Debbie Cromack's Blog - Posts Tagged "slow-burn"

This story brings you a hot, Italian hero (Niccolo Mancini) on his rise to fame after his success in a wildly popular sexy movie. While he's excited about his success, he has no one to share it with.⠀
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You see, his heart's been broken. Broken so badly that he's closed off his heart to the possibility of love and only indulges in meeting the needs of his physical desires.⠀
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That is, until he meets the awkward, sometimes feisty, heroine (Destiny Cardone). She's a successful romance author who's hit a slump in her career and lost her inspiration.⠀
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Time after time of being tossed aside for another woman, she's struggling to believe in love, and herself.⠀
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That is, until Niccolo Mancini blazes into her life and turns it upside down.⠀
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Together, they strike a deal that changes the rest of their lives.⠀
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Get ready for...⠀
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*A slow burn with some steamy moments.⠀
*Characters who grow through their individual journeys.⠀
*A couple who grow together by challenging each other and being each other's rock.⠀
*An unexpected twist.⠀
*Tears.⠀
*Passion.⠀
*Love.⠀
*Happily ever after.⠀
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Someone Exactly Like Me releases July 23rd!

Join my GoodReads giveaway for this book here: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...Someone Exactly Like Me

Eeeeep!!! I'm so excited that my author copies arrived!

They're signed, packaged, and out the door!

ARCs go out this coming Friday, July 2nd. I'm excited and nervous!

SOMEONE EXACTLY LIKE ME releases July 23. Mark your calendar now! :-)

Here's a snip from my latest teaser...

I gather the tears raining on my soul and scoop up the broken pieces of my heart. Letting it all pour out of me and onto the page, I write and write and write.

Be sure to enter my giveaway right here on GoodReads! I'm giving away THREE signed paperback copies! Enter here: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh... Exactly Like Me

SOMEONE EXACTLY LIKE ME releases July 23rd!! Come join my release party at 12:00 PM eastern on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/debbie_crom...Someone Exactly Like Me)!!!!

Here's a snippet for you from Destiny's point of view...

“Feeling like you failed at something you really want is an awful feeling.” I take a sip of water and get an organic granola bar out of my bag. “What scares you about being in a relationship?”

He looks at me for a moment, saying nothing. Then he speaks. “I don’t want to answer this one.”

“Okay, that’s fine.” Yup, there’s definitely something deeper here. I’m not going to push him. I said I’d respect his decision to decline to answer anything I asked. But, I’m so curious. “Here’s the last one. What’s your biggest fear in life?”

He leans forward in his chair a little. “That I’ll never fall in love or have a family.”

My heart sinks in my chest. What happened to him?

Are you ready to meet your weekend book boyfriend?

Download Someone Exactly Like Me here: https://books2read.com/u/mvojwz.

Get ready for...⠀⠀⠀
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*A slow burn with some steamy moments⠀⠀⠀
*Characters who grow through their individual journeys⠀
*A couple who grow together by challenging each other and being each other's rock⠀
*An unexpected twist⠀⠀
*Tears⠀⠀⠀
*Passion⠀
*Romance⠀⠀
*Happily ever after

Available in eBook, paperback, and FREE to read on Kindle Unlimited!

If you receive my newsletter, you know I'm working on Candi's story. The working title is Kiss Away Your Pain. I'm not sure if it'll stick, but it's what's in my head right now.⠀
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I have ~3,100 words comprised of phrases, sentences, and thoughts for scenes. Yup, it starts as one big scrambled mess of ideas. 😊⠀
I can't tell you too much at the moments since it really is a jumbled mess. BUT, here are a few things I can share...⠀
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1) The heroine is Candi, a secondary character from Someone Exactly Like Me.⠀
2) The hero is a sexy-as-sin, Italian/Greek model/bartender.⠀
3) They'll be spending time in L.A. and maybe Italy or Greece.⠀
4) I love broken souls so you can bet one (or both) are a little broken.⠀
5) The slow burn will be sooooo satisfying. 😘⠀
6) Candi's one hard rule of "Never, ever sleep with clients" will be put to the test. 😳⠀
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Here’s a tiny peek at some of what’s going on in my head: "Under the dark sky and twinkling lights, I steal a forbidden kiss, unable to resist her. It’s a kiss that shouldn’t have happened. A kiss I shouldn’t have taken. A kiss she willingly gave me. Our hearts beat in unison to unspoken desire as our bodies heat against each other.”
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Do you like book playlists? Music inspires me so much. Before I can truly start writing a book, I need two things: a playlist and a Pinterest board.

Check out the playlist I created for Kiss Away Your Pain here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1kA.... It’ll change a little as I write the book and figure out what songs goes with what chapters, etc. I hope you enjoy it. 😃

You can also check out the Pinterest board I’ve started for Candi and Enzo’s love story in Kiss Away Your Pain: https://www.pinterest.com/debbiecroma.... The images are inspiring me so much!!!⠀
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If you’re visual like me and want a glimpse into their story, come on over to Pinterest and follow me. As I continue writing their story, I’ll be adding Pins to their board and you can follow along.⠀

Stay tuned and make sure you're on my newsletter list so you get the goods before everyone else. You can join it on my website: www.DebbieCromack.com. When you join, you'll get free chapters of both Untouchable Zane and Someone Exactly Like Me.

Hugs,
Debbie

Well, it's been a crazy three weeks. My mother's townhouse was hit by a tornado and is now condemned. I spent two days grabbing everything I could from her house that I could reach. Then I spent that last two and a half weeks going through all the wet, debris-coated things I grabbed to see what I could salvage. Everything has now been gone through, sorted, and what I was able to save is now re-packed and loaded onto a trailer, waiting to be moved to her new home.

She was in the hospital for about a week as she has some heart stress during the tornado. She's out and about to move into temporary living while she looks for a new place to call home.

Needless to say, my writing was put on hold while I managed through all this. I'm happy to say that the biggest part is done and I'm back to writing Candi's story in Kiss Away Your Pain.

Here's a little snippet for you...

The first song ends and “Hero” by Music Travel Love starts. I love their rendition of this song. As I watch couples on the dance floor, a dark-hair-dusted hand appears in front of my face. I look up into Enzo’s kryptonic eyes.

Putting my hand in his, the current that ran up my spine earlier floods my body.

One. Single. Touch.

Like he’s pulling me out of my seat with a magnet, I stand without saying a word. Holding my hand in his, he leads me to the dance floor. With gentle confidence, he wraps his arm around my waist and clasps his hand around mine. I draw a gulp of warm air into my lungs. I haven’t been this close to a man since — since Dom.

Being in the arms of another man feels different, almost wrong. And yet, when I look into his eyes, I’m eased. I feel safe.

“Aren’t you still on shift? Won’t you get in trouble?” I ask.

“Jake’s covering for me.” He pauses. “Besides, if I do, it’ll be worth it.” The sincerity of his statement coupled with intensity of his kryptonite-green gaze makes my heart beat a little faster.

I hope you liked it! :-)

Life is starting to get back to normal after the tornado hit my mother's house. She's in temporary housing and has a new car. The next step is for her to decide where she wants to live.

In the meantime, I'M BACK TO WRITING!! :-) And it feels so good. Stopping my writing for three weeks threw me off a bit and it's taken a little while to get back into the head space of my characters and their love story.

Yesterday, I wrote about three thousand words and I really felt like things are coming back. I'm so excited to be writing again! And because words are coming, I want to get back to it. Before I do, here's a little something for you...

I slide my hand from resting on his shoulder up to his neck, pressing my fingers in slightly. Responding, he lowers his head, placing his warm, whiskey-laced lips on mine. God, I forgot what this feels like. All my thoughts are gone. All I can do is feel. I feel everything. I feel the heat of his skin touching mine. I feel the unhurried, hypnotizing circles of his tongue around mine. I feel the ache of desire I banished three years ago. I’m completely lost in him.

The song ends and we part our lips and bodies. What the f*ck did I just do?

“I — I have to go.” Guilt stings my stomach. I dash to the bar and grab my clutch, passing by him on my way to the door.

He grabs my hand. “Candi, wait,” he says gently, almost pained.

I look down at our hands. Acid rolls around inside me. “I’m, I’m sorry. I have to go.” Withdrawing my hand, I walk quickly to the elevator. Frantically, I press the button, looking up at the lighted numbers. My pulse races. It’s taking too long. I head to the stairs and start running up them, which isn’t a great idea in this dress and these heels.

A few flights up, I hold onto the railing and turn myself around, sitting down on a step. Panting, clutching my chest, I grab Dom’s ring around my neck as tears spill down my face. “I’m so sorry, Dom,” I whisper to no one.

For more sneak peeks and free chapters, come join my newsletter at www.DebbieCromack.com. :-)

Kiss Away Your Pain is slowly coming along. Some days the words flow, some days they're like having word-constipation. LOL!

Here's a little snippet for you...

I turn toward the bar and adrenaline floods me the instant I see him. Enzo. My skin tingles as I stand frozen, watching him. He’s making drinks and doesn’t see me.

As I approach the bar, he looks up. The sexiest smile spreads across his gorgeous face. My pulse quickens.

“Hi. I wondered if I’d see you here.”

“I didn’t expect to see you here.” I’m caught in his piercing green eyes.

“Yeah, Nicco requested me. You were right, he’s a really good guy. He’s helped me out a lot.”

“So you guys are friends now?”

“Yeah, you could say that.” He smiles. “What can I get you? We have pink champagne with a puff of cotton candy.” He winks. “A Tiffany blue cosmopolitan. Or, really anything you’d like.”

When the words are struggling to come out of me, I work on the business side of my author career. With my 25+ years in corporate America and my background as a business coach for five years, I know how to run a successful business.

I've just started offering author bio revamps, coaching/consulting, and website copy for romance authors. If you're a romance author and your bio reads more like a dating profile, let's talk. Let me help you attract YOUR readers to you.

Okay, back to my writing nest.

Hugs,
Debbie

So, I started doing something new and I want to invite YOU!

At 7:00 PM eastern on weeknights, I'm reading live on TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@debbiecromack...) from Someone Exactly Like Me. :-)

Now, I confess that I'm not a very strong out-loud reader, but I'm having fun with it and readers seem to be enjoying it.

If you aren't able to join me live, I'm also recording them and putting them onto my YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpqF...) so you can watch them there.

If you're on TikTok, be sure to follow me so we can connect there. And if you're go check out my YouTube channel, I'd love for you to subscribe to my channel.

Before I go, here's a little something for you from tonight's reading...

Thankful it’s just her and I at the bar, I confess. “I don’t know. I guess I just thought I’d be in a different place in life by the time I turned thirty, you know?” I hold back the tears that sting behind my eyes because I don’t want to start blubbering.

“Oh, honey.” She takes my hand in hers and tugs a little, making me look at her. “Des, where you are is temporary. You’re just in a little slump right now. You told me you had a good writing sesh back at my studio. Who knows, maybe that photo shoot was the spark of inspiration you’ve been waiting for.”

“Maybe.” I sip my martini, recalling how hot and bothered I was with Nicco’s hands on me and then being in his arms.

Ciao for now!

Hugs,
Debbie

I've pulled together 15 authors and 15 bookstagrammers/readers over on Instagram for a fun series called Readers Ask Writers and YOU'RE INVITED to join us!

Head to this post (https://www.instagram.com/p/CVvZPh-vceC/) and follow all the participating authors. And follow the hashtag: #ReadersAskWriters to get involved! The authors are answering questions and some are even asking YOU questions! Come join the fun and let's get to know each other!

There are so many wonderful new people here in my little corner of GoodReads and I'm so happy you're here! Be sure to add my books to your TBR and start reading them today. :-)

Here's Untouchable Zane: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

Here's Someone Exactly Like Me: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

If you give them a shot, I really hope you enjoy them. :-) And if you do, I'd love your review on Amazon, here on GoodReads, and/or BookBub. Thank you so much!

Okay, I'm off to feed the baby goats their breakfast. Chat again soon!

Hugs,
Debbie