Unwrapping a Spotlight/Guest Post for JOSHUA, a Risking Love novel by Callie Carmen

Hi to all my lovely readers, I hope you’re all well and staying safe. Today, I’m thrilled to spotlight a new book coming from Callie Carmen, author of the Risking Love series. JOSHUA (book 5) is now available for Pre-Order and will be officially releasing on December 1, 2020. You can pre-order it now for 99¢!

Amazon

Blurb for JOSHUA:

Bella spent the last year with a man that barely touched her. It was high time that she got some hot, passionate sex. The only problem was it couldn’t be with just anybody. It had to be with someone special.

Should she choose the gorgeous club owner? Or the mysterious, sexy businessman? Which of them would let her explore a secret desire for a little non-vanilla passion in and out of the bedroom? 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

In the meantime, I’m turning the blog over to Callie so she can tell you a bit more about the book and what inspired the setting for JOSHUA, as well as share an excerpt with you. Enjoy!

Callie, welcome to Unwrapping Romance. It’s a delight to have you here and I wish you much success with JOSHUA and your ongoing series.

Hi Amy,

Thank you for having me on your wonderful blog today.

Bella brought Joshua to her family’s cottage on the lake for their second date. She wanted some alone time with him before he left for the United Kingdom.

 When I researched the horse ranches of Kentucky, I found this lovely Winfield Ranch. It is much like the Winfield family farm where Josh grew up. If you are interested in starting your own horse ranch this one is on sale for only $2,900,000. Get those checkbooks out!

 

Josh has two women in his life and because of a family emergency he finds himself having to bring both home with him at the same time.

Click the link to see a video of the Three Chimney’s Farm which was home to Seattle Slew. http://www.threechimneys.com/

It is similar to the Winfield’s farm where Josh learned to ride and care for their thoroughbred horses. It was worth watching to see how beautifully these horses are cared for. 

In case, you haven’t seen enough this site has a video of the gorgeous Claiborne Farm which had been home to Secretariat. https://claibornefarm.com/visit/  

Scroll down the website page to find the video.

Excerpt from JOSHUA:

 Bella

    Ava got out of the truck and hugged Josh. It felt like a slap to my face.

She peeked around his shoulder and looked at me like I had two heads.

“Who’s this?” She didn’t smile.

Josh introduced us. Not as my girlfriend Bella. Just Bell. I had to admit that was my fault. After all, I had told him I was going to date while he was away. He didn’t introduce her as his girlfriend, Ava. Just Ava.

“It was nice to meet you, Bella. I hope you understand, but Josh and I have to hit the road. We’ve got a plane to catch.”

She climbed into the driver’s seat, and he looked at me and winced. He put out his hand to help me into the truck. I didn’t take it. There was no way I was sitting next to her. I shook my head, and he took the hint and climbed into the middle seat. As I climbed in, I heard him tell blondie I was coming.

“What? Is she taking the truck back home for you?”

“No, I’m taking her home with me.”

I reached for my seatbelt looked up and saw her eyes had rounded and her hand squeezed his forearm. She pulled away when she saw me watching. She wanted nothing to do with me going on this trip.

 

 

PROMOTIONAL SALE FROM BLACK VELVET SEDUCTIONS FOR THE RISKING LOVE SERIES TO CELEBRATE THE PUBLICATION OF 

JOSHUA BY CALLIE CARMEN

 

JOSHUA (Risking Love Book 5)

Pre-Order Available Now for the ebook—only .99c for a limited time

Paperback Coming Soon

PATRICK (Risking Love Book 1)

Jaq had no interest in a serious relationship because life at an early age had taught her that men weren’t to be trusted. But she met Patrick who soon had her thinking about risking her heart.

For Patrick the time for Jaq dating other men had ended. He wanted her all to himself. But would she stay if she knew the secrets of his past? Patrick wasn’t the only man who wanted Jaq, and the other man was willing to kill to have her.  

Patrick (Risking Love Book 1) 

Ebook Sale .99c through 12/31.

 

Risking Love Box Set (eBooks 1-4)

Take a risk on the Risking Love novels about six friends that are always there for each other. The Risking Love books are an emotionally charged exploration of the search for love and truth—in their relationships, their careers, and their hearts. These romantic stories will have you laughing, crying, and your heart racing. 

The Risking Love Box Set

Box Set (eBooks 1-4) 50% off only $5.98 through 12/31—regularly $11.96

 

Read all Risking Love novels as standalone books or as part of the series.

Feel free to stalk CALLIE CARMEN at: 

Facebook | Facebook Author Page | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Pinterest | LinkedIn | MeWe | BookBub | Her Website

 

Order Your Copy Now for Only 99¢

Unwrapping a Special Guest & Guest Post: Callie Carmen, author of the Risking Love series and the upcoming new novel, ANTHONY w/#excerpt

Coming April 1, 2020 - Pre-Order available now!

Today, I have a special guest visiting Unwrapping Romance. 

It’s been a long while since we’ve had a visitor so I’m most excited. 

Today’s guest is a fellow author, Callie Carmen. 

I hope everyone will join me in making her feel very welcome.

Welcome to Unwrapping Romance, Callie…

Callie: Thank you for having me as a guest on your wonderful blog today.

Unwrapping Romance: It’s a pleasure to have you here. I understand you have a new book coming out soon in your Risking Love series.

Callie: I do. This is an exciting time for me as a writer. My book Anthony (Risking Love Book Four) just became available for pre-order and the ebook is only 99¢ until the publication date, April 1. The paperback will be available soon if not already by the time this blog comes out. Here’s a little excerpt from Anthony and some information that I found helpful on show-don’t-tell. I hope you enjoy them.

EXCERPT from ANTHONY

By Callie Carmen

Anthony

Late that afternoon, I entered the accounting firm. It was so quiet without James at the reception desk. I felt my racing pulse in my eardrums. This would be the first time I’d seen Tessa since I’d walked out on her at the wedding. My stomach was in knots. I looked down the hallway and saw that there was only one light on, and it was coming from her office.

God, if she was here alone I’d be tempted to pull her out of her chair, lift her into my arms, and kiss her until she couldn’t breathe. Then I’d lay her across the desk, lift her dress, take off her panties, and taste her.

I decided to skip warning her that I was there. I wanted to see her reaction when I entered her office.

Tessa hopped up from behind her desk as soon as I walked in. Her hands shook, and I could tell that she was as nervous as I was.

“H–hello, Tony, how are you?” Damn it, even her voice was shaky.

I shoved my hands in my pockets and felt a heaviness on my shoulders.

“Hey, Tessa. You’re looking beautiful as ever.” I looked her up and down as she put her hand across her desk for a business handshake, but her pupils were dilated and she looked full of hope or possibility. I wasn’t quite sure which, but I liked it. Maybe I could salvage the mess I’d made.

SETTING SIGHTS ON IMPROVING ALL THE TIME
by Callie Carmen

As a writer, I’m committed to improving my craft daily. I find so many ways to do that with articles, books on the subject, and blogs that authors have written. My editor, Laurie Sanders, is a wealth of information. She even teaches classes on how to become a better writer. My publisher, Richard Savage of Black Velvet Seductions always has helpful ideas.

And then there’s Google. It sometimes feels like a close intimate friend. One that I can ask just about anything. And believe me I do. If I showed my Google research history to any of my friends, they’d think someone that looks like me had replaced me.

Today, I was working on JOSHUA (Risking Love Book Five). I wanted a new way to describe puppy-dog-eyes. So I Googled it. I was pleasantly surprised to find this facial cheat sheet blog with pictures put together by Nicholas C. Rossis. It didn’t give pleading as an example, but I found these seven emotions shown as show-don’t-tell helpful. I thought you might too.

Show-don’t-tell cheat sheet: facial expressions

Mar 9, 2014 | Blog hops tours & reblogs, Writing

Authors often struggle with depictions of emotions. We’re supposed to show them, describe them. For example, “she was surprised by this” is a big no-no, and considered lazy writing.  “Her eyes widened and her mouth slacked”, on the other hand, gives us the very image of surprise, without ever mentioning the word.

As you can imagine, this can be tough. But fear not, for thirty years ago, Paul Ekman did cross-cultural research and identified seven basic human emotions. He identified the seven basic emotions through facial expressions. No matter where in the world, what culture, class, race, gender, or lighting, these seven facial expressions were identified across the board:

Unwrapping Romance: Thank you so very much for the fun insight into expressions, Callie, and wishing you the best of luck with Anthony. Come back again, you're always welcome.

I hope everyone will check out Anthony as well as the other sexy men in the Risking Love series. 

Happy Reading Everyone!  

FIND OUT MORE AT ABOUT CALLIE CARMEN and her Books

 Where to buy her books:

PATRICK books2read.com/u/3krqEW

NICOLAS http://books2read.com/u/mqVGQv 

JOSEPH https://books2read.com/u/3npADB

ANTHONY https://books2read.com/u/bx81ze

MYSTIC DESIRE https://amzn.to/322Ziq3

CRAVING LOYALTY http://getBook.at/CravingLoyalty

Where to follow Callie on Social Media:

Facebook | FB Author page | Twitter | Instagram | MeWe | Goodreads

Linkedin | Tumblr | Pinterest | Website | Amazon | Bookbub

Unwrapping a Cover Reveal for JOSEPH, book three in the Risking Love series by Callie Carmen w/Excerpt

JOSEPH

the Risking Love series – Book 3

Callie Carmen

Available for pre-order now at only 99¢

**price will go up on release day, November 14, 2019**
at
Amazon

Violet had experienced a lot of loss in her life. She wasn't sure if she could ever trust love again. That was until she fell for Joseph. The problem was he belonged to her friend, Bella. Could Violet risk her friendship over a man? If she did break that friendship, would it destroy her relationship with her closest girlfriends forever?

If Violet risked her heart again and had a night of uncontrolled passion, would he abandon her like the others she had loved? Or would Joseph be her salvation?

JOSEPH is the third novel in the Risking Love series.

The stories chart a group of friends through life and love.

These steamy stories will have you laughing, crying, and have your heart racing.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

  

EXCERPT:

Violet

At the back of the church, I stood in the receiving line greeting all of the guests. “Violet, sei troppo bella.” I had to smile at Bella because she was always throwing out Italian hand gestures or words and we’d gotten pretty good at knowing what most of them meant, and in this case, she thought I looked beautiful. “At the reception, us girls would have to be sure to make time to hit the dance floor together.”

“Thank you, and as always, Bella, you look beautiful, too. I can’t wait to hit the dance floor with you and our other friends. Especially since I don’t have a date for this event.”

She leaned in and whispered, “Then you’ll probably have a lot more fun than me.” She slightly nodded her head to the right toward Joseph.

I grimaced. Clearly, she was over him. Thank goodness for that. Maybe if something happened between Joseph and me, I’d be able to salvage my relationship with Bella. God, I hoped so. It was important I talk with her about my feelings for Joseph as soon as possible. I wanted to be honest and upfront with her and let her know I wanted to be with him. Hopefully, she’d approve, but if she didn’t I had to follow my heart. She hugged me, then moved on to the next person in line.

I turned back to greet the next guest, and it was Joseph. He pulled me in for a hug, kissed my cheek, then whispered in my ear, “Sorry to hear that you don’t have a date. The single men will be lining up to dance with you.” His breath on my neck caused me to shiver, and I felt my nipples change into tight pebbled points. “Please save a slow dance for me.”

A nod was all I could muster to confirm that I would indeed save him a dance. When I looked down, I saw that my nipples looked like two missiles ready to launch. How embarrassing.

His eyes had followed mine to my breasts, and the sound of his elongated hiss shot through my body, ending at my clit. We lifted our gazes, and our eyes met. I saw that his were dilated and flashes of light were shooting through them like sparklers that would be lit later tonight at the Memorial Day weekend fireworks celebration.

Thank heavens, he kissed my cheek again and quickly moved on down the line. After that encounter, the rest of the guests who came through the line were a blur because my mind had moved on to fantasies of being wrapped in his arms on the dance floor. I felt like a character in one of the romance novels I like to read.

                                           ~*~*~*~*~*~*~

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

 

I started in the book business as a bookstore manager which was the perfect place for me since I was an avid reader. After two years, I moved to the corporate office as a buyer and eventually became a senior book buyer. This was a rewarding career that I loved.

Along the way, I decided to become a stay home Mom. I couldn't give up working around books altogether. I volunteered to run the book fairs in our small farm town, six per year. At the same time, I started and ran for five years, A Child Oasis Company, with the sole purpose of placing a small book library in the homes of all the needy children in the nearby city. As my children became teens, I found I needed more in my personal life than the volunteer Mom for the schools. I sat down at the computer one day and Patrick, book one of the Risking Love series, was born. Book two, Nicolas is now available and receiving five star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. Joseph book is now available for preorder. My latest publication adventure is Dream Catcher which is a short story as part of the Mystic Desire Anthology.

I am lucky that I found my soul mate and married him. Like my characters, I am a firm believer in true love and love at first sight.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Bookbub | Goodreads

And be sure to check out Callie’s other books in this series.

PATRICK, book one by Callie Carmen

NICOLAS, book two by Callie Carmen