Ooooooh! Are. You. Ready??
I am so excited about this cover for Sophie’s Encore. I know, I always say this. But this one is different yet again. You’ll see! Between myself, Chad, Katie and Amy at Sapphire Star, we have ramped things up a few notches, which is only befitting a rousing final part of the Rock Star Romance Trilogy!!
Read on for:
The BLURB
The COVER
The EXCERPT
The GIVEAWAY!!!!
YES! Here’s your chance to win an advance review copy of Sophie’s Encore or Rock Star Romance SWAG!
Sophie’s Encore
Her rock star is waiting in the wings, but will he get a second chance?
It’s all change for Sophie Jones—only this time, there is more at stake than just her happiness.
Rock star extraordinaire, Dan Hunter, has been her patient and caring friend through the highs and lows since her wedding day, but now he figures it is time for her to start over. By stealth, the rock singer draws Sophie into the behind-the-scenes work for his band’s latest album. Through the days and weeks spent together at the mixing desk, Sophie discovers whole new horizons for her life, yet before she can even begin to explore them, she faces the very real threat of losing her rock star for good.
Join Sophie and Dan in Sophie’s Encore to find out how their journey will end…
Cover design: Nicky Wells and Chad Lichtenhan
Cover image: Singer in the darkness © Dmytro Konstantynov | Dreamstime.com
Wow, right?
Sophie’s Encore: Excerpt
My bedroom door opened slowly and Dan crept in. All thought of sleep forgotten, I flicked the light back on and was met by an astonishing sight. There was Dan, the rock star, legend for his antics on and off stage, clad in a demure pair of checked pajamas with a button-up top and a mismatched, stripy dressing gown. His feet were stuffed into fluffy slippers, and he clutched a bottle and two glasses in his hands.
“Come on,” he whispered. “Dinner is served.”
I giggled and left my bed, grabbing my own stripy dressing gown and a pair of thick socks.
“What are you doing?” I breathed into his ear, but he simply took my hand and pulled me down the dark corridor toward the open-plan lounge.
“Have a seat,” he invited me and gestured at the dining table, which was once again laid, although only for two, complete with candles and napkins.
He set down the bottle and glasses and scurried off to shut the lounge door. While he busied himself in the kitchen, I basked in the heat from the fire which Dan had re-stoked, and observed my rock star with some degree of amusement.
Within a few minutes, he brought a dish of smoked salmon bites to the table, followed by olive bread, a cheese board, various cold meats, olives, pickled anchovies, and prawns with some sort of aioli dip. He popped the cork on the bottle of champagne, poured two glasses, and sat down, satisfied at last.
“Now we can eat,” he announced. “Tapas. What do you think?”
I raised my glass. “Cheers,” I giggled. “So that’s what you meant earlier. I think it’s amazing. It’s like a midnight feast. I’m just waiting for matron to discover us and give us detention. Why all the secrecy?”
Dan speared a prawn and pointed it at me. “Well, for one, as you say, matron will certainly come and give us detention. Peter is very strict on my sleep regimen, you see.” He dipped the prawn into the aioli before popping it into his mouth. The beatific look on his face and his scrunched up eyes suggested he was enjoying this humble treat far more than was warranted.
He swallowed and cleared his throat. “And for another, I’m on a strict diet. Every last bit of cheese gets weighed, the carbohydrates counted, the sugar added up. It’s really tedious.” He grimaced.
I helped myself to some bread and salmon. “Tedious indeed, I can see that. But why? I thought you were supposed to eat lots and get better.” I chewed greedily, my tummy having given an impressive rumble.
Dan speared another prawn and added a mountain of cheese and bread to his place. “Bliss,” he murmured before explaining further. “I’m supposed to eat healthy, not lots. So Peter has taken it upon himself to reform the bad eating habits of a lifetime. Bless him, it’s what he’s paid to do. I’ve been going along with it, and I have to admit, I’m feeling pretty good. But…”
He grinned his school-boy grin, took a big mouthful of food, washed it down with a large gulp of champagne, and finished his thought. “Well, it gets boring. And I wanted to do something special with you. On my own.”
I burst out laughing, but quieted down when I saw the alarm on Dan’s face.
“Sorry,” I whispered.
“Peter’s bedroom is right next door there,” Dan whispered back. “And he’s a light sleeper.” He pointed his finger, and we sat in silence for a minute, straining to hear.
“I think we’re okay,” Dan finally concluded and resumed eating.
I giggled softly. “Naughty, naughty us.”
“Ha, we’re not naughty yet,” Dan shot back, speaking softly as well. “I was working up to that part.”
He winked, and my heart skipped and jumped. He didn’t mean—he couldn’t mean what I thought he meant?
“What do you mean?” I bumbled, hoping for clarification, but Dan was enjoying himself.
“All in good time,” he teased. “Let’s finish our meal first.”
The Giveaway
I want to share my excitement about this cover reveal and upcoming release with you! Enter for your chance to win:
One of TWO Sophie’s ENCORE Advance Review e-Copies
or
One Sophie’s RUN Mug
or
One Rock Star Romance Trilogy SWAG Pack featuring postcards and bookmarks
ENTER HERE: a Rafflecopter giveaway
GIVEAWAY CLOSES 15 AUGUST AT MIDNIGHT BST. The small print! Entrants must be aged 18 or over. Giveaway is open internationally. Winners will be drawn via Rafflecopter.
GOOD LUCK!
****STOP PRESS:
The Kindle editions of Sophie’s Turn and Sophie’s Run are now available for only $0.99 (£0.77 or equivalent) each to celebrate the cover reveal! Hurry ~ limited time only!! *****
SOPHIE’S ENCORE: coming your way in e-book and paperback editions on 5 SEPTEMBER 2013!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THANK YOU
There’s a great group of awesome bloggers supporting this cover reveal today in a massive cover-reveal blitz enterprise. Here’s the roll call of honour! Ladies, I love you one and all, and thank you for everything you do. ROCK ON!
Andi’s Book Reviews ~ Bookreview by Rea ~ Book Mama ~
Boyfriend Bookmark ~ Brook Cottage Books ~ Celtic Connexions ~ Chick Lit Central ~ Cosmochicklitan ~ Dana Mason ~
Dizzy C’s Little Book Blog ~ Eve’s Chick Lit Reviews ~
Everything Books and Authors ~ Forget the Housework ~
Jera’s Jamboree ~ Jersey Girl Book Reviews ~ Kim The Bookworm ~ Me and Reading ~ Me My Books and I ~ My Seryniti ~
Perusing Princesses ~ Supportive Business Mums ~
The Adventures Within ~ Today I’m Reading
All together now… Don’t they look stunning?
Nicky Wells: Love & Thrills 
NO COMMENT? (Look in your Spam)
A Little Help From My Friends…
Dear friends and fellow bloggers,
You know me, right? I’m a prolific commenter, most of the time. I usually have an opinion, and I love hanging around blogs. We’re all friends here in the blogosphere.
Ham turned to Spam!
However. At this time, I’ve been relegated to Spam. Yup, everything I might try to say to you on your lovely WordPress blogs currently most likely ends up in your Spam folder. Why?
WordPress uses something called Akismet to protect our blogs from Spam. Occasionally, Akismet tightens its criteria or logarithms or whatever it is they use, and legitimate, innocent bloggers such as myself end up on a blacklist. Completely randomly. Completely without reason. For I’m not Spam, right? Not fair, uh-huh, but that’s what happens.
How did I find out about this? Well, let’s say I spent time yesterday leaving comments on people’s blogs, as is my wont, and they didn’t appear. The blog would say, “posting comment” and then… nothing. No “your comment is awaiting moderation”, just nothing. This got me thinking and Googling, and hey presto, there it was, the hypothesis. Am I on a blacklist of some kind? Does WordPress think I’m Spam?? I Facebooked with one of the bloggers and she duly found me in her Spam folder (and restored my comment: thanks!). Hypothesis confirmed; panic stations!
I’ve contacted WordPress, and they’ve been very helpful but there’s not much they can do. I’ve contacted Akismet but their contact form is like a big, black hole and I don’t even know if my message got through.
No Way Out?
Meanwhile I’ve been advised conflicting things. Some say, hold off on the commenting altogether for a while. Others say, comment and ask the blog owners to retrieve your message from Spam and approve it. Apparently, that action sends a message of a ‘false positive’ to Akismet which will eventually (in a few days? weeks? months?) prompt Akismet to take me off the blacklist. (Have I mentioned that I hate being on any kind of blacklist? I’m deeply distraught!).
I’m not alone in this. Check out this post, for example (or try Googling the phenomenon, but this link is faster, LOL):
http://dukeo.com/how-to-get-off-akismets-blacklist/
Instructive, huh? So where do I go from here?
Hope Against Hope
Well. I’ll comment a little less, perhaps, but I will remain your active friend!
Perhaps you could check your Spam folder every once in a while to see if I’m languishing in there. Perhaps, if you find me, you might mark my comments as THIS IS NOT SPAM and approve them to restore them to your blog. I would really, really love that.
Hopefully, one day I’ll become a happy, one-click-and-my-comment-shows blogger again. In the interim… don’t forget to check your Spam folder every once in a while, just in case. Thank you all for your support!
🙂
39 Comments
Posted in Miscellaneous
Tagged Akismet, Blogging, Comments Blocked, Innocent, Wordpress