Friday, October 18, 2013

A Fine Romance is the Kindle Daily Deal - Snap It Up For Only $0.99!

I've been immersed in the goodness of release week for Friends To Lovers, book 3 in the Aisle Bound series. But today, I step back a book, to #2 in the series, A Fine Romance - because it is the Kindle Daily Deal for only $0.99! Here's all you need to know: there's a chocolate covered sex scene. Makes you want to drop everything and buy it right now, doesn't it? Okay, click here to snap it up! Well, just to cover my bases, I'll give you a few more details so  you can convince your friends and colleagues to go drop their $0.99 on this funny, sexy contemporary romance set in Chicago.

They say you form your first impression of someone within thirty seconds of meeting them. Or, in Mira Parrish's case, within thirty minutes of not meeting them, when said person is supposed to pick you up from the airport and never shows. This is not a perfect start to her new life. Her friend Ivy is depending on her to run a new romance store, and Mira can't afford to let her down.

Sam Lyons should probably apologize. But every time he sees Mira—which is often, since his family owns the bakery next to her shop—he can't resist antagonizing her. There's something about the sexy, straitlaced woman that drives him crazy. He can't get involved, though. He has too much baggage to be any good in a serious relationship.

Despite his teasing attitude, Mira finds Sam too sweet to resist. (His hot body
may be a factor.) But if there's going to be anything permanent between them, they'll need to let go of their pasts and look to the future…

Excerpt:
She wore an air of mystery, almost like she knew something Sam didn’t about tonight. Funny, since he was the one surprising her. Or was it that Mira thought she was the one pulling his strings? Well, he’d put a stop to that. Sam didn’t need to be in charge, but he did need them to be on even footing. Might have to step it up a notch already. He faced her and rested his hands loosely on her waist. And tried not to think how fantastic it would be to cup her rounded hips and rock her back and forth on top of him.

“I’m sure I want another date with you, Mira. Want to know why?”

She nodded.

“You’re like a cannoli. They aren’t chocolate, so I assume you’ve had one?”

She nodded again, with a mystified smile.

“Their outer layer seems both indestructible and brittle. Once you break through, the center is sweet and creamy, yet still studded with interesting surprises of nuts and dried fruit. One bite is never enough. Oh, and that dusting of powdered sugar makes them delicately beautiful. And you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

Mira’s eyelids drooped heavily—the personification of bedroom eyes. A faint blush that matched the nearest rosebush pinked her cheeks. Then her tongue slipped out to moisten her lips. It did him in. Sam tightened his grip, pulling her so close he felt the rapid rise and fall of her chest.

“Don’t look at me like that. Like you could gobble me up whole,” Mira said. Her cheeks grew darker. “I might have to take action.”

Sam wondered if she was one of those ultra-feminists who got offended by an honest compliment. Damn it, was she mad or aroused? Why couldn’t he figure her out? “I chose this location carefully. We’re surrounded by nature, not knickknacks. There’s nothing here you can use to assault me.”

“Not true. There’s one thing.” Mira launched herself at him, throwing both arms around his neck. Instinct lowered his hands to her tight, curvy ass for a better grip. Sam barely managed to keep both of them from toppling into the fountain. He did stagger backward a few steps until the spray misted them lightly.

The heat of the late-afternoon sun on his back didn’t come close to matching the heat she kindled between them. Eagerly, Sam sank into those luscious lips. She took quick nibbles, even nipping. A zing shot straight down to his dick. Yeah, if this was her taking charge, sign him up for more of that!

With a final lick around the outline of his lips, she slid her tongue inside. And Mira didn’t stay still. No, she wriggled against him. He wouldn’t be able to hold on to her much longer. The heavy scent of roses twined around them like something out of a fairy tale. From now on, whenever Sam smelled roses, he’d feel Mira’s breasts tautly pushing against his chest. He’d remember the perfection of her kisses, and the silken glide of her legs against his. No doubt he’d go from zero to titanium-hard in two seconds.

She broke away first. “You were right. Another date is inevitable.”

As a reminder, you can grab the Kindle Daily Deal here. And please, don't keep this great deal to yourself  - share the news!

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

HUGE Announcement of a New Sale!

I'm over-the-moon thrilled to announce a new, four book sale! Here is the bare bones quote on it from the New Deals column in Publisher's Marketplace:

FRIENDS TO LOVERS author Christi Barth's new SHORE SECRETS trilogy, set in a charming lakeside town in New York State, beginning with UP TO ME, plus an unrelated novella, to Angela James at Carina Press, by Nephele Tempest at The Knight Agency.

Thrillingly professional, sure, but kind of devoid of a hook. So here are the details:

Shore Secrets welcomes you to Geneva, New York, a small town situated on the peaceful shores of Seneca Lake. Like all small towns, Geneva has its secrets, but this community entrusts theirs to the anonymous journal stored in a mailbox at the water’s edge. Over the years, the quirky residents have poured their hearts out to this book, where anyone can read about their woes, and offer sympathy or advice. But in a town this small, nothing remains anonymous for long – especially not a budding romance.

Disclaimer - nothing is set in stone yet (still frantically churning out words on book one - so don't go printing these working titles on a celebratory tee-shirt for me), but here's a tiny taste of what they're about.

Book One: Up To Me


the castle-esque hotel
A hard-nosed businessman with contempt for small town America is forever changed by the love of a sexy hotel owner and a quirky but tight-knit community famous for its anonymous journal by the shore.


Book Two: Up To You


at the Watkins Glen waterfall
When a straight-laced and sexually frustrated park ranger falls in love with a sexy professor hell-bent on exposing her darkest secret, she’s torn between a future with him or a past that must stay hidden.

Book Three: Up To Us


vineyards on Seneca Lake
When her ex-boyfriend refuses to sell her his land unless she dates him for a month, an uncompromising winemaker learns that some bargains are worth making for a second chance at love.





And that 4th book the deal notice mentioned? It is the 
Absecon lighthouse
sequel to Love at High Tide, my beach fling caper that just released in July. Yes, savvy readers might have figured out that Brad and Trina get their  own book. It isn't much of a spoiler to say you'll get to see Darcy & Coop again, too. Not on their beach, though. This book takes place in the simultaneously glamorous, seedy and romantic Atlantic City. Rebound flings are supposed to have soft landings, but one sexy cop is about to fall hard... 

 
If you're enjoying my Aisle Bound series, don't panic. There is still a final book in the series, A Matchless Romance, which releases on February 17, 2014. But after that, the action shifts from Chicago to the Finger Lakes region of New York. I can't wait to share them all with you!

Monday, October 14, 2013

Release Day for Friends To Lovers!

I'm super excited about today. Friends To Lovers is book 3 in the Aisle Bound series. It is funny and sexy and utterly romantic. It's got an aphrodisiac dinner! I'm so in love with my ultra-charming hero. So here's the blurb, and then a steamy excerpt to get you hooked.
 
As florist and co-owner of a successful Chicago wedding planning business, Daphne Lovell has been there for the happiest days of other people's lives. As for her own life? Well, it's hard to be perfectly happy when you're carrying a torch for your sexy, womanizing and oblivious best friend. So when the lights go out on New Year's Eve, she seizes the opportunity to kiss him senseless.

British expat Gibson Moore has a lot on his plate. The hotel he manages is being bought out, his family is crazy and someone just kissed him in the dark. When the lights go on, he searches the room, trying to find the mystery pair of lips. Only, he never thinks to ask the woman standing by his side. He's shocked when he discovers that Daphne is the woman he's been searching for. But Gib's also eager to act upon the attraction for her he's always fought to ignore.

It takes trust to move from friends to lovers, and as Gib's work situation worsens, he is no longer sure he can risk the friendship he relies on most. It's up to Daphne to convince him that some things are worth fighting for…
 
Excerpt:
“How long are you going to make me wait?” Daphne asked, her voice low and breathy.

Gib gave a swift glance up and down the hallway. Had anyone else heard her plea? She couldn’t be asking what he thought. Could she? He tried to back away, but his heel barely moved before hitting the kick guard on the bathroom door. “Pardon me?”

Closing the already-narrow gap between them, Daphne put both hands on his lapels. Then she stroked around in a tight circle. “Come on, Gib. Are you really going to make me beg for it?” Her right hand dropped to his hip. It slid down his thigh, moved inward just enough that in another second she’d feel his cock twitch at the unexpected visit.

Enough was enough. Daphne was his best friend. Of course he wouldn’t make her beg—unless she was naked. Different rules applied in bed. Now that she’d opened this particular Pandora’s box, the possibilities raced into his brain. In fact, he’d like nothing more than to lick her all over until she begged him to crawl on top of her. Crawl into her.

But for right now, he’d settle for a taste of her. Enough to take the edge of the lust rampant enough to drive Daphne to feel him up in the hallway. Gib grabbed her neck with one hand, her waist with the other, and reversed their positions. He drove her against the wall. Tried not to notice how well he fit into the notch between her thighs. And then he kissed her. Just like she wanted.

Gib unzipped her lips with a single swipe of his tongue. She opened to him, giving access to the hot silk of her mouth. The firm grip he had at her neck allowed him to angle her head up to meet him. Fingers thrust deep into the dandelion-soft glory of her hair. He heard the soft, mewling noise coming from the back of her throat, the rasp of her god-awful skirt against his trousers, the muted buzz of the meeting trickling into the hallway.

But mostly, Gib felt. Felt his cock swell. Her pulse galloping beneath his thumb. The slick mating dance of tongue against tongue a tease for what he now knew to be inevitable. Every stroke a fiery arrow straight to his crotch. Every new inch of her flesh he tasted thickening him, exciting him. Her arms cinched tight around his back, pulling him impossibly closer. This wasn’t a hi, how’s your day kiss. This was a launch sequence countdown begun kiss. Neither of them held back anything.

If Gib didn’t stop right now, he’d push her through that bathroom door. Hitch up that oh-so-handy skirt. Hike her legs around his waist. Take her in a stall until she screamed so loud the front desk would have to come investigate. And Gib was fairly certain that didn’t fall under the parameters Milo had laid out for treating Daphne to a real date.

So he backed off. Reluctantly. With a final, bruising brush of lips. Enough to swell her mouth so she’d run her finger over it in an hour, and think of him. Gib planted one hand on the wall, boxing her in to keep Daphne right where he wanted her. With his other, he stroked the edge of her cheekbone, following the path of summer freckles that refused to fade. “Is that what you wanted?”

She blinked a couple of times. Fast. “No.”

The woman was insatiable! Just the way he liked it. “I can’t give you any more, pet, unless we blow off this meeting. There are about five hundred hotel rooms on top of us. Not as good as mine, naturally. But they’ve all got locks on the doors, which is all we’ll need.” Gib regretted the offer immediately. Now it hung out there, like an X-rated thought balloon over a cartoon character.

The agenda for tonight, for once in his life, did not contain sex. He and Milo had laid out a painstaking plan. A decent amount of flattery as a base. A tip of the hat to their close friendship. Cap it off with the dazzling offer to wine and dine her. No mention of the kiss they’d shared. Milo predicted his roommate to be incapable of physical restraint if it came up. After all, an old dog can’t learn new tricks in a day. Gib had tried to resist. But when a woman rubbed herself on him, why wouldn’t he kiss her?

“Whoa. Did you just offer to do me? And in a rival hotel, of all places?” She cocked her head to the side. Wrinkled her nose. “I’m not sure which I find more insulting.”



Bio: Christi Barth earned a Masters degree in vocal performance and embarked upon a career on the stage.  A love of romance then drew her to wedding planning.  Ultimately she succumbed to her lifelong love of books and now writes contemporary romance.  Christi is President of the Maryland Romance Writers and lives in Maryland with her husband. Friends To Lovers is book 3 in her 4 book Aisle Bound series.