Hi lovelies!
It gives me great pleasure today to host Jody Vitek and her new book, “Taming
the Texas Beauty”! For other stops on
her Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any
of the images in this post.
Be sure to make
it to the end of this post to enter to win a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble
Gift Card! Also, come back daily to
interact with Jody and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for
stopping by! Wishing you lots of luck in
this fabulous giveaway!
Taming the Texas Beauty
by Jody Vitek
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GENRE:
Contemporary Romance
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BLURB:
Two years ago,
Ryan Rogers was attracted to Stephanie Lockhart, but as the detective who
brought down her criminal brother, getting close to her was out of the
question. Now, ready to restart the relationship, he discovers her salon is
connected to a series of high-end robberies.
In spite of
losing her brother because of Detective Rogers, Stephanie hasn’t forgotten
their attraction. It could be happily ever after when they meet once
again…until she and her salon are implicated in crime, sending her world
spiraling out of control.
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EXCERPT
TWO:
“Ohh,
that’s who was on the booty call.” Vergas wore a broad smile. He couldn’t keep
from her who called.
“Don’t
call it that, okay? I met her Saturday night. We talked about how her brother
affected us at the time and where we’re at with our lives. We’re going out
Wednesday night. On a date.” He relished another bite of the perfect burger,
juicy with no pink to be seen.
“I’m
glad you two finally connected. And speaking of the salon, talk, Rogers.”
“Keep
an open mind.” He informed her about the conversations at the salon. “This has
bothered me since. They say to go with your instinct. Today I acted when I
asked the question.”
“You
know it’s natural for people to talk to their hairdressers. They fill the
position of a therapist for some customers.”
“A
therapist?”
“They
hear a lot of shit. Much like a bartender hears the woes of their patrons. You
know, I thought your question was odd at first, but I can understand why. I’m
glad I asked my follow-up question without checking with you first to see where
you were headed with your probe.”
“I
am too. I want to go back and ask the other victims where they go and who they
see for their beauty care.” He savored the last bite of his lunch.
“I
agree. And we should inquire with the men as well.”
“Yep.
When we get back to the office, I’ll compile a list of the victims.” A large
gulp quenched his thirst.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GUEST
POST:
Fitness
and Fashion in Books
Thank you for
hosting me today, Ally. Let’s talk about fitness and fashion in books. Or in my
case, writing. Romance novels have long been known for their exposed or
bare-chested men on the covers with a svelte woman swooning over the man.
They’ve changed a little over the years. But it’s what under the cover, on the
pages we write, where the hero and the heroine are shown to the reader. The
typical hero is built with the body of Adonis, and the heroine has the body of
a centerfold. Why? My belief is that the stereotype has been subliminally put
in our minds at a young age so, we write what we believe is everyone’s fantasy.
I’ve seen
lately where women readers want a real, shapely woman to attract the hero who
has walked off the page of a men’s fitness magazine, or vice versa. Why not?
I’ve written two short stories that will be released this year with curvy women
as the heroine, and I’m not going to stop writing a bigger heroine. We need a
bit of reality in fiction. In Taming the Texas Beauty, Stephanie Lockhart is
curvy, but far from being a large size woman. Ryan Rogers is a detective who
keeps himself in shape, worthy of being on the cover of a fitness magazine.
Reflecting on
my own writing, fitness is brought up in all of my books. Either one or both of
the main characters has an exercise routine. I show them exercising or talking
about what they do to stay in shape. Now thinking about my stories, I have to
chuckle because I’ve written all of them to be runners. The fitness craze is
big. Fitness centers are doing all they can to lure you to join their club. My
family has a membership to a nationally known club. It’s unfortunate that I
slipped from my routine. I used to go to the gym and write while walking on the
treadmill, the Stairmaster, or jogging on the elliptical machine. You read that
right. You probably couldn’t make sense of what it was I wrote. It was rare
that I didn’t know what I had written. Most of my first release Florida Heat
was written while I exercised. My goal for the year is to get back into the
habit and write my next book while walking, slowly building back up to the
using the other machines.
With these
shapely characters comes their fashions. You can usually find them wearing name
brand, high-end fashions. The styles most of us can’t afford unless we find
that awesome bargain at the outlet mall, thrift store, or perhaps at a
garage/yard sale. It makes sense for the hero or heroine to wear the name brand
because either one or both of them are wealthy in the romance genres. Think of
how many books you read with a billionaire as the hero. He couldn’t show up at
a gala wearing a simple suit. No, he’d be wearing a designer made tux. In
Taming the Texas Beauty, it’s not Stephanie but her wealthy mother whom I show
wearing the fashions. Although, Stephanie uses her style to accentuate her
curves.
You wouldn’t
think a writer would have to do research on fashion. In my book Texas Two Step,
I had to dress my heroine for a formal engagement party, a black-tie fundraiser
gala, and a wedding. Talk about fun research. What girl doesn’t like window
shopping where price isn’t much of an issue? I probably did more looking than
necessary, but I love dresses.
This brings me
to wondering, how many readers are in the process of shopping with their
daughters for a prom dress? Do you have a special store you shop at for a
formal gown? Have you ever purchased one from an online retailer, without
trying on the dress? Do you set a spending limit? We ended up spending more on
my daughter’s prom gown than we planned, but this is the only dress we’ve
purchased throughout her school years. It’s a special night and deserves a
special gown. The prom theme is Enchanted Rainforest.
(These pictures were taken
prior to the dress being altered.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR
BIO:
Jody
Vitek is
a multi-published author with Satin Romance, an imprint of Melange Books, LLC.
She has been a member of Romance Writers of America (RWA) and Midwest Fiction
Writers (MFW) since 2001 and is a Provisional PAN member of RWA.
Born and raised
in Minnesota, Jody remains close to home living with her husband of twenty-five
plus years, three children and a cat named Holly. Growing up, she enjoyed
reading V.C. Andrews’ the Dollanganger series, starting with Flowers in the
Attic, S.E. Hinton, and Stephen King to name a few. Today her tastes run across
the board in fiction and non-fiction, in all genres.
She has
traveled throughout the United States, to the Bahamas and Cancun, Mexico.
Between watching her youngest son playing soccer, maintaining one of the many
scrapbook albums, gardening and being the COO of the Vitek household, she
writes contemporary romances.
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CONNECT
WITH JODY:
Website:
Facebook:
Twitter:
Email:
info@jodyvitek.com
Goodreads
Author Page:
Goodreads
Book Page:
Amazon
Author Page:
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BOOK
BUY LINKS:
Amazon
Kindle:
Amazon
Paperback:
Barnes
and Noble:
Smashwords:
Saint
Romance:
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GIVEAWAY
INFO:
Jody will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and
Noble Gift Card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog. This does not cost you anything, it just
helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored by a third party. Fabulous and
Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish Promotions. Prizes are given away by the sponsors and not
Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish Promotions are
solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
