The land that time forgot

I'm visiting my mother in the small town where I grew up, lo, those many years ago. This truly is a reflection of what life used to be like as seen in movies and magazines.

Children ride their bike to the local swimming pool. People sleep with their doors unlocked. Cars are parked on the street with windows rolled down. There's a fish-fry on Friday to benefit the Kiwanis, and a party in the park to celebrate July 4th.

I could go on and on, but one thing yesterday really just made me love this place even more. I went to the grocery store. My purchases were tidily bagged for me and carried out by a young man of below-average intelligence. He, like all bag boys, wore a white shirt, black pants, and black necktie. He wheeled my cart out with my purchases and tucked them into my car, chatting pleasantly with me about the weather and town. I mentioned it later to a friend and she said the store owners train the bag boys to be polite, social, and courteous.

No kidding.

I wish I could bottle this place and carry with me whenever I go to a loud, not-so-charming urban area. I want to remember that places like this do, still exist. I write about them in my books (obligatory pointer to promotion here) and I really am not exaggerating. Places like this do exist.

Thank heavens.

CONTEST: PARKER'S PRICE by Ann Bruce

At my high school, we used to raise money by holding slave auctions. Students, girls and guys, would volunteer themselves as slaves for a day and be sold to the highest bidder. A lot of the girls volunteered to be slaves knowing their boyfriends would be obligated to buy them. Me, I preferred to do the buying because there was too many people in high school who would've loved to humiliate me as payback for my smart mouth.

One year, at the end of an auction, someone ran up onto the makeshift stage and made a bid for me. I glared at him but he didn't take back the bid. I remember thinking that he probably wanted me to do his homework or some such nonsense because while he was--and still is--very, very cute, he wasn't gifted academically. When I said, "No way in hell," but in much nicer terms because teachers were present, he upped the bid. And I, rather ungraciously, gave in.

Turns out, he only wanted to see me take my hair down--and walk two steps behind him all day.

Many years later, I took that high school incident, wildly embellished it because that's what writers do, and turned it into Parker's Price, a contemporary romance that has "all the alpha-male goodness of a category romance combined with all the hands-on, sizzling attraction heat of an erotic romance" (Night Owl Reviews).

She was sexy, smart...and not for sale. But that won't stop him.

When Parker Quinn is forced to accept an outrageously high bid at a charity auction, she has no choice but to go out with the last man on earth she wants to spend time with. Dean Maxwell may be one of Manhattan's most eligible bachelors, but he's also the man who had an affair with her sister and abandoned her when she became pregnant with his child.

Dean doesn't know why Parker hates him so much, but he's determined to show Parker the type of man he really is. Whisking her away to a private island in the Bahamas for a sensual, sun-drenched week together, Dean leaves Parker's preconceptions shattered and her desires inflamed.

But even as their passion reaches irresistible heights, Parker has a decision to make. Can she allow herself to fall for the seductive magnate, or will family secrets and a dangerous ex tear them apart?

To celebrate my first contemporary romance, I'll give away an e-copy of Parker's Price to one commenter here.

If that's not enough, I'm also giving away three (3) $50 Amazon gift certificates on my blog, The Not-so-deep Thoughts.

Lassoing Lara Contest

To celebrate the upcoming release of my Ellora's Cave Quickie, Lassoing Lara, I'm holding a contest. Go to my website and click on my "contests" page for details on how you can enter for a chance to win.