romantic suspense (Deadly Secrets out in June!) without descending any further into the gutter, but romance readers – they’ve got dirty minds, guys. Very dirty minds.

Erin Galloway from Penguin/NAL/Berkley and Angela James also spoke. If you catch Erin around, she’s got ARCs of a book called Virgin, which sounds awesome.

I got to meet some amazing reviewers and bloggers, and they were all so friendly, and so open to reading and reviewing books set outside the US, so look for some of our books on their sites soon! I may have also plied them with Caramello Koalas, but I think that’s legitimate.

After the presentation, registration was open, and I was able to sign in and get hooked up.

Guys – Romantic Times is all about the stuff. Here’s just what I got in the initial bag, not any of the many other freebies going around.

That’s about six print books, a couple of hundred e-books, a calendar, bookmarks, pens, notepads, screen wipes, chocolates, and, of course, the swag bag itself, which is a great size and full of pockets.

Next up: My first night in New Orleans, and it gets a little haunted!