Amanda McIntyre Visits With Gina Conkle

Please welcome Gina Conkle to the GLIAS blog! 
I met Gina last year at the RT conference and we just hit it off with our love of history, writing, and realizing the value of stepping outside your comfort zone once in awhile!  She's a wonderful
historical writer and I'm thrilled to find out more about this new sizzling contemporary KISSABLES series!! 

Here's a bit about Gina~

Gina Conkle writes Viking and Georgian romance with a new dip into hot contemporary romance. She grew up in southern California and despite all that sunshine, Gina loves books over beaches and stone castles over sand castles. Now she lives in Michigan with her favorite alpha male, Brian, and their two sons where she’s known to occasionally garden and cook.

Learn more and follow Gina here:

WEBSITE

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Let's find out more about Gina!!

Amanda: What’s your favorite fairy tale?

GINA: Cinderella. I listened to that story over and over again as a kid. I bought the video (back in the VHA era) and watched it even though my boys were meh about it. And the recent live action Cinderella? I saw it in the theaters and on demand at home.

Amanda: Fairy Tale or Action Adventure? 

GINA: Action Adventure. I’ve seen too many super hero movies with my boys. They read the books, immersed themselves in those worlds. One is staunchly Marvel. The other is DC. My husband loves both and throws in Jason Bourne.

Amanda: Is there a playlist you’d recommend for reading your latest release?

GINA: Proper Care and Feeding of a Broken Heart (story 1 in the book)

Crazy River – Robbie Robertson

Wish I knew you when – The Revivalists

Crickets – Drop City Yacht Club

Lover Come Back – City and Colour

Beast of Burden – Rolling Stones (this one was the hottest!)

Amanda:  What’s your favorite kind of story to get lost in?

GINA: I go through phases. Some days I want a really dark romance. Other days I want a second son Regency romance. It all depends on what trope or sub genre I’m in the mood for. Interestingly, though I’ve seen all kinds of sci-fi and fantasy movies, I can’t get into reading paranormal, sci-fi, or fantasy books.

5    Amanda:   What is your favorite movie? 

   GINA: File this one under “Action” but…Gladiator. Nothing has been able to knock the movie out of the #1 spot.

 

  

Waiting for a Girl Like You by Gina Conkle

(2 *hot* novellas in 1 Book)

Proper Care and Feeding of a Broken Heart
Bookstore clerk Abbie is off-the-charts nervous her first night moonlighting in a sex-for-hire job. If she only kept her mouth shut…but nothing goes as expected, including the intense blue-eyed surfer who walks through her door. Mark wants to work out a few kinks —and leave the lifestyle for good. Past mistakes still haunt him, but sweet Abbie turns Mark’s plans upside down, and two broken hearts discover honesty is the hottest aphrodisiac.

Anything But Safe
Former trophy wife Jennifer wants to thrive again, but when her new life hits a speedbump, her unlikely hero is rough working man AJ. The woman he rescued is out of his league, but the two together are magic. Jennifer smooths his hard edges, and when she’s with AJ, her true, quirky colors show. A surprise threatens to derail the two who quickly learn…love is anything but safe.

AMAZON  NOOK  KOBO

Excerpt from the first novella: Proper Care and Feeding of a Broken Heart by Gina Conkle~

I stuffed the check in my back pocket over the foil package of a waiting condom. I’m no saint. I knew what I wanted. Cold water dripped from drenched hair down my bare back, but I’d wait. My arms were awkward at my side, unmoving when I wanted to soothe her. We both had our needs.

She turned around, scraping her bangs off her face. “As of right now, we’ve known each other for about twenty-four hours.”

“So?” My voice was rough.

“So, we went deeper than most people do in months.” Her hollow laugh echoed in the emptiness. “You want to know why I showed up when I had every reason not to?”

Abbie’s blue-green eyes glazed like dark pieces of glass, making me forget about my water-logged jeans and bare feet on cold tile.

“It was you. When I weighed all the pros and cons, it all came down to you. Something happens when you’re in my vicinity. All my senses come alive. I love your smell. Your voice. Your caustic way with words…how you look at me.” She groaned a deep primal sound at the back of her throat. “For all your bark and bite you have this other side. It’s like you read me and understand exactly how I need you to see me.” Her chest heaved and she clutched the row of buttons resting on her breast bone. “I feel you.”

With rain-drenched hair and mascara-ringed eyes, this Abbie had more in common with pagan warrior women than the docile, tea-sipping bookstore clerk. She was a wild thing, beautiful and unscathed. She got my heart thumping.

 

OK, NOW FOR A LITTLE MARCH MOVIE TRIVIA!!

WHAT HUNKY ACTOR PLAYED THE LEAD ROLE IN GINA'S FAVORITE MOVIE--GLADIATOR?

(A) GEORGE CLOONEY

(B) RUSSELL CROWE

(C) ANDY WHITFIELD

(D) KIRK DOUGLAS

LEAVE YOUR ANSWER IN THE COMMENTS BELOW AND SIGN INTO THE RAFFLECOPTER TO FOLLOW GINA! ONE WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN AT RANDOM

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Get Lost in a Tantalizing Excerpt from The Lady Meets Her Match:

Dear Diary,

How does a woman “bake” a man to perfection?

Especially if the man of interest is overbearing and has a fondness for blunt words and short missives?

I’ve come up with a recipe that might work:

Start with one tart-tongued conversation (in the dark).

Flirt outrageously until midnight.

Then, leave one shoe on his doorstep.

Said man will simmer at low temperatures for a time.

Don’t worry…You’ll bring him to a boil when he finds you.

Sweeten him with promises you may not keep.

Stir up an important luncheon he’s hosting. Pepper it with hot kisses.

Add a dash of midnight adventure in London’s seedier wards.

Melt him with more hot kisses…and season him to taste.

Fold heartache into forgiveness and understanding, and let both hearts cool.

The final result is Cyrus Ryland, a bold commoner of uncommon appeal.

I may have created the perfect man!

With all my heart~

Claire

 Excerpt: 

   The study’s late-night visitor took a step in her direction, tense lines bracketing his mouth. Immense shoulders shrugged off a fine velvet coat in slow, distracted fashion, the fabric rustling its intimate hush in the dark.

   Excuses flew through her mind. She was looking for the lady’s retiring room…she got lost—

   “Who are you?” The coat stopped halfway down sizable arms.

Claire tried a fortifying breath, but her lungs refused to cooperate while her mind absorbed a new fact: she faced Cyrus Ryland. He loomed large, waiting in the silence.

Masculine brows shot up when her lack of response stretched too long.

“I’m Claire.” The truth burst out, and she cringed as much from the social slip of blurting her Christian name as from revealing her identity.

His eyes flared, likely from her blunder of manners, but she hadn’t thought of a false identity. Mr. Ryland took his sweet time removing his coat. His unhurried gaze traced her hair, the mask, finally settling on her plunging bodice with thorough consideration.

“Just Claire?” he asked. “Not Lady Claire Something-or-other?”

“For a masked ball—”she attempted a lighthearted smile—“just Claire.”

He retrieved the candle, his granite-hard features severe behind the guttering flame. Mr. Ryland put his coat and the lone taper on a small table beside the settee. Her smile wobbled the closer he came, caught as she was in a neat trap of her own design.

Big hands spun his jabot’s lacy fall around to his nape and went to work on the knot under his chin. Glued to the seat, she couldn’t stop from staring. Little scabs marred his knuckles. She lingered on those marks before her vision drifted upward to confident gray eyes watching her. His powerful presence made the idea of him being anyone’s victim laughable.

   The cushion dipped beside her, and her stomach dropped. They’d crossed paths once at Greenwich Park, when she was in service there. Would he have any recollection of her? One hand touched her mask, and she remembered: her face was half-covered in a dimly lit room.

  She was safe. For now.

Mr. Ryland faced the wall, more concerned with his neckwear than the stranger in his study.

  “Let me guess,” he drawled. “You’ll remain anony­mous until midnight, when all will be revealed.”

  “Typical of these entertainments, don’t you think?”

  “Lovely as you are, being in here isn’t a good idea. I’m not the type to marry because I’m alone with a lady.”

Mr. Ryland assumed she’d come here to entrap him? She wanted to laugh at the absurdity. The eve­ning’s ironic twist was too delicious.

  “Oh, I’m no lady, Mr. Ryland.”

  His keen stare slanted her way.

  “And I promise not to accost you, sir.”

Gina Conkle writes Viking and Georgian romance with a softly sensual side. She loves history, books and romance…the perfect recipe for historical romance writer. Her passion for castles and old places ---the older and moldier the better--- means interesting family vacations. Good thing her husband and two sons share similar passions. When not visiting fascinating places she can be found delving into the latest adventures in cooking, gardening, and chauffeuring her sons.

Gina's Social Media Links: Website: http://ginaconkle.com/    Twitter: https://twitter.com/ginaconkle

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GinaConkleWriter Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/gloveshistory/

Buy Links for The Lady Meets Her Match: Amazon: http://amzn.to/1BPekRI  B&N: http://bit.ly/1KTbWtP  Books-a-Million: http://bit.ly/1N7ex5z   Kobo: http://bit.ly/1BPeuII

iTunes: http://apple.co/1AZZSTt  Google Play: http://bit.ly/1CgvBTk

Question for commenters: How would you go about "baking up" the perfect man? Share your recipe in comments for a chance to win a print or ebook copy of The Lady Meets Her Match.