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Happy Valentine's one and all. I'm sitting on the couch while my husband slaves over his one true love...his boat. Ha. I'm working on trying to get him to paint it pink but I don't know that it's working yet. Maybe he's just a slave to the saying by Seth Adam Smith: "We simply can't abandon ship every time we encounter a storm. Real love is about weathering the terms of life together." Subscribers of my newsletter sent in some wonderful memories of their favorite valentines, some from true loves and some even from their dad! Super sweet. I didn't get many valentines but I do remember one from a MUCH older boyfriend who delivered a red rose to my school in front of the head teacher who asked him curtly to get off the school grounds. Oops. As I put the finishing touches on Lady Boss, the next in the Big City Billionaires series, it makes me think about the first of those books - and while I hope your valentines doesn't come served cold and with revenge front and center I hope you get the happy ever after that y heroine achieved! What ever you end up doing on Valentine's day, know that love comes in all shapes and sizes. x Happy reading. 
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When I stared writing my Hot Tide series, as well as giving readers a great ride with a wonderful happy ever after, I wanted to highlight the inequality in women's surfing competitions. It’s easy to see why surfers are so sexy – they spend their days dripping wet and topless. The sport abounds with lean bodies in peak perfection, grim determination, competition and focus, BUT it’s not just for boys. The extreme sport of surfing isn’t completely about bleached blond hair and guys called dude. I wanted to highlight the women in the sport, the mavens that show up on the beach in the cold when it's NOT glamorous, who smash wave after wave with incredible technical skills. It's been a really fun series to write and in book three - The Wrong Brother for Brooke coming out in October, I looked at how often women get passed over for reward in this world. And then - WOW - life and art collided. This month - September - the World Surfing League announced that in all contests from 2019 ALL prize money would be equally distributed. Men and women would get the same amount for doing the same job! Amazing. I can only imagine that the fictional pro surfers of my imagination Brooke and Summer would be jumping up and down with glee, just as real life pro Stephanie Gilmor did, metaphorically when she wrote this op ed about the announcement. It's great to see - and makes me proud to continue writing about heroines who love adventure, great beer and having no fear! You can read all about the WSL announcement here! And catch Summer, Maya and Brooke over on Amazon! Surf's up ladies!!!
Thanks for all your support this year. I really appreciate each and every one of you who reads the books (and especially when you tell me about it). At the moment I'm working on a new series releasing early 2018, I'll release Love Struck, the Billionaire novella from the Billionaire Ever After anthology separately as well as writing another in that series. AND I have lots of theater work happening in the background. Exciting times.
Christmas is fast approaching so many happy tidings for those of you who celebrate and I hope everyone gets a chance to spend some time with loved ones over the holidays. I'll be back just before the New Year with a CRACKING new years sale, and you'll be able to grab the two in one book Red Hot Christmas for 99cents along with lots of other great titles. Until then, take care, and get ready to start your reading engines! x Michele  What makes a man sexy? It might be a smile. A whole lotta taut, drool-worthy abs. A sexy vibe that fills a boardroom or bedroom whenever he steps inside it. What makes a man sexy? Myself along with Michele Mannon, Katana Collins, and Violetta Rand are blog hopping around with our answers! In celebration of the .99 cent sale happening over at St. Martin's Press this week (Omg, so many hot bad boys!), we're all over the place this week. On Heroes and Heartbreakers talking about our Found Families, over at Jenerated Reviews with some Smexy Scenes and with the Book Obsessesed Chicks with some "interviews" we had with our hero characters. What's more we love to share so if you head over to the other authors FB pages you'll be in to win one of three GCs. A top prize of $10 and two $5 Gift Cards! In my opinion what makes a man sexy is a look, a pause, a smile. A dimple they can’t hide when they see you. It’s the way hearing their voice gets under your skin. The dark and gravel-rich words slipping into your pocket so you can swallow them later with a shot of whiskey. What makes a man sexy is the feeling that he’s yours and yours alone. The way he holds your hand and kisses it in the middle of your palm and fold your fingers around it so you can keep it close. A night of singing in the rain followed by laughter. Jake Slade has that for Lucy Black and when his dark eyes capture hers you can almost smell it. My St. Martin's Press title on sale this week is Ride me Right and Jake Slade is one whole lot of sexy. Grab him and Lucy Black for only 99 pennies till the 24th of this month. Enter to win one of three Gift Cards! A $10 Gift Card or one of two runner up prizes of $5 Gift Cards. Just comment on my facebook page as well as on the 3 other stops on the tour to be in to win! Next up... Michele Mannon, Katana Collins and Violetta Rand WINNERS will be announced at the end of the sale on the 24th of September. Happy hopping! RIDE ME RIGHT - Jake “The Iceman” Slade is drowning in guilt and can’t give himself a break. A tragic accident on set made him step away from his job as a real life action hero in the film lots of Hollywood. Now he’s reluctantly agreed to run his half-sister’s hotel, Wilde’s, while she’s away, trying to keep it—and himself—from going under. Lucy is the kind of trouble he can’t afford, but can’t seem to resist. But with an equally troubled past, will Lucy be the fire to melt his frozen heart. Meet the other men in the Raising Hellfire MC series here, and look out for Ride all Night coming this December! Must like pages to win and comment on each blog tour post - As always, liking, then un-liking will ban you from future giveaways - FB is not associated or liable for any giveaways.   Yep, they burst onto the charts with a heartstopping fury and man did it feel good to see three little orange flags beside the title. I admit I loved putting my two characters into a lift and having it break down - I had too much fun toying with their phobias and foils. The other titles in the book are all new too so grab yourself a bargain while you can. This puppy is on sale this week. 99 cents for 22 brand new books! Winner winner, Christmas dinner!
Happy reading x Michele iTunes: http://apple.co/2qqBObQ Amazon: http://amzn.to/2pJgjGH B&N: http://bit.ly/2s2jv1w Google Play: http://bit.ly/2qgvqYa Kobo: http://bit.ly/2oJNV7b  Downunder it's release eve for Ride me Right but I have to wait a whole extra day to see this baby out in the world stateside - sigh. It's the next installment of the Raising Hellfire MC series and it was sooooo much fun to write. This one heads deeper into Motor cycle club territory with a fire, a bike chase and a bunch of tragic consequences. It also boasts possibly my favorite heroine to date. Lucy Black has a mouth on her like a bottle of bourbon with three cigarette butts floating in it...That doesn't sound so great does it. But it is, I promise. That is if you like your ladies with a good dose of female-can-do attitude.
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 | A while back I got a contract from Saint Martin's Press with a note on the front of it - it said, simply, the bikers are coming. It made me do a little happy dance. And now, it's about to happen. My two biker books, Burned by Lust, and Burned by Blackmail have been bundled together with new scenes and content by Swerve at Saint Martin's Press and given a shiny new cover. They hit the shops on July 11th but the preorder is up now! I know a few of you read Burned by Blackmail so I hope you'll like the new reincarnation. And it because it's a re-release it's out cheapcheap. It'll be swiftly followed by an all new story - that of Lucy Black in |
As most of you know, I live in a land far far away. It’s true. New Zealand is downunder from pretty much everywhere in the world and maybe because of this, and with our colonial roots, travel is a big part of many kiwi’s life experience. I’m no exception. I have seen a whole lot of the world, and one of my favorite places is South East Asia, especially Thailand.
I’ve been to Thailand many times, on my own, with my husband and recently with my two young boys. There are amazing Buddhist temples, incredible wildlife, spectacular beaches and islands, and in its modern cities, bustling life and incredible food. In the bigger temples, gold fairly drips off the edges of buildings and statues, and even in the tiniest of local shrines, people scrimp and save to plaster gold leaf on their chosen deity. My latest release is set in Thailand and yes, this time, some of the truth that slipped onto the pages of this book is crazier than fiction.
When hubby and I visited, we traveled by motorbike up the eastern coast discovering places I’d never seen mentioned in a guide book but it did mean we were treated to local delicacies as well. Have to say though, there is no chance I was ever going to eat barbequed bugs, no matter what the cackling woman behind the stall had to say about them.
With the freedom to travel where and when we chose, we found hidden temples with golden statues where we’d least expect, monkey temples perched high above the rest of the world, festivals with stuffed toys so big we’d never have gotten them on the back of our motorbike, and were teased and danced with and entertained into some very late nights.
 I often get asked where ideas come from and in this case it was from real life. We really did find a hidden cave with secret Buddhas inside. And the monkeys were far more interested in my lunch than I was happy with. |   |
We also got to sleep in a real live tree house in the middle of one of Thailand’s inland jungles. And learned pretty quickly where they caught the giant bugs we’d been served up earlier.
But while Thailand might be a wondrous kingdom on land, it’s even better under water. We lived for five days on a boat and went scuba diving in some crazy remote areas. And when the turtles turned up to play, it gave me the grins for a week.
As with everything, there is plenty to discover when traveling different countries. Thai politics has been the feature of international news in recent years, and there is still some unrest as they move into an era with a new king, but the people of these island truly live up to their reputation as a “land of smiles”. There is much I’ve learned from their generosity of spirit and I’ve been lucky to be able to draw inspiration from my traveling to incorporate into my writing. Hope you enjoy!
X Michele
But while Thailand might be a wondrous kingdom on land, it’s even better under water. We lived for five days on a boat and went scuba diving in some crazy remote areas. And when the turtles turned up to play, it gave me the grins for a week.
As with everything, there is plenty to discover when traveling different countries. Thai politics has been the feature of international news in recent years, and there is still some unrest as they move into an era with a new king, but the people of these island truly live up to their reputation as a “land of smiles”. There is much I’ve learned from their generosity of spirit and I’ve been lucky to be able to draw inspiration from my traveling to incorporate into my writing. Hope you enjoy!
X Michele
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Downunder we're already at peek Valentine's Week Promotion: the florists have had signs up for weeks; the supermarkets are stocking extra chocolates; Fifty Shades Darker came out, and the romance writers are busy providing Happy Ever Afters for one and all. This year I'm in not one but two promotions this valentine's and that mean more great stuff for you to enjoy. Yeay! The first is the Happily Ever Alpha Box Set. 20 Billionaires and 20 great ways to fall in love. This puppy goes on sale TODAY! and we are more than excited about it. If you haven't yet, you can also go in the draw to win an iPad, Kindle or Gift voucher if you pre-ordered this puppy. You have a few more days to enter so go get yourself some good Billionaire loving and win some serious hardware. Just click the button below.
But that's not all. This valentine's a whole lot of fabulous women from New Zealand and Australia wanted to give a little back to the awesome sauce readers who support us each and every day. So we put together a Valentine's Downunder promotion with the support of Instafreebie. That means for a whole week you can go and grab 25 titles, set in New Zealand and Australia free. No ifs, buts, nada. Just click and go!
I really hope you have a wonderful week and find love in a bunch of places. Whether it be from your lover or your kids, friends or other family. Let's share the love people.
Thanks for visiting and happy reading
x Michele
I really hope you have a wonderful week and find love in a bunch of places. Whether it be from your lover or your kids, friends or other family. Let's share the love people.
Thanks for visiting and happy reading
x Michele
 | Welcome to my new format blog! Sorry it's been so long, but hopefully now I'm all integrated and up to date I might be able to get here a whole lot more often! What is it about rich men that we love so much? Their ability to sweep us off our feet and fulfill our every wish perhaps? Ummmm, heck yes to that. My very first series started out with a bevy of rich men but in the biker series that will relaunch next year with Saint Martin's Press (woopwoop, see how I slipped that in all casually) I've been writing men who are a whole lot more ordinary. Some who have money, some who don't but none who could dial up a private jet and sweep a girl off her feet, literally. But when I got the opportunity to join a box set that is ALL about Alpha men, dripping with cash, it didn't take me long to jump in feet first. The result is my novella Valentine's Vengeance and it's forth coming with Happily Ever Alpha - Falling for the Billionaire - a beast of a Box Set with 20 Books by 20 Authors and a WHOLE lot of hot. It's just gone on pre-sale today and oh boy it's gunna be a super fun ride! |
Michele de Winton
Being a writer was not was I was supposed to be when I ‘grew up' but then neither was being a dancer. My poor parents. They thought that when I toddled off to law school they'd bred a responsible, useful adult and instead they got a performer and word junkie. But words really are my drug. Oh and yoga, food, sunshine, hot love scenes, my boys, chocolate and happy endings.
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