Teasing You with Some Tidbits

Posted on by Author Cat Johnson

I’m at that point where I’m bogged down in the soggy middle of this work in progress. If I can get over the hump, the ending will fly, I’m sure, but until then each and every word feels like it has to be pulled out of me like a large headed child. So…let me tell you a little bit about this WiP in hopes that getting you excited about it will get me excited about it, because my little sidebar status meter, though helpful, just isn’t doing it for me right now.

A good indication about what’s in a book is what research the author does to write it, so for FLANKED (Studs in Spurs, Book 5) I have looked into the following topics…

Body Piercing (specifically nipple, clit & hood)

Tattoos

Marriage License Laws in various states in the US

Centrifugal Force in bull riding

Building a Tree Stand for deer hunting

Shoulder injuries requiring surgery in bull riders

Health insurance

The sports medicine crew in the arena at bull rides

So, does that give you some kind of hint as to what Garret James, the hottie pro bull rider from my Studs in Spurs series, might be up to in his upcoming book? I hope so! Now, back to writing. About 19K left to write to finish this big-headed baby up and send it away to my editor. Now THAT is exciting.

Cat

New and Novels–reality in romance

Posted on by Author Cat Johnson

Sometimes my life, and my job, is really cool. Like this morning when I was anxiously waiting for the coffee to drip, one slow painful drop at a time, while the small television in my kitchen was tuned into the ABC morning news.

Even in my caffeine deprived state, certain words from the newscaster captured my attention. Pirates/Navy Seals/Rescue. I knew without hearing more that in this day and age if there were pirates involved we were talking about Somalia. And if there was a rescue involving helicopters in that region of the world, that helo would be going to Djibouti. How was I so certain of this before I’d even heard, or read, the entire story? Because through my book research, through the contacts I’ve made in the active military world, I’ve had what is nearly, but not quite, an insider’s view of the Joint Task Force’s Camp Lemonier on the Horn of Africa in Djibouti, just miles from the Somalian border.  I know there is always a squadron of US Marines maintaining heavy helicopters (CH-53s) there as well.

Crossing the Line by Cat Johnson

I know what the hangers look like, the Cantina where the troops relax with a beer after a hard day, and the racks where they crash for a few hours of sleep at night. I’ve seen what the NCO’s offices look like, as well as the chow hall. I could picture it all as I listened to the news report and that, to me at least, is really cool.

I took all that information years ago to write CROSSING THE LINE, which is my military romance novel set on Camp Lemonier in Djibouti. Sometimes life and fiction cross paths…more often than you’d think.

Valentines Day is Coming…

Posted on by Author Cat Johnson

Time–and the seasons–keeps marching on. Are you a seasonal reader? Did you read my new contemporary western novel, A COWBOY FOR CHRISTMAS in December? Have you moved on to my OPPOSITES ATTRACT, featuring a trilogy of stories that spans the seasons over Leap Year, March Madness and New Year’s Eve yet? Well now, if you haven’t done so yet, it’s time to read JUST DESSERTS–three women with big woes in the ‘man’ department try to survive love and life over Valentines Day.
A Cowboy for Christmas by Cat Johnson  Just Desserts Cat Johnson

Better get caught up now because February will be a busy release month. Texas Two-Step:Cowboy Shuffle releases from ARe February 2nd, and Valentine Cowboys is coming from Ravenous Romance, also in February. Stay tuned!

2011 in Review

Posted on by Author Cat Johnson

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog. I may be a bit of a nerd, and it is my website so I do have an extra interest in it, but I found the results in the full report fascinating so I decided to share.

Here’s an excerpt:

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 89,000 times in 2011. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 4 days for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Happy New Year!

Posted on by Author Cat Johnson

With reports of Amazon selling 1 million Kindles a week during December, I have to think we are poised on the brink of massive change in the publishing world for 2012…but we have to ring in the new year first. So dowload some eBooks before you celebrate tonight, that way all you need to do is wake up in the morning, grab your eReader, a cup of coffee (or a mimosa made out of leftover champagne) and settle in for a day of PJs, reading and recovery.

Oh, and did I mention I have an eBook out that spans a New Years Eve party just to get you in the celebratory mood? Check out OPPOSITES ATTRACT. Story 3 in the trilogy, featuring hot firefighter Antonio (who you may remember from my holiday read NICE & NAUGHTY), shows him recovering from divorce and meeting the woman of his dreams at a New Years Eve party he hadn’t wanted to be at in the first place. Here is the blurb for his story. Enjoy!

OPPOSITES ATTRACT: SECOND TIME AROUND

Antonio Sanchez thought that at 32 his life was all mapped out—wife, kids, career—until some major bumps in the road radically alter his course and send him careening right into the path of newly divorced Maddie Morgan. After being thrust back into single life, Antonio moves back in with his old-fashioned parents and has to learn to juggle being a part-time dad to his kids, his job at the firehouse and his role as Best Man for his newly engaged best friend Troy, all in addition to facing his unquenchable desire for Maddie. Throw in a slew of matchmaking friends and relatives, led by Maria whose apartment appears to be the Bermuda Triangle for floundering lovers and Antonio and Maddie discover just how complicated things can get. Can the pair prove that love really is better the second time around?

Available for download at

ARe

Amazon for Kindle

BN for Nook

Smashwords

 

NEW RELEASE: Welcome COLE to the Red, Hot & Blue Family

Posted on by Author Cat Johnson

Cole

COLE by Cat Johnson

One night can leave a trail a decade long.

Red, Hot & Blue, Book 5

Ten years ago, a wicked curve ball and a scout for the major leagues gave Cole Ryan his big break. Before he set foot on the bus to training camp, Lizzie Barton gave him everything…then inexplicably broke his heart.  Now he’s back in Pigeon Hollow with a bum arm and a cancelled contract. Lizzie is still there, still keeping her secrets. Still haunting his dreams.

To make sure Cole would have the future he wanted, Lizzie kept her crush on her older brother’s best friend to herself. But in this small town, there was no hiding the results of her one and only night in his arms. With Cole away playing ball, it was easy to pretend he would never know. But now that he’s back it’s only a matter of time.

Right about the time Cole figures out what he left behind, cameras for a reality TV show arrive to film Lizzie’s brother. And suddenly Cole is scrambling to keep the spotlight out of his and Lizzie’s private life…and to convince her they can still make both their dreams come true.

This book has been previously published and has been revised from its original release.

Warning: Contains love that conquers a decade of sitting on the bench…and one night of sex that resulted in a big change in two lovers’ lifetime stats.

in eBook from:

Samhain Publishing

Amazon Kindle

Barnes & Noble Nook

iBookstore iTunes

Don’t miss the lead-in to COLE (RHB, BOOK 5), JARED (RHB, Book 4) and COMING MARCH 2012 BOBBY (RHB, BOOK 6), the last story in the Red, Hot & Blue SMALLTOWN HEAT trilogy 

Merry Christmas to all…

Posted on by Author Cat Johnson

To all my friends, fans, readers, authors, stalkers, family, and any and all combinations of the aforementioned,

Thank you for making this year the most amazing of my career. I am humbled, I’m amazed, and I’m excited to start 2012, and it’s because of all of you. I wish you all a happy, healthy and sometimes naughty Christmas and New Year.

Cat

Need Some Holiday Spirit? TASTY HOLIDAY TREATS FROM CAT JOHNSON

Posted on by Author Cat Johnson

HE CAME UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR

A lonely writer, a snow storm and a sexy man with amnesia…all the makings for one hot Christmas Eve! Can Ginny find the inspiration she needs to get her career, and love life, out of the cold?

“this sweet holiday treat is worth its small weight in gold” Jenn, Guilty Indulgence

MORE

A Cowboy for Christmas by Cat Johnson

A COWBOY FOR CHRISTMAS

Casey Harrington will never forget that the Christmas she turned 8 years old she got an Easy Bake Oven instead of the Cowboy Cody doll she’d begged Santa for. It’s a disappointment that shaped her life. Now, twenty years later, she is a high-powered marketing executive living and working in NYC, who can’t cook, doesn’t want to, and has a strange obsession with all things cowboy related.  A job offer too good to be true brings her to a Colorado ranch where she is instructed by her new boss to learn the Western lifestyle from Bonner Blue Boyd, ranch manager and living personification of her childhood crush Cowboy Cody.
Bonner doesn’t know what to do with this city girl on the ranch, particularly since he expected “Casey” to be a man. He fights his attraction to her for as long as any man could, and even when he gives in and the sparks fly, both know it could never work for the long run. She’s city and he’s country. To be together either she has to sacrifice the world she’s always known or he does. What they need is a miracle…luckily it’s the right season for those.

“In a nutshell, A COWBOY FOR CHIRSTMAS has it all.  A sexy cowboy, feisty heroine, great secondary cast, HOT SMEXIN’, a couple of twists and turns that I didn’t see coming and a totally SIGH-WORTHY ending!!!” DiDi, Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews

UNDER THE COVERS

(a Red, Hot & Blue BONUS READ featuring BB Dalton)

Billy Bob “BB” Dalton thought he’d left his career as an underwear model behind when he became a Navy SEAL assigned to a team of special ops where no one is supposed to have a past or an identity. Now the military wants him to be the poster boy for their new recruitment marketing campaign, and during what was supposed to be his Christmas leave no less.

Luckily his ‘handler’ turns out to be hot enough to melt icicles in winter, but can BB convince this slightly older and definitely jaded career-focused marketing executive to let him go from working undercover to working her under the covers? And will she agree to spend Christmas with him?

DOWNLOAD FREE NOW 

Nice & Naughty

NICE & NAUGHTY

What’s better than a fireman? Twelve of them, naked, on the pages of your calendar.

The hot firemen you loved in Opposites Attract are back with their friends, but now they’re wearing a lot less clothing and heating up the holidays like never before. Be prepared for secret identities, a sizzling calendar shoot, smoldering bachelor firemen up for auction, sexy Santas

and a whole lot more!

Secret Recipe: A famous lifestyle maven who secretly can’t cook? Good thing a sizzling hot fireman/calendar model knows his way around the kitchen and is there to rescue her and her charity event from certain disaster. If they detour to the bedroom on the way to the kitchen, even better.

Mr. December: When the real December calendar man gets sick, a rich department store owner has to step in for him and play Santa. Once he meets the pretty lady photographer sent to cover the event, things really start to heat up. The only problem is, she has no idea who he really is,
and he’s not all that keen on telling her.

Can’t Buy Me Love: What do you get when you take one over-worked caterer on the brink of a nervous breakdown and add a hunky fireman for sale at the charity bachelor auction she’s catering? You get a woman who finally finds the one gift to buy herself that she’s never going to want to return.

If you love the old black-and-white classic holiday movies such as Christmas in Connecticut, Shop Around the Corner and Holiday Inn, you’ll love the three Nice & Naughtystories they inspired.

Naughty Girls Don’t Wait–Open A COWBOY FOR CHRISTMAS Now!

Posted on by Author Cat Johnson

I’ve gotten a few Christmas gifts early and yeah, I opened them immediately! Sorry, but that’s what naughty girls do.

  

There’s the custom made leather cowboy boot Christmas stocking sent to me by Kim and the Book Obsessed Chicks Book Club. There’s the cowboy boot ornament sent to me by PBRCowgirl. Apparently my obsession with both cowboys and boots is well known! I love both surprise gifts.

And now, finally, A COWBOY FOR CHRISTMAS is available in eBook for all of you to open, and I insist you do not wait until Christmas! Want a little taste to entice you? Here you go!!

A Cowboy for Christmas by Cat JohnsonBLURB:

Sexy, independent, corporate executive Casey Harrington’s life and career were shaped by a childhood Christmas wish left unfulfilled.  Now, twenty years later on a Colorado cattle ranch, she finally gets everything she’s always wanted—both a hot cowboy and a dream job.

But Bonner “Blue” Boyd is a rancher and Casey is a New Yorker, and even if the sex between them is hot enough to start a prairie fire, they both know that city and country might mix for a week, but it can’t work for a lifetime. Or can it?

When a dramatic turn of events reunite Bonner and Casey, this time on her turf in her city, she has to prove to her displaced cowboy he belongs with her, no matter where they end up. Luckily Casey knows the quickest way to a man’s heart is slightly lower than his stomach.

EXCERPT (rated PG):

“You ready to try one for yourself?” He cocked his head toward the cow checking operation before them.

Casey didn’t know if he was asking her to help shove them into the tight little railed enclosure, or pull on a glove and anally probe them. Not that it mattered. Both tasks were equally unpleasant and she didn’t know how to do either.

“Sure.” She mustered her courage and turned to face Bonner as he laughed and shook his head. “What, you weren’t serious? Was that just a test? Do I pass?”

“Yeah, you pass.” He grinned.

“Don’t let me stop you from doing your job though. If you need to slap on a glove and some lube, go for it. I’ll be fine here alone.” She waited for his reaction.

“Wouldn’t be the first time, Miss Casey. Believe me, I’ve checked the herd myself in past. The vet’s just a whole lot faster and usually a bit more accurate than I am.” He smirked.

Casey immediately got naughty thoughts regarding Bonner and the industrial-sized tube of lubricant she’d seen the vet with. She glanced sideways and found him watching her. “You know, if you’ve got any other tests for me, I’m up for just about anything.”

Bonner leaned close. “Don’t tease, Miss Casey.”  His voice was low and dead serious.

Again he seemed to be able to read her, and all her naughty thoughts. Interesting. Bonner Blue may live by the cowboy code, but he sure wasn’t innocent in that department.

“There’s something you should know about me, Bonner.” Her eyes narrowed. “I never tease.”

He dropped his chin to his chest as he closed his eyes and stayed silent.

“Something wrong?”

He opened his eyes. “Yup.”

“Feel like elaborating?”

Bonner stared right at her. “I’m thinking it might be best if I just give in, fucked you and got it over with. Then maybe both of us will have some hope of getting to any work or sleep over the next week.”

Once she recovered from the shock of hearing the last thing she’d ever expected to come out of Bonner’s mouth, Casey smiled. She laid a hand on the front of his shirt. “Well if you’re serious, make sure to grab that lube the vet’s using. You can demonstrate your examination techniques for me.”

His chest rose and fell beneath her touch as his breathing quickened.

“Blue!”

“Yeah.” His gaze didn’t leave hers even as he answered Dakota.

“There’s a whole bunch of ’em open. I’ve never seen this many not bred in one year. What do ya want us to do? Are we supposed to cull them all? Or do you want to save some for breeding next year?”

He drew in a deep breath. Still looking a bit dazed from her suggestion, Bonner hooked a thumb in Dakota’s direction. “I gotta—“

“I understand. I’ll be here when you get back.”

Bonner turned on his heel and she heard him mumble, “That’s what I’m worried about.”

Yup. The best way to absorb the cowboy lifestyle was to just jump right into it…or on top of one. Casey smiled.

AVAILABLE NOW AT:

Ravenous Romance

Bookstrand

All Romance eBooks

Amazon Kindle

Barnes & Noble

“In a nutshell, A COWBOY FOR CHIRSTMAS has it all.  A sexy cowboy, feisty heroine, great secondary cast, HOT SMEXIN’, a couple of twists and turns that I didn’t see coming and a totally SIGH-WORTHY ending!!!” DiDi, Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews


New Release (again) – Gillian’s Island

Posted on by Author Cat Johnson

Gillian's Island What’s happening? I recognize this cover. It’s not new!! Yes, yes, I hear you. Let me explain…

Due to circumstances beyond the owners’ control, Sapphire Blue Publishing, the original publisher of my erotic short story Gillian’s Island, has closed its doors, and as of December 1st, all rights for stories published with them revert back to the authors. So that means this to you… I’ve reworked Gillian’s Island, expanded a smoking hot sex scene bringing the story up to 22k words and rereleased it for 99 cents on BARNES & NOBLE NOOK, Amazon Kindle, All Romance eBooks, and Bookstrand.

It was fun going back in and revisiting this story. It was while researching the writing of it back in 2009  that I first discovered the Eat Something Sexy site where I researched the aphrodisiacs I have my characters eat, which eventually leads to some pretty wild times for them. It was shortly after signing up for the Eat Something Sexy newsletter that Amy Reiley put out a call for bloggers to join her team, and I, taking a chance that a site about sexy food might be interested in an author who writes sexy stories, responded. She was interested and Confessions of a Romance Writer on the Eat Something Sexy blogs was born. The rest is history! And in fact, look for more collaborations between Amy and myself in the future…

So long story short, Gillian’s Island is back and slightly ramped up in the S.E.X. department. Read an excerpt HERE

Enjoy!

Cat