Friday, January 15, 2010

The Company of Fools Giveaway with AnneMarie Hartnett


Early this past summer I had a hot guy chasing me. He had a good job, a nice house and a fast car. We had the same taste in music. We drank the same brand of beer. He took his coffee the same way I did. He made me laugh and made me go "Awwww" when he said something sweet. We spent three unforgettably steamy nights together.


His name was Mike MacNab and he was perfect. Unfortunately for me he was also imaginary.He appeared in the form of the hot bar owner in a short story I was writing. It began with Mike leading one of his waitresses, Kate Doucette, through the bowels of a bar he was renovating. She'd just lost her cool with one of the customers and it was pep-talk time:

“You could have just thrown a drink in his face. You didn’t have to try and stab him.”


“It was just a swizzle stick.”


“When you try to jam it in someone’s eyeball, it ceases to be just a swizzle stick.”

Of course, being an erotic short, the night was going to end better than it started for both Mike and Kate, because Kate was going to hit Mike with a proposition he couldn't refuse. I had no intentions of giving Mike any more than a night with Kate. Why should I? He gets to have great sex with the cutie from work he's been crushing on. Everybody has some fun and then we all go our separate ways, right?

Wrong.

What I didn't count on was the fact that Mike wanted to get the girl. I mean he really wanted to get the girl, and he was going to get her if it killed him or, in Mike's case, drove me clean up the wall. Every time I sat down to edit the story there he was, whispering in my ear and making suggestions and filling in blanks. I tried to ignore him but it was impossible. I argued that I don't write about people who fall in love. I write about being who have fabulous sex in 5000 words or less. The epic battle of wills between myself and Mike culminated when he threatened to come on vacation with me the following month. No matter how much I whined and complained he wouldn't relent. He was in love and he wanted everyone to know it.

Bastard.

And so I did what anyone in my position would do. I unleashed Mike on an unsuspecting Kate. A few weeks later I had The Company of Fools.

Blurb:


Kate Doucette’s trying to get her life together. She’s working full time at Mike MacNab’s bar, going to school, and she just kicked out her Do-Nothing boyfriend. Things are looking up but with the construction going on in the bar, her money trouble's looming over her, and her personal life in the toilet, Kate’s on a ledge and Mike is there to talk her down. One night she wants more than a pep talk; Kate asks her charming and handsome boss to spend a weekend in bed with her.What could be a bigger stress-reliever than two days of bedroom Olympics with a guy who’s as hot for her as she is for him? The only problem is that he wants more than a weekend and it seems like he wants to fix her life for her. She adores Mike, but the last thing she needs is another headache in the form of Mr. Fixit.

Excerpt:

“You need to eat. And sleep. And you know, blink occasionally.”


“I don't have time to do any of those things.”


“You'll make time. As a matter of fact, as soon as John and Donald come in, you're taking me out for Chinese.”


He shook his head as he slid onto a stool. “Why do I have to buy?”


“You make more money than I do, and you owe me for Monday. I could have slept in, but instead I was here interviewing for waitstaff—Oh, hello? Hello?” She held the phone in front of her and rolled her eyes. “You know, I don't mind being put on hold, but honestly, do they have to keep breaking into the music to tell me what a great deal I'd get on wireless?”


“Yes, that's tragic. Now, you were saying how I owed you?”


She sighed and tucked the phone back against her ear. “Even Dr. Frankenstein bought Igor a nice meal every once in a while.”


“All right, fine.” He threw his hands up and bobbed his head in agreement. “Chinese it is. Maybe my fortune cookie will tell me I'll get lucky.”


Kate raised her brows in mock horror. “Michael Allan MacNab, are you suggesting that you're having some difficulties in that department?”


“Let's just say blinking isn't the only thing I don't have time to do lately,” he said and pouted at her. “I almost bought a Studglove last week.”


Kate frowned. “What's a Studglove?”


“It's a—” His gaze slid sideways and he cleared his throat. “It's a sleeve that goes over your dick. You turn it on. It vibrates.”


Link:
http://www.loose-id.com/The-Company-of-Fools.aspx

Website:
http://www.annemariehartnett.com/
Would you like to win a free ebook copy of The Company of Fools?
Just leave a comment on this post with contact info.
5 extra entries for being a follower of this blog.
You can pick the ebook format from any of those offered on Loose ID

24 comments:

Sherry said...

Excuse my language but HELL yeah I would love to win a copy of this book. It sounds hot I didn't want the excerpt to end.

I am a follower.

sstrode@scrtc.com

Sweet Vernal Zephyr said...

Wow! Your explanatory narrative got me hooked... good luck keeping those voices in check btw. Please enter me too & of course, I am a follower.

mdwartistry at yahoo dot com

Miranda

AugustaAnn said...

Hi sweetie! I LOVE how you fell for Mike!! This is "AugustaAnn" from Twitter :) I can't wait to read this, be it through a give away contest or if I have to haul my bum down a bookstore ;)

Take Care hun,

Rebekah

kornkitin@gmail.com

Jeremy Edwards said...

Looks like a great story! And I also love the story behind the story.

The epic battle of wills between myself and Mike culminated when he threatened to come on vacation with me the following month.

Ha! Perfect climax.

Thanks for the fab Friday entertainment, AnneMarie and Roxanne!

jerotic AT gmail DOT com

Annemarie said...

Thanks Sherry - good luck!

Annemarie said...

Sweet Vernal Zephyr thanks for the comment - and the voices never stop lol. This was just the first time one picked on *me*.

Annemarie said...

Hello again, Jeremy!

I've been temporarily letting the inmates run the asylum, so to speak. I think Mike left the door open when he finished up and they just keep coming. I feel like Whoopi in "Ghost"

Annemarie said...

AugustaAnn Hope you like it, but it won't be available in print but as an e-book. If you've never read an e-book there are lots of ways to do it: on your computer, on an E-Reader, or a lot of people use their smartphones.

Unknown said...

I just became a follower of this blog, too (came over from Fang-tastic)! OMG, this book sounds SO great. I think I love Mike already.

Andrea I said...

I would love to win this book.
Enjoyed the blog tour today.


+5 follower

ainfinger@comcast.net

elaing8 said...

This sounds like a hot read.please count me in

+5 I am a follower

elaing8(at)netscape(dot)net

Estella said...

I would love to win this book. It sounds great.

I am a dollower.

kissinoak at verizon dot net

booklover0226 said...

Yes, this sounds like a winner.

I'm a follower.

Thanks,
Tracey D
booklover0226 AT gmail DOT com

Roxanne Rhoads said...

This does sound like a fabulous book.

I might have to cave and read a book on the computer, something I rarely do since I am in front of it all the time working.

So it's in my e- to- read pile.

I just wish all books came in print.

I love technology but it's hard on my sensitive eyes plus I have a slight paper fetish, something about the feel of a book, the texture of good paper...

Gabrielle Lee said...

This book sounds very interesting.Count me in for the contest. Follower too.

Gabrielle
meingee@yahoo.com

AugustaAnn said...

Hey hun,

I am fully prepared to sit my bum in front of the 'puter for the duration of this book one way or another ;)

Rebekah

The Scarf Princess said...

This sounds super good so yes I want to win! I'll start rubbing the genie lamp now....

+5 I'm a follower

joderjo402 AT gmail DOT com

booklover0226 said...

Roxanne,

I know what you mean about the "paper fetish" thing. Though I hae an ereader, I still like to hold a book. If I start a series in paperback, I will continue to read it in paperback.

Tracey D

Annemarie said...

Roxanne & booklover0226 -- I love my E-Reader more than any of my other electronic gadgets but I do most of my reading in bed, flat on my back with the book over my head. Let me tell you, dropping that sucker on your face is not a pleasant experience (then again, neither is dropping a regular book on your face either, but at least it usually bounces without much damage.)

nettagyrl said...

I follow! And Yea I am interested in winning this book! Please enter me! Woo Hoo!

marcieo said...

I read the excerpt from LooseID, and it sounds really funny - I would love to read it!

UteH said...

I'm so happy Mike decided he wanted to have this girl.

I'd really like to win this one

Annemarie said...

Thanks everyone for commenting and entering :)

Unknown said...

I've read this book and you guys are in for a treat! It was smokin' hot, and a good time. Katie is a sassy, smart woman that's easy to like.