Hot nights revisited

Have learned that my book being reprinted for the PASSIONATE PLAYBOYS anthology is HOT NIGHTS WITH A PLAYBOY.

Remember Judd, Abby and a Whitsunday island?

This book didn't get a USA release so if you missed it first time around, here's your chance to snaffle it, along with fab stories by Ally Blake & Kim Lawrence.

It hits UK shelves in May but you can pre-order at the Book Depository, which currently has it at 25% off with free postage worldwide!
Grab it here.

Hot in Germany

I love discovering foreign translations of my books, especially when they arrive in the mail.

Yesterday, I received copies of my current French release of THE BOSS'S BEDROOM AGENDA, German copies of PURCHASED FOR PLEASURE and German copies of HOT NIGHTS WITH A PLAYBOY.

Set on a Whitsunday island, I thought the cover was perfect!

And I'm featured here. Wish I could read it!

Going Dutch

My 'HOT NIGHTS WITH A PLAYBOY' (Modern Heat, June 08) is out now in Holland.

Or you can buy it online here.

(I still think this is one of my hottest covers ever!)

And apologies about my website.
With the new PC, the web program I use is refusing to cooperate so my updates for June won't load.
I'm working on it, hoping to resume normal broadcasting shortly :)

Fancy some hot nights?

Want to win a copy of this book?

I'm giving away a signed copy over at THE ROMANCE STUDIO today.

This book isn't scheduled for US release so it may be your only chance to get your hands on a copy.

Though I'm giving away several copies of HOT NIGHTS WITH A PLAYBOY in my newsletter contest coming up this week so if you want to be in it, sign up by emailing me.

Double release!

If you're in Australia and New Zealand, I have 2 books hitting the shelves today!

HOT NIGHTS WITH A PLAYBOY (Sexy Sensation) and THE DESERT PRINCE'S PROPOSAL (Sweet) are OUT NOW!

Remember what a few reviewers had to say:

"fast, wonderfully well-written read, it rekindles every fantasy about Prince Charming, exotic desert lands and being swept off my feet I ever had. Ms. Marsh's characters are quick-witted, intelligent and definitely have chemistry enough to make the romance sizzle. The setting is wonderful, with plenty of details to make it all come to life. THE DESERT PRINCE'S PROPOSAL is a great, bite-sized romance! Well done!" (Romance Reader at Heart)

"Forget about Sex and the City:The Movie, if it's fresh, flirty and feel-good you're after then pick up Nicola Marsh's latest Modern Heat: Hot Nights with a Playboy!...a steamy, sexy and fun contemporary romance that sparkles with glamour, humour, sophistication, passion and plenty of style!...a fast-paced sizzler by a writer who writes deliciously sensual contemporary romances that pack plenty of emotional punch! Don't miss it!" (CataRomance)

Looking forward to hearing more reader reviews :)

Latest review

Here's the latest review for HOT NIGHTS WITH A PLAYBOY (hitting Aussie and New Zealand shelves in August.)

Nicola Marsh sets the stage for a steamy read in HOT NIGHTS WITH A PLAYBOY. The tropical environment of the photo shoots helps to play on the emotions Abby and Judd are feeling as they work closely together. Both have tried to deny their chemistry but it is impossible when what they really want to do is the direct opposite. I loved the frank discussions of friendship and lust Judd and Abby shared. Complexities abound for them as they do not want to lose their friendship. At the same time, the reader is definitely rooting for them. Their bond is very strong but with Judd’s fears of relationships, of settling down and not traveling all over the world, it makes it difficult for Abby to trust in his avowals of love. HOT NIGHTS WITH A PLAYBOY is steamy and has several interesting character complexities that keep the story fresh.

ROMANCE JUNKIES gave it a blue ribbon rating of 4, a book they would recommend to all their friends :)

Double whammy!

If you're in Australia and New Zealand, August sees 2 of my books hit the shelves.
But if you can't wait that long, both these books are available online NOW!

Fancy a bit of sizzle on a Whitsunday island? Check out HOT NIGHTS WITH A PLAYBOY, available here.

Fancy the scorching kisses of a desert prince? Check out THE DESERT PRINCE'S PROPOSAL here.

Or why not indulge and grab both? ;)

Fresh and flirty

Then we have this review from the PHS.

If you’re looking for a romance that’s hot, sexy, modern and utterly delicious, then you’ll love Nicola Marsh’s latest Modern Heat: Hot Nights with a Playboy!

I adore Nicola Marsh’s stories because even though they are fresh, feel-good, flirty and modern, they still have that deep, emotional core that will ensure that readers of all ages will enjoy reading her stories. Featuring a sexy hero, a lovely heroine and plenty of drama, laughs and humour, Hot Nights with a Playboy is the perfect book to pack in your beach bag this summer!

In other news, would you believe the dreaded lurgy is back? Feeling decidedly blah, just like I did this time 3 weeks ago.
Note to self: don't push it!
Now, I just need to listen this time. Annoying, considering Zac and Lana were really getting into some heavy stuff.
They've had fun at the lagoon in Suva, now are back on board dealing with the fall out.
But I'm not going to write today. Must rest...

A taste of 'Hot Nights'...

I always read my books when I first get them. Guess I'll never get over that amazing feeling that I actually wrote the story inside those covers...still feels surreal with each book...

I'm reading HOT NIGHTS WITH A PLAYBOY at the moment and I have to say, it's one of my favourites. I love the banter between Judd and Abby, childhood friends who are now very hot lovers! And Tom and Tara, the secondary characters, are a hoot too. Love it!

So here's the snippet I promised:

Judd had never been a party guy.
Give him the plains of Africa or the jungles of South America any day. Sahara winds, Amazonian deluges, Asian typhoons…he loved the elements, loved the freedom, always had. He never felt whole unless he had a camera in his hand, capturing the animals that had held him enthralled since he’d opened his first text book at school and seen a huge, scary gorilla with bared teeth staring back at him from the page.
It had been his dream from that day on.
A dream that had evolved, developed, and landed him here, smack bang in babe heaven.
Taking a seat at a table near the bar he watched some of the models boogying on the dance floor and knew that partying definitely had something going for it. The exclusive resort was a walking advertisement for the hottest women on the planet and he wouldn’t be male if he didn’t notice and appreciate the luscious scenery.
As if on cue, Abby walked into the room and his mouth went dry.
In a flash he was transported back to the night of the high school dance and the precise moment he’d laid eyes on her in her first formal dress, a blue satin number with the tiniest of straps and outlandish puffy skirt, tottering down her porch steps towards him in ridiculous heels. She’d taken his breath away, the vision imprinted on his brain forever.
Friends weren’t meant to look like that!
With the dress outlining her body, glossy brown hair piled high with a few curling tendrils framing her face…that face, her blue eyes shining at him with pleasure and more than a hint of mystery in their depths.
And what had he done?
Fired the usual barbs her way, teased her mercilessly, while she stared at him with her beautiful eyes, sucking him in deeper and deeper till he couldn’t think straight let alone be responsible for his actions. So he’d done the only thing any normal, eighteen-year-old guy would have done.
He’d kissed her.
Correction, he’d pounced on her like some maniac, half expecting her to slap him silly. Instead she’d responded like a tigress, fuelling his passion till his hormones warred with his common sense in a raging battle. Fortunately, his common sense won and he’d played the whole incident down, laughing it off as an experiment between two friends trying to prove they’d just entered the world of grown-ups.
Now, staring at Abby in a fitted black halter dress outlining her curvy body to perfection, with her hair piled in a similar arrangement to that fateful night, he wondered if he’d been so fortunate after all.
He stood up and waved her over, drawing a chair out as she neared the table, unable to tear his eyes away from her.
“Not bad,” he murmured in her ear as she sat down, her light floral fragrance beckoning him closer and he pulled back with effort, resisting an irrational urge to place a kiss behind her ear.
Jasmine.
She’d always loved it and the scent had haunted him over the years, a poignant reminder of her.
“Is that a compliment, Calloway?”
She’d used a minimum of makeup, just enough to highlight her eyes which glowed luminous in the reflected light from the lit torches around the perimeter of the room as he wondered if they’d always been that blue, that incandescent.
“Call me Judd,” he said, unable to quell the urge to flirt, hoping she’d join in the swing of things.
She batted her eyelashes, designed to tease. “In that case you can call me Abby.”
Judd smiled and reached out to run his hand slowly down her arm in a gesture that was part-friendly, part-daring, enjoying the flare of awareness in her eyes.
Maybe it was the balmy breeze, maybe it was the illusion of being secluded away on a tropical island and far enough away from reality, maybe it was the newfound heat sizzling between them: whatever it was, he wanted to push the boundaries of their friendship and see what happened.
“Abby. What a beautiful name. Conjures up all sorts of images like ancient stone churches surrounded by overgrown cottage gardens with oak trees reaching up to the endless blue sky the same colour as your eyes…”
Abby snorted and rolled her eyes. “Hey! I’m not one of your bimbos. You don’t have to lay it on that thick!”
Judd laughed and shrugged. “Can’t blame a guy for trying. So, what does the name Judd conjure up for you?”
He wondered if she’d take the bait and remember what she’d once told him all those years ago. By the glint in her eyes she wouldn’t disappoint.
“That’s easy, Judd Kane Calloway. A long, thin reed used to put cheeky boys like you back in their place.”
She reached over and tweaked his nose like she used to, resurrecting instant memories of their childhood years and reminding him of how long they’d been friends.
“Now, what does a girl have to do to get a drink in this place?”
“Let me guess, the usual?”
Her blue eyes sparkled with characteristic cheek while her lips curved in a coy smile he’d never seen before. “Nah…I’m feeling reckless tonight. Surprise me.”
As if noticing how stunning she looked wasn’t enough torture she had to go and throw him a curve ball like that. If he didn’t know better, he’d say she was definitely flirting with him again?
But that couldn’t be right. Abby teased him, riled him, and jibed at him but flirt?
No way.
This tropical air was definitely getting to him.
He called a waiter over, placed their orders including a cocktail for her guaranteed to regain the upper hand and leaned back in his chair.
“Nice outfit, by the way. Glad to know you take my advice so seriously.”
His greedy gaze skimmed the black silk clinging to her curves, ending just above her knees, accentuating her tiny waist, outlining her breasts…
He sat up and sent a frantic glance in the waiter’s direction, wishing their drinks would arrive ASAP.
He needed cooling down, badly.
“You think I wore this for you?”
If her smile had been coy before it turned positively smug now. “Still delusional from all that African heat, huh?”
He couldn’t back down from the challenge in her eyes even though continuing this conversation would only make it harder for him to view her as ‘just friends’ material.
He’d never backed down from one of her challenges and he’d be damned if he would now. Besides, he liked a hint of danger. Kept things interesting.
Reaching out to smooth an imaginary crease from the silk draped like liquid lava across her lower thigh, he said, “Well, I did say wear something sexy and boy, does this dress deliver.”
“Clothes maketh the woman and all that?”
She had him there.
If he agreed she’d know he thought she was sexy. If he disagreed he looked like a heel.
Thankfully, the waiter arrived as he wracked his brain for a quick response and deposited an icy beer in front of him and a wicked concoction of Cointreau, Galliano, pineapple juice and cream in a champagne glass for Abby.
“What’s this?”
She took a sip, her eyes widening imperceptibly as a faint pink stained her cheeks. “On second thoughts, don’t answer that. It’s got a kick like a mule and perhaps it’s better I don’t know. What my liver doesn’t know won’t hurt it.”
Struggling to keep a triumphant smile off his face, he said, “A Hot Dream.”
To his immense satisfaction, the pink in her cheeks deepened to crimson.
“Mmm…nice,” she murmured, her gaze firmly focused on the cherry stuck on the end of paper umbrella wedged precariously on the edge of her glass.
Her non-committal answer only spurred him on and he chugged on his beer before taking his stirring one step further.
“So, you like hot dreams, huh?”
Her blue-eyed gaze flew to his and for a split second he could’ve sworn he glimpsed a flicker of desire there before she quickly masked it with her telltale sass.
Raising her glass in his direction, she said, “The drink’s great. As for the rest you’ll never know.”

Panic stations!

Have you missed me?

Last night was the pits!
On the phone to my Internet provider for 3 hours trying to get my emails to come through and my Internet to work.
Got hung up on once after half an hour and in the middle of reconfiguring, got told the same thing to do with the next guy, who then referred me onto my antivirus software company, then rang back and the third guy told me to do the same things but I ended up telling he'd missed a step!

It was a disaster!

Especially when your livelihood depends on the Internet and corresponding with your editor.
Bah!! Was I grumpy? A tad upset? Annoyed I'd wasted a whole evening on the phone only to have everything still not working?
You bet!

Their solution? Move me onto a higher level technician...who'd look at it in 2 working days!!!
Let's just say I was a little emotional by then and went to bed, only to fall into a dream-filled sleep where I could never access my PC ever again!!!

This morning, the cyber gods are smiling on me.
I'm back and have had a quick look at my 100 plus emails.

And posting that quick blurb I promised you days ago.

Working by day...

Abby Weiss could make her name as a stylist to the stars on a two-week photo shoot in a tropical island paradise. Even better, Judd Calloway, her best friend, will be the photographer. Nothing could be more fun than working with him...

Naughty by night!

...except spending hot, sexy, passionate nights with him! In the years since they last met Judd's become a charming, muscled, gorgeous hunk! Abby can't keep her hands off him-and the attraction's mutual.

And now Judd's got a proposal that he hopes will keep her right where he wants her: in his bed!

Will post the snippet soon!

Oh, it's good to be back... :)

Hot cover!

Oh my...

Isn't this one super scorching hot cover?

There is a sizzling scene in the book which starts on the beach (in the waves to be precise!) before Judd and Abby make a run for her hotel room to continue the action and this cover encapsulates the passion, the heat, of that scene perfectly.

I love it!
The book hits UK shelves in June.

In other Modern Heat news, Kelly Hunter and Heidi Rice have finalled in the RITAs with Sleeping Partner and The Mile High Club respectively. Fabulous!
And fellow Romance author Natasha Oakley has finalled too, with The Tycoon's Princess Bride, my favourite category read of 07. Yay Natasha!!