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Are you looking for a literary agent or at least a little feedback from an established agent? Then this is the contest for you!
What you can win: A read of your fiction manuscript by Barbara Poelle of the Irene Goodman Literary Agency
How it works:
(1) Click “Leave a Comment” below and post the title, genre, and first five sentences of your fiction manuscript on the comments of this blog. Email entries will not be accepted; all entries must be made in the comments section of this blog.
(2) A group of semifinalists will be selected from the lines posted. The list of semifinalists for round one will be posted here on the blog on March 7. Round Two will begin on March 7 and semifinalists will be posted on March 14, and Round Three will begin on March 14 and semifinalists will be posted on March 21.
(3) The semifinalists will be invited to send their first chapter and/or synopsis to Jennifer.
(4) One overall winner will be selected on or before March 28. That winner will be invited to send his/her manuscript to Barbara Poelle, who will read it for possible representation.
(5) Questions? Feel free to go to the contact page and send them in. Jennifer will respond as quickly as possible.
Example Entry:
Title: A Touch of Scandal
Genre: Historical Romance (1823 England)
First 5 sentences:
A bothersome heat crept into Kate’s cheeks as she hurried through the narrow, dimly lit passageway. If only she could learn how to hide her thoughts.Taking a deep breath, she forcefully slowed her step, squared her shoulders, and lowered her eyes. She was simply a servant, finished with her duties for the day, ready to take the three-mile walk home. Not a flustered woman rushing out to a secret secluded spot to watch a strange man—no, a god, more like—bathe in the nude.
The fine print:
You must be 18 years of age or older to enter this contest; no purchase necessary; void where prohibited. Judging is subjective, and judges’ names will not be revealed. If you enter this contest, you agree to be added to Jennifer Haymore’s newsletter list, which is sent out to subscribers quarterly. Personal information and email addresses are kept private and never shared. The semifinalists and winner’s names will be posted on the jenniferhaymore.com blog.
March 1st, 2010 at 3:17 am · Link
Title: Blood Purgatory
Genre: Paranormal Romance
First Five Sentences:
“Come on, just answer the door,” Cam pleaded under her breath.
She knocked for the third time, with a silent wish that the man-boy in the dorm room would be at least semi-handsome. Leaning against the doorjamb, she undid the belt of her long red duster. Her hand skimmed down the short, crimson silk teddy. Put on full display for the perfect seduction.
March 1st, 2010 at 3:49 am · Link
Title: Wicked Kin
Genre: Paranormal/Fantasy Romance
First 5 sentences:
Nathaniel’s footsteps crunched through hardened layers of snow blanketing the sidewalk. Yellow caution lights blinked overhead as he reached the four-way intersection dividing the town’s traffic flow into quarters.
His hand left the warmth of his jacket long enough to press the grungy yellow button mounted to one of the four poles used to support the webbing of overhead lights. With his eyes fixed on the pixilated red hand raised before him, he missed the first seconds of a chain reaction set into motion before the high-pitched screech of twisted metal reached his ears.
The explosion of sound made him flinch.
March 1st, 2010 at 8:59 am · Link
TITLE: A Demon Faerie Tale
GENRE: Paranormal
First Five:
Rough hair on male legs scratched the back of her thighs, satisfying an itch she hadn’t realized she had. His muscular thigh pushed between her legs and firmly against her clitoris. A trill swirled through her abdomen. The combination of enticing male aroma and scorching body heat wrapped her in a warm but fleeting cocoon of security. She dismissed the emotion as quickly as it came. Permanent wasn’t in her genes.
March 1st, 2010 at 9:15 am · Link
Title: Rough Transition
Genre: Romantic Suspense
First 5 Sentences:
How many people could a woman kill before she condemned her soul to hell?
Hayley shrugged and tightened her arm against her oversized purse. Hmm… Was that the taint of urban grunge, or a hint of Hades-bred sulphur drifting past her nostrils? Her lips tilted up in a faint smile.
March 1st, 2010 at 9:27 am · Link
Title: A Most Wicked Devil
Genre: Regency Set Historical Romance
First 5 sentences:
London, England
July, 1811
Nicholas Barrington, the seventh Duke of Ravenstone, feigned a look of utter boredom while he searched for any clue that would lead him to his prey.
Hidden menace lurked amidst the shrilling noise of twittering gossips and the breathless excitement of young ladies being wooed by potential suitors. Despite this, he saw nothing of any use on the faces of the gentlemen present. No sudden movements or nervous gestures to give away the identity of the one he sought.
He’d been in pursuit for five long years, each new piece of evidence bringing him a step closer to catching the elusive fiend.
March 1st, 2010 at 9:45 am · Link
Title: The Heir’s Return
Genre: Historical (Regency)
First Five Sentences:
Gabriel caught the rotted branch before she broke it over his head. A moment passed with only bark crumbling between them. He stared down into her frightened blue eyes. Eyes the color of waters he hadn’t seen in a year. They jerked him to his past, a place he didn’t want to leave then and now a place he never wanted to visit again.
March 1st, 2010 at 2:19 pm · Link
Title: Stone Kissed
Genre: Paranormal
First 5 sentences:
The sun had gilded him. The surf had seasoned him. Now Cecily ate him from the inside out, draining him on a kiss and a screw. The muscles in his back and shoulders melted beneath her palms as she sucked his life into hers. He was beautiful, this big, blond young god—an exchange student from Norway or Sweden or one of those other countries with a stupid-sounding guttural accent.
March 1st, 2010 at 2:47 pm · Link
Amanda Riley slammed out of the compact rental car, hit the lock button on her keys and made a half block mad dash to the church. The wedding march had already started. Cannon in D floated like a soft breeze through the organ flues and out the opened double doors.
“Geez,” she muttered, taking the steps to the entrance of the Old Catholic church two at time. She’d never hear the end of it. Her sheep’s wool couldn’t get any blacker.
March 1st, 2010 at 2:49 pm · Link
Title: Two Brothers
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Amanda Riley slammed out of the compact rental car, hit the lock button on her keys and made a half block mad dash to the church. The wedding march had already started. Cannon in D floated like a soft breeze through the organ flues and out the opened double doors.
“Geez,” she muttered, taking the steps to the entrance of the Old Catholic church two at time. She’d never hear the end of it. Her sheep’s wool couldn’t get any blacker.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:04 pm · Link
Title: Captive by Coercion
Genre: Regency Historical
First Five Sentences:
As usual, the baron didn’t linger after their tryst. His footsteps hadn’t faded in the hall when Belle and the two prostitutes she’d hired shifted off the bed. She didn’t pay much attention to the other two women—a tall willowy blonde and a voluptuous brunette—as they dressed. Aside from the blonde’s sympathetic smile, neither acknowledged Belle either. It didn’t matter; she didn’t need their small talk and she definitely didn’t want their sympathy.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:13 pm · Link
Title: The Cell
Genre: Mainstream w/ Romantic Elements
First Five:
Oliver Shaw craved death.
Cold concrete pressed against his cheek. Each second that trickled past magnified his awareness, until he could no longer deny the wretched truth. You’re still alive. The words whispered across his foggy brain, taunting him—mocking him.
March 1st, 2010 at 8:48 pm · Link
Title: Sand Castle Trilogy: The Sand Stalker
Genre: Contemporary
First Five:
Last night, she dreamed she killed Jackson McKenzie. Best idea she’d had in days, plus it wouldn’t be that hard. Hell, he was such an egotistical jackass. He deserved to die, preferably slow and painful.
March 1st, 2010 at 10:17 pm · Link
Title: The Golden Lady
Genre: Historical Romance (1704 Edinburgh)
First 5 sentences:
Renee stared out of her bedroom window, eyes unfocused,as tears coursed down her cheeks. Absently, her long supple fingers pleated the black sack cloth of her skirt. She drew a breath and held it until she was forced to release it or faint. No, she thought sadly, it still hurts, they are still gone. Still dead.
March 1st, 2010 at 10:51 pm · Link
Title: Vampire Eternal
Genre: Paranormal Romance
First 5 Sentences:
I’m dying.
He was lying on his back looking up at a high wood beam ceiling, his eyes heavy and unfocused. No, not dying, just waking from a nightmare. He felt oddly cold, as if his very life was slipping away from him, yet he was unquestionably regaining consciousness. He closed his bleary eyes, certain that he would wake up with the warm sun caressing his cheek, his mind and body rested.
March 1st, 2010 at 11:20 pm · Link
Okay…so far so good. I’m in, and no one is looking at me as if I’m here to rob the place. Isabella’s shaky sigh belied the calming thought. Unfortunately, her stomach’s rolling pitch also screamed the fact she was scared to death and way out of her league. Seated in a foyer larger than the three rooms of her apartment, which until now she’d thought quite spacious, she struggled not to pull up the plunging neckline of the slinky, barely-there dress she had been directed to wear.
March 1st, 2010 at 11:22 pm · Link
Title: His Obsession
Genre: Contemporary Series
First 5 Sentences:
Okay…so far so good. I’m in, and no one is looking at me as if I’m here to rob the place. Isabella’s shaky sigh belied the calming thought. Unfortunately, her stomach’s rolling pitch also screamed the fact she was scared to death and way out of her league. Seated in a foyer larger than the three rooms of her apartment, which until now she’d thought quite spacious, she struggled not to pull up the plunging neckline of the slinky, barely-there dress she had been directed to wear.
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:06 am · Link
Title: Thigh Noon
Genre: Contemp Series
First Five:
The offices of Outlaw Manufacturing, Inc. resembled a two-page glossy ad for a soulless, spawn-of-the-devil corporation and the only thing missing was the devil himself. A hulking shadow slid across the frosted window beside the door marked President and CEO. Nope, he was in residence after all.
Alexia stormed through the reception area and blew past the bubble-head seated behind the mahogany desk. The girl interrupted her nail filing long enough to halfheartedly call, “Would you like to make an appointment?”
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:26 am · Link
Title: Melody’s Song
Genre: Young Adult with light paranormal
First Five:
“Life is like…” I let me pen drift across my homework, drawing swirling circles, “A box of chocolates. That’s so lame. Why do mortals like similes so much? I mean, what idiot came up with ‘Money doesn’t grow on trees.’? How stupid is that one?”
March 2nd, 2010 at 11:21 am · Link
Title: After The Loving
Genre: Georgian
First 5-lines
The blast of cannons filled Isabelle Stanhope’s head as fear of the worst kind surged through her. Her life may end today.
The ship rocked from the attack, and passengers on the Night Angel screamed, running anywhere to find some safe place to hide. Moans and cries from the injured were nearly as deafening as the cannons. The words ‘pirate ship’ murmured all around her, and panic grew.
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:14 pm · Link
Title: The Sweetest Temptation
Genre: Regency-set
First 5 lines
Luscious, perfect breasts weighed in the palm of Lord Trey Worthington’s hands. Just the right size for his mouth.
He groaned, sweeping eager fingers across the rigid points straining against Lady Margaret’s bodice. With a heavy sigh, she closed her eyes and tilted her head back. The delicate skin at her throat beckoned him.
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:19 pm · Link
Title: Shattered Expectations
Genre: Contemporary Romance
First Five Sentences:
Brandon Knight’s sculpted physique blocked the stairs to her apartment as effectively as he’d barricaded her from the rest of her life. And to think that she’d slept with him.
Megan Carlton hitched her tangerine Kate Spade satchel higher on her shoulder and shot him a look she hoped would kill him. Unfortunately, her efforts were as weak as her bank account. He didn’t even move.
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:32 pm · Link
Title- Fire on Ice
Genre- Contemporary Romance
First five sentences-
Anna smiled as she slid her thumb down both sides of the two shiny steel blades. Perfect, Both blades honed to perfection. Sliding her foot into the boots, she moved her feet around, getting them just perfect before lacing them up snug around her ankles. Only a year old, she had spent countless hours breaking them in so they fit her perfectly. Continuing the same ritual she practiced since she began playing hockey at the age of six.
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:36 pm · Link
Title: Hometown Secrets
Genre: Contemporary Series Romance
First 5 sentences:
Her grandmother always said that driving a large vehicle was a man’s way of compensating for his other…um…masculine shortcomings.
Cait Meyers chuckled at the memory as she watched an enormous black Hummer rumble up to the full service pump at Gabe’s Gas Bar.
If Granny was right, the guy driving this monstrosity has some serious issues.
With a shake of her head Cait rested back against the side of her ancient silver hatchback as she pumped her gas and tried to dislodge the mental picture from her head.
Nope. No luck.
March 2nd, 2010 at 1:10 pm · Link
Title: Wet Abandon
Genre: Contemporary Romance
First 5 sentences:
“Hi ladies, free Wet Dreams on the house all night.”
Mia merely smiled at the muscular bouncer as he winked at her. She knew the drill by now and it was pointless to answer anyone over the pounding music anyway.
“I can’t believe you brought me to a bar called The Wet Dream.”
Mia laughed as Cameron all but yelled in her ear and not for the first time.
March 2nd, 2010 at 1:16 pm · Link
Title: Her Decision
Genre: Contemporary/Medical Romance
First 5 sentences:
Shelby Johnson arrived for her shift at Mesa View Regional Hospital a little early. Her friend Mary worked on the same floor; she came walking in with two cups of coffee in hand. Seeing Mary glowing with her pregnancy brought back bittersweet memories of the night Mary rushed to her side after the last horrible fight she had with James. Mary had sat listening to Shelby explain what had happened, letting her cry over her husband leaving after he told her he no longer loved her and didn’t want a baby. He had met someone else and had wanted out of their marriage.
March 2nd, 2010 at 1:35 pm · Link
Title: Loves Fugitive
Genre: Comtemporary Romance
First 5 sentences:
“You’re trespassing.”
The voice was deep, harsh and unmistakably masculine. Erin gasped and turned quickly. She immediately regretted the swift movement however, as acute pain sent a million tiny needles of agony shooting throughout her exhausted body.
Her mouth was suddenly dry and her throat felt like coarse sand paper as she tried to swallow. Her heart seemed to hesitate for an endless second before it resumed beating with such force she thought it might burst from her chest.
March 2nd, 2010 at 2:11 pm · Link
One of his favorite websites listed sixty-two quotes about hell. Just for kicks, Aeron Driscol read them one day as he was waiting for The Call, and he was ashamed to admit he found himself going back to that page every twenty-eight days thereafter, like clockwork. Some of the quotes were amusing, like, “Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company,” and some were philosophical, “Hell begins on the day when God grants us a clear vision of all that we might have achieved, of all the gifts which we have wasted, of all that we might have done which we did not do.” But only one was practical, “If you are going through hell, keep going.”
Now that was one piece of advice worth following.
March 2nd, 2010 at 2:13 pm · Link
Title: Soul Deep
Genre: paranormal romance
First five:
One of his favorite websites listed sixty-two quotes about hell. Just for kicks, Aeron Driscol read them one day as he was waiting for The Call, and he was ashamed to admit he found himself going back to that page every twenty-eight days thereafter, like clockwork. Some of the quotes were amusing, like, “Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company,” and some were philosophical, “Hell begins on the day when God grants us a clear vision of all that we might have achieved, of all the gifts which we have wasted, of all that we might have done which we did not do.” But only one was practical, “If you are going through hell, keep going.”
Now that was one piece of advice worth following.
March 2nd, 2010 at 2:54 pm · Link
Title: Annie’s Gift
Genre: Paranormal Romance
First Five:
She was killing him. She didn’t want to, but there was no way to stop it. Every time Annie fed Blaze, the latest casualty in this horrific situation, his body inched one step closer to death. She had to escape and take him with her. He was a victim just like her; victim to a madman who performed bloody, torturous experiments on vampires and then killed them with a cold-blooded disregard for life. And he called himself a doctor.
March 2nd, 2010 at 5:32 pm · Link
Title: Tangled Web
Genre: Erotic Fantasy Romance
First Five:
You’ll never find a knot you can’t unravel.
The soothsayer’s words mocked Azurha more loudly than usual tonight. She strained against the hemp ropes that bound her wrists and ankles to the thick wooden posts, reviving new trickles of blood down her copper brown arms.
For three days, she’d been forced to stand in the center of the room like this, a naked plaything for her master and his friends, enduring whatever sick fetishes they wanted to satisfy. Now, covered in blood, sweat, and other fluids she didn’t want to think about, she fought hard to keep her spirit from breaking.
March 2nd, 2010 at 6:26 pm · Link
Title: Stepping Out
Genre: Contemporary Series Romance
First Five:
Alice took a deep breath, smoothed the front of her white button down into her black skirt, and pulled open the heavy glass door of The Echo Corporation. Hopefully this was a bank. If they didn’t offer her a job, she could hold them up with her hot pink Swiss army knife.
The scowling woman behind the desk paused buzz shredding a pile of papers. “Are you here for the interview?
March 2nd, 2010 at 7:10 pm · Link
Title: Alchemy
Genre: Fantasy Romance
First Five:
Alesh spat out the bitter poison and flexed her fingers around the damp grip of her knife. She wiped the spittle from her lips. “Stay back, Zenos.” She willed her voice calm and steady, even as her heart pounded and nervous sweat stuck her shirt to her back. He wouldn’t know how much he had her panicked.
March 2nd, 2010 at 8:05 pm · Link
Title: Gatekeeper
Genre: Urban Fantasy
First 5 sentences:
Laurel’s eyes flew open. Her heart thudded madly as she clutched the bed sheets and wondered what the hell had woken her. With her head cocked she listened hard, straining her ears. After a few moments, she let out a long breath and a soft chuckle escaped her lips. It’s not like she’d been in the house long enough to recognize the normal creaks and groans of the century plus building, let alone anything unusual.
March 2nd, 2010 at 8:06 pm · Link
Title: Constance of the Carolinas
Genre: Historical Romance (Colonial America)
First Five Lines
A cannonball whistled over their heads and a percussive force slammed Connor Reid into a boulder. Pain vibrated in his bones and his muscles spasmed. Each breath was a struggle. Tears stung his eyes. Connor choked on the sulfuric smoke hanging in the thick swamp air, so he held his breath—and heard only silence.
March 2nd, 2010 at 8:32 pm · Link
Title: Assistant’s Secret
Genre: Contemporary
First five lines
Assassins were affordable.
In her line of work, sometimes they were also necessary.
Too bad domestic problems couldn’t be solved so simply. Ginger slammed her office door and locked it, moving into the darkened room, hands shaking, her face burning and bruised. Damn him.
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:20 pm · Link
Title: INCARNATE
Genre: Urban Fantasy
FIRST FIVE LINES
Something was not right.
I could feel it in my bones while I stood on the corner of Spadina and Queen Street, staring up at the night sky. Big, fat, white fluffy flakes floated down blanketing Toronto in a soft blanket; making the city look like a winter wonderland, rather than a concrete metropolis.
I hated the city.
Still, something was off.
March 2nd, 2010 at 10:44 pm · Link
Title: Fatal Visions
Genre: Urban Fantasy
FIRST FIVE LINES
“You’re hunted.”
J.C. Nikolaiev’s ears tingled at the understatement, a heat that warmed as the pressure in his mind expanded. He whipped around sharply at the voice, gaze searching through the shadows for movement, for the woman who’d spoken but he was alone.
“You don’t have time to ignore me,” the voice reprimanded harshly. “You need to get off the mountains.”
March 2nd, 2010 at 11:13 pm · Link
Title: Just Once
Genre: contemporary romance
First 5 Sentences:
Anticipation pulsed through Lucas Shaw’s body. In a very few minutes he would begin to resurrect the advertising firm his father had ruined with blatant neglect.
The plan was outrageous, bordering on the ridiculous, but the client was always right. And with a client as rich as Sanford North, eccentricity was the norm. This plan was just a bit more hands-on than Lucas expected.
March 2nd, 2010 at 11:32 pm · Link
Title: Lessons From a Scoundrel
Genre: Regency Romance
First 5:
“Mr. Cooper, I’d like for you to ruin me.”
Benjamin Cooper peered around the edge of his chair at the pale young woman standing a few feet away. Her gloved fingers tumbled over each other, betraying her trepidation. She wasn’t the usual type to request a liaison, and for a second, he wondered if he heard her correctly.
Her bottom lip quivered as she added, “Please.”
March 2nd, 2010 at 11:34 pm · Link
Title: Once in a Coyote Moon
Genre: Historical Paranormal
First Five:
He’s doing this on purpose just to humiliate me.
Diah Reynolds closed his fingers around the vial of black fire in his pocket while he stared at the front door of the “gentleman’s club” in the shadow of St. Louis Cathedral. Despite the pretentious airs it tried to put on, it was just a fancy whorehouse, a place for the elite in New Orleans to gorge their sexual appetites. A place no real gentleman would step foot in. But that’s where the hotel concierge told him he’d find his brother, Cager.
March 2nd, 2010 at 11:57 pm · Link
Title: Center Of Hell
Genre: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy
First Five Sentences:
Lyon Bishop’s brown boots shuffled along the crowded sidewalk that was Limbo. It was the first level of Hell. He’d expected it to be a bit hotter then what it was. Stopping in his tracks he wiped the sweat from his forehead and adjusted his beat up brown backpack so it stopped sliding off his shoulders. His brown leather jacket was stuffed into it along with various scrolls and other essential things he needed.
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:08 am · Link
Title: Ink
Genre: Paranormal Suspense
First Five Sentences:
Nothing made the man in the tailored suit memorable–no cleft chin, no razor-sharp cheekbones, no scars. A perfectly ordinary face, a perfectly unremarkable man, albeit dressed in an expensive suit and a silk tie–the second-best part of being William, in his opinion. He doubted the previous owner, the real William, felt the same.
He walked with a hitching stride, a sort of low-slung walk as if unaccustomed to the tailored fit of the pants–a far from ordinary gait. He kept his shoulders straight and his chin tipped down to shield his bland face from the glare of the streetlamps.
March 3rd, 2010 at 2:22 am · Link
TITLE: Shameless
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
First 5 Sentences:
Someone should have noticed the stop sign.
They hung out the windows of the stolen Mercury, screaming along with the Scorpions into the night. One of the boys, Carlos, swung a bat at each mailbox. His average was around .167, not even two for ten. If he hadn’t guzzled at least ten brewskies in the past hour, he’d have connected with more.
March 3rd, 2010 at 7:00 am · Link
Title: The Duke and The Time Pirate
Genre: Steampunk Romance
First Five:
All I had to do was steal back the Time Travel Mechanism that had been stolen from my dimwit brother, Bacon. After weeks of careful planning, I’d been one-hundred percent confident that the job would go off without a hitch. Such confidence seems a bit. . .well, naïve now. This assessment is substantiated by the fact that I am currently tethered by wrist and ankle to a wall in The Loony Duke of Leister’s torture chamber. Not ideal.
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:25 am · Link
Title: She’s Going Home
Genre: Contemporary Romance
First Five:
Just perfect. Five minutes in Easton, only just past the official welcome sign and sirens announced her arrival in town. This was so not the way things were supposed to go. On autopilot, Angie reached for the Michael Kors satchel on the black leather passenger seat for her license.
Within seconds, a police officer was at her window.
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:40 am · Link
Title: The Arcanum
Genre: Paranormal Romance
First Five Sentences:
The docks was a place avoided by most during the day, and only the brave and stupid ventured over its threshold at night. The call had been placed summoning the paramedics to an old waterfront factory, Sybil Augusta wasn’t even sure it was still in use. Like most things on the docks, it seemed to come to life at night, becoming a creature eager to devour a lost traveler. She wondered if the building might have even grown fangs. She could feel unseen eyes all over them and struggled not to shiver in anticipation of what they might find.
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:49 am · Link
Title: Touched by a Gladiator
Genre: Paranormal/Time Travel Romance
First 5 Sentences:
Petra Holtz lifted the long narrow box that sat on the passenger seat of her older model black Toyota Camry and cradled it in her arms while she used her body to shut the car door. She blew her bangs out of her face and headed for the front door of the large mansion. Having the air conditioning in her car break down on a hot summer day in Los Angeles, California was not fun. And having to ride around in said car for what seemed like hours just to pick up a package for her boss had not made Petra’s day. But as the personal assistant to a wealthy real estate investor, it was part and parcel of her job.
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:22 am · Link
Title: Hear The Thunder
Genre: Contemporary Romance
First Five Sentences:
Jake uttered a curse as the wind lifted his hat, buoying it up and away, just out of reach. He leaned from the saddle and made a swipe at it but fell short, pulling back before he overbalanced and tumbled to the dirt. The nicely turned brim made a perfect airfoil and he grudgingly admitted the lift was impressive. All admiration ceased when the wind abated and his new, custom-made hat dropped at his horse’s feet. The mare shied and Jake watched with dread certainty as she planted her hoof right on the crown, crushing it flat.
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:47 am · Link
Title: The Navy Lady
Genre: Historical Romance
Lady Phoebe Howard had been in and out of trouble all her life; but kidnapping was new ground, even for her. She grunted as her knees hit cold wet earth. The mud sucked to her legs, soaking the fine wool of her traveling dress. She inhaled sharply as a pain shot up her left arm, allowing the musty odor of damp rotting leaves to assail her nose.
Cursing the ancient tree roots that conspired against her escape, she scrambled to her feet. The inky night combined with the dense canopy of trees to swallow every hint of her surroundings.
March 3rd, 2010 at 3:16 pm · Link
Title: Return to Me
Genre: Contemporary Romance
The rain fell down in a torrent. A staccato drip and splash were indicative of the overflowing gutter right above the window. Kaity watched as the water made a hole in the dirt of the window box, and splashed mud up on the glass. She gripped her coffee mug tighter, trying to make its warmth penetrate her cold fingers. She was always cold these days. And always watching out the window–looking for someone who would never come.
March 3rd, 2010 at 7:23 pm · Link
Title: Shadow Dancer
Genre: Romantic Suspense/Paranormal
First Five Lines:
It took every ounce of control she possessed not to run.
Allison Stafford stood in the dusk-shrouded recess beneath the spreading branches of an ancient oak tree. The tree stood alone in a small clearing, seemingly forsaken, as if every tree around had taken two steps back from it, and yet it was surrounded on all sides by deep woods.
Lifting her chin, Allison studied the dusk-darkened branches of the oak and its encircling trees. She imagined the newly budded limbs arching above her as age-knotted arms and fingers stretching toward each other against a blue-gray sky.
March 4th, 2010 at 12:44 am · Link
Title: Falling Through Darkness
Genre: Urban Fantasy Erotic Romance
First Five Sentences:
She was certain they didn’t know about the vampire hidden beneath the floorboards. Surely if they had, they would have shot by now- into the wood, into her, into anything at all. She’d seen on the news what they’d done last week: strung those vampires up with silver, and left them to rot down to nothing.
And it seemed right to get rid of such awful things, it really did. Until one of them came begging, at your door.
March 4th, 2010 at 3:56 am · Link
Title: Siren Song
Genre: Paranormal Historical Erotic Romance
First Five Sentences:
“Not again, please, not again!”
Joan’s terror filled eyes shifted over the blood covered linoleum of the doughnut shop. She was halfway across the floor from her boyfriend’s corpse. The shooting had happened in seconds. Now the aftermath clattered around her as patrons ran for the door in panic.
March 4th, 2010 at 9:06 am · Link
Title: Secrets From Beyond
Genre: Paranormal Romance
First five sentences:
The sound of pounding hoof beats eating up the ground behind him sent shivers of warning racing up his spine. He hunched forward over his stallion and dug in his heals urging him to gallop faster. The powerful animal dropped down and with a burst of energy, shot forward. A shot rang out in the dark night and the rider dropped farther still down over his mount, hugging its powerful neck. The dark tree line he could just make out ahead of him in the quickly fading light of dusk.
March 4th, 2010 at 9:10 am · Link
Title: Secrets of the Gentleman Thief
Genre: Paranormal Romance
First five sentences:
As dark, silent and mysterious as the shadows that concealed him; he watched his quarry as he had for weeks now. Learning the faces and routines of the occupants of the house at twenty-two Mulberry Lane, aristocrats and staff alike down to the lowliest scullery maid, was essential to his success. And he was successful, always, never having been caught – unless he wished to be that is. He smiled to himself at that thought. Those who had ‘caught’ him entering their homes in the dead of night no doubt blushed profusely as they described the details of the encounter to their spouses, friends and the authorities.
March 4th, 2010 at 1:35 pm · Link
Title: Proper Young Ladies
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Regency Mystery
Rather than confining him to an eternity of pushing that bloody boulder uphill, the gods of Olympus would have done well to simply send Sisyphus to an English finishing school. And if society’s expectations and her gentle breeding would allow, any proper young lady would agree that surely this would be a much more effective means of torture.
Well, maybe not all young ladies. My darling, beloved stepsister Penelope claims to actually like attending Avery Academy. But then again – how shall I put this delicately? – Penelope Carlyle is not quite right in her head.
March 4th, 2010 at 1:45 pm · Link
Title: CODENAME: DANCER
Genre: YA mystery
My first hint that the devil was wearing Prada earmuffs and a Burberry scarf should’ve been when my parents gave in and let me go to the Tatiana Henderson School of the Arts. After all, they’d sworn up and down it would be a cold day in Hades before they let me move all the way across the country for high school.
I definitely didn’t inherit my Grandma Rose’s ESP — she’s what she calls ‘fey’ and my dad calls ‘crazy’ — or I would have realized that my world was about to be turned upside down.
But I guess it’s not all that surprising I’d missed all the signs. I mean, there’s not exactly much use for earmuffs and a scarf in Arizona.
March 4th, 2010 at 1:48 pm · Link
Title: Party Like It’s 1899
Genre: YA Time Travel
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single girl in possession of very little fortune should lust over designer shoes. And if only I’d bought those cherry red peep-toe pumps at Galeries Lafayette, the most unbelievable event of my entire nineteen years never would have happened.
I guess I should preface my statement, huh?
Have you ever thought that maybe you were living in the wrong era? And before you ask, no, I don’t mean finding VHS tapes useful.
March 4th, 2010 at 4:44 pm · Link
Title : BROKEN
Genre : Young Adult Paranormal Romance
First Five :
Freezing rain lashed the angel’s face and dripped rivulets down his bare chest and back, soaking the wool breeches he wore. He shoved the hair out of his eyes. A small procession left the church in the center of the square, the girl among them. Fetters around her ankles and wrists hindered her movement, and she stumbled in the mud. His feet slid forward, his body aching to help her.
March 4th, 2010 at 5:19 pm · Link
Title : REDD
Genre : Young Adult Paranormal
I’m cursed.
How can I not be with a name like Heaven? It’s like my parents deliberately tempted fate, and now, I’m paying for it. So I make everyone call me Redd – my hacker name. I’m a damn good hacker by the way.
March 4th, 2010 at 6:12 pm · Link
Title: Hearts on Fire
Genre: Contemporary
First Five Sentences:
The morning that the first fire was set in Northville, Angelica was busy at work winterizing her Aunt Mildred’s barn for the upcoming season. She usually did this in the last warm days of the fall, but winter had come early this year and there was already frost settling on the thick grass and fall flowers. Most people would have balked at the task, but she loved it. She had never once regretted the decision to leave Boston’s corporate America scene two years earlier. In a snap decision, she had abandoned her two to three hour daily commute, and traded her silver BMW in for a black pick-up truck.
March 4th, 2010 at 6:28 pm · Link
Title – Alexander’s Freedom
Genre – Paranormal Romance
“You cannot escape!” a thunderous voice boomed through the stillness of the forest, sending creatures scurrying in fright.
Like Hades I can’t, Alexander thought. He gritted his teeth, plunging on through the undergrowth while brambles tore his skin and sweat stung him like a thousand nettles. Nothing could have warned him about the trouble he was in – hell, he didn’t even know what kind of trouble it was – but he fervently wished he could go back and change what he’d done to anger this woman or whatever she was. His skull pounded in time with his footsteps; the wine he’d consumed was quickly wearing off, leaving him with a clearer, if not, more painful head and the knowledge that came with it – he was about to die at the hands of one very pissed-off goddess.
March 6th, 2010 at 8:03 pm · Link
Title: Dust
Genre: YA Horror
First 5 Sentences
Mrs. Norton stepped into the opening of her room. Feeling a frown tease at the corners of her lips, Miss Sweet quickly hid it away.
I should have known she was coming, she thought. That’s what psychics do, after all.
They know when the bad things are about to happen.
March 6th, 2010 at 11:39 pm · Link
Title: The Inside of Trees
Genre: YA paranormal romance
I feel like a criminal.
Glancing behind me as I pull out of the parking lot, I see a huge pair of caked-on red lips and caterpillar eyelashes in my side mirror. Eden said it would make me look older, but dang, I never expected this. She’s somehow added wrinkles to my otherwise smooth face, and huge muddy-blue bags under my eyes.
I guess it worked; I have two kegs in my backseat and I’m only 17.
March 8th, 2010 at 3:18 pm · Link
Title: Rachel’s War
Genre: WWII Romantic Thriller
Something was wrong, terribly wrong.
For Rachel Teitheim this was supposed to be the happiest day of her life, the day when she and David would at last seal their long and joyous future together. So why did some dark corner of her mind cling to the disquieting thought that instead of the joyous beginning of a new life, it was more likely the beginning of…what?
But the real mystery was why there should be any trepidation at all. Everything was absolutely perfect, just as she had dreamed for so many years.
March 8th, 2010 at 7:24 pm · Link
Title: Payback
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
First 5 sentences:
The gun wobbled in Tanner Bryant’s hand as he wiped the sweat trickling in his eyes. His thudding heart drowned out the sound around him. All day, he’d been calm, and cool, exacting every move. Everything had gone as planned until now. The longer he waited on the rafters, the more his nerves frayed.
March 9th, 2010 at 9:03 am · Link
Title: Queen and Assassin
Genre: Fantasy Romance
First 5 sentences:
“You’ve had enough,” Starrlyn said, her voice kind but firm.
In what had become a nightly ritual, she wiped down the glossy wooden bar where her extremely intoxicated customer, Rheub, had spilled what would be his final drink of the night. He was harmless but weak-willed and, despite her long-standing affection for the man, these episodes were both frustrating and annoying.
“You can’t tell me what to do, little girl.” The man’s slurred words were a clear challenge, and he followed them up with a swinging arm that she dodged easily.
March 9th, 2010 at 11:32 am · Link
Title: The Devil You Know
Genre: Fantasy
First Five Sentences:
Moments like these were rare, not to mention brief—Selia ignored the escalating noise in the tavern behind her. From the doorway, the King’s road shone under the pale moonlight and the stars glimmered in a velvet sky, for once, free of clouds. A loud curse shattered her reverie. No one, certainly not the Inlanders, soldiers, or even locals frequenting her establishment, seemed to appreciate a peaceful night sky. It was the price of having a tavern on the last crossroads before the Wastes.
March 9th, 2010 at 12:22 pm · Link
Title: Heart of Steel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
First Five Sentences:
It seems right now that all I’ve done in my life is make my way here to you.
Kara pressed the book to her breasts and sighed. She pictured the ruggedly handsome Clint Eastwood playing the part of Robert Kincaid when they turned The Bridges of Madison County into a movie.
If only men talked like this in real life.
Her gaze travelled over row upon row of bookcases filled to capacity. How she loved spending her lunch hours in this bookstore.
March 12th, 2010 at 6:25 pm · Link
Laird of Glencairn
Historical Erotic Romance
The tense silence stretched as the two gentlemen awaited the Laird’s reaction.
Alas, they noted only an outward display of boredom as he continued to install a Sapphire broach into the froth of lace at his throat.
‘What cause could the duke possibly have for wanting you dead, my Laird?”
“I suspect he merely intends to frighten me to the altar over a small lesson I was obliged to give one of his wards.”
“Ah, a lesson about why debutants should not chase after rakes, I take it?”
March 14th, 2010 at 1:01 pm · Link
Title: Vows of Convenience
Genre: Paranormal Historical Romance
First five sentences:
Although Catalina Balan was not given to a seditious nature she threw caution to the wind sneaking out of the Abbey at the crack of dawn. Confronting the ‘Vampire Slyer’ would not make Father Welsh happy, but since it was clear that Vladimir Dalca was taking advantage of her father’s superstitious nature she had no choice.
Catalina felt a flicker of apprehension as she urged the white stallion over the fence of the parochial property line. Upon impact she pressed the hunter into a full blown gallop. She was sure that once Father Welsh realized that the Mister Dalca was nothing but a charlatan he would forgive her for what she was about to do.
March 14th, 2010 at 3:28 pm · Link
RESTORING MITCH’S HEART
Contemporary Series
Grant Mitchell Thornton, III fell in love.
Though disheveled, she stood tall and proud. Her profile enchanted him, every quirky angle and curve. His heart raced as he imagined how they would fit under his hands. How she would look once he stripped layer after layer from her frame.
March 14th, 2010 at 3:43 pm · Link
Title – Secrets of A Spy’s Heart
Genre – Historical Romantic Suspense
Death comes to those who expect it. ‘Twas a truth whispered to Lady Madelaine Aldridge years earlier at the funeral of her mama and baby brother. In the years since that fateful day, Madelaine tried never to think on death for fear of losing her father who she held more dear than her own life. But as she stared at her father’s blood smeared chest and counted his wheezing breaths, she could not help but consider he might die. When a crack of thunder boomed outside, she tore her gaze from him and looked out the window into the black sky to see what weather brewed.
March 14th, 2010 at 3:44 pm · Link
opps! I thought this would post to the new round three. I’ll try there! Sorry!
March 14th, 2010 at 4:24 pm · Link
Title: EXILE
Genre: Romantic Suspense
First 5 sentences:
Dead center of a triangle formed by Roswell, the Trinity nuclear test site, and the ancient Indian burial grounds at Wagon Mound, is Exile, New Mexico, where a Native-American newborn was found in a dumpster. Three days after she rescued him, Mary Twohorse called authorities and begged them to take the boy, refusing to enter her home again until he was gone.
Chapter One
28 years later
When Sam saw Beck close his eyes, he knew lunch would have to wait.
“Red shirt, black pants, dirty, graying hair,” Beck said, “You’ll see him in a second.”
A moment later, when a middle-aged man, who eerily fit that description, passed in front of the diner’s window, Sam said, “That’s our target, guys.”
March 14th, 2010 at 4:37 pm · Link
Title: SHADOW HORSE
Genre: Futuristic Paranormal
“Danni?” An elbow jabbed her. “Who is he?”
Danielle Burke had gotten caught in the act of visual gluttony.
By the time she turned to respond, the ambassador’s wife was helping herself to a generous eyeful of the delectable stranger.
March 14th, 2010 at 4:40 pm · Link
Title: Rock and a Hard Place
Genre: Contemporary Romance
First 5 sentences:
“Countdown to launch, two minutes.”
Damien glanced at his Tag Heuer, set the stopwatch. The parachute felt comfortably heavy on his back, all systems were go. He leaned over the side of the balloon basket, the beautiful village of Avondvaart below his feet. Holland was stunning this time of year, all green trees and lush fields.
March 14th, 2010 at 4:49 pm · Link
Title: A SLAVE TO LOVE
Genre: Otherworld Paranormal
First 5 sentences:
Soon he would be dead. But the sword felt so good in his hand that even as his opponent circled, he reveled in its heft and balance, watched it gleam in the slits of dusty sunlight that scorned the rafters. Each swing of the weapon pained his shoulder and all his miserably awkward blows fell short. Yet it was good to be holding a sword again after all this time. He thanked the gods for this honor.
March 14th, 2010 at 6:21 pm · Link
Title: Par for the Course
Genre: Contemporary Romance
First 5 Sentences:
Her stomach dropped at almost the same time as the door opened behind her back, sending her tumbling high heels over hiphuggers. Fortunately, the Heinz 57 orange shag carpeting broke her fall. She scurried to her feet, denying all knowledge of what could be hiding in the 1970’s shag, and possibly exposing more of her backside that was wise.
A strong hand braced against the doorway she’d just fallen through like Alice in Wonderland down the rabbit hole. She followed the arm back to it’s source and discovered…perfection.
March 16th, 2010 at 8:40 am · Link
“Southern Diversion”
Mainstream with Romantic Elements
Gwyn Henderson stared across the conference table at the man who’d ditched her at the altar twenty-four years ago, leaving her to deal with three hundred sweaty guests roasting in the Chicago August sun.
Every day since, she’d played the what-if game. What if he’d shown up? What if she’d placed Aunt Thadea’s lucky penny in her shoe? What if she’d bludgeoned him to death with the heel of her white Italian stiletto when he showed up eleven hours late with the cheerleader in tow?
April 9th, 2013 at 10:52 pm · Link
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