Getting Naughty with Avril Tremayne

I’ll share a secret. Getting Naughty was originally pitched something like this: 

Teague Hamilton is the ultimate good boy – a clean cut, unflappable lawyer. Every element of his life has been chosen with even-keel confidence, including pretty, polished Lydia Laverton with whom he’s trying to fall in love. When his old college friend Romy, a restaurant consultant, asks him to help one of her clients cut through the red tape to open an eatery in New York, things don’t go according to plan for the very first time in his life.

Hana Larsson is a Danish dynamo, a girl who won’t take “no” for an answer and doesn’t expect to hear it. At their first meeting, Teague explains a few things she can't do and she promptly sacks him. Neither of them can understand how they end up having sex in Teague’s office, but from that moment, Teague’s tame life seems suddenly unbearable – especially when she dares him to greater and greater wildness.

The book that actually emerged had only one of these elements in it: Teague Hamilton is definitely the ultimate good boy, clean cut lawyer, whose life is pretty well prescribed for him. Other than that... Well, there's no sign of Lydia. And instead of being set in New York, the book ended up at Bondi Beach, Sydney. There's no Danish chef – the heroine, Frankie, is an Aussie, and dances in a gentleman’s club. And most importantly, Teague and Frankie knew (and wanted) each other ten years ago but he was never game enough to take a walk on the wild side with her. And then they meet again ten years later...

I don't really know how the changeover from story A to story B happened, but my best guess is that my subconscious was busily wresting the story from me from the moment I sat down to write book 1 in the series, Getting Lucky. You see, I wrote a reference in that book to Teague almost drowning once upon a time while participating in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. So risky, with such an imperfect result - most un-Teague-like! And then I started penning book 2 in the series, Getting Even, and I started to understand why he entered that race. Teague is the lighthouse in his circle of friends - calm, stalwart, supportive, guiding his volatile friends when they're adrift in turbulent seas aboard rickety boats. He doesn't precisely want to be in one of those rickety boats, but he sure wants to come down from the lantern room and leave the lighthouse to get out in the elements from time to time, even if it's only to watch the sea from the cliff's edge. Once I knew that about him, I saw that he didn’t need a woman to fall in love with his hidden depths; he needed a woman who liked him exactly the way he was - a woman who would let him decide for himself whether to stay in the lighthouse, walk along the cliff, get out on the water - or do all three! And suddenly there was Frankie, already an off-stage character in both Getting Lucky and Getting Even, and she was waiting for him to turn up at her house in Bondi…

Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia

 Here’s a little excerpt from Chapter 1, after Teague has arrived at Frankie’s to deliver something from their mutual friend Matt (the hero of Getting Lucky). Frankie has just propositioned Teague and he’s having a hard time believing she means it!

He frowned like he really did not get it!

    “Teague!” she cried. “Seriously!”

He looked behind him, as though he thought she must be talking to someone else even though she’d just addressed him by his damn name.

 “I’m talking about you having a fling while you’re here.”

“I don’t have flings.”

“Oh, I know that, Teague! I tried hard enough to get you to have a fling with me the whole time I was in DC! But now... Well, now you’re here, and I never thought you would be, so I’m making one more attempt. And you can say no, but I hope you don’t, because I think I can help you not be miserable, or at least give you a respite from it while—while you’re here. In Sydney. So. That’s all.”

Silence. Stillness.

A rush of heartbeats later, with her words hanging in the air, he shook his head. “No,” he said.

“Well!” She blushed again, brought both hands up to her face. “This is embarrassing.”

“No, I mean—” He made a sound—like a cross between a sigh and a huff. “You said something about meeting your friends, so I thought you must mean I should have fling with one of... But—” Slight head shake. “Do you mean a fling with you? No. You can’t mean that.”

“That’s funny, Teague, because I’m pretty sure what I’m doing right at this moment, sitting here at some godawful hour of the morning when I’m far from at my best, is offering myself to you straight up, since you’ve never been able to take a damn hint.”
 

Buy the book HERE!

I'm giving away a signed print copy of book 2 in the series, Getting Even. It's a hottie, so approach with caution. To go into the draw,  follow me somewhere! (eg, like Amazon or Bookbub or my 18+ Facebook page Tremayne Untamed). The links for all of the options are HERE, where you can tick off which option you chose and leave me your email address. Meanwhile, I'd love to hear if you prefer sweet or sexy romance - and if you've read any DAREs!

First Fridays with the Crew - Groundhog Day, Stories of Redemption and More

Happy Groundhog Day! 

In the United States and Canada, Groundhog Day is celebrated on February 2. It all started with a Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog came out of its burrow and saw its shadow, it would retreat to its den and winter would continue for six more weeks. If no shadow and no retreat, then spring would arrive early.

In 1993, the Groundhog Day movie (starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell) put a great spin on the superstition and created a timeless story with classic themes such as redemption, selflessness, self-improvement or rebirth (breaking through to your true self), and more. It's one of my favorite movies. I've heard many say the same.

So I thought I'd ask the Get Lost in a Story Crew to SHARE a favorite story they've written with a THEME or SCENE of redemption, selflessness, self-improvement or rebirth...  




Jacqui Nelson

In Between Love & Lies (book 1 in my Gambling Hearts series) on the trail from Texas to Dodge City, my hero, Noah Ballantyne’s longhorn cattle herd trample and destroy my heroine, Sadie Sullivan’s farm and livelihood. He tries to compensate her with money, but due to her unredeemable father, Sadie ends up homeless and penniless in Dodge City.

A year later, when Noah comes back to Dodge with a second herd, he looks for Sadie - and finds her in the employment of the pitiless madam of the Northern Star Saloon.

When he realizes he's responsible for Sadie's downfall, he chooses to stay in Dodge City and make amends, at all costs, rather than return home to Texas. Here's his redemption vow: Noah made a promise—to God, to himself and the whole forsaken town of Dodge. He wasn’t leaving until he fixed the wrong he’d done.

Amanda McIntyre

In Rugged Hearts, the first book in the Kinnison Legacy trilogy, my hero , Wyatt Kinnison-oldest brother of three--is attempting to be the patriarch of the family. To be the man his deceased step-father trusted to carry on his ranch legacy.  He's been burnt by every woman in his life, starting with a mother who abandons him and his younger brother. His fiancee betrayed him and Wyatt retreats into his world at the ranch, determined not to fall in love, determined not to rely on anyone or anything, but himself. Until he meets Aimee Worth , a hard-headed, optimist who recently moved to End of the Line as the new third grade teacher. Both have baggage in their past. Both need to trust again. They need each other, they just don't know it yet.
With a little Christmas magic and the guidance of family and friends, these two will discover that no matter what, love can find a way.

Avril Tremayne

2014 novel Turning the Good Girl Bad, personal assistant Catherine North has been hiding her real self from her new boss Max Rutherford – scraping her hair into a tight bun, dressing dowdily, and adopting a prim and proper persona. Why? Because Catherine’s learned the hard way what happens when your boss puts his hands where they don’t belong, and it’s well known that gorgeous Max, whose PAs almost always fall for him, isn’t the type to resist an office affair. But despite her best efforts, Catherine can't help being attracted to Max, and as though reading her silent signals, he's growing increasingly intrigued by her. In desperation, she tries to work her Max-fantasies out of her system by writing them into a steamy novel, but when he inevitably discovers her secret… Well, I won’t say any more because spoilers! All I'll say is that as they learn each other's secrets, they go through a kind of rebirth – sometimes the path to get there is funny, sometimes it’s painful, but they tread it determinedly and emerge at the end better and stronger. Today, I personally find boss/assistant romances troubling; I seriously don’t know if, in 2019, I’d write this same story with its flawed hero needing redemption and its hesitant heroine finally coming to see that she wasn't to blame for the harassment she experienced in the past – but I can’t in all honesty regret having brought Max and Catherine together, because they needed each other to tread that path.

Lizbeth Selvig
My novel The Bride Wore Starlight is the third book in my "Seven Brides for Seven Cowboys" series, and even though you're not supposed to pick a favorite child, I have to admit that is my favorite book in the series. It centers around Joely Crockett, the third of six Crockett sisters who inherit their family home Paradise Ranch. Joely has spent her life as the family beauty--from being crowned Jr. Rodeo Queen, to Rodeo and Homecoming Queens to Miss Wyoming, she's always been able to rely on her looks to get her from scholarships to marriage. Although she's never been a diva, she is a little spoiled by her easy path in life. When, after a painful divorce, she is in a horrific car accident, her life is forever altered by permanent injuries. A scarred face and a limp she'll have forever force her to face the realities of what beauty really means. When she meets Alec Morrissey, a former rodeo champion, she believes she's found a man as perfect as she used to be. The truth is, Alec is an amputee who has merely learned to put a perfect face on an imperfect life. Together Joely and Alec have to learn not only to face their pasts, but to embrace the accidents that have made them who they are today. And only if they can find peace and beauty in their "imperfections" do they find real love and rebirth.

E.E. Burke

Purchase today

Jolie LaFemme has been a working girl at La Maison for four long years...ever since being betrayed and left penniless. She’s jaded, distrustful and blind to the possibility of love. As far as she's concerned, being the madam of a popular parlor house is the best she can hope for, and nothing will convince her to give up the coveted and lucrative position.

Hank Donavan arrives in Noelle with a plan to ensure his sister's financial security and regain his pride. He’s a man in his prime, handsome by any measure, but an accident ruined his vision, and his future. Now, he travels with his dog Bear, and sells beautiful handmade Valentine cards. His big opportunity comes when he's offered a chance to invest in the richest silver mine in the state. There’s only one catch: he has to be married first. Who would marry a blind man with little to recommend him when there are plenty of hale and hearty men to go around?

Angi Morgan

Purchase

I love Groundhog Day the movie and I love true redemption stories. SHOTGUN JUSTICE is a favorite of  my second chances stories--I seem to have quite a few of them. My very first book was a second chance story. SJ was a best seller and top pick from RT. I'm especially proud that my fans helped develop the serial killer.

Jesse in Shotgun Justice messed up horribly. No one thinks he's going to get a second chance or will even be given time to explain himself In the story, he's sent to guard Avery from the serial killer. The hitch is that ONE...she doesn't need his help (she's a deputy). TWO..why would she want an ex who threw her under the bus. And THREE... she especially doesn't need her big brother's best friend who threw her in jail. 

What's your favorite redemption story?