Changes Along the Broken Road

 By Alexa Bourne

    In just over a month, I’ll be moving into my own home. I’m extremely excited for all the experiences and possibilities coming my way. Although I know how much stress comes with moving, I’m looking forward to having my own furniture and my own knickknacks around me. I’ll also be shopping for some new items. Even though I’ve had generous friends who have taken me in, there’s nothing like being in your own place.

    In my Scottish contemporary romance Broken Road, Catriona MacGregor receives an amazing opportunity. She inherits a home from an eccentric family friend. She is overwhelmed because the home is in Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh, and Cat’s only ever lived in the Highlands. At the same time, she is extremely excited for all the new possibilities she will encounter if she’s brave enough to take the chance. Ian MacKenzie, a childhood friend who has traveled the world, talks her into accepting the opportunity. He promises to help her get used to life in the city, but what ensues is a whirlwind of an education she’s not prepared for, one she’ll never forget.

Blurb:

    Catriona MacGregor leads a quiet life, working in the local school of Glenhalish, Scotland and spending time with close friends. She’s content to sit back and be an observer of the life around her. But all that changes when a recently deceased family friend leaves her a flat in Edinburgh and challenges her to spread her wings.

With his work as an international bodyguard, Ian MacKenzie has no time for a serious, committed relationship. Yet when he comes home to Glenhalish for a visit and to clear his mind, he is drawn to down-to-earth Cat. The more time they spend together, the more he wants her.

    Though they agreed to a friends-with-benefits arrangement, Cat soon discovers exactly what she wants for herself and it involves all of Ian—body, mind and soul. Their connection ambushes Ian. He’s not ready for the intensity they share.

Can this Highland lassie steer her lad back onto the right path to a love that will last a lifetime?

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Wake Me

 by Alexa Bourne

Happy June 8^th! Today is a special day because one of my friends is having a birthday. He is a fairly new friend, a fellow teacher I’ve only known this school year, but we’re close enough for me to call him my BMF (best male friend). He’s seen me at my worst and shared successes with me, too. We’ve talked for hours with co-workers and alone about tons of good and bad things. He’s been a great influence for me (and sometimes a not-so-great influence). Today, a few of us will be out celebrating and raising a glass to him.

  In many ways, the friendship between my BMF & me is much like the friendship between Sarah, the heroine in Wake Me, and her best friend Travis. Sarah and Travis have only known each other a few months, but they have become as close as family.       He has become like her older brother (although I’m the older one in my friendship with my BMF). They trust each other and will defend each other if needed. He’ll listen to her when she needs to cry. She’ll brainstorm with him when he needs another perspective. And he has no problem telling her when she’s being an ass.

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Here’s a peek at Travis & Sarah. She’s come to his office, through a thunderstorm, because she doesn’t know where else to go: 

  Footsteps echoed off the hallway walls. Sarah turned. Travis entered his office with a towel, some sweatpants, and a T-shirt. “Go change then come talk to me.” When she returned a few minutes later, he handed her a cup of coffee. “Now what’s going on?”

  “I’m…” in trouble. The other two words got stuck in her throat.

  “Hey.” He grabbed a tissue from the box on his desk, crumpled it into a ball, then pinged her in the head with it. “Talk to me.”

  “I’ve got a detective asking me questions about a murder because I hung out in the crowd by the water fountain on campus.” Damn. Sharing her secrets with Travis proved harder than she’d thought. Would he consider her “trouble”? Sever their friendship? Would he turn her over to Cordell? She shook her head. “Never mind,” she said, backing away. “I’m sorry.” Before she changed her mind, she rushed to the door.

  “Whoa.” Travis moved quicker. He reached the doorway before her, blocking her exit. “You’re not leaving here without telling me what’s going on.”

  How long had it been since anyone showed such concern for her? He offered comfort. She gave him suspicion. He offered an ear. She could share secrets. “I can tell you some of this, but some of it I can’t. I’m not ready to. Will you be okay with my decisions?”

  “Absolutely.”

Okay, I’m going back to celebrating my friend. (Happy Birthday, MSH! Where’s our next drink?) In the meantime, readers, why don’t you tell us about one of your friends? I’ll give away one Starbucks card to one person who comments between now and midnight Wednesday.

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What Am I Supposed to Do With a Goose?

By Alexa Bourne

When I first contacted Decadent Publishing to get a fairy tale to “rewrite”, I was so excited. The concept of taking an age-old story and revising it to be a modern day romance of some type sounded very interesting. But then I got the email with what would be my fairy tale: The Golden Goose. Now, I was a fairy tale deprived child so I had no idea what this story was. On my next visit to Barnes & Noble, I peeked in a Grimm’s Fairy Tale book and read The Golden Goose.

Uh….How in the world could I make that particular story a romance?

I panicked a bit that I wouldn’t be able to do it, but Simon and Grace soon sprung to mind. Then once I got the okay to set the story in Scotland, the words fell onto the page almost quicker than I could type them.

This story is different than my other books. How? This is an adventure story. Yes, there is suspense in there, too, but this book is much more light-hearted. While searching the Highlands for a family heirloom, Grace and Simon will take you on a fun ride throughout the country that will hopefully make you smile…and fall in love with them as they fall in love with each other.

In the end, I think Chasing Gold is one of my best books yet. I hope you’ll agree!

Blurb:

Grace McKay spends most of her time alone trying to convince the world she’s strong enough and smart enough to become one of the best treasure hunters. According to the media, though, all she’s managed to prove is she’s a frigid, narrow-minded woman who doesn’t have a chance to succeed in her current hunt.

Simon Andrews is tired of being a glorified secretary for his family’s treasure hunting business.  As the youngest brother, he’s never had the chance to prove himself in the field, where his true interests lie.

When Grace’s uncle hires Simon on a whim to assist her with the search for an ancient family heirloom, he comes up against a woman determined to accomplish her goal without his—or anyone’s—help. But Simon, although captivated by her passion for her quest and her beauty, will not relinquish his chance to prove both to the client and his brothers that he has the family gift for finding valuables where others have failed.

Grace, frigid? Simon is sure the media met the wrong woman. He’s in danger of bursting into flames every time they are alone together. As they get closer to finding the heirloom, though, their growing passion for one another may distract them from the very real danger that threatens their lives and their possible future together. Whatever that might mean.

Excerpt:

After sipping her tea, she picked up another piece of pastry. Midway to her mouth, she stopped. A tall, thin man, glasses clinging to the end of his nose, strode through the doorway and scanned the room. A loose-fitting, faded T-shirt covered his chest, and khaki shorts hung on his hips. Kind of thin and bony for her liking, although the soft shade of ginger hair with a hint of blond in it grabbed her attention. It reminded her of her favorite movie star. Both hands were inside his pockets.

With a crooked grin, he walked straight up to her table. “Grace McKay?”

“Yes. Can I help you?”           

He held out his long fingers. “I’m Simon Andrews.” He waited as if his name was supposed to mean something.

She didn’t shake his hand. “What can I do for you, Mr. Andrews?”

He lowered his arm. “Your uncle said you’d be helping me on my expedition here.” From his New England accent, he could only be American.

Uncle Thomas sent him? Of all the crappy things he’d done, this had to be the worst. Did he not believe in her enough to allow her to handle the job? She stood, gathering her papers. “My uncle was wrong. I don’t need any help with my expedition. Good-bye.” She shifted around him and started for the lobby. Studying her paperwork in her own room would suit her better.

“Ms. McKay, wait.” He grabbed her arm.

She froze. Every muscle tensed.

“I realize you want to help in the search, but your uncle hired me to—”

She tugged herself free. “I know what he hired you for, but I’m telling you, you’re fired.” As she stalked across the pub, many pairs of eyes stared at her, some wide in question, some narrowed. Who cared? She hadn’t done anything wrong.

“That’s not your call, sweetheart,” he said.

She jerked to a stop just inside the door and spun around, gritting her teeth. Andrews stood waiting, as cocky as could be, with his hands on his hips.

“First, I am not your sweetheart. Second, I don’t need a partner.”

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Welcome 2015!

Now that Christmas is over, I’m shifting gears to New Year’s Eve. We’ve got great plans for Wednesday evening, with 2 of my 4 brothers in town, their families & our parents. Lots of food, drinks, good music, a bonfire & hopefully some fireworks. But as we celebrate the end of another year, my thoughts begin to drift to what I want to accomplish in 2015. I do make some resolutions, but I prefer to think of them as goals. Calling them goals makes them feel easier to accomplish. So, what goals do I have for 2015?

FIRST…For health reasons, I need to lose a good 25, 30lbs. I have no choice. That goal MUST be met. So in order to meet that goal I have to start exercising more, maybe 3-5 times a week.

SECOND…I will finish and submit at least four new book projects. (Yay!)

THIRD…I will jump into the self-publishing world with several writer friends (who know what they’re doing) in an anthology. (Scary for me since I’ve never done self-publishing before.)

FOURTH…I will write notes about all the positive events in my life and stick them in a jar. That way when we’re moving from 2015 to 2016 I can review all the great times I had & awesome things that happened in 2015.

FIFTH…I will try to become a better teacher (day job) and writer through conferences & studying my crafts.

Whew! I think that’s enough, right? I want to be challenged, with goals to make my life better, not buried under the weight of impossible commitments. On New Year’s Eve I’ll drink a toast to celebrate 2014 & to welcome in all the possibilities of 2015. Happy New Year to you all! Stay safe out there & celebrate life!

Book Blurb:

Take-charge bodyguard Colin Munro believes working for the International Protective Network will be the perfect occupation for him. Unfortunately, his trial assignment is protecting a woman who has no intention of blindly following orders. Aye, he’ll bring the bonnie lass in line because there’s no way he’ll allow her to ruin his chance of securing his dream job.

Physically and emotionally scarred during her stint as a U.S. soldier, Joanna Grainger wants nothing more than to enjoy life. New Year's Eve in Edinburgh marks the beginning of her transformation. But when she witnesses a crime no one believes occurred, her plans come to a screeching halt. To make matters worse, her sexy but headstrong bodyguard has no compassion for her or the victim.

As danger hunts them during one of the busiest times of the year, Joanna must convince Colin she's a worthy partner. But first, can she convince herself?

Excerpt:

Joanna bolted upright. Darkness wrapped her in its hideous embrace. And silence reigned.

Her heart raced. She flattened her hands on the mattress beneath her.

Mattress. Bed. Colin’s hotel room.

Rustling sounds came from the floor. The bedside lamp flickered on. Colin propped himself up, one knee bent and an arm dangling over it. He squinted against the brightness. “Are you all right?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.” She brushed her fingers under her eyes.

“Don’t be daft, lass.”

“I had a bad dream.” She smoothed her hair back off her face. Moisture beaded at her temples.

“Here we call it a nightmare.” He smiled, and at once she relaxed her shoulders.

“Americans do, too.” After another deep breath, she said, “I’ll be all right.” Once her heart rate slowed to normal. With her forearm, she wiped perspiration from her forehead.

He stood, padded into the bathroom, and ran the faucet. When he returned, he sat beside her, tucked his finger under her chin, and pressed the cloth to her cheek. The cool moisture soothed her burning skin.

She reached up and covered his hand with hers. “I can do that.”

“I know.” He brushed her fingers away. “But you’ll not.”

After a few seconds, he moved the wet towel across her forehead and to her other cheek.

When he reached her neck, she sighed and closed her eyes for a few valuable seconds.

“Thank you.”

His gentle caress reminded her how much she’d missed simple comfort…from anyone.

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A New Beginning to a Hidden Destiny

Available HERE

I can’t believe Wake Me, the first book in my new Hidden Destiny series, is here! I’m so excited to get the chance to share this with you. The series revolves around a group of friends who must come to terms with a paranormal ability. They are all drawn to one place in the city of Austin, Trinity Tavern, but that isn’t the only thing they share.

In Wake Me, Sarah McKinley must come to terms with her ability to have psychic dreams. They’ve made her life miserable with the eerie feelings they create, the helplessness she feels when she has one, and her lack of ability to control them. She’d much rather forget them, but her big mouth gets her in trouble, especially with a sexy detective grounded in reality, Jesse Cordell.

Also during Wake Me, we meet Travis Blake, a friend of Sarah’s who plays an important role throughout the series. I look forward to sharing the next books in the series with you hopefully next year! For now, I hope you enjoy Sarah and Jesse’s journey!

Wake Me blurb:

Her psychic dreams come true.

Sarah McKinley’s attempts to take her foreknowledge of crimes to the Seattle Police Department marked her as a troublemaker and were never taken seriously. Starting over in Austin, she plans never to reveal her gift, but shortly after she arrives, the dreams begin again, and the local police want to know why she has knowledge only the killer could possess.

Detective Jesse Cordell watched his mother con people with her “psychic ability” all through his childhood. He hones in on Sarah, who has means, motive, and opportunity to have murdered the victim in his current investigation. Instinct tells him she didn’t commit the crime, but she definitely knows more than she’s letting on.

Can he put aside his doubts and join forces with her, against everything he believes in, to find the real killer? Or will he do his job and put her behind bars? After all, there’s no such thing as the “psychic ability.” Or is there?

Excerpt:

The buzz around her head grew louder as more students joined the crowd. Yellow tape secured the crime scene several yards away, but limbs still stuck over the cement edge of the water fountain.

A guy in plain clothes ducked under the tape and ventured toward them. A gold shield hung from his belt. “Can anybody tell me what happened?”

“She can!” a male voice from behind called out.

Hoping to take attention off herself, Sarah joined the other students in whirling around to see who the guy meant. Several voices rushed toward the man, accosting him with different versions of the crime. Sarah floated through the sea of people, away from the crowd.

For the nine months, she’d lived in Austin, she’d never mentioned a word about her so-called psychic gift. Almost a full year had passed. She’d started to think she would be normal again.

But a brand-new dream reminded her she would always be different.

Heading toward the street, she picked up her steps. Don’t look back. You’ve done enough damage.

“Miss! Hey, wait up!”

“Damn.” She slowed her feet. No point in trying to run. She’d look guilty of something then the cops would have a reason to haul her off the school campus in cuffs.

Turning, she came face-to-face with the striking plain-clothes cop. “I’m Detective Cordell with Austin Police.” He stood at least six inches taller than she, his jet-black hair sheared in a standard cut for police. The bulk of his chest stretched the material of his short-sleeved dress shirt. With dark eyes and sexy confidence, he was all sorts of captivating. If he hadn’t been such a threat to her freedom, she might even have called him handsome. “Do you have a minute? I’d like to ask you some questions.”

There died his charm. 

Happy Book Birthday!

Available HERE

Yesterday my 1^st romantic suspense with paranormal elements arrived on the virtual bookshelves. I’m both a little excited and nervous. I’m excited because it’s the beginning of a new series for me. And I finally get to share a story that’s been wavering in my head for over a decade. Plus, of course, I love sharing my stories with readers.

I’m a little nervous, too, though for a very different reason. I’ve had connected stories before, but they didn’t have to be read in order. Plus, the only things they had in common were the people and places. Wake Me is my 1^st venture into a connected series where the stories need to be read in order in order to “get it” all. In the Hidden Destiny series, each book will have a character with a special ability and they will be interacting with others like them within the community introduced in Wake Me . There are some other connected details about the series, but I’m not telling!

I look forward to the challenges the new series will bring me and I’m excited to see what the characters and I can create. I hope you enjoy Wake Me and I hope you’ll be excited to read the rest of the series when they come out!

Blurb:

Her psychic dreams come true.

Sarah McKinley’s attempts to take her foreknowledge of crimes to the Seattle Police Department marked her as a troublemaker and were never taken seriously. Starting over in Austin, she plans never to reveal her gift, but shortly after she arrives, the dreams begin again, and the local police want to know why she has knowledge only the killer could possess.

Detective Jesse Cordell watched his mother con people with her “psychic ability” all through his childhood. He hones in on Sarah, who has means, motive, and opportunity to have murdered the victim in his current investigation. Instinct tells him she didn’t commit the crime, but she definitely knows more than she’s letting on.

Can he put aside his doubts and join forces with her, against everything he believes in, to find the real killer? Or will he do his job and put her behind bars? After all, there’s no such thing as the “psychic ability.” Or is there? 

Bio:

Alexa Bourne is a teacher by day and a romance writer by nights, weekends, and all school holidays. She also teaches online classes for writers throughout the year. She writes romantic suspense and contemporary romance and is thrilled to have the chance to share her stories with readers everywhere.

When she’s not concocting sinister plots and steamy love scenes or traveling and exploring new cultures, Alexa spends her time reading, watching brainless TV, and thinking about exercising. Okay, she also spends way too much time interacting with readers and writers on social media sites. But don’t tell her editors! Find out more about her and her books on her website, www.alexabourne.com.

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He Wouldn’t Leave Me Alone

Available HERE

by Alexa Bourne

I learned the hard way to listen to my characters. If I tried to write the story the way I wanted, they’d go on an extended vacation until I was ready to hear what they had to say. Sometimes, I try to ignore the voices so I can focus on other, more important stories. But Grady Cooper, the hero from my full-length romantic suspense story, Liar, Liar, refused to go away. He’d whisper sweet nothings in my ear to coax me back to his story. When those words didn’t make me budge, he resorted to hollering in my head. He’d interrupt my writing of the book I was working on to get his point across. The man had a story to tell and I needed to take him seriously.

So, finally, I did.

What an amazing character he turned out to be. He’s rough around the edges and tells it exactly as it is, but he’s still the type of guy I’d want to be friends with. He has a gentle side, but he’s not comfortable sharing it until his heroine, Devin McQueen, rocks his world. When I listened to him and started typing out his scenes, he came alive even more. Soon, he became one of my all-time favorite characters of my own. He fights to keep Devin in his life and he pushes to get his brother out of his life. I didn’t necessarily agree with his choices, but I had to admire him. No matter what he believes, whether it’s right or wrong, he puts all his effort behind it and doesn’t pull any punches. How could I not love a man like that? If you’ve read Liar, Liar, I hope you agree. If you haven’t read it, Grady and I invite you to take a journey into his world. We both guarantee it will be quite a ride.

    

If Grady Cooper had any hope of salvaging his professional reputation, he needed to charm Devin McQueen into giving him what she’d never given any other man.

He tucked his keys into his cargo shorts, stared up at the five-story office building and cursed the humidity.

And his dilemma.

Needing anyone was bad enough. Being forced to rely on a complete stranger to help prove he wasn’t a menace to society was as appealing as the Red Sox using his head for batting practice. If she refused to help him, he’d lose his job for sure.

“That’s not going to happen,” he whispered. He’d do whatever he had to, promise her the world even, to get himself out of this mess and restore his reputation. By the time she realized he had no intention of honoring his pledge, he’d be a free man and he could get back to chasing the bad guys instead of being labeled one.

Whatever it took.

He pushed the glass door open and flew up the stairs two at a time to the third floor. As he walked down the hallway, he glanced at the business names on the doors: law offices, non-profit offices, save the bleeding heart offices. Rooms of people he’d probably chased a bail jumper for at one time or another.

Loud thumps filtered into the hallway from somewhere up ahead.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Trade rule number one: Always expect the worst. Still, the noises could have been any number of things: a fallen chair, a muffled voicemail message, boxes of printer paper being dropped. It could have been nothing connected to this woman.

As he got closer to the door with Soul Survivors carved on it, the name of McQueen’s business, the noises got louder. Glass shattered. A series of thumps passed from behind the door. A woman’s voice flew through the walls like a high-pitched war cry.

What if someone wanted Devin McQueen even more than Grady did?

Too bad. He had to put his own needs first.

Adrenaline pushed him. He turned the doorknob.

Damn it. Locked.

He shoved his shoulder against the wooden door. It budged. Barely. Inside, more glass broke. A male voice growled through a string of swear words.

Whoever stood on the other side of this door could not have her.

Grady gritted his teeth and jammed his shoulder against the door again. This time, it flew open and hurled him into the office.

Silence reigned across the room. With his shoulder throbbing, he scanned the scene. One upended chair, one thug cradling his nuts, the other, older one, bleeding from his nose and one wild-eyed woman in the center of it all. The bleeding man had his arms wrapped around the woman’s chest, crushing her…assets under his forearms.

Grady bit back a grin. If this was Devin McQueen, then some of the rumors were true. She could hold her own. But now she didn’t need to. “What’s the matter, guys? Couldn’t find anyone your own size to pick on?”

 Buy links: Amazon || Decadent Publishing || Barnes & Noble || All Romance

Summer Sparks

Happy Independence Day! Okay, so the actual holiday is tomorrow and you, reader, may not be American. But it is a huge holiday here. We celebrate with bar-b-ques, swimming, and fireworks. I hope I'll be celebrating tomorrow with family.

In my Decadent book, Liar, Liar, the American couple doesn’t have time to celebrate holidays. Bounty hunter Grady Cooper and victims’ advocate Devin McQueen are too busy making the streets safe so everyone else can enjoy food from a grill and fancy color designs in the sky. But don’t worry about them. They create enough sparks with each other. Why? In addition to the sizzling sexual tension between them from the moment they meet, they are both after the same person and neither of them wants to give in to the other.

Blurb:

Unable to protect her mother from her father as a child, Devin McQueen has made it her mission as an adult to protect as many abused women and children as she can. The rare moments she’s not consumed with work as a victims’ advocate, she limits her involvements to safe, predictable men….until she meets bounty hunter Grady Cooper. He is big, bold, brash, and has no problem speaking his mind.

     Growing up in a broken home, Grady realized early on that good deeds had a price.  To survive, he learned to weigh every decision by what he could gain. Unfortunately, the successful, solitary life he’s worked so hard to create spins out of control when demons from his past shake his confidence. His boss has given him one last chance—bring in Devin’s latest client quickly, and quietly and maybe he’ll still have a job. It didn’t sound unreasonable until he met Devin.

 Suddenly, Grady must make a decision: save his career or follow his heart?

Excerpt:

If Grady Cooper had any hope of salvaging his professional reputation, he needed to charm Devin McQueen into giving him what she’d never given any other man.

He tucked his keys into his cargo shorts, stared up at the five-story office building and cursed the humidity.

And his dilemma.

Needing anyone was bad enough. Being forced to rely on a complete stranger to help prove he wasn’t a menace to society was as appealing as the Red Sox using his head for batting practice. If she refused to help him, he’d lose his job for sure.

“That’s not going to happen,” he whispered. He’d do whatever he had to, promise her the world even, to get himself out of this mess and restore his reputation. By the time she realized he had no intention of honoring his pledge, he’d be a free man and he could get back to chasing the bad guys instead of being labeled one.

Whatever it took.

He pushed the glass door open and flew up the stairs two at a time to the third floor. As he walked down the hallway, he glanced at the business names on the doors: law offices, non-profit offices, save the bleeding heart offices. Rooms of people he’d probably chased a bail jumper for at one time or another.

Loud thumps filtered into the hallway from somewhere up ahead.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Trade rule number one: Always expect the worst. Still, the noises could have been any number of things: a fallen chair, a muffled voicemail message, boxes of printer paper being dropped. It could have been nothing connected to this woman.

As he got closer to the door with Soul Survivors carved on it, the name of McQueen’s business, the noises got louder. Glass shattered. A series of thumps passed from behind the door. A woman’s voice flew through the walls like a high-pitched war cry.

What if someone wanted Devin McQueen even more than Grady did?

Too bad. He had to put his own needs first.

Adrenaline pushed him. He turned the doorknob.

Damn it. Locked.

He shoved his shoulder against the wooden door. It budged. Barely. Inside, more glass broke. A male voice growled through a string of swear words.

Whoever stood on the other side of this door could not have her.

Grady gritted his teeth and jammed his shoulder against the door again. This time, it flew open and hurled him into the office.

Silence reigned across the room. With his shoulder throbbing, he scanned the scene. One upended chair, one thug cradling his nuts, the other, older one, bleeding from his nose and one wild-eyed woman in the center of it all. The bleeding man had his arms wrapped around the woman’s chest, crushing her…assets under his forearms.

Grady bit back a grin. If this was Devin McQueen, then some of the rumors were true. She could hold her own. But now she didn’t need to. “What’s the matter, guys? Couldn’t find anyone your own size to pick on?”

Decadent Buy Link

Bio:

Alexa Bourne is a teacher by day and a romance writer by nights, weekends, and all school holidays. She also teaches online classes for writers throughout the year. She writes romantic suspense and contemporary romance and is thrilled to have the chance to share her stories with readers everywhere.

When she’s not concocting sinister plots and steamy love scenes or traveling and exploring new cultures, Alexa spends her time reading, watching brainless TV, and thinking about exercising. Okay, she also spends way too much time interacting with readers and writers on social media sites. But don’t tell her editors! Find out more about her and her books on her website, www.alexabourne.com.

Website: www.alexabourne.com

Blog: http://alexabourne.blogspot.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlexaBourne

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorAlexaBourne

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5818611.Alexa_Bourne

#alexabourne, #decadentpub

My Not So Silent Surrender

Have you heard me yelling and cheering from my living room? I’m soooooo excited. You may be asking yourself why. Today starts my favorite sports event, the World Cup. I LOVE soccer and will watch it for hours if I don’t have to go anywhere. During the World Cup, which happens every four years, I have been known to get up before the crack of dawn and then watch three or four games in one day. I taught myself the rules of the game by watching games, listening to the announcers and paying attention to different movements by the players.

Now you may be asking yourself, “What’s to like?” First and foremost, it’s the men! They are H-O-T! Okay, not all of them, but a lot of them are. Plus, they’re in great physical condition since they have to spend up to an hour and half running up and down the field. And every once in a while they’ll lift their shirts or take them off completely and I get a great view of some sculpted abs. Of course, I also love the whole game itself, the idea of kicking a ball around and working together to shove it into a net. And watching the goalkeepers work so hard to protect the net. And, unlike most other sports, soccer games don’t have fifty million commercials.

Because I love soccer so much, and I know how popular it is in most other parts of the world (not so much in the US), I made one of my heroes a soccer coach. (Actually, I didn’t decide. He told me he was a coach. Bossy characters!) In Silent Surrender, Quinn O’Connell has walked away from his team for a long weekend to find the woman he had a wild fling with and who has never left his mind. I also added a fun scene where Quinn and Meggie (the heroine) play a game of soccer with local school boys.

Now I know not everyone enjoys sports, so I didn’t spend a whole lot of time or words on soccer. But I hope adding the touch of soccer I have into the book enriches the story. My goal is to show soccer coaches (and players) can be fine heroes, too! Did I reach my goal? You be the judge!

Thanks for hanging out with me for a while today. I’m off to map out which games I cannot miss and then I’ll be heading back to the TV to watch the 1^st game of the 2014 World Cup!

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Book Blurb:

Meggie MacDougall often dreams of Quinn O’Connell, the sexy Irish football coach who swept her off her feet in Dublin. But what happened in Dublin must stay there. She has responsibilities at home, and she refuses to fuel the gossip fires in Glenhalish.

Quinn has never forgotten Meggie and the explosive weekend they shared. Overwhelmed by memories of her passion, beauty, and zest for life, he jeopardizes his cushy career to find her and test the connection between them.

When Quinn arrives in her Highland village, Meggie is determined to ignore him. However, she isn't prepared for the claim he lays on her heart with his sexy charm and his tender soul.

Will pride and fear keep Meggie from embracing possibilities, or will Quinn's gentle persistence break down her defenses and lead her to a silent surrender?

Excerpt:

Quinn came toward her, the ball juggling between his feet. “Get him, Miss Meggie!” someone called from across the pitch.

Her heart rate, already soaring, tripped at the sight of her man. Her nerves tightened, her muscles clenched. She rocked on the heels of her feet. She’d steal the ball for her team.

He closed the distance between them. Meggie pushed against his rock-hard abs and tangled with his feet. He tugged on her ponytail, slid his foot between hers, and sent the ball to his teammates.

Meggie yelped, her arms flailing to her sides. Her feet remained tangled with Quinn’s, and she lost her balance.

Quinn’s arms circled her waist and twisted her so his body took the brunt of the impact with the dirt-packed earth. She rolled to the side, still cradled in the crook of his arm and with the pressure of his delicious body over every inch of hers. “Are you all right?” He propped himself up and brushed her hair away from her face.

“Aye. Thank you for taking the fall for us.”

“You’re down here with me, aren’t you?”

“Aye, but you protected me. Thank you, my Irish knight.”

“My pleasure, my lady.”

Aye, she was his lady and she decided she rather liked it.

He leaned down and claimed her mouth.

“Is she hurt?” one of the lads yelled. The ground trembled beneath their feet.

“Aye, ye daft fool. He’s giving her mouth-to-mouth,” yelled another.

Together they both giggled and ended the kiss. “You should probably let me up before they call for an ambulance.”

“Right.” He jumped to his feet. “No worry, boys. She’s fine.” She missed the feel of him against her body. As she propped herself on her forearms, he reached down and pulled her to her feet.

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Author Bio:

Alexa Bourne is a teacher by day and a romance writer by nights, weekends, and all school holidays. She also teaches online classes for writers throughout the year. She writes romantic suspense and contemporary romance and is thrilled to have the chance to share her love of Great Britain with readers everywhere.

When she's not concocting sinister plots and steamy love scenes or traveling and exploring new cultures, Alexa spends her time reading, watching brainless TV and thinking about exercising. She loves to interact with readers, so visit her web page, follow her on Twitter or drop her a note at Alexa@alexabourne.com!

#alexabourne, #decadentpub