The first chapter of BORROWING ALEX can now be read in its entirety on the DRB 1stChap Blog. Thank you DRB for featuring my book!
Category: Blue Orchard Books
Bestseller Fun–And an Apology
I keep forgetting to mention that, because of the Mother’s Day 99 cent sale for WHERE SHE BELONGS, the book hit the Kindle Top 100 Bestsellers for a day! Very excited about that. The book played around on the Kindle Top 100 Romance list for a few days, also Top 100 Contemporary Romance, and, as of this typing, although returning to regular price (still less than a latte), WHERE SHE BELONGS remains on the Kindle Top 100 Women’s Fiction-Romance list! It might not be there much longer, but it’s there now. Yip-and-yoodle!
I have to get excited about this stuff because I’m not a big enough name to hit the bestseller lists without the right advertising and sale prices. And the right advertising can be difficult to obtain.
Hey, while I’m mentioning Bestseller lists, WHERE SHE BELONGS hit the Contemporary Romance Bestsellers for Kobo, too. Way to go, Kobo!
Now the apology part. The book never did lower in price on the Barnes & Noble website. Correspondence occurred between my Nook assistant in the U.S. and the Nook folks, who said they’d try their best to lower the price before the sale. Alas, it did not occur and I’m sure the timing of the weekend didn’t help. The technical issue has now resolved, but the promotion has elapsed.
I am very sorry for those Nook readers who would have liked to buy the book on promotion and couldn’t. Please accept my apologies. It is frustrating enough that Nook readers often miss out on free book promotions, because the only way an indie book can go free on Nook at the moment is if it’s distributed through a third party like Smashwords or, coming soon, Draft2Digital. But not for indie authors going direct to Nook. While it’s usually relatively simple for an indie author to schedule a 99 cent promotion on Nook (dependant on obtaining the advertising necessary to drive the sale, the visibility, to readers), this time, uh, not so much.
In other exciting news, I caught the mother of all chest viruses over a week ago and am still recovering. That’s my excuse for not beginning to blog about my time in Australia. I’m still sorting through the photos. Plus, I’m working through a couple of critiques/line edits of my upcoming contemporary romance/mystery, PICTURE IMPERFECT. I figure, what would a reader rather me do, blog about my holidays or get a new release out? What, you mean you want me to do both?
I will see what I can do about that….
Mother’s Day Sale!
In celebration of Mother’s Day, my contemporary small-town romance, WHERE SHE BELONGS, which features a subplot about the healing of the relationship between mother and daughter (complete with Jess’s mom’s point-of-view scenes), is on sale for 99 pennies! From now until May 14th.
The book is available for 99 cents at Amazon, Amazon Canada (and other Amazons around the world), Kobo, Apple iBooks, and while it should be available for 99 cents at Nook as well, Nook Press has been glitching, and, as of this typing, the sale price hasn’t gone through. If you’re a Nook reader, keep checking the link. Hopefully it will lower by Sunday or Monday. Keep checking until May 15th.
WHERE SHE BELONGS has over 50 5-Star and over 50 4-Star reviews on Amazon, plus received a 4-Star review from RT BookReviews.
What’s it About?
She never wants to go home again.
For Jess Morgan, Destiny Falls holds too many painful memories. Nine years ago, a logging accident near the remote timber town killed her dad and her high school sweetheart. To make matters worse, her mother quickly sought comfort with another man. That choice tore Jess apart and drove her to seek a life far away. But now fate steps in, and family obligations force her return home. Before long, she’s convinced that persuading her mom to live with her in Toronto will repair their shattered bond. However, she doesn’t count on a long-ago friend re-entering her life and challenging her convictions.
Rugged forester Adam Wright believes in family, roots, and not running from heartache. Now, all he wants is to help Jess break down the walls of the lonely sanctuary she’s built for herself and heal her past hurts. It’s not until she rejects his plans for their future that he realizes his persistence is pushing her away—not at all what he intends.
Has he lost his chance? Or can he convince Jess that where she truly belongs is with him…forever?
Links!
NOOK (Please double-check that the book price has been lowered for NOOK before clicking to buy.)
My apologies about the pricing glitch at Barnes and Noble NOOK. Unfortunately, it’s not something I can control. Keep checking back on the NOOK link to see if B&N has corrected things on their end. The sales price might not be there now, but maybe by Sunday or Monday. Cross your fingers!
Double The Kisses Romantic Comedy Two-Book Bundle Release!
Sort of a new release!
My two romantic comedy novels, HEAD OVER HEELS and BORROWING ALEX, are now available in a two-book bundle titled, appropriately enough, DOUBLE THE KISSES ROMANTIC COMEDY TWO-BOOK BUNDLE: HEAD OVER HEELS and BORROWING ALEX. How’s that for emphasizing Search Engine Optimization?
Because DOUBLE THE KISSES is a bundle, there’s a cost savings per book. Yes, two complete novels for one low price! Very info-mercial. Buy once, read twice! Perfect if you haven’t yet read either book. Or, if you’ve read the original Amber Quill Press editions of the novels and would love to see how HEAD OVER HEELS and BORROWING ALEX were updated for the 2012 and 2013 releases, DOUBLE THE KISSES is a cost-efficient way to do so (both books were revised and re-edited and BORROWING ALEX includes two additional scenes over the previous edition).
I’m still catching up following our trip to Australia, so haven’t yet built a book page for DOUBLE THE KISSES on my website (bad Cindy), so here are the links to the major on-line e-tailers:
For readers from other countries who don’t purchase from the above Amazons, please check your home country’s Amazon site.
Apple iBooks (so easy when one link goes everywhere – thanks, Apple). Note, you must have iTunes installed on your computer for the link to work.
Of course, you can still buy the ebooks, audio books or trade paperbacks as individual editions. Check the HEAD OVER HEELS and BORROWING ALEX book pages for links.
I totally love the DOUBLE THE KISSES cover! All shiny and new, designed by talented Kim Killion of The Killion Group, the cover combines visual elements of the Blue Orchard Books editions of HEAD OVER HEELS and BORROWING ALEX (which you can check out by clicking on those links or eyeballing the blog sidebar on the right). Take a look:
Want to know about the books?
HEAD OVER HEELS – Set in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C., Canada
“What a set-up for a comedy of errors! Everything that can go wrong in this scenario does go wrong, and the reader is well entertained by the comedic chaos. If you like your romance with humor, you’ll love this one.” Fallen Angel Reviews
One tiny lie can cause a whole lot of trouble…
Magee Sinclair has had it up to her sassy short hairdo with the recent blunders pushing her family’s advertising agency to the brink. How can she accept the promotion her father plans when she keeps making costly mistakes? She needs to bring in more business however she can. So when new client Justin Kane asks her to role-play as his girlfriend for a weekend in exchange for a lucrative campaign, she jumps at the chance.
Justin’s goal to expand his chain of bike stores hinges on a distribution deal with a manufacturer. First, he needs to impress the man at a mountain resort while they bike trails with their significant others. But Justin’s girlfriend dumps him, forcing him to find a quick replacement. Magee—pretty, clever, and a skilled cyclist—is the perfect choice to masquerade as his “lover.”
Or so Justin thinks.
Because Magee is in major trouble. She knows no more about mountain biking than Justin does about demi-bras. Before long, an irate ex pops up, fake identities abound, and a whole lot of doors slam in the middle of the night. Yet, through the chaos, Magee and Justin discover what it really means to fall head over heels….
Length: 50,000 words. Includes mild cursing and love scenes.
BORROWING ALEX – Set in Seattle, Washington and also at fictional Lake Eden.
“I really like romantic comedy as a genre, but it takes some really good writing to make me laugh. This book made me laugh.” Fallen Angel Reviews
She’ll return him eventually. Or maybe not.
Nikki St. James wants to get married more than anything. But what’s she to do when her fiancé spends his days sucking up to her rich father instead of helping with the simple task of, oh, setting a date? Why…fake a fling with the best man, of course!
Nikki is the first to admit that ambushing Alex Hart and whisking him off to secluded Lake Eden is a tad desperate. But maybe pretending she’s hot for the handsome history professor will kick-start the attention of her future groom. Besides, a sojourn at a lakeside cabin is exactly what uptight Alex needs. Not that Nikki cares what he needs or how sexy he is….
Alex is not on-board with Nikki’s plan. Yeah, he’d love a break from his quest to achieve tenure at warp speed, but getting kidnapped by a crazy blonde hardly tops his to-do list. If what he’s heard is true and Nikki is perfectly happy with her ‘open’ engagement to his former college roommate, why bother getting married?
Quickly, he realizes Nikki isn’t a wild party girl at all. She’s cute, sweet—and faithful. Against his common sense, he’s falling for her. Should he spill the beans about her cheating fiancé? Or will he ruin his own chance for a happy ending?
Length: 50,00 words. Includes mild cursing and love scenes.
*Head Over Heels and Borrowing Alex are stand-alone romances that share the same comedic tones, over-the-stop situations, and wacky characters. The stories are unrelated and not part of a series.
Links again!
For readers from other countries who don’t purchase from the main Amazon, please check your home country’s Amazon site.
Now, back to catching up on business-of-writing and soon, very soon, back to writing itself!
Thanks for your support, my dear readers. Happy spring!
Trade Paperbacks for the Holidays!
Knowing me, it’ll take awhile before I add the info to the BORROWING ALEX book page, so I’ll update here that the trade paperback edition is now available not only on Amazon
The book is “in stock” on both the main Amazon
However, WHERE SHE BELONGS and HEAD OVER HEELS are both “in stock” at Canadian Amazon
BORROWING ALEX, as well as HEAD OVER HEELS and WHERE SHE BELONGS should also be available for Special Order from your local bookstore. Special Order means that the store can order them through the distributors Ingrams or Baker & Taylor, but whether the store WANTS to order them is another matter and out of my hands. There’s no harm in asking, though. These decisions vary from store to store, depending on whether they feel they can cover their overhead for ordering the book.
All three books are published by Blue Orchard Books. Here are the ISBNS (number identifying the book for bookstore staff to look up in their distribution networks for Special Orders):
BORROWING ALEX: 9780988088436
WHERE SHE BELONGS: 9780988088467
HEAD OVER HEELS: 9780988088429
Go forth and elf yourself. And don’t forget to spell Procter-King with an E!
Weekend Excitement on Kindle and NOOK Bestseller Lists
On Friday, my small-town contemporary romance, WHERE SHE BELONGS, started day 1 of a 10 day sale that culminates on Canadian Thanksgiving, which is October 14th. From Friday until then, WHERE SHE BELONGS is just 99 cents. The book has never been available at that price point before. In January, it had some free days with KDP Select (my one and only time in that program), and after the free days WHERE SHE BELONGS cracked the Kindle Top 100 Contemporary Romance list. Well, this weekend, at the 99 cent price point, WHERE SHE BELONGS not only hit the Kindle Top 100 Contemporary Romance Bestsellers, but also the Kindle Top 100 Romance Bestsellers AND the Kindle Top 100 Bestsellers in the store overall! It also climbed the Women’s Fiction charts, making it all the way to #4 for Women’s Fiction-Romance that I know of (what I saw when I wasn’t asleep). It’s still on the Women’s Fiction charts, at #15 for Women’s Fiction-Romance and #46 in Women’s Fiction overall! I’ve fallen off the Romance Top 100 Bestsellers but still have a toehold on Contemporary Romance as I type—at 98.
Over the weekend, I also appeared on Amazon Author Rank’s Top 100 Most Popular Contemporary Romance authors. I’ve fallen off now, so you’ll just have to believe me. 😉
The best numbers that I saw for my book were Saturday morning at 8 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. I have no clue what happened between 10 p.m. Friday night and 8 a.m. Saturday morning, so I can’t claim any #1 spots because I didn’t see them and I don’t know any way to check them after the fact. But here were the numbers for Kindle—I never expected to hit Top 100 Kindle Bestsellers!
– 58 Kindle Paid Store – all genres!
– 17 Romance – In the top 20!
– 13 Contemporary Romance – Top 15!
– 4 Women’s Fiction – Romance – Top 5!
– 8 Contemporary Fiction – Women’s Fiction – Top 10!
– 9 Women’s Fiction – Contemporary Women – Top 10!
I didn’t think to look at the general Women’s Fiction list until late on Saturday, so no idea what was my best number there.
WHERE SHE BELONGS also climbed the NOOK Top 100 Bestsellers, hitting #11 that I saw. And it’s still there, hanging on at #90.
That was something else I didn’t expect. And, guess what? I actually sold some books at Kobo Friday and Saturday! Kobo remains mainly a mystery to me when it comes to book sales, so selling 20 books was very exciting. 😉
The sale continues at the following outlets: Amazon – including Amazon Canada and Amazons around the world