#Hockey #Romance #Series by Linda O'Conner

Today is guest day. Please enjoy the post by Linda O'Conner

Thanks so much for hosting me! I’m excited to share a sneak peek of Behind the Bench – Book 2 of my In the Game Hockey Romance series. It will be included in the Coming in Hot 2: Rescue Me Romance Collection – a contemporary and paranormal medical romance boxed set coming on April 18. To celebrate, I thought I’d share six fun facts about hockey!

1. Hockey pucks are three inches in diameter. They’re frozen before each game so that they don't bounce during the game. In the old days, they used frozen cow poop. Bet the goalies are happy with that upgrade!

2. If both of the team’s goalies are injured during a game, they can get anybody to play the position — even a fan! (What are the chances that a retired NHL goalie would be in the crowd? :D)

3. Goalies can’t cross the centre line. Former Philadelphia Flyers goalie Ron Hextall was the first goaltender to score a goal by shooting the puck down the ice and into the other team’s net. 

4. Twelve women have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup, either as owners or team executives.

5. Canadian goaltender Manon Rhéaume was the first – and only –woman to play in the NHL. She laced up for two exhibition games with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

6. At the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Trent Evans embedded a loonie at centre ice to bring luck to Canada's men's and women's hockey teams. Both brought home gold – it was a lucky loonie! (We needed one at the 2018 games.:D Congrats to the USA Women’s team for winning gold this year!

Blurb for Behind the Bench

Dr. Danni Angelo is the team physician for the Clarington Quakes hockey team. She’s worked hard to earn the players’ respect, but the new coach, Trey Mason, is stirring things up, and Danni’s worried her job may be in jeopardy.

Trey finds Danni…distracting. Beauty, brains, and sexy moves on the ice have him uncomfortably attracted. He’s the new guy on the block. He has a reputation to build and a standard to set. The last thing he needs is a complication.

When the team spirals out of control and Danni and Trey get caught up in a drug scandal, things heat up on and off the ice. It’s a whole new game plan…Behind the Bench. 

Excerpt

Danni watched the tail end of the in-house broadcast of the news conference and flicked off the screen. How could you not be impressed with that? Trey Mason was confident and eloquent, and spoke in a relaxed and engaging way. The beach-bum blond hair, sculpted cheekbones, and easy smile would win over the non-hockey fans, and his passion and knowledge of the game would impress the followers. He had it all, and landing in a town like Clarington must be a dream come true. For him.

And a nightmare for her.

She had worked part-time as the team physician for the Clarington Earthquakes, Quakes for short, for the past three years. It had taken time to gain the players’ confidence. Being a female physician for a men’s hockey team hadn’t been easy, but she’d built a solid professional relationship.

She loved everything about the job – the energy of the games, working with high-level athletes, and a new clinic in a state-of-the-art arena. She certainly didn’t want it to change because of a new head coach.

Trey Mason couldn’t fire her. Theoretically. That would be up to the owners of the team. He could, however, make her life miserable. And if there was friction between them, it would affect the players, and ultimately, what affected the players influenced the owners. There were two other physicians who shared the job with her and a few more who would be eager to take it on.

He, on the other hand, could be set for a long run if he delivered half of what he’d promised today. She certainly hadn’t seen any charm when he’d walked into the pressroom, and yet it came out in spades when he spoke. She could only hope that her initial impression had been wrong, because between the two of them, it wasn’t likely that he’d be leaving any time soon. Bottom line – she needed to suck it up and get along with the new guy. She sighed. She hated sucking up. She’d thought she was done with that. Apparently not. She shook her head and gritted her teeth. Time to smile and play nice. 

Buy links:

Behind the Bench is part of the Coming in Hot: Rescue Me Romance Collection. It’s available for preorder for only 99cents. Coming April 17!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07942MKP1

Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/coming-in-hot-gina-kincade/1127238374

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/coming-in-hot-rescue-me/id1296989476?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

For a chance to win a Kindle Fire and a big box of books, enter the Coming in Hot: Rescue Me Rafflecopter: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/1be7623365/ 

Linda O’Connor started writing a few years ago when she needed a creative outlet other than subtly rearranging the displays at the local home décor store. It turns out she loves writing romantic comedies and has a few more stories to tell. When not writing, she’s a physician at an Urgent Care Clinic (well, even when she is writing she’s a physician, and it shows up in her stories :D ). She hangs out at www.lindaoconnor.net.

Laugh every day. Love every minute.

Website:  http://www.lindaoconnor.net

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/LindaOConnorAuthor

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/LindaOConnor98

Amazon Author Page:  http://www.amazon.com/Linda-OConnor/e/B00S7CNLEA

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If I Knew Then What I Know Now...by Mackenzie Crowne

As a new year begins, I find myself looking back and, with book 4 in my Players sports romance series releasing this past week, those early days as a published author are heavy on my mind. Releasing a book onto the world market is always exhilarating, but it's hard to explain the range of emotions slamming through you as you wait for that first book to hit the shelves. For me, excitement topped the list, but along with the holy cow thrill came a healthy dose of fear.

Seriously, in the days leading up to my first release, I kept waiting for the email to arrive from my publisher explaining they had made a horrible mistake and would I please tear up that contract I’d signed. Gah! I'd poured my heart into that story and, there I was on release day, shaking in my boots that readers would find the story and those characters I'd come to love lacking or worse – bad!

But, the die had been cast. There was nothing I could do but pull on my big girl panties and take what came. Thankfully, what came was much better than my last minute panic attack had predicted but, even still, I soon discovered I had a lot to learn. About publishing, and writing, and the dreaded P word…promotion. Since then, I have met some awesome authors, like the ladies here at the Roses of Prose, who have been very gracious in sharing their knowledge. Honestly, since joining the ranks as a published author, I have met some of the most kind and generous people imaginable.

With the release of To Win Her Back this week, I saw my twelfth title hit the shelves. You’d think I would know what I’m doing, especially with all the help my author friends have given me, but you’d be wrong. I still have much to learn and, with that in mind, I have a couple questions for all of you, both our readers and my fellow authors.

For our readers:

Question 1 – What is the top element in a romance that makes it a winner in your book?

Question 2 – What is the number one element in a book that makes you throw it at the wall in disgust?

For you authors:

Question 3 – If I knew then what I know now, I would have...

Question 4 – If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have...

And since I’m both a reader and an author, here is how I would answer my own questions.

1: Logic and humor. Yeah, I know that’s two elements but they go hand in hand in my book. I love a romance that pulls at my heartstrings and tickles my funny bone, but if the storyline isn’t logical, I’m throwing the book.

2: See answer 1. LOL

3: I would have jumped into the world of social media a lot sooner. There is so much to learn and gaining an education on a supersonic schedule gives me a headache.

4: I wouldn't have been so timid in my first experience with the professional editing of my work. I know the characters inside and out and had to learn to trust my inner voice when it balks.

When Mac isn’t trying to figure out the newest trend in book promotion, she spends her time weaving HEAs for her characters, like those in TO WIN HER BACK, her latest Players series release from KensingtonBooks 

Is There Anything Like a First Kiss? by Mackenzie Crowne

There are many firsts in life; that first thrilling, solo ride on a bicycle, or that breathtaking view of the ocean, and the nerve wracking experience of sitting behind the wheel of a car. But of all the memorable firsts in one’s life, who can forget their first kiss? Whether a heart pounding realization of a dream with that boy you've been crushing on for weeks or the lousy ending to an interminable blind date your girlfriend set up, there is nothing like a first kiss.

Hollywood is obsessed with them, both in TV and movies, and thank God they are. Audiences waited with bated breath while Sam and Diane (of Cheers fame) circled each other in a lustful dance for an entire season. The episode when they finally locked lips was one of the funniest TV moments I can remember.

The first kiss was taken to a whole new level in 50 First Dates. Because of Lucy's short term memory loss from a head injury, Henry spends each day wooing the woman he loves back into his arms. If you've never seen Lucy and Henry's hilarious romance, you're missing out.

And has there ever been a better movie moment than Rhett and Scarlett's first embrace in Gone With the Wind? As a girl I thought my heart would burst in my chest as Scarlett hung in Rhett's arms, their lips a breath apart. *Sigh* That moment birthed the romance writer in me.

As a reader of romance, the first kiss is all important to whether or not a book remains in my heart or gets tossed into the 'what a waste of time' pile. The moment sets the tone of the characters' ultimate happily ever after, at least for me. A first kiss can be dramatic, lustful, or even funny, but whether the author offers a shy brushing of lips, a shocking, melt your bones devouring, or a nose-bumping calamity, if that first kiss doesn't grab me, chances are the rest of the book won't either.

I write romantic fiction and that first kiss is always a struggle for me. I'd love to say I draw on the memory of my own for inspiration, but I'd be lying. A game of spin the bottle granted me my first lip lock, and while the memory makes me smile, it wasn't exactly the stuff of fantasies.

I’ve included an excerpt below from TO WIN HER BACK, book 4 of my Players series releasing in January 2017. V and Sam’s story is a second chance romance, so their kiss isn’t technically the first. It is, however the first after eighteen years and a bit contentious.

Enjoy and then tell us…How important is the first kiss in the books you read, and what's the story behind your own?

“There was a time you included me in the list of things you wanted.”

The claim hit V like a physical blow and it took all her concentration not to flinch. Denying she’d wanted him wasn’t something she could do with any conviction and they both knew it. Running her gaze down his big body, she hid her dismay beneath pure bluster. “You’re a fine-looking man, Sam. Wanting you was never the problem.”

“I’m glad to hear you still feel that way. That’ll make things easier.”

The fine hair on the back of her neck prickled when he suddenly dropped his hands to his sides and stalked toward her. “Wait. What are talking about?”

“It’s simple.” He closed the distance and she stumbled backward. Stiff-arming him did no good. He gripped both her arms and held her there when she would have scooted clear of him. “You claim you walked away from me to get what you wanted. If that’s true, as far as I’m concerned, I dodged a bullet fifteen years ago. I’m perfectly happy to let that be the end of it.”

Some of the tension eased from her clenched muscles. He may have his doubts but, thankfully, he wasn’t going to press her on them.

“But, it appears providence has other plans.” Her tension returned tenfold as he released one of her arms to slip his hand around her waist. Calculation darkened the blue of his eyes. “Because of our past, my position with the Marauders is shaky when it shouldn’t be.” He slid his hand down her spine and tugged her against him until her breasts smashed flat against the solid muscle of his chest. “Caroline made it clear she expects us to put our personal differences behind us. What better way to convince her we have than to return to Manhattan as a couple?”

She opened her mouth to blast him with a shocked denial, but only succeeded in aiding him as he lowered his head and crushed his mouth to hers. His tongue slid into her mouth with practiced ease. Familiar and irresistible, his woodsy scent and spicy flavor wrapped around her, seeping into her taste buds and absorbing into her skin like a well-remembered balm.

Her knees went loose and, though she struggled to keep her feet beneath her, it was no use. She hung in his embrace, off balance and unable to care, and curled into him as if returning home. His guttural groan was a rumbling vibration against her breasts and she reveled in the knowledge she wasn’t alone in her madness.

He shifted his head, taking the kiss deeper, and time retreated. Mistakes, secrets, and years of regret vanished until only pleasure and heat existed. Desperate for more, she fought her arms free to slide her hands up over his chest and neck, and plunged her fingers into the thick pelt of his hair. She was rewarded by the quick thrust of his hips and cried out at the delicious friction of his erection pressed against her lower belly and mound.  

When Mac isn’t dreaming of that perfect first kiss, she spends her time weaving HEAs for her characters, like V and Sam. Their second chance love story, TO WIN HER BACK, book 4 in Mac’s Players series from Kensington Books, releases in January 2017 and is currently available on NetGalley for those of you who are members.

The Happily Ever After List by Mackenzie Crowne

As a young woman, I stood before the mirror in my childhood bedroom, admiring my oh-so-cool leg warmers and putting the finishing touches on my “big” hair. That brand new phenomenon, MTV, blared in the living room while I primped for nights on the town with my girlfriends, giddy at the idea of spending the night dancing like it was 1999. Ah, the music, the excitement…the boys! The possibility of that night being the night I would finally meet The One and live happily ever after! 

Mac & The One then...

But alas, time passes quickly. Mom jeans have replaced the leg warmers, and the hair, which is not so big anymore, would be liberally streaked with gray - if I didn’t beat it into submission once a month with a box of Nice-’n-Easy. As for happily ever after, yeah, I still believe in the concept. After all, I did eventually meet The One, and this Saturday we’ll be celebrating thirty-three years of wedded bliss.

Hah! Chances are those of you who have been married longer than the length of the honeymoon are raising an eyebrow at the word bliss, because let’s face it, bliss is hard to maintain when faced with the day-to-day realities of marriage. Honestly, is any woman blissful when picking up their One’s briefs from the bathroom floor? Or wiping his toothpaste splatter from the mirror? Yuck.

There have been many occasions in the past thirty-three years when I looked at The One and imagined myself as one of the Merry Murderesses from Broadway’s Chicago, declaring He ran into my knife. He ran into my knife ten times!

Yeah, I know. I’m weird. But I’m a writer. I can’t help imagining delicious scenarios I can never follow through on - unless I’m willing to do time. And if you’ve been married as long as The One and I have, admit it. You’ve imagined some of those scenarios yourself. So, what’s the secret to a successful marriage and happily ever after? There’s the popular list: Respect, give and take, communication, and commitment - but I have my own list. 

1. Know when to stand your ground.

2. Maintain your sense of humor.

And…

3. Develop the art of subtle revenge.

Mac & The One years later...

Okay, I don’t want to give you the wrong impression. Despite the Merry Murderesses reference, The One and I rarely disagree, much less fight. The One claims this is because we’re friends as well as lovers. I attribute the usual peacefulness of our relationship to my aversion to conflict. I hate fighting and avoid it whenever possible. But, The One is a guy, which means he occasionally does something so ridiculous, it simply can’t be ignored. When that happens, I survive the explosive fall out by sticking to my list. 

Case in point:

After accidentally dousing his sandwich with a heaping pile of pepper several years ago, The One promptly tossed the pepper shaker into the trash, announcing, “I’m sick of this f*%@ing thing!” 

Seriously, he threw away the pepper shaker. Who throws away a pepper shaker? I mean, come on. It’s an innocent, inanimate object. If you’re having a problem with it, it’s a pretty sure bet the trouble is user error. Besides, it’s part of a set!

#1: Know when to stand your ground.

“Well then,” I responded. “We don’t need this!”

Into the trash can went the salt shaker. Take that, buddy! I swear, his hair stood on end. He pinned me with narrowed eyes as he grabbed the first thing within reach. The tea kettle joined the innocent salt and pepper shakers in their absurd fate.

And, hello. Game on!

Dirty dishes and clean ones, silverware and counter top items, including a few small appliances, nothing escaped the whirlwind of angry passion gripping the blissfully married adversaries in our kitchen. Five minutes later, with a fine cloud of flour hanging in the air, sanity suddenly grabbed hold of me. Okay, the truth is, I came to my senses when I couldn’t fit anything more in the trash can.

#2: Maintain your sense of humor.

I glanced around at the carnage, but there was no way I could apply #2 at that moment. I was too ticked off. The man threw away a two-hundred-dollar blender, for heaven’s sake, and my kitchen looked like it had been ransacked! Because it had.

(I need to add an addendum to the list here: #2b: Know when to utilize a cooling off period.)

Sometimes getting away from your loving spouse is the only way to avoid doing time - with the added bonus of allowing you to regroup and come up with a workable plan for #3: Develop the art of subtle revenge.

I promptly went for a drive.

While I have my list, The One has his own. It consists of only two items. He believes in the power of persistence, and if that doesn’t work, he turns immediately to his own form of bribery. He’s such a guy. But I have to admit, he’s got skills when it comes to the suck-up gift - and he knows when to bring in reinforcements. The next morning, he enlisted our teenage boys in his ploy to charm me out of my mad. They disappeared for an hour and returned with a tiger striped kitten he claimed to have found foraging for food in a downtown parking lot.

Talk about a double whammy! I was toast and he knew it. But I ask you, how is a woman supposed to stay mad under those circumstances? It would take a much harder woman than me, that’s for sure. As we shared our morning coffee, his suck up gift lay curled up asleep in my lap.

“What are you going to name her?” he asked, looking far too smug for my liking.

I haven’t lived with the man all these years without knowing how to nip that kind of thing in the bud. I scratched at the kitten’s soft chin, smiled sweetly, and replied, “Pepper, of course.”

Oh, please. You didn’t think I was going to forget #2 and #3, did you?  

So here’s my happily ever after advice. Stand your ground. A good man loves a woman who knows her mind. Laugh with him as much as possible. It’s impossible to hold a grudge when you’re giggling. And learn the art of subtle revenge. You might just get a kitten out of it.

When Mac isn’t busy working on her own happily ever after, she spends her time weaving HEAs for her characters, like Gracie Gable, the heroine of To Win Her Love, book #1 of the Players series – on #SALE for $0.99 through this weekend in all formats at KensingtonBooks.

To win the game, they’ll have to risk losing their hearts…

When a bizarre child custody stipulation pits popular sports blogger Gracie Gable against football superstar Jake Malone, losing the battle for her twin nieces isn't the only thing Gracie has to worry about. Forced to live for three months under the same roof as the sexy tight end, will she fall prey to his flirtatious pursuit? Or worse, will the skeletons in her closet destroy her chance for the love and family she so desperately wants?

Neglected by his parents as a boy, Jake doesn’t believe in happily ever after. Yet living with Gracie and the twins might be enough to change his mind—and his womanizing ways. But when the press unearths a scandal from Gracie’s past, will he lose the one woman he was ready to open his heart to?

For more information on Mac's Players series, as well as her other titles, visit her at mackenziecrowne.com, Twitter or Facebook.

What the heck do headlights, trains, and little girls have to do with romance? by Mackenzie Crowne

One of the most commonly asked questions a writer receives is, Where do you get the ideas for your stories? The quick answer is, Everywhere. That’s because life provides the seed for every story, whether it be a song lyric that hits your ears at just the right time, a news headline, a funny comment overheard…

Photo © Adobe Stock 

Or something as simple as an elderly man holding a small valise and a bouquet of flowers as he waits for a train.

Last summer, I had the opportunity to attend the RWA convention in Manhattan. With thousands of romance authors roaming the city, I found myself grinning as I imagined how many romance seeds were planted that weekend. I did a little HEA farming myself, in Penn Station, no less. As I stood waiting for my train, my gaze was drawn to an elderly man waiting several feet away.

I smiled at the colorful flowers clutched in his thin hand and couldn’t help wondering, where are you going? Who are the flowers for? He looked adorable and quite dapper in his button down suit, complete with bow tie, a fedora tugged low on his brow. Of course, he must be meeting a woman. Who was she? And would she be charmed by his interest, or would she break his heart?

I write romance, and my characters are typically in their early thirties, so of course, my mind quickly slipped a young heroine into the picture. She’d sit next to the old man on the train and…

The possibilities are endless.

On the road to the compound

For me, at least, those seeds normally sprout sideways, never taking me where I first thought they would. Like the idea that came from the flash of headlights, believe it or not. My husband and I have a getaway cabin on the side of Mt. Graham east of Tucson. We call it our compound...long story. We were headed to the property late one night. It’s pretty rough terrain, with lots of sharp dips and steep climbs on the dirt road leading in. With no moon to guide us that night, the sky was pitch black. As we topped a rise, far off in the distance on another peak, a bright beam of light suddenly appeared, shooting straight into the sky.

Now, I live in Phoenix, and many here in the southwest would have immediately thought ALIENS! Because, you know. It’s the desert. That’s where the aliens always hang out. Seriously. Roswell isn’t far away. Anyway, I didn’t go the alien route. For whatever reason, I imagined the beam more like the light shining through a door that had suddenly been opened. A portal of sorts. One that could transport someone from one spot to another, anywhere in the world, and maybe, any time in the world. Oh, the possibilities...

You’re probably thinking, ah, Mac found the seed for a sci-fi time-travel romance set in the mountains of southern Arizona, but you’d be wrong. In the end, that seed bloomed into a contemporary fantasy romance set in Ireland. Yeah, I know. The odd path the story took threw me a little too, but that flash of headlights was the birth of my first published book.

Just over a year ago, a pair of twin girls I saw one day while shopping became the seed for what eventually morphed into Players, my sports romance series. Don’t ask me how I went from those cute little girls to an MMA champion finding his HEA with country music’s “It Girl” in book #3 in the series, To Win Her Heart. Even I can’t explain how my imagination works, but these days, I’m not fazed in the least when the seeds grow sideways. Instead, I embrace the possibilities and remember…they’re endless.

In order to protect her, they’ll both have to let their guards down…

Country music’s It Girl Jessi Tucker is fed up with her family’s stifling security measures. The threat of a dangerous stalker has gotten the men in her life—including her football star cousin, Tuck Tucker—monitoring her every move. To get the freedom she yearns for, Jessi hatches a plan to recruit Max Grayson, Tuck’s sexy brawler best friend, to play the role of her new boyfriend. But if her scheme works, will she be forced to hide her true romantic feelings for the sake of her independence? Or will she finally steal the heart of her dream man?...

Max has been pining for Jessi for years and would do anything to protect her, but a professional cage fighter with too many skeletons in his closet has no business being with one of America’s sweethearts. Yet while Max does his best to keep Jessi at arm’s length, the Tucker family persuades him to accept her offer.

Max believes he can keep Jessi safe from danger, but can he shelter her from his own dark secrets, the media’s unforgiving spotlight—and a mutual desire that’s harder to resist each day…

Players Series titles available in all formats at Kensington Publishing

Mackenzie Crowne writes contemporary romance with a side of sass. 

Her friends call her Mac. She hopes you will too. 

Visit her website at mackenziecrowne.com, find her on Facebook, or follow her on Twitter twitter.com/MacCrowne.