Mucho Caliente! - Review

Disillusioned and recently divorced, Gemma Talbot heads to the Mediterranean resort island of Ibiza to start a new life. On the flight to the island, she meets Latino heart-throb and pop star, Emilio Caliente. Totally overawed by his mere presence, she somehow manages not to screw up the opportunity, and persuades him to accept a ride to the hotel.

On the car ride to the hotel he turns towards her and says, "Gemma, you are the most beautiful, most wonderful creature I've ever met. You're neither fat, nor smelly, and gee, your hair smells terrific. Will you join me in my room and have wild sex with me?" NO, that was her imagination, and when they arrive at the hotel, Emilio has to be elsewhere than in the company of an "older woman."

The reader wonders how the gauche Gemma will manage to pluck Emilio away from the Swedish beauties and East European nymphomaniacs. Perhaps she doesn't, but Gemma certainly tries hard enough, ably assisted by her BFF, Celeste, and her upper class pal, Laura.

In these pages, this accomplished author gives us some marvelous observations and insights into the female psyche and human behavior. One could say, almost Dickensian. For example: "I forego piling on a ton of makeup and opt for the paired down, natural, "hey guys, I'm not wearing any makeup" look, which on a good day wouldn't pose a problem. Today, however, I'm partial to paper bags." Furthermore, Ms. Prescott gives away some (actually, lots of) girl secrets, "Am I just searching for reassurance on the status of my pulling power?"

On the way to pursuing her goal, Gemma finds time to compare Emilio with her ex (guess who wins that one), and avoids the distraction of erstwhile boyfriend, Kevin. Not to mention heading off the Ibiza chapter of the Emilio Caliente fan-club.

Reading Mucho Caliente!, one finds oneself laughing out loud, or simply sniggering at Gemma's wacky antics. Ms Prescott's style reminded me of Helen Fielding (Bridget Jones's Diary), and she is literarily as skilled as the British author. In other words, Mucho Caliente! is both a rewarding and a hilarious read.

~ Bill Newman

Venture - Review

Romance, intrigue, top-notch dialogue, and an Australian backdrop are only part of what makes Bill Newman's Venture a really good read.

Unknown to John Day, Ingrid, the exotic blonde who picks him up at the local pub in Portsmouth, England, is interested more in the sensitive nature of John's scientific work than she is in John. He is somewhat surprised to be confronted by his boss two weeks later that his new girlfriend is a possible intelligence threat. John's boss suggests he take some time off and attend a conference in Sydney, Australia.

Beautiful Lydia Newton works for a drug company in Sydney. She, too, will be attending the conference. With her PhD in genetics and her workaholic nature, she's had little luck in finding a man who can match her intelligence and drive to succeed.

When Lydia meets John, the attraction is immediate, but life does not run smoothly for our protagonist. She wonders if he is in love with her or his invention.

John is fired from his job in England, and Lydia persuades him to set up a business with her in Sydney. Danger follows him to Australia in the person of Ingrid and some shady characters who are paying her to find out what John is doing. It seems there's a lot of money to be made from his invention, and more than one foreign national is interested in acquiring it, no matter what.

Bill Newman handles the necessary scientific details in Venture with dexterity, accuracy, and brevity. Laced with humour (which at times is laughing-out-loud funny), Venture takes the reader through some harrowing moments across the high-tension wire of romance, suspense and danger.

Sherrill C. Wark
Crowe Creations
member of Canadian Authors Association

Venture - Released today!

When I posted earlier today (around 7.30 EST) the "buy now" button hadn't been activated on the BookStrand site. It has now.

But the main reason for this new post is to thank my good friend Mark for introducing me to Sydney and showing me where Lydia lives. At the start of the story she has a cottage in a small town, called Avalon, up the coast from the city. It's an idyllic place: warm climate, quiet, long sandy beachs, and friendly people.

I've been back to Sydney since I finished Venture. Mark took me to a rock concert, from which I almost got ejected. Wasn't my fault. A drunk woman attached herself to me... Long story.

Anyhooo, hope you enjoy Venture.

Venture - Released today!

VENTURE tells the story of a super-smart woman who had been having a hard time finding the right guy. Then, at a conference in Sydney, she meets John. She considers him perfect but he seems wrapped up with his work. Undeterred and with her customary energy, she throws herself into the relationship. But in doing so, she finds she has to do more than simply fall in love. She has to risk her life, too.

Below is a quiz about Lydia. The first person to contact me with all five answers correct will win a dozen red roses. You'll need to read the book.

Bill Newman

QUIZ

1. What's the name of Lydia's best friend?

2. When Lydia meets John she thinks he's under surveillance. What is the military rank of the person shadowing him in Sydney?

3. Lydia does not like her father's second wife. What is Lydia's nickname for her?

4. Lydia is researching the side effects of an over-the-counter drug. What kind of drug?

5. When Lydia and John move house, which Sydney suburb do they choose?

Venture - Sept 10

Only a few days to go to the release of the eagerly awaited Venture.

This classic girl-meets-boy story is set in an exotic locale against a background of industrial espionage.

On the release day I'll be having a quiz but you'll have to read the story to answer the questions. The first prize will be a dozen red roses, and dinner with me if you're ever in Ottawa (only women are eligible for the dinner).

In the meantime, and to whet your appetite, I have a free_read at:
http://www.bjnbooks.com/free_read

Bill Newman

Read all posts by Bill here.

Venture - part 3

This is a continuation of my May 11 and May 17 posts. Susan and I were having dinner in an Indian restaurant, during which she’d been grilling me about Venture’s heroine, Lydia. I had explained that Lydia was a composite of several women. One of whom is the woman pictured below in a photograph taken when we were on location in Lydia’s hometown. She’s a witty, marathon running, MD, who shares a lot of characteristics with the fictional Lydia.

Now read on…

We finished our meal, and the waitress returned with the dessert menu. Susan patted her tummy lovingly in the same way a pregnant woman would, but I knew it meant she didn’t want to put on unnecessary pounds. Not that she need have worried. Her dress size was the same as Lindsay Lohan’s. “I’ll just have an Irish coffee,” she said.

The waitress gave her a look I interpreted as: “We’re not in Boston,” but she didn’t comment.

In deference to our surroundings, I ordered the banana fritters and an Indian beer.

“Are you okay with beer?” Susan asked when the waitress had gone.

“One beer isn’t going to affect my driving.”

“It wasn’t your driving I was concerned about. You’re not the male lead in Venture, who can drink everyone else under the table then make wild passionate love with the heroine all night.”

Wow, that hurt, even though it was true. “I thought I made him sound fairly believable.”

“You made him sound like the kind of guy women drool over. Well, this girl, anyway. That automatically makes him a totally unbelievable fantasy guy.”

“So what do women want?” I asked.

“Don’t you know?”

“I want your opinion on it. Pretend I’m researching it for my next novel.”

“Is this how you get your girlfriends to pay for their supper?”

“Yes, and the delights I’ll be serving up later.” I laughed to show her I was kidding. From my experience with Susan, the opposite was more likely to be true. She was a hell of a sexy lover.

Our orders arrived. She stirred her Irish coffee, licked the cream off the spoon, and ran her tongue across the Cupid’s bow of her upper lip. I imagined my tongue performing a similar motion but on the inside of her mouth.

To show her I was serious about soliciting her opinion, I extracted a small notebook and pen from my jacket pocket. I placed them by my right hand, which I now used for the more important task of eating the fritters.

“Well, first-up, he must have good table manners,” she said, rolling her eyes. “A girl doesn’t want the guy to embarrass her in a restaurant or in front of her parents.”

“What did I do?”

“You’re supposed to cut the fritter with your knife, not tear it apart with the fork.” Susan was good at setting me up as the straight man for her to deliver the punch-line. She had a “gotcha” expression on her face.

“Continue, madam,” I said, trying to sound exasperated.

“You realize there are two different answers? What a woman wants in real life versus what she wants in a romance novel.”

“Yes. Do the real life one first.”

“Okay, but this is going to be pretty superficial. It’s a complex question.”

“I understand,” I said, but wasn’t sure I did.

“He must have a good job and be kind and considerate. He likes chatting to me, has a sense of humour, is a handyman, and a skilful lover. Personally, I want kids, so I’ve got to imagine him as a good father. Hey, you’re not writing this down.”

“I have a good memory. Is that list in order of priority?”

She screwed up her face and narrowed her eyes, signs that I knew meant I should listen carefully. “Those ones are about equal, but ahead of them is…” She paused to sip her coffee, eyeballing me over the top of her glass.

“Is what?”

“You’re hopeless. Commitment!”

I switched the fork to my left hand and picked up the pen to write the word commitment then swiveled the notebook around so she could read what I’d written.

“Well done,” she said. “But being able to spell isn’t important.”

“And physically what must he have?” I asked, returning my attention to the banana fritters.

“His abs, gluts, and pecs must be sharply defined. My favorites are the gluts. Last night when you were face down and I was sitting on your bum massaging your back, I told you to tense your gluts didn’t I?”

“Now you mention it. Yes, you did,” I replied, delivering the straight line again.

“It’s because it’s nice for me at the same time. If you know what I mean?”

“Oh is that why you were squirming around? What about when I’m facing you?”

“Size? Men are soooo hung up on it. But I won’t divulge that secret here. There are too many people within earshot. I’ll save it for later.”

Tarbaby Trouble

TARBABY TROUBLE by Phoebe Matthews
Reviewed by Bill Newman

At a writers' workshop recently one of the speakers said that a reader will always be hooked if the voice of the author is compelling. I'd not read much in the fantasy genre so I decided to test his theory and eagerly pounced on Ms. Matthews to ask her to let me review Tarbaby Trouble.

Knowing I was new to the genre, the author made me promise to toss the book out if I couldn't get past the first dozen pages. Every author says that, but two hundred and fifty pages and two days later I finally put it down. And such is the breakneck pace of the story that I wondered where those two days had gone.

Fleeing a Seattle criminal and his low-life associates, the heroine joins some friends on a wilderness trip. Separated from the group, and lost, she is found by a young man dressed as a barbarian. At first she thinks she has stumbled into the filming of a reality show that looks like Survivor meets historical reenactment. But alas, it is not a movie set and she finds herself the prisoner of Prince Tarvik. The young barbarian prince turns out to have a father modeled on Vlad the Impaler and an even more scary uncle and Machiavellian aunt who want to take over the kingdom.

Stripped of the 21st Century accoutrements upon which her normal life depends, the heroine (who selects the name Stargazer for herself) falls back on her knowledge of astrology to gain the upper hand. To say more would ruin the story, but suffice to say Stargazer will need all of her wits to thread her way through the plots and counter plots in the strange land, and to avoid being beheaded (yes, literally).

Oh, and did I mention that Ms Matthews endows the heroine with an outstanding sense of humor? It means the reader is treated to a cute, comical and at times satirical commentary on life in the primitive land. The humor starts on page one and keeps the endorphins flowing until the last page.

The plot is fiendishly clever (like the heroine) and all fits together like a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle. The clues are all there and Ms. Matthews challenges the reader to keep up with Stargazer's furious pace on her journey of survival and self discovery.

By the way, once you reach the last 100 pages, don't plan on going anywhere until you've finished.

Venture - coming soon

“I read your blog on the Siren-BookStrand site, Bill. Did your first wife really call you when she saw the cover of Venture?” Susan asked.

I hesitated. The waitress came to take our dinner orders. Susan rattled off a few dishes then I told the waitress I’d have the same. I wasn’t that fond of Indian food but I knew Susan loved it. “Make mine mild,” I added.

In spite of not liking curry, I would have taken Susan to an Indian restaurant in New Delhi if she’d asked me to. I was that besotted with her. I considered her to be the ideal girlfriend. A divorced librarian, she had no children and didn’t want any. My two kids were grown up, so I wasn’t keen to start a family, either. Moreover, Susan really shone in that part of the house where it mattered, and I don’t mean the kitchen.

“The blog,” Susan said, reminding me what we were talking about, as if I was trying to avoid the subject.

“I did take a certain amount of poetic license,” I replied. “But both of my ex-wives did actually read an early draft of Venture. That bit was true.”

“And the woman on the cover? She’s the protagonist, Lydia, I presume?”

“Of course. And the answer is yes, to your next question, she is a composite of both Wendy and Samantha.”

“So tell me all about Lydia’s character and it’ll give me an idea what kind of woman you like.”

“That’s easy, a woman like you,” I replied.

She laughed. “Nice try.”

I knew it worried Susan that I still communicated with my ex-wives. They were both lovely women, which is not what she wanted to hear. Believing it to be true, Susan could have possibly deduced that the reason I was no longer married to either of them must be because I was a jerk. Instead, her left brain seemed to have concluded I must be still in love with both of them.

“The other point about my blog that was true,” I said, “is that the woman on the cover does look remarkably like my first wife Wendy.”

"Oh, so you prefer blondes?”

Susan was a brunette, not a classically beautiful woman, but she had that dirty-girl look that some men (including this one) find attractive. “You asked me for an insight on the heroine,” I said. “You can’t judge a woman’s character by the color of her hair.”

She laughed so loud I presumed it was the most ludicrous notion she’d ever heard. The people at the next table turned to look at us, and for a moment I thought she might repeat my assertion to them. “Sorry. Go on. What is it about Lydia’s character that makes her a compelling heroine?”

Hmm, this was going to be tricky. My protagonist really did have a lot of the traits of my ex-wives. I had the horrible feeling Susan would try to match those attributes with ones she possessed. I’d maneuvered myself into a situation that had the potential to kill my relationship with her before it even got started. Very clever, William.

“Well, first of all, forget the hair color and the fact that she’s pretty. Those things don’t affect the story or Lydia’s suitability as the heroine.”

Susan leaned forward, linked the fingers of both hands, and rested her chin on them. She nodded. “What does, then?”

“She’s very smart: PhD, IQ in the stratosphere, quick witted, and an expert on DNA. Same sort of qualities you have, really except your skills are literary rather than scientific.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes, she has a strong will and a determination to get what she wants. In this case the guy. And when he finds himself in a pickle with some shady characters, she’s the one who extricates him, risking her own life in the process.”

The food arrived, giving me some breathing space and Susan time to ponder what I’d said about Lydia. It seemed to satisfy her because we moved off the topic and switched to global warming. Don’t get me started on that one!

Book Review - Cowboy Games

COWBOY GAMES by Wendi Darlin

Review by Bill Newman

Being new to the Siren-BookStrand stable I wanted to see what my fellow authors were producing, and how high the bar was. This was especially important to me as I'm a guy in a business where women have a distinct advantage. So first-up I chose Wendi Darlin's highly recommended Cowboy Games.

The plot line is simple: the heroine, Rebecca, goes to a fantasy cowboy ranch to help her heal after losing her husband a year earlier. However, the story is complex and we are hooked immediately when she meets her cowboy host, Gavin. The hunky Harvard-educated cowboy's job is to pamper her for the week, but he is strictly off-limits as regards anything more intimate than a kiss on the cheek. Right!

Ms. Darlin has found a clever way to give the reader an insight into the way women and men approach love, romance, and sex. The story is peppered with twists and turns, villains and victims, and sudden surprises, as Rebecca falls deeper in love with Gavin. It is a love that appears to be mutual. Or is Gavin just doing his job, playing the cowboy game she'd signed up for? After the week's sojourn has ended will he forget her?

There is plenty of close-up sizzling sex for aficionados of erotic romance, and Ms. Darlin finds a way of producing an extremely satisfying climax.

One of my ex-wives

One of my ex-wives, Wendy, phoned the other day. I’d emailed her a link to the Siren-BookStrand “coming soon” page. Wendy had reviewed an early draft of Venture and had given me some useful feedback.

“Bill, it’s me.”

I recognized her straightaway. She has a voice that sounds like Princess Diana. “Oh, hi, you got my email then?”

“Yes. Who’s that on the cover?”

“Don’t know. The publisher supplied the photo.”

“I thought it was Heather at first. Blonde, blue eyes, same cheekbones and nose, and intelligent looking.”

Heather was one of Wendy’s classmates at high school. I’d dated her briefly then at one of her parties I met Wendy. “Well, if you recall, the heroine in Venture has a very high IQ. More like you, in fact.”

“Still as good with the flattery. I seem to remember that’s how you snared me in the first place.”

“Snared? You make it sound like I kidnapped you.”

“I was only twenty.”

"So what? And anyway you are super smart. You’re an investment banker, for heaven’s sake."

“So your heroine, Lydia, isn’t based on Heather, then?”

Ah, that’s why she called, I thought. I decided to give her the answer she wanted. “No. As I said, she has a lot of you in her.”

“I have green eyes.”

Aargh! In spite of what she said about flattery she wanted me to spell it out. “Smart, I meant.”

“Yes, you mentioned that already. Is that all?”

“Lydia is good in bed, and has your slender figure and sexy demeanor.”

“Don’t get carried away. That’s all you men think about.”

I made a conscious effort not to react to the truism. “Plus, she has your terrific sense of humor.” This was not flattery, either. I had ascribed to my heroine quips and putdowns that Wendy could just as easily have made, and probably did.

“I must go now,” she said. I could hear her teenaged kids screaming at each other in the background.

“Don’t forget to recommend Venture to your friends and colleagues. And don't forget to tell them the heroine is based on you."

“I will indeed.”

Introduction - Bill Newman

I introduced myself earlier in my other persona, Billie Jaines. I'm using my real name for conventional romances. This is me looking serious and unphotogenic.

As Bill Newman, I have just signed a contract forVenture, a romantic adventure story. I will post an extract closer to the release date (September). So please look out for it.

The woman on the cover of Venture, above, is Lydia, a super smart scientist who has her work cut out preventing a shady Russian outfit from stealing her boyfriend John's invention. While at the same time falling in love with him.

Thanks for reading thus far.

Bill Newman