Friday Fun Facts: Time for a Trailer!

TGIF, readers! For your viewing pleasure today, the trailer for Cocktail Cruises: The Collection. (Authors, check out Animoto to make free 30-second videos like this one. I love it!)

 

Cocktail Cruises: The Collection

Writers' Wednesday: Spotlight on Featured Author Marianne Sciucco

Welcome Wednesday readers! It's time to feature another of the contributing authors from Cocktail Cruises: The Collection. This week's spotlight is on Marianne Sciucco, whose first novel Blue Hydrangeas has garnered almost 100 4+ stars on Amazon and is the story of a couple facing the challenge of Alzheimer's. Marianne's cocktail recipe in the Cocktail Cruises Collection is, fittingly, the Blue Hydrangea, a twist on the traditional Cape Codder. Tempting, right?

For more about Marianne and her work, read on:

Hi Allie. Thanks so much for sharing some space with me on your blog and letting me speak to your readers. I'm so excited about my latest book project, a YA novel called Swim Season, the story of high school swimmer Aerin Keane, the new girl on the team who challenges a longstanding school record. 

I’ve been writing forever and indie-published my first novel, Blue Hydrangeas, last year. Like so many writers, I wear many hats, one of which is called “Swim Mom.”  I’ve shuttled my daughter to swim meets and swim practice for years, and now follow her across state lines during her college swimming career. All those hours sitting on cold, metal bleachers waiting to watch her swim for a minute or two gave me more than a sore you-know-what: It inspired me to write this book.

My goal was to write a story about the whole high school swimming experience, to show others who may not be as familiar with the sport how much fun it is and how hard these kids work. I started it four years ago and will soon have a completed manuscript. The plan is to publish in spring 2015. 

In Swim Season, Aerin is determined to leave her troubles behind as she starts her senior year in her third high school.  Senior year is supposed to be fun, right? Friends. Parties. Dating.  She wants to be like every other girl at Two Rivers. Except Aerin has two secrets: Her mom is not a nurse serving in Afghanistan (a twist on the truth) and she is not an average varsity swimmer (an untruth of epic proportions.) Ready to give up her dreams of a college swimming scholarship and a shot at the Olympics, Aerin decides she doesn't want to win anymore, she wants to swim for fun, it's her "therapy."  But when her desire to be just "one of the girls on the team" collides with her desire to be the best this school has ever seen, Aerin sacrifices her new friendships to challenge a longstanding school record attached to a $50,000 scholarship.

Here's a sneak peek: 

As soon as classes ended for the day, the team gathered on the pool deck dressed in our warm up suits, swimsuits underneath. The chatter was at a feverish pitch as the girls assembled into their tiny groups, the newbies huddling together at the end of the bench, watching as Coach and a few members of the boys’ team set up equipment for the meet. Some of the newbies looked terrified, including Charlie, who gave me a weak smile when I said hello. This was her first meet with the big girls, and she’d been talking about nothing else the last two days. She was petrified she’d make a mistake, be disqualified, or swim the wrong stroke. No matter how much Mel and I tried to convince her she had nothing to worry about she continued to bite her nails to the nubs and fear the worst.

The seniors staked out their own spot on the other end of the bench, joking amongst themselves, much more relaxed than the newbies. All of them had been on the team for several years, some as many as five. I was the only one who had never competed in this pool. I didn’t think it would be any different from any other swim meet. I leaned against the wall with Mel and Erica, waiting for Coach to come over and give us our pre-meet pep talk and plan of action. Our opponent had not yet arrived.

Coach walked over with his clipboard in hand. “Over here, girls,” he said, bringing us in close. “This is our first meet and we’re lucky it’s against the Hawks. We beat them most every time. This year they’re pretty thin. They lost their powerhouse senior, and haven’t replaced her with anyone as dynamic that we know of today. So, you can feel confident we’ll win again, but don’t feel too confident because I heard they’ve got a couple of foreign exchange students they’re keeping under wraps. We don’t know too much about them and they could surprise us. It’s happened before. They swim distance and butterfly, so Tatiana and Erica, you need to pay attention to what’s happening in the next lane, ok?”

He turned toward the newbies. “I want every one of you to take a few breaths.” He demonstrated some relaxation breathing. “And relax,” he said, smiling. “You’re all going to do fine. You’ll each swim one event, and some of you will swim two and a relay.” He looked at Charlie. “Just get in the water and do what you know how to do.”

They looked at him gratefully, an audible sigh of relief passing between them.

“Now, here’s the lineup,” Coach said. “I had to mix it up a little bit to cover all our bases.” He went through the order of events, announcing who would compete in each one. There were a few moans and a couple of groans from swimmers unhappy with their events. No one liked to race out of her comfort zone and many preferred to do what she did best. Only a few girls excelled in more than one stroke. I was not one of them. Coach had me in the 200 and the 500 freestyles, plus on the “B” team for the 200 and 400 free relays. No surprises. I figured I’d pace myself to a third or fourth place finish, maybe fifth, which would still earn points for the team. No way would I come in last. That never happened.

“Now, everybody in the pool for warm up,” Coach ordered.

We jumped into our assigned lanes and started easy laps, warming up our muscles, preparing ourselves for the impending races. I moved through the water languidly, stretching my arms and legs as far as possible, taking easy breaths on the third stroke. I shared my lane with four other swimmers and we stayed out of each other’s way. I executed smooth flip turns, not losing any speed, and glided from wall to wall. After about twenty laps, I stopped in the shallow end to catch my breath. Mel was in the next lane.

“Here they are,” she said, out of breath, her face red. I looked behind me and saw our opponents emerge from the visitors’ locker room in their red and white warm up suits. In minutes, they had stripped to their swimsuits.

“Wow,” I said. “They’re pretty big.”

“Not really,” said Mel. “The biggest ones are seniors and they didn’t do much last year, didn’t even make the finals in championships. That small one with the long, blonde hair is their best swimmer. She almost beat Tati in the 200 and 500 free last year. Other than that, no real threat.”

“If you girls are done with your warm up you can get out and head to the locker room for final instructions,” Coach said from the sidelines. I hadn’t noticed him sneak up on us.

Mel ducked under and headed for the ladder.

“You’re looking good, Aerin,” Coach said. “I hope to see something special from you today.”

I nodded. This was the first time he’d given me any praise or laid any expectations on me. I felt a tiny thrill and then a huge sense of foreboding. Part of me was proud to be recognized, but another part of me longed to remain anonymous. My intention to stay under the radar this season was still top priority. Gaining Coach’s attention threatened that, and made me a little uneasy.

“I’ll do my best,” I said.

Swim Season means so much to me - and to many of the swimmers and swim parents I've talked to - that I decided to do something different to ensure its success. I recently launched a campaign on Pubslush, a marketing platform that offers me a way to test the waters, build an audience, and provide start-up funds necessary to publish, distribute, and promote Swim Season. Please take a moment to check out my page  where you can read the first chapter and watch a short video where I explain my project. Then please join my team. There are lots of great incentives, including free books. You don’t even have to get wet!

About the Author

Marianne Sciucco is not a nurse who writes but a writer who happens to be a nurse. A lover of words and books, she dreamed of becoming an author when she grew up, but became a nurse to avoid poverty. She later brought her two passions together and writes about the intricate lives of people struggling with health and family issues. Her debut novel, Blue Hydrangeas, an Alzheimer’s love story, is a Kindle bestseller, IndieReader Approved, a BookWorks featured book, and winner of IndieReCon’s Best Indie Novel Award, 2014. A native Bostonian, she lives in New York’s Hudson Valley, and when not writing works as a campus nurse at a community college. She loves books, the beach, and craft beer, and especially enjoys the three of them together. Follow Marianne’s Adventures in Publishing on her blog, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Google+.

You may purchase Blue Hydrangeas at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, and other online booksellers.

Monday Mentionables: It's Time for Another Free Read!

Happy Monday, everyone! It's time for your free read, this week from Chapter 1 of Between the Sheets, the third book in the Cocktail Cruise series. Enjoy!

Between the Sheets

An affair with an exotic cruise line dance instructor might be just the escape this single mother needs… 

Andrea DeMarco is determined to merge a cruise ship career and single motherhood. But that leaves zero time for sex or love, so when she has a chance for a fling with a sexy cruise ship dancer, she goes for it. 

Sebastian Vasquez enjoys a low-key life as the ship’s dance instructor, a welcome change from his previous life in Argentina as the star of a hugely popular dance show. But when Andrea sweeps into his life, everything changes. 

Will new love help him come to terms with his past, and convince her to find room in her life for another man? 

CHAPTER 1

Savvy Tip of the Day:

There is nothing wrong with having a no-strings-attached fling. As long as you’re clear from the start about what you’re looking for, getting naked with someone can be the perfect way to regain your mojo after a long dry spell.

Andrea DeMarco rested her chin in one hand and finished reading today’s article on her favorite advice website, The Savvy Sex Goddess’s Guide to Life, Love, and Getting What You Want. Dry spell? She had a whole Sahara Desert stretched out in her past. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d gotten naked with someone. Well over a year. Maybe even pushing two. Ugh. Depressing thought. She shut down the computer and rooted around in her makeup bag for lip gloss. She was already running late, and she had a cruise ship to catch in less than six hours. Between now and then she had to get her son off to school, pack, and stop by corporate headquarters in Tampa before boarding the Spirit of the Sea.

The cruise ship. Now there was a place filled with possibility for a no-strings-attached fling. Cocktail Cruise Lines specialized in singles’ cruises, which meant the ship was bound to be filled with men of all ages, types, heights and builds.

“Yeah, and I’m there to work,” she muttered.

She zipped her suitcase and put her laptop into its case. Even though she worked in the cruise line’s marketing department, she rarely stepped foot on any of the ships. She was sailing this time only because the CEO wanted someone from corporate to see the new itinerary. True, she wouldn’t be chained to a desk or stuck inside an office the whole time. She could mingle. She was supposed to mingle, and get passengers’ opinions, which meant she’d be talking to single men. But she wouldn’t know the first thing about going from talking to actually having a fling.

Andrea pulled on a long-sleeved pink t-shirt and rolled up the cuffs. For just an instant, the ship’s tall, sexy ballroom dance instructor flashed inside her mind’s eye. Sebastian Vasquez had been working on the Spirit of the Sea for almost a year. She’d crossed paths with him twice before, and each time he’d pulled her onto the stage for a little two-step to please the crowd. But oh, it had definitely pleased her as well. She could still recall the way he’d spun her in circles and left her weak in the knees.

Now that would be someone to have a fling with. South American and sexy as hell, she bet Sebastian had women lined up to sleep with him. That body. That accent.

She bent over her makeup bag and peered inside. She had bought a new Funky Fuchsia lip gloss, hadn't she? She could have sworn she had. She pulled her long blonde hair off her neck and reminded herself to make an appointment for a cut when she returned, because –

            “Mommmmmyyyyy!”

            Drew's screech echoed through the small, ranch-style house. Andrea dropped the makeup bag and stood straight up. Little tubes and pallets and brushes scattered across the bedroom floor.

            “Mommmmyyy!”

            She dashed for the living room, heart ratcheting out of her chest. Drew never screamed like that. Ever. She skidded down the hall on bare feet. He was conscious and breathing, if he was making noise, right? He shrieked again, and she prepared herself for blood or a femur sticking through the skin or worse.

“What, baby? What's wrong?”

            Her tow-headed six-year old stood in the middle of the couch, eyes wide, pointing at the floor. “Mommy, look!” No blood. No broken bones. Her stomach righted itself.

            At that moment, the house’s resident mouse scuttled from under the coffee table to the baseboard heater. A smaller one followed. Andrea laced her hands over her eyes. There are two of them now?

            “Mommy, did you see them? Did you see both of them?” Drew clutched his hands together in the gesture that normally made her smile. Today she marched over to the couch and grabbed him under both arms.

            “Yes I did, but you scared me.” She planted him on the floor and put one finger under his chin. “Do you understand? When you yelled like that, I thought you were hurt.” Perspiration covered her face. Her heart still hadn't settled down.

            Drew's bottom lip pushed out. “I wanted you to see them. You never see them.”

            Yes, I do, she almost answered. Calling the exterminator just wasn't near the top of her list of priorities. She wasn’t hurting for money, but she was desperately short on time. She couldn’t wait around during a four-hour window for someone from Rid-a-Rats to show up. She'd hoped that putting traps in the closets would have done the trick, but it looked as though these mice weren't hungry for peanut butter.

            “Come on.” She took him by the hand and led him back down the hall. “You need to finish packing.”

            “I don't wanna go to Uncle Toby’s.” Drew's walk turned to a sliding of feet along the hardwood. He pulled at her arm. “I wanna go with you.”

            “I know, baby, but you can't. Cruises are for very extra special occasions. You know Mommy is only going for work.” She'd probably made a mistake bringing him along to Cozumel last year. It was all he could talk about now: meeting the captain, getting to ride the elevators, selecting from the endless meal choices on the buffet. She rubbed the top of his head, messing his feather-light blonde hair. She'd probably made a thousand mistakes in all these years of raising him alone, and was bound to make more.

            They stopped in the doorway of his bedroom, and she dropped to her knees and hugged him. One thing she hadn't done wrong, though, and that was love him to the moon and back.

            Do you know how hard it is, raising a kid on your own?

            Ron will never be around. You'll have to sue him for child support.

            There are other options, you know. Have you thought about adoption?

            Unexpectedly pregnant one year out of high school, working a part-time job, she'd listened to her friends and family at first. She’d spent nights lying awake in tears, she’d made lists, she’d weighed her options, and then she'd ignored everyone’s advice. From the moment she felt Drew move inside her belly, she'd loved him. When the doctor laid him in her arms, pink and wet and bawling his little lungs out, she'd loved him. Every scraped knee and nightmare and tantrum, every minute of letting go as he learned to walk and talk and dress himself and climb to the top of the jungle gym, she'd loved him. She hadn't known her heart could grow with the love that filled it, that every day and week and year her heart would get bigger as Drew did. It amazed her.

            “Mommy, you're strangulating me,” he said against her shoulder, and reluctantly she pulled back. His blue eyes met hers, and she knew in a minute he'd tug her in with that don't-leave-me look. In those moments he reminded her of his father, the way he could cajole and manipulate and twist her inside out. She stood and brushed the dust from her black jeans.

His father. Damn it to hell. After five years of moving around the country, of sending the occasional post card from a commune in New Mexico or a mountain top in California, the jackass had showed up in Florida last year and announced his intentions to get to know his son.

            “Over my dead body,” she said aloud.

            Drew frowned. “What does that mean?”

            “Nothing, baby,” she said, and steered him into his room. “I was talking to myself.” Toys lay scattered across the bed and floor. His denim knapsack sat open and empty on his bed. Much as she would have liked to bring him with her, snuggle into his skin at night, point out constellations from the Aloha Deck, and have the ship's cook make him Mickey Mouse pancakes, that simply wasn’t an option this time.

            “Uncle Toby will be here in an hour to take you to school. You need to be ready to go. Decide which toys are going with you and which are staying here.”

            Drew gave a dramatic sigh and launched himself onto his bed, where he began sorting his toys into piles.

            Andrea’s cell phone rang. “Please tell me you’re not running late,” she said as she answered on the first ring. Her brother had a tendency to do that, and today was not the day for – 

            “Late for what?” came the low, scratchy voice in response.

            Oh, hell. Andrea stared at the phone, reading the number on the screen for the first time. “Ron? Why are you calling me at seven in the morning?”

            “I’m going out of town for a few days.”

            “And not coming back?” she asked hopefully.

            “And I’m hoping we can sit down when I get back and talk about working out some time for me to spend time with Drew. You didn’t return my last couple of calls.”

            Her fingers drew into a ball. As much as she wanted to refuse to see him, or to let Drew see him, she had no legal grounds. Ron had left her three months after Drew was born, but he hadn’t waived his rights. He’d always managed to send money. And in the last six months, he’d made her life miserable with threats about suing for joint custody.

            “Is that going to be a problem?” he asked when she didn’t answer. “We’ve been around and around about this. I’m tired of waiting. It’s almost Christmas. I’d like to be able to see my son for the holidays.”

            My son. How dare Ron say those words so glibly? “We’ll talk about it when you get back,” she answered around the lump in her throat. Like he could take Drew to sit on Santa’s lap and everything would be fine. 

            “I’ve already talked to my attorney about the hours you work,” Ron said.

            “What?”

            “You work twelve, fourteen hour days at the office. You told me that.”

            Her jaw tightened. She had, too, when she’d announced that she made a six-figure salary and provided well enough for Drew that they didn’t need Ron’s money. She’d thrown the words at him, proud that she’d worked her way up the corporate ladder and didn’t rely on anyone to support her.

            “A six year old needs his mother at home. Not at the office until nine o’clock at night.”

            “How dare you –” She stormed down the hall and into the half-bathroom by the front door. Seething, she spit the words through clenched teeth. “How dare you accuse me of neglecting my son. You think you know what a six year old needs from his mother? How about what he needs from his father? Oh, but wait. You wouldn’t know anything about that. You don’t have the first clue about raising a child, or you would’ve stuck around after he was born.” She turned on the faucet to hide her trembling voice and prayed Drew wouldn’t come looking for her.

            Ron cleared his throat. “I’m talking about the present, Andrea. I’ve made mistakes in the past. I never said I didn’t.”

            “I am not having this conversation with you right now.”

            “I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be away until the middle of next week.”

            She didn’t mention that she’d be out of town as well. Ron didn’t need to know the details of her life. If he had an issue with her staying late at the office, what would he say if he knew she was leaving Drew in the hands of his uncle for six days? He’d turn that into some shit about maternal abandonment.

            “Fine,” she said and hung up. She pulled her hair back from her face and stared into the mirror. Two pink circles burned in her cheeks, and her mascara was smudged. She didn’t imagine she’d be having any flings on board the Spirit of the Sea now, regardless of the opportunity or the Savvy Goddess’s advice. The last thing she needed was Ron finding out and twisting the facts to suit his purpose.

            Sometimes Andrea wished the Savvy Goddess had a section on her website for foolproof ways to get rid of unwanted exes and dispose of the bodies without getting caught. A small smile tugged at her lips. Or, at the very least, how to live as a single mother and not spend nights wondering if she was ever going to fall in love or feel attractive to a man again. 

Want to read more? You can order your copy of Cocktail Cruises: The Collection for only $1.99 today! 

Friday Fun Facts: A Teaser Picture or Two

Yummy, yummy! Look at this fun teaser picture I made to celebrate the upcoming release of Cocktail Cruises: The Collection! 

Pre-Order at Amazon

Pre-Order at Barnes & Noble

Pre-Order at Apple

Pre-Order at Kobo

I like this one too, a little more subtle but stolen from the actual boxed set cover:

Two-ish weeks and counting! 

Writers' Wednesday: Spotlight on Author Stacy Juba

Happy Hump Day, everyone! Today's post features Stacy Juba, who contributed the Rainbow Celebration Punch recipe to Cocktail Cruises: The Collection. Welcome Stacy!

Cassidy Novak from my mystery/romantic suspense novel Sink or Swim has spent the last few months on a ship, but it's definitely not a cruise ship. She sure could use a drink from Allie's collection, though, after the grueling weeks toiling aboard the Atlantic Devil. During her time on the reality TV show Sink or Swim, Cassidy worked as a crew member on a Tall Ship, where she  scrubbed toilets, chipped paint off bulkheads and climbed ratlines to furl the sail. She slept in a wire-frame airless berth stacked three tiers high, and don't even ask her about the disgusting food! Below is an excerpt depicting how Cassidy walked the plank after attaining second place during the final week. Little does she know that a stalker is watching and things are about to get even worse....   

Gabriel’s sword blade brushed her back. Not only were her dreams drowning, she was about to undergo torture. The humiliating kind.

Her breath rasping, she eyed the twenty-foot drop. The end of the plank seemed miles away, though it was only ten feet. Trying not to look down, Cassidy inched forward. At the verge, she halted and willed her gaze toward the dark cold water below.

Gabriel stepped up behind her and touched the cold sharp steel to the nape of her neck. "Time to sink or swim."

Don’t show emotion. You’ve got to lose with dignity. Cassidy said a silent prayer, folded her arms across her chest and vaulted off the plank. Ice cold waves pressed around her shoulders as she thundered underwater. Cassidy gulped a mouthful and shot back up into a straight line, desperate to break the surface.

Stinging water overflowed her eyes and Cassidy pawed her eyeballs with wet hands. She squeezed her clogged ears with her fingers, swallowed to ease her raw throbbing throat.

Treading water, Cassidy hiked down the sopping shorts that rode up her legs and adjusted her soaked tee-shirt. She swam over to the rope ladder dangling against the side of the ship and craned her neck. Dozens of faces gaped down at her.

She climbed the ladder, the rungs burning her hands and bare left foot. Her right canvas shoe slipped on each notch; Cassidy’s other shoe had floated away. Teeth chattering, Cassidy extended her leg over the railing and dropped onto the deck with a bang. A production assistant tossed her a Navy blanket. Muttering her thanks, Cassidy wrapped herself in the scratchy warmth.

She had to cheer up. Even though the amount was a mystery, the runner-up won a prize. Maybe it would be a hundred grand. Even $25,000 would help to eradicate her college loans and car payments.

But, it wouldn’t finance an affordable private health club where participants could work out with personal trainers, a pilot site that could have eventually blossomed into a full-blown franchise via all the endorsement money and popularity showered on savvy winners of Top Ten reality shows.

It wouldn’t propel her into an overnight success.

Sink or Swim: A fun beach read endorsed by contestants from Survivor, Big Brother, and The Amazing Race. Ambitious personal trainer Cassidy Novak has gained fame for starring on Sink or Swim, a hit reality show. Not only does she lose and have to walk the plank, but after the game show ends, the terror begins. Upon returning home, Cassidy discovers she has attracted a stalker masterminding his own twisted game. She struggles to focus on her health club job and celebrity endorsement opportunities, but her stalker has other plans. As her former competitors get knocked off one-by-one, Cassidy refuses to play by the stalker's bizarre rules. She's also being shadowed by hunky photographer Zach Gallagher, who has been assigned to capture her personal moments for a spread in the local newspaper. She wants to trust Zach, but fears he may not be what he seems. When the stalker forces a showdown, Cassidy must once again walk the plank...this time for her life.

Purchase Links:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

iBookstore

Kobo

Audible

Stacy Juba contributed a non-alcoholic recipe for Rainbow Celebration Punch to Cocktail Cruises. Stacy loves to write stories about Characters at a Crossroads: individuals who are finding themselves and getting on the right life path after overcoming obstacles. She has made numerous bestseller lists including GalleyCat’s Barnes & Noble Bestsellers and GalleyCat’s Mystery and Thriller Bestsellers. Stacy has written about reality TV contestants targeted by a killer, an obit writer investigating a cold case, teen psychics who control minds, twin high school hockey stars battling on the ice, and teddy bears learning to raise the U.S. flag. Stacy also offers the affordable Crossroads Editing Service for writers and does her editing the old-fashioned way, on a hard copy. In addition, she teaches online writing and book promotion classes for various writers organizations. Watch for her upcoming romantic comedy Fooling Around With Cinderella.

Stacy's Website

Stacy on Facebook 

Stacy on Twitter 

Monday Mentionables: Free Read Today! Welcome to Sex on the Beach

Happy Monday! You know what that means...another free read for all of you today, in anticipation of Cocktail Cruises: The Collection releasing next month. Today's read is from Chapter 1 in the second book in the series (Note: series spoilers have been removed from this excerpt). Enjoy!

Sex on the Beach

Two people who’ve always played at love discover the stakes are higher when they let down their guard and open their hearts… 

Cassidy Arnez is an elementary school teacher with an enormous secret: a sexually adventurous online life that she leads under a foolproof alias. Her motto has always been to enjoy sex and the single life as much as possible. With a deadbeat dad and a brother who died in combat, she knows she can’t rely on any man to stick around. 

Bryce Anderson enjoys his bachelor life as the CFO of a major cruise line, a position that gets him all the sun, sand, and women he could want. But he meets his match in Cass, who’s even less interested in commitment than he is, and her casual, confident sexuality turns him on more than anyone he’s ever met. 

When a financial crisis at Cass’s school places her, and her coveted secret identity, at the center of a small town firestorm, she must decide whether she’ll let Bryce become the first man she’ll trust with both her secrets and her heart.

CHAPTER 1

Savvy Tip of the Day:

You do not need anyone else to complete your life – not your professional life, not your personal life, not your sex life. You are perfectly okay all by yourself.

Cassidy Arnez yanked on a body-skimming black top and adjusted her silver-and-black lace bra. Her doorbell rang, and she glanced at the clock. With a little luck, in a few hours she’d be stretched out poolside, with a drink in hand and nothing but three days of cruising and sunshine ahead of her.

“Coming, I'm coming, hang on,” she called. She stuffed a floral bikini into her carry-on and dug through her drawer for mascara. “It’s open,” she added.

Cass’s best friend Louise walked inside the spacious apartment. “You’re not ready?”

“Almost.”

Lou leaned in the bathroom doorway. “Traffic will be terrible if we don’t get to Tampa before four.”

“I wish you could come,” Cass said.

“Me too. But I need this temp job, especially in the middle of tax season.”

Cass finished her eye makeup and added some blush and lipstick. She wasn’t about to turn down a free cruise, even if she had to go solo.

“You look great,” Lou said, “even though you’re way overdressed for a cruise.”

Cass arched a brow, zipped her makeup bag, and placed it into the top of her open suitcase. “There’s no such thing.” She put her laptop into its black leather case and settled it into the suitcase. She grabbed the envelope that held a personal letter from the Cocktail Cruise Line, along with her boarding pass to the Spirit of the Sea. According to Lou, everyone who’d been on that fated cruise back in February, the first and last that featured the Charming Hearts speed dating service, had been given the same offer:

On behalf of the entire cruise line, we would like to offer you a complimentary four-day cruise anytime during the month of April or May…

Since spring break for the Hope’s Landing school district fell conveniently in the first week of April, here she was.

Cass stepped into black wedges and pulled on an over-sized floppy hat. She turned off the lights and slipped her purse over her shoulder. Then her gaze stopped at the picture hanging by the door, the way it always did. Cass and her twin brother Carlos stood arm in arm on the Hope's Landing High School football field, on the sunny afternoon of their graduation six years ago. Wide smiles and matching dimples. Rabbit ears made with their fingers over each other's heads, the way they'd always posed for pictures back then. Long, sweeping beams of June light surrounded them, casting shadows at their feet. Draped over the silver frame was Carlos's Purple Heart, given posthumously to the Arnez family almost two years ago.

Cass wrapped a rose-colored silk scarf around her neck and slipped on designer sunglasses. “I'm dressed like this because I never who I’ll run into,” she said to Lou, “or what might happen around the next corner.” She opened the door and rolled her suitcase down the sidewalk to Lou’s waiting car.

Or how many times she would learn to reapply makeup so the world didn't know she'd been crying, or the ways in which she could recreate herself in order to keep getting up every morning.

* * *

“I can’t make it to the game tonight.” Bryce Anderson shifted his cell phone from one ear to the other, thankful to be working from home today. He winced and rubbed his temples. Too many shots of tequila after glasses of champagne last night, celebrating at the office over the first quarter’s numbers. “I’m going on a four-day with the Spirit of the Sea.” He popped two aspirin and downed half a glass of water. Why the hell had the Florida sun decided to shine full strength this afternoon?

“Oh yeah,” his best friend Toby said. “Forgot. That’s a rough life you’ve got.”

Bryce grinned. Didn’t he know it. His family hadn’t handed him the CFO job at Cocktail Cruise Line, though; he’d had to earn it fair and square. An MBA and two years of experience working at one of the top firms in Miami had convinced both his father and his Uncle Max that he deserved to manage the cruise line’s money. He liked the job, and he was good at it. First quarter numbers through the roof. Cruising every so often was just a nice fringe benefit.

“You taking Sheila with you?”

“Nope. She can’t make it.” A cute redhead that he’d been seeing for a few weeks, Sheila was leaving tomorrow for a month-long motorcycle trip, and Bryce didn't do motorcycles. Or long-distance.

“All right, man. Call me when you’re back.”

“I will. See ya.” He clicked over to answer a number he didn't recognize. “Bryce Anderson.”

“Well, hello there.”

Not Sheila. Not the new secretary on the first floor of his office building either, though they’d been flirting on and off for the last month. Bryce flipped back through his recent dates but couldn't find a face that matched the lilting voice on the other end of the line. “Hi.”

“It's Theresa.” Pause. “From last night.”

He rolled his head from side to side. Last night after the office party, he'd hit a strip club with a couple of the other guys. He didn't recall giving his number to anyone, but his memory wasn’t always reliable, especially after tequila. “Hey, how are you?”

She laughed, and he got a vague memory of her face. Tiny frame, big hair, lots of makeup. Hour-glass figure. He couldn't recall anything else. “I'm still missing a shoe, but otherwise I'm fine.”

A shoe? He searched his brain and came up with nothing.

“Are you free tonight?” she asked. “I thought we could grab a drink.”

“Aw, I can't. I'm sorry. I’m actually leaving on a cruise in a couple of hours.”

She didn't laugh this time. “If you don't want to see me again, just say so.”

“I’m serious. I have to go for work.” He wondered if he’d even told Theresa where he worked or what he did. “I’m leaving today and coming back Sunday morning. If you want to get a drink next week sometime, though, that would be cool.”

“'Cool'?” She clicked her tongue, and Bryce got another quick recall of her face. Blue eyes and a smile he wouldn't mind seeing on the pillow beside him. On another day, or maybe in another life, when he didn't work eighteen-hour days, Theresa might be a nice girl to spend time with. But in the here and now, they didn't have a prayer. He could tell Theresa right now that coffee or no coffee, great sex or lukewarm, they'd be done within a month. She'd want a commitment, and he'd pull away.

It wouldn't work out.

It never did.

Want to read more? Pre-Orders for the entire Cocktail Cruises Collection are now available at all of the following retailers. Grab your $1.99 copy today! 

Pre-Order at Amazon

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Friday Fun Facts: New Contests! New Books!

Happy Friday, everyone! Two fun facts to announce today:

1. I have a Holiday Spirits contest going on over at Fresh Fiction, through the month of November, so  head on over and check that out :)

2. ...and Cocktail Cruises: The Collection is officially available for review, so if you haven't yet spoken up for an e-book or print  copy (yes, I have a few), and you can read and review the set by its December 1 release day, go ahead and drop me an email at allieb@allieboniface.com and let me know!

Writers' Wednesday: Spotlight on Author Liz Matis

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Each week this month, I'll be highlighting one of the contributing authors to the Cocktail Cruises Collection -- today's author is the fabulous, bestselling sports romance writer Liz Matis!

Liz is the author of the Fantasy Football series, and she's gearing up for her release of The Quarterback Sneak, #4 in the series, coming next month! Take a peek at this blurb:

A recovering alcoholic, football player Liam McQueen seeks redemption on and off the field. So when the team's owner, the man who gave him a shot at a comeback, demands that Liam pretend to be engaged to his wayward daughter, it's a favor the reformed bad boy feels he can't refuse.

After violating her probation, heiress Hayden Middleton must prove to the court she's changed her wild ways. To appease the judge, the tabloid queen agrees to a fake engagement, but there's nothing fake about the heat that sizzles between her and her father's saintly star quarterback.

Mastering the sex playbook isn't a problem for this wild couple. Outside the bedroom, this mismatched pair must plan a game strategy to confront their demons if their temporary arrangement has any chance of going long.

Will love come into play as the sinner and the saint go head to head?

Want to pre-order this book? Visit Amazon or Liz's Facebook page for all the details about other sites and availability.

Oh! And want to know what recipe she's contributing to the Cocktail Cruises Collection?

...The Tailgate Martini...

Sounds yummy, right? Want to know more? Pre-order your copy today for only $1.99!

Monday Mentionables: Free Read Today! Welcome to Tequila Sunrise

Happy Monday, everyone! To celebrate the month-long countdown to the release of Cocktail Cruises: The Collection, I thought you might want a sneak peek at each of the opening chapters from the 3 novellas in the series. (Just in case you haven't read the stories yet, of course!)

Tequila Sunrise

Louise seeks love on board a romantic singles’ cruise – and it seems her prayers are answered when she meets brawny construction worker Toby at a speed dating event. But when Lou discovers the dating service uses unethical business practices, she’s determined to reveal them, and the resulting publicity hurts Toby’s friends and family. 

Can Toby convince Lou that true love exists beyond numbers?

Chapter 1

Savvy Tip of the Day:

Go someplace you've never been before. A new shop, a new street, even a new gas station. Better yet, book yourself a vacation and get away from it all. Even a day or two can give you fresh perspective...

Louise Jamison stood on the Aloha Deck as the Spirit of the Sea left the Tampa shoreline. She silently repeated the words from her favorite advice blog and hoped that this cruise would, indeed, give her perspective. Even better would be a Someone Special, or even a Someone for Right Now, since she'd been single for far too long. She loved reading the Savvy Sex Goddess’s Guide to Life, Love, and Getting What You Want, but sometimes the columns only made her painfully aware that she hadn't had sex or love or even a second date in almost eight months. 

As the shoreline grew smaller, celebration confetti stuck to the deck, the chairs, and her pale, freckled arms and legs. A salsa band played beneath the banner that promised the Cocktail Cruise Line was the place Where strangers become friends and friends become something more…

Lou looked around and prayed that was true.

Cassidy Arnez, Lou's best friend since sixth grade, poked her in the ribs. “Stop thinking about your ex.”

“I’m not thinking about him.” Move forward after a breakup, the Savvy Sex Goddess had mentioned more than once. Focus on the future. She’d done her best, but their tiny hometown of Hope's Landing in central Florida wasn't exactly the place to meet single men. So Lou had been saving up for this late-January cruise since last fall. She tugged her shirt down. Eight months of mint chocolate chip ice cream and red wine (not together of course, but in generous helpings at different points during the nights) had added a few pounds since her breakup with Terrell. Or maybe more than a few. She tried not to care. She wasn't made to be a size four, no matter how much her ex had tried to convince her.

Cass leaned both arms on the railing. “So what do you think? See any potential?”

“I'm not sure yet.” This deck, and the one above them, was filled with people their age, mostly in their twenties and early thirties. Waitresses wound their way through the crowd, young blondes and brunettes with pink and blue and purple streaks in their hair. A couple of them had nose rings, and a few had tattoos crossing their shoulder blades or wrapped around their ankles. They all wore floral green bikini tops and matching miniskirts and gold name tags pinned to their chests.

Cass flagged down one of them. “We’ll take two of whatever your special is.”

“Spirit of the Sea Tequila Sunrise?” the girl asked in a sing-song voice. She had six silver hoops in each ear.

Lou nodded, encouraged that her favorite drink was also the special on this cruise. That had to be a good sign.

“I do see some hotties.” Cass spun in a dramatic circle, taking in the other guests, as her long dark curls bounced against her tanned bare back. “You won’t have any problem getting laid.”

Lou shook her head. “I don’t know if getting laid is my primary goal. Meeting someone worth a second or third date would be nice.”

Cass leaned against the railing and let her head drop back, eyes closed against the late afternoon sun. “You’re crazy. It’s only a four-day cruise. You’re not going to fall in love. Just find someone who’ll give you a few outstanding orgasms, and you can go back to Hope’s Landing a new woman. You don’t even need to know his last name.”

Lou smiled, though it didn't reach inside, deep in her core where she'd been waiting and wishing for long, lonely months for someone to sweep her off her feet. A new woman. That would be nice. Living in an apartment around the block from her parents and working temp jobs while she looked for full-time accounting work definitely wasn't the most proactive way to meet someone. She could count the single men in Hope's Landing on both hands. If she wasn’t in debt from four years of college, she’d leave her hometown, but her landlord was also the retired elementary school principal, and he was cutting her a deal. Otherwise she’d probably be living with her parents.

She squeezed her eyes shut and made a quick, fervent wish that these next few days on the Spirit of the Sea would introduce her to a stranger who turned into a friend who turned into something more, the way Cocktail Cruise Line promised.

After all, Valentine's Day was right around the corner.

A tall blonde in a tight black skirt and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows approached them. A nametag on her chest read Andrea, CCL Marketing. “Hello! Welcome aboard.” She shook Lou's hand. “Are you having a good time?”

Lou nodded as she tucked her dark brown hair behind her ears. As usual, it had frizzed in the humid Florida air. “The ship's beautiful.”

Andrea glanced around the expansive deck. Behind them, a few guys were already lounging in the shallow end of an oblong pool, drinks in hand. An outdoor bar at the other end of the deck was packed. “The Spirit of the Sea was renovated last fall. Almost everything is brand new. We’re really excited to have Charming Hearts on board with us. I hope you’re doing the speed dating tonight.” She reached over and shook Cass's hand this time. “Have a wonderful time!” She glided away and approached a group of women clad in string bikinis and teeny tiny shorts.

The waitress returned with their drinks, and Lou clinked her glass to Cass’s. “Here's to meeting someone.”

Cass grinned. “Now that's the Louise I like to see. Where's she been hiding all these months?”

Lou sipped her drink, admiring its pretty pinks and oranges along with the familiar tang of tequila. “I think she was wallowing in self-pity for a while. Massive breakups tend to do that.”

“You're much better off. Terrell was a control freak. A total ass.”

“But an awfully good-looking ass,” Lou said. Her mouth turned down. And really good in bed, though she didn’t have much to compare him to. She didn’t miss him. No way. But she did miss the idea of him, of having a partner, someone to love and kiss and hold her.

Cass reached over and put one finger under Lou's chin. “Hey. Remember why we're here.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a wrinkled sheet of paper. “I grabbed this on the way in. It’s a list of what’s going on tonight. Check out the Mango Lounge.”

Lou scanned the paper: salsa classes, poker, a couple of live bands, juggling lessons. At the very bottom, from seven to nine in the Mango Lounge, she read Charming Hearts Speed Dating. “Speed dating? No. No way.”

“Why not?”

“I thought maybe I could meet someone the old-fashioned way. Like, you know, by talking to him?”

Cass folded her arms. “How many people have you talked to since we boarded? There are guys everywhere...” She gestured at the pool, the bar, and the upper deck lined with men. “You haven't said a word to any of them.”

“It's only been two hours.”

Cass looped an arm around Lou's shoulders. “Honey, your strong suit is not chatting up strangers. We both know that. The speed dating will be easy, no pressure. It’s like five minutes talking to one guy, and then if you don't like him, boom! You're done and on to the next.”

Lou already felt rather done. Having her boyfriend of three years announce two days before their college graduation that he was spending the summer in Europe to think things through seemed pretty final. Finding out he was doing it with the dark-eyed, dark-haired assistant professor from his French seminar made her feel even more foolish. Cast-off. Done.

“...and Charming Hearts has really good success rates,” Cass was rattling on. “Haven't you seen their ads?”

With effort, Lou banished thoughts of Terrell. Of course she had. No one who owned a television could miss them. Nine matches out of ten are perfect tens! trilled one couple after another. We screen your dates so you don't have to! promised the owner of Charming Hearts, a cheery fifty-something year old woman who'd started the business and become a millionaire in less than five years.

Cass smoothed the wrinkles from the cruise schedule, folded it in half, and tucked it into Lou’s bag. “I already signed you up.”

“Then you better be coming with me.”

“This cruise is about finding you a match. I don’t need help picking up guys.”

Unfortunately for Lou, that was true. Ever since high school, all Cass needed to do was wiggle her ass and wink, and she had guys following her like a damn Pied Piper. Maybe she should've opened Charming Hearts, or something like it. She sure had the secret to making men fall. She was the last person who needed the promises of the Cocktail Cruise Line or its dating service.

“Give it an hour. If it’s horrible, I’ll meet you at eight and we’ll take salsa lessons instead.” Cass glanced at the stage by the pool. A tall guy with long black hair and an incredible body had joined the band and was dancing in rhythm to the music. Lou could just make out a name tag on his chest. His feet moved in a blur, and perspiration shined on arms sinewy with muscle. “If he's teaching, I'm taking lessons morning, noon, and night,” Cass added.

As they watched, he pulled Andrea the marketing rep out of the crowd. For a few minutes, they danced close together, his hands moving her body in time with his. Despite the heels she stumbled in once or twice, and the embarrassed smile on her face, they looked good together. Onlookers whistled and applauded in appreciation.

Lou shook her head as the music waned. “Okay. I'll do the speed dating. But if it doesn't work out, and I end up looking like a total idiot, could we just drink ourselves into oblivion?”

“You know I don’t need a second invitation for that.” Cass laughed.

Lou shaded her eyes and scanned the crowd. They didn't know anyone here, so if she made a fool of herself, at least the evidence would stay off the coast of Florida. God, she hoped they didn't know anyone here. Leave it to her to run into someone from college or Hope's Landing who'd also decided to make the fifty-mile trip to Tampa to take advantage of Charming Hearts' amazing track record. Oh please no. Please, please, please no.

“I bet there’ll be twice as many guys there as women,” Cass added. “You’ll have your pick.”

Lou did see more than a few decent-looking guys who probably hit the gym on a regular basis and looked around her age. Crew cuts and dimples and cleft chins. Bare, muscular chests and arms. All right, maybe there was possibility here. She leaned against the railing. Another Tequila Sunrise or two before seven, and she might be able to handle the spectacle of circling a room and hoping there wasn’t a hidden camera or microphone anywhere to record how insane she was going to look. She wished for the umpteenth time for Cass's confidence, for her casual, blasé attitude when it came to men. Take them or leave them, enjoy them and move on, that was Cass's motto.

Not Lou. She was so bad at meeting random people, so awkward when it came to talking about sports or the weather. Forget taking the initiative in the bedroom, or having a one-night stand for the sake of pleasure or adventure. She'd started reading the Savvy Sex Goddess for advice, but reading and doing were two very different things. Just making the reservation for this singles' cruise had taken all her courage and then some.

Nine matches out of ten are perfect tens...

Lou hoped she didn't end up being the tenth.

Want to read more? Buy Tequila Sunrise now for $2.99 OR pre-order the entire Cocktail Cruise set for a special release price of only $1.99!