Release Celebration YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME!!

The Mirabelle Harbor series is well underway, and I can’t express how excited I am about the release of the latest story — YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME!!! (It’s available on Amazon Kindle worldwide and, also, in paperback!) And today we’re going to have a PARTY!!!

What’s most exciting about getting to celebrate the release here on Jane Austen Variations is that, while all of the books in this contemporary series have nods to our beloved Jane, this new novel, which can be read as standalone story, involves a heroine who’s an avid reader of JAFF 😀 . Vicky Bernier, high-school French teacher, is a lifelong romantic who speaks “the language of love” and immerses herself in romance novels. Blake Michaelsen is a local DJ for 102.5 “Love” FM, but he’s anything but a fan of romance. In fact, one of his deepest secrets is that he doesn’t believe in true love. A match made in heaven, right?! LOL.

There’s even a story within the story… I’ve included the start of a JAFF novel that I’m very tempted to complete someday! Here’s a tiny taste of it from the book.

***
Blake saw my e-reader on the end table. “May I take a look?”

“Sure. No romance bashing this time, though.”

He clicked it on and it opened to a story I’d recently downloaded. It was the first in a multi-part romantic serial called Alternate Austen, and Part One was entitled “Pride, Prejudice, and Parallel Universes.”

He squinted at the electronic text and then started reading aloud:

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good intergalactic transportation device, must be in want of an interstellar mission.

He grinned. “Seriously?”

“It’s fiction, Blake. Fun, romantic Austen-inspired fiction.”

He continued reading aloud in his skilled and devilishly sexy radio voice:

Captain James Fitzwilliam, commanding officer of the Starship Pemberley, turned to his second in command, Leonard Charles, and barked out his twenty-sixth order in half as many minutes.

“Activate the cloaking device and set us on course eighty degrees due west toward Alpha Centauri,” Fitzwilliam said. “We’ve gotten a report from Federation Headquarters of a disturbance near the Brighton-Hunsford System.”

Charles checked the graphics on his screen and frowned. “There’s a documented black hole in the region, Captain. We’re going to need to steer clear of the center and set our coordinates off to the northeastern side to avoid being drawn into its dark mass…”

***
I have a different excerpt up on my blog HERE and yet another on my website HERE, if you’d like to get a peek at a few other scenes from the book. (Note: There is R-rated language and a couple of adult scenes in this novel.)

I also have some big series news! The 4th book, STRANGER ON THE SHORE will be out this spring. This is the story many of you may remember as “Gifts by the Shore” — it’s my nod to Sense & Sensibility, featuring modern-day sisters Marianna and Ellen. I’m so excited that I’ll get to finally share the finished book with you!!

And now for the GIVEAWAYS!! In celebration of the You Give Love a Bad Name release, I’m giving away one signed paperback of the new novel to one commenter below! (All giveaways are open internationally.) I’m also giving away an ebook copy of the first book in the series — Take a Chance on Me — and an ebook copy of the second book in the series — The One That I Want — to additional commenters! AND, because this has been a month of celebrating the lovely Jane Bennet from Pride & Prejudice, I’ll also give away to one commenter an ebook copy of my modern Jane & Bingley story, Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Bet! (All ebook winners will have their choice of mobi, epub, or pdf format.)

For anyone who might not be familiar with that novel, it’s a contemporary romance set in Chicago and a standalone companion book to my Elizabeth & Darcy story, Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Match. Here’s a short excerpt from Jane and Bingley’s ‘Perfect Bet’ :

Finally, the procession out of the church began, and Jane, as maid of honor, had to walk back down the aisle with Bingley. Oh, joy.

“Delightful ceremony,” he pronounced loudly, insuring that everyone nearby would hear, as he formally offered her his arm. But he looked at her as if he’d much rather promenade with a python.

“I agree,” she said, smiling tightly and playing the part.

He cast an absolutely ecstatic grin at the friends and family in attendance as the two of them took their first steps toward the church’s vestibule. “Only the receiving line and the final pictures,” he hissed, his lips near her ear as if sharing a secret. “And then I can start getting drunk. I plan to be pretty damn buzzed before our special dance.”

She leaned closer to him and hissed right back, “So funny! I was thinking exactly the same thing.”

“Yeah? I remember the last time you got your hands on some champagne, Jane. Who are you gonna be making out with tonight?”

She gripped his arm perhaps a little more forcefully than necessary. “Not you.”

He winced but didn’t stop walking or faux grinning at the congregation. “Oh, I wasn’t offering, sweetheart. I’ve already been burned once. I don’t do second chances.”

She gulped. To her ear, he sounded hurt, which both surprised her and pissed her off. He was acting like some innocent in the whole thing. Like he hadn’t been trying to take advantage of her–one way or another. That he hadn’t made a bet that involved her. Ha. She’d tear him apart limb by limb, this very second, in fact, if it wouldn’t ruin her dress before the reception.

Beth and Will had stopped just up ahead of them and were getting ready to greet their guests in the receiving line. Before Jane pulled away from Bingley to dutifully take her place next to the bride, she gave the quote-unquote “best man” her parting shot. “I don’t do second chances either,” she informed him. “And, for the record, you might as well pay up Dustin and buy your own beer because there’s no way you’ll win your gamble with him. At least not with my help.”

Jane had the satisfaction of seeing him freeze in his spot, a look of shock and confusion on his handsome face, as she turned her back to him.

Now that she’d told him off at last, he’d have to stay away from her, except when their attendant duties made interaction absolutely necessary. Seriously, how much more trouble could the guy cause in less than twenty-four hours, right?

Right.

***

If you live in the U.S. or anywhere in the world where the NBC TV program “Chicago Fire” is shown, I was lucky enough to be an extra on the set of episode #412, which airs tomorrow night, Tuesday, January 26th, at 10pm Eastern/9pm Central!!! (If you follow me on Facebook or read this JAV post last month, you’ve probably already heard a lot about this, LOL. I also posted a little about the experience on my blog HERE.) I won’t know for sure until tomorrow night if the two scenes I was in made it to the screen, but it was incredibly exciting just getting to be a little part of one TV episode! If you could be on a television show — past or present — which one would it be?

UPDATE!!!
I was visible for about 2 seconds in the episode last night, LOL!! They cut one of the hallway scenes, but I’m in this second one, walking down the hall, away from the camera. See where the yellow arrow is pointing? 😀