HARD AS IT GETS by Laura Kaye

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chocolate, contemporary romance, Hard As it Gets, Laura Kaye

I am so excited for you all to check out my good friend Laura Kaye’s new book, HARD AS IT GETS! I had a chance to read an early copy and it was AWESOME!!! She’s here today to talk about a thing we both love in addition to romance and hot heroes–CHOCOLATE!!!

Enjoy!

 

Five Favorite Chocolates

I’m thrilled to be at my good friend Eliza Knight’s place today celebrating the release of my new book, Hard As It Gets, the first in the Hank Ink series. This series has ex-military guys, a tattoo parlor, intrigue, mystery, a kick-ass heroine, and a three-legged dog. And it also has a couple of sexy scenes caused by chocolate. LOL! So, first, I’m sharing my own personal favorite chocolates, and then second, I’m sharing an excerpt in which chocolate is featured.

 

My favorite chocolates include:

1) Snickers. This candy has always been my absolute favorite. And, really, any chocolate paired with caramel ranks pretty high for me.

2) Godiva chocolate. Godiva makes the best hot fudge you’ll ever have. And the best chocolate dip for strawberries. And incredible truffles. And…and…

3) Chocolate chips. I love the way they crunch, and enjoy them by themselves, in cookies, in ice cream, in muffins – you get the picture!

4) Chocolate ice cream. In pretty much any form, I love the chocolate frozen stuff!

5) Nutella. The delicious chocolate-hazelnut spread is incredible on pancakes and even better in crepes. Anything would probably be better with Nutella.

 

Now for a chocolate-inspired excerpt:

 

Becca opened the fridge and surveyed the shelves and drawers. After all, the last thing Nick had said to her before they’d gone their separate ways at bedtime was “Make yourself at home. What’s mine is yours.” Which had left her mind churning on exactly what the full practical application of that principle might include . . . But, at the very least, she assumed it included midnight raids on his fridge. One of her worst and most favorite habits.

 

But the contents primarily fell into one of four categories: beer, other drinks, restaurant takeout and general leftovers, and meat.

 

Wrinkling her nose, she closed the lower door and opened the upper one. Icy air blasted out as her gaze landed on a two-deep stack of ice cream tubs, the double chocolate fudge brownie catching her eye in particular.

 

“That’s more like it.” She pushed the door shut and turned to the counter.

 

And screamed.

 

Nick was standing like a silent phantom at the edge of the dim light. The half-gallon

container flipped out of her hands and did a triple somersault in the air before she dove for it at the same time Nick did.

 

They crashed and she shrieked, her hands flush against a mountain of bare, hard flesh, and the tub of ice cream fell at their feet. His arms came around her, his greater weight nearly knocking her over and making them stumble until he’d all but pinned her against the counter.

 

Time froze for an instant, then Becca burst out laughing, the ridiculousness of the past ten seconds growing in hilarity the more she thought about what had just happened. She covered her mouth with one hand as her head fell back and her laughter devolved into a series of choked chortles she couldn’t control. She gasped for breath, her forehead falling against Nick’s chest.

 

His chest. Holy crap, the man was half naked and she was touching him. Her hand. Her face. Her stomach against his. The details of their position finally registered in her sleep-deprived brain.

 

He was all over her.

 

Do you have a favorite chocolate?

 

Thanks for reading!

Laura

 

“Edgy, sexy, and full of suspense! A great read from a great new author!”

~J.R. Ward on Hard As It Gets

 

About Hard As It Gets:

Five dishonored soldiers.

Former Special Forces.

One last mission.

These are the men of Hard Ink.

 

Tall, dark, and lethal…

Trouble just walked into Nicholas Rixey’s tattoo parlor. Becca Merritt is warm, sexy, wholesome–pure temptation to a very jaded Nick. He’s left his military life behind to become co-owner of Hard Ink Tattoo, but Becca is his ex-commander’s daughter. Loyalty won’t let him turn her away. Lust has plenty to do with it too.

With her brother presumed kidnapped, Becca needs Nick. She just wasn’t expecting to want him so much. As their investigation turns into all-out war with an organized crime ring, only Nick can protect her. And only Becca can heal the scars no one else sees.

Desire is the easy part. Love is as hard as it gets. Good thing Nick is always up for a challenge…

 

Read an Extended Excerpt of Hard As It Gets

Buy at Amazon | B&N | iTunes

About Laura Kaye:

 

Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over a dozen books in contemporary and paranormal romance. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.

 

Website | Blog | Facebook | Hard Ink Puppy FB | Twitter | Newsletter SignUp

 

Want to visit more stops along the HARD AS IT GETS tour? Click HERE

Self-Pubblishing Interview Series with Laura Kaye

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Forever Freed, Hearts in Darkness, Laura Kaye, Self-publishing

Today I’d like to welcome my good friend and fellow chapter mate, Laura Kaye! A New York Times and USA Today best-selling author, Laura writes in several genres with both small and large presses. She’s ventured into the world of self-publishing and has agreed to answer my questions about her experience. Thanks, Laura!

PUBLISHING QUESTIONS…

• What was the deciding factor in self-publishing your book(s)? Did you decide on ebook or print only or both?

When the opportunity arose to get my rights back on two books with a small press, I knew it was the right time to dip my toes into self-publishing. So I started with two backlist titles as a way of easing into it. Both books, Hearts in Darkness and Forever Freed, are available as ebooks and print books.

• What went into the process? Writing, editing, cover design, formatting, etc… Share your ups and downs and how you went about it. If you used a service from someone, could you share who?

Since these were backlist titles, I didn’t have to worry about hiring editors this time around. However, I did go through both manuscripts and do some minor editing of my own. Amazing how our writing changes over the course of even a few years! I hired cover designers to create professional covers for me—for Hearts in Darkness, I hired Tricia Pickyme Schmitt, who designed the original cover for the small publisher; and for Forever Freed, I hired Hot Damn Designs. Both did a phenomenal job on the covers and that step was easy. I also hired Hot Damn to do all my ebook formatting and they really walked me through the process of acquiring ISBNs, the quirks of uploading to the various sites, etc.

Hearts in Darkness was my first self-publishing experiment, and I was surprised by how time consuming the steps could be. But there’s no denying how exciting it was to see it go live!

• What did you do to promote your work?

A variety of things. Both books were well established before, but I still did major cover reveals, got my street team involved in shouting them out, featured them in blog hops and other blogging opportunities, and took out some advertisements, too. I didn’t do full blog tours since they were back list titles, but I do usually with new releases.

• What was the hardest thing you’ve found in the process of self-publishing? What was the easiest part of self-publishing?

Easiest was working with cover artist and getting great covers I love! And I adore the control over that process! Hardest was figuring out everything I needed to know and everything I didn’t know. I’m still not fully proficient, as evidenced by the fact that I’m paying someone to do my formatting, which more experienced self-publishers often do themselves. But I’m figuring out a little at a time so that by the time I can release fully new books, I’ll have a better handle on the whole process.

• Can you list some Pros/Cons of self-publishing?

The pros in my opinion are the control you have over the whole process, how quickly you can release a book, and the greater royalty rates you can receive. I think it’s also important that you can decide whether to also offer a book in print. Hearts in Darkness is a 30,000-word novella, and that’s not the kind of thing most publishers would take to print, but I can offer it as a self-publisher.

The cons in my opinion include the time investment required to do the business side of things, the lack of publisher support for promotion (which varies from publishers, of course, but there’s no one even built in to retweet or share my twitter or facebook posts, for example…), and finding a readership on your won. I think the latter is less challenging if you’re established, but it’s still a consideration.

• How long have your book(s) been out? How long between books if you have multiple sales—and if you have multiples did you see a bump in sales with subsequent publication?

Hearts in Darkness has been out for 5 weeks and Forever Freed just re-released. I currently have 13 books for sale or pre-order, and I definitely have had the experience of the sales bump with each new release. I saw it when I re-released Hearts in Darkness, too. Backlist is king.

• Can you give a rough breakdown of your sales numbers from your first month to the present?

I have a short time line, and only sales to report on Hearts in Darkness so far. But, I’m selling 500 a month on Amazon, 100 a month on B&N, 100 a month on Apple, and 25 on Kobo.  I’d recouped my up-front costs, which were mostly the cover and the purchasing of ISBN numbers, in the first few weeks.

• What advice can you offer to anyone deciding to self-publish?

Do it right and be professional. Hire editors, professional cover designers, formatters. No one should be able to look at the inside or outside of your book and know it’s self-published.

READER QUESTIONS…

• What genre(s) do you write in? How many books do you have out? Titles?

I write in contemporary and paranormal romance and have 13 novels either out or up for pre-order. I have four series underway: Hearts of the Anemoi (South of Surrender most recently) , Vampire Warrior Kings (Taken by the Vampire King releases 8/1) , Heroes (2 out and 2 more coming in 2014), and Hard Ink (Hard As It Gets debuts this November!).

• What do you love about the genre(s)?

I’ve been interested in all things paranormal since I was a kid. I love the magic, the possibility that such things could be real, and the dark sexiness of paranormal stories. I also love contemporary stories because you could imagine them really happening and the characters being people you might actually know.

• Where can readers find you?

I’m everywhere! LOL Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Newsletter SignUp

• Where can readers find your books? Print/Ebook?

Hearts in Darkness is available on Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Apple

Forever Freed is available on Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Apple (coming soon)

• What works do you have coming out in the future?

My next books aren’t self-published, but include Taken by the Vampire King (August 1), Hard As It Gets (November 26), and Hard As You Can (February 25)

• Are you participating in any reader contests?

I’m almost always running a giveaway somewhere!  The best thing to do is keep an eye on my Facebook or Twitter!

• There is a rumor going around that all self-pubbed books are shoddily created. What do you say to that?

I think there’s a range of quality among self-published books, with more and more high-quality books and established authors moving into self-publishing every day. You can find errors and weak stories published by publishers and self-publishers, so problems aren’t isolated to the self-pubbed. But I think self-published authors need to know they’re working against that reputation and need to do everything they can not to contribute to it.

• What advice can you offer readers of self-pubbed books in making a decision on what to read?

The New Adult books have really taken self-publishing by storm! And though many of them have been picked up by self-publishers, I’d still recommend Wait for You by J. Lynn, Easy by Tammara Webber, and Monica Murphy’s One Week Girlfriend and Second Chance Boyfriend.  I’d also recommend books by self-published authors Eliza Knight (ahem!), Marie Force, Katie Reus, Laurie London, and Laura Wright, among others!

Thanks so much for having me here!

Thank you for being here, Laura! And for the shout-out *winks*. If you’re looking for an emotional, evocative, adventure, please download Laura’s books! She is amazing!