Rom Coms Rule Part 2 — Launch Day For The Dating Game

What does a romance author do when she finds she's in love with a secondary character halfway through writing a novel?

Write another novel, of course, and give that character a happily ever after too!

Which brings me to The Dating Game, my latest sexy romantic comedy, out today – five short days after its 'sister' book Kiss Don’t Tell hit the cybershelves. [And you can read my blog about Kiss Don’t Tell
here]

Kiss Don’t Tell is about an uptight economist (Lane) who hires the tough guy brother (Adam) of one of her best friends (Sarah) to teach her the art of seduction. The purpose of the lessons is to give Lane the skills she needs to land the sexiest guy in her office – the been-there-done-that David Bennett.

Most early readers of Kiss Don’t Tell really had it in for David. They were decidedly and unabashedly Team Adam and David could take himself off, thank you very much! I didn't have a problem with that attitude because Adam is so very clearly the right man for Lane. 

But something happened about three quarters of the way through writing Kiss Don’t Tell when the big, brawny, rough-around-the-edges Adam Quinn finally met the classically handsome, urbane, sophisticated, impeccably dressed and world-weary David Bennett: I fell in love with 'the other man' myself – and frankly, I couldn't bear to say goodbye to him.

Fortunately for me, then, Adam's tiny, pretty, perky sister Sarah happened to be on hand to meet David at the same time as her brother and – bingo! – another hero and heroine took over my mind and a new book was born.  

But it was quite a challenge to write a new book that started a quarter of a way before the ending of the original story and not give away too many clues about what was coming up!  

There are certainly signs in the last quarter of Kiss Don’t Tell that something's up with Sarah, but it's not until you pick up The Dating Game that you learn that the 'something' is the fact that David and Sarah have struck their own deal. Sarah feels guilty as sin over their arrangement because even though David insists it has nothing to do with Lane - it's a simple 'let me paint you and I'll find you a man to love' deal - Sarah doesn't feel all that innocent when she's around him. 

What follows is a romp of a story complete with secret meetings, plans going haywire and screwball situations, as everyone's relationships are wrangled into what can only be described as a mess!

You need to learn the rules, fast! 

Sarah’s brother Adam has been educating her best friend Lane in the arts of the Kama Sutra for weeks, all in the pursuit of Lane’s real target, David Bennett. So when Sarah finds herself alone with David at an exhibition, weeping over her own terrible dating history, they strike up a conversation. A budding artist, he wants to paint her, so she agrees in return for a guarantee that he’ll find her a relationship that can last more than three weeks (her rather dismal personal best). 

She reassures herself that she isn’t betraying Lane. After all, Sarah wants marriage and 2.5 kids, and David has made it more than clear he will never want that. Plus he’s going to sleep with Lane any day now. Isn’t he?

Read a little...

In this scene, David is trying to find man #1 for  Sarah's consideration, and not having much luck...

He wasn’t seeing anyone in the gallery worth their effort—as he’d been communicating to Sarah via a strange telepathy she seemed to understand innately. It was amazing what you could achieve with a series of finger twitches, glancing frowns, eyelid flickers and half-shrugs. He probably looked like a palsy sufferer to anyone watching closely, but the silent language seemed to do the job.

An engineer called Harry—flick. Edward the dentist—flick. Earnest China expert Felix who’d made a beeline for her and actually kissed her cheek—flick. Four others, gone within as many minutes. It was getting ridiculous. There had to be someone in the room who wasn’t a total loser.

Sarah had obviously reached the same conclusion, because she was converging on him in her tottering-on-high-heels, stopping-for-a-chat, strutting way, with a determined sparkle in her eye.  

‘There has to be one who passes muster,’ she said through a too-large smile as she sidled close to him.

‘If you’d stop hitting on the conservative intellectual types, we might find him. Who are you trying to date? Your father?’

‘My father is not conservative.’

‘All right, then don’t deliberately not date your father. Okay, that sounds repellent, but you know what I mean. Either way, no more guys with glasses and pokers up their backsides.’

‘They didn’t all wear glasses.’

‘No, one out of ten didn’t wear glasses. And they all, bar none, had the poker shoved high enough to have them singing falsetto. No, don’t argue, just listen: no glasses, no plain blue ties, no supercilious smirks. Okay?’

She rolled her eyes. ‘Okay.’

‘And don’t roll your eyes. You know I’m right.’

‘I said okay, didn’t I?’

‘It’s how you said it.’ He swept his eyes around the room—in one direction, then back … and stopped. Victim located. He cocked his head to the left. ‘Over there. The guy with the dark hair, on the long side.’ Slight pause. ‘Too long, if you ask me.’

‘Hello? You’re talking to me about dating my father but from where I’m standing, I could just date you if that’s going to be your attitude. Are you going to check them for tattoos as well as hair length? What if they ride motorbikes, Dad?’

‘Shut up, brat,’ he said, trying not to laugh. ‘Look at him, not me. Black suit, white shirt buttoned up to the neck but no tie. See? He’s raising his champagne glass to his lips. Good, he’s seen me. He’s coming over.’

‘You know him?’

‘His name’s Craig. He works at the bank.’

‘I thought you said no more conservatives.’

‘Not all bankers are conservative. I’m a case in point.’

‘But you’re only half a banker.’

‘And even a hundred per cent banker would be better than Lacklustre Liam. Who was what, by the way?’

‘A lawyer.’

‘Dear God!’

‘Now who’s being judgemental?’

‘If it makes you feel better, Craig is only half a banker, like me.’

‘What’s the other half?’

‘Jazz singer. And yes, I know pop’s your thing, but at least it’s not opera, so cope with it. Now come here, your lipstick’s smeared.’ He wiped the corner of her mouth with his thumb. ‘There. Better.’

‘What about my—’

‘Shhh, he’s almost here.’

‘Stop shushing me.’

‘Stop needing to be shushed. Now, shhh.’ He turned abruptly to welcome his long-haired colleague. ‘Craig! How are you?’

Buy it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, iBooks and Kobo.

A quick note: Kiss Don't Tell and The Dating Game are standalone stories – this is not a cliffhanger situation where you have to read one to understand the next; in fact you can choose to read only one, and you can read them in any order – but they are a lot of fun to read in sequence!

  

One of the things I love most about The Dating Game is that Sarah has an edgy sense of fashion and is not afraid to flaunt it. She's a girl who represents Sydney, where I live, just perfectly, which is why when I saw these one-of-a-kind glass earrings at Paddington Markets, I had to buy them as a giveaway!

Let me know in the comments the last book that made you both laugh and cry - and please enter the Rafflecopter giveaway!

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Rom Coms Rule Part 1 — Launching Kiss Don't Tell

And we have lift-off!

My romantic comedy Kiss Don't Tell is now out and about and I don’t mind admitting this book has a history that makes a good yarn in itself. 

You see, it’s what you might call a “reincarnation”.

Once upon a time, it came out under the title The Contract, but the fickleness of the publishing world (in other words, the demise of certain publishing lines) gave it back to me…and HQ Digital has given it back to me all over again by presenting me with the opportunity to turn it into a bigger, better, more fabulous read. 

This story idea first came to me after one of my old banking colleagues suggested an economist (like him!) would make a splendid hero in one of my novels. I gave it some serious thought, and decided I liked the idea of an economist very much – but that it was a role for my heroine!

And so cool-calm-collected-on-the-outside, freaked-out-on-the-inside Lane Davis was born.

She’s 'almost' a virgin but has her heart set on the hottest guy in the office - corporate banker and all round gorgeous hunk, David Bennett. From her analytical standpoint, the answer to winning David is easy: she simply has get herself up to David’s sexual speed. But the unorthodox way she comes up with to achieve that - through training and practice - has her startled friend Sarah volunteering her own brother as Lane's guinea pig, for the sake of safety if nothing else.

Adam says he's just fine with Lane's plan ... but he's not fine, he's furious, so it doesn't take long for all hell to break loose as Lane and Adam fight to be the one in charge of their relationship.

It’s going to be ever so hard to keep this secret!

David wants Lane and she wants him back.

But to a known lothario like him, how will Lane ever measure up in the bedroom? With just one disastrous sexual encounter to her name, Lane knows she needs help in that department, and fast – before David loses interest.

So when Adam, her best mate’s brother (with his own impressive reputation), agrees to her bizarre proposal, she’s ready to learn everything he has to offer about how to please a guy in bed. But as she soon discovers, there is no textbook for love…

Read a little...


In this scene, Lane and Adam are discussing the time-frame for when she'll be ready to try out her new skills...

‘I need to be ready in three months.’

‘All right, let me have it. What’s the deal with three months? Party? Conference? Overseas trip?
What?’

‘Nothing like that. I just find it beneficial to set parameters, schedules, timetables. It keeps things on track. And I thought … I thought … three months …? Why? Isn’t that enough time?’

‘It’s long enough.’

‘Is it too long?’

‘Too long? What the—?’

‘I mean …’ She jerked her hand—an indication of impatience? ‘Is there an abridged version?’

Crikey! ‘No, there is not an abridged version. Or any version.’

That hand jerk again, and a slight frown.

He stepped closer, took her chin in his hand to tilt her face up, and looked into her crystal-blue eyes.

‘Three months. No longer, but no shorter. And you’ll be ready for him, Lane. You’ll be so ready, you’ll be able to teach university-level Kama Sutra.’

‘Kama Sutra,’ she said. ‘All of the positions?’

‘Whichever ones you’re up for. Promise. Money-back guarantee if you’re not satisfied.’

‘Good—because I will!’ she said gamely. ‘Want my money back. If I’m not.’

Adam felt an almost overwhelming desire to laugh—but it was mixed with a desire to crowd her against the wall and shove himself inside her. Bam. There, is that what you’re paying me for? Done.

Buy the book at:
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Google Play, Kobo,

One of the things I really love about Kiss Don't Tell is that is shares a timeline with the next book in the series, The Dating Game - which is out in four short days on May 15. This means that Adam and Lane will pop up again there, and reading the books one after the other as all the characters come in and out of the stories is a lot of fun. (Although I hasten to add these are standalone books so there are no cliffhangers involved and you can read one or both).

Because they're a duet, and because I'll be back to share a little more about The Dating Game so soon, I'm running one special giveaway across both books. Now, these books are very much 'city' stories with a touch of Sydney-style glamour, so I decided to offer a touch of glam myself here on Get Lost in a Story and took my husband with me to help choose a pair of earrings. He chose these  handmade, one-of-a-kind, glass beauties, which come from the fashionable Paddington Markets...

 

Let us know in the comments if you have a favorite romantic comedy - book or movie - and please enter the Rafflecopter draw.  http://getlostinastory.blogspot.com.au/2017/05/rom-coms-rule-part-1-launch-day-for.html