Tuesday 4 December 2012

Out Now - Caitlin's Hero by Donna Gallagher



Please welcome fellow Total-E-Bound author, Donna Gallagher to my blog today...




Thank you, Lily for having me. I thought I’d start off with a little bit about me.

I’ve always been a reader, averaging three books a week. My discovery of e-books and the ability to read them through my smart phone was one of my all-time greatest moments, one my husband rues to this day. I can take my library with me wherever I go. I never considered that I could write it just didn’t enter my head. I wasn’t a good student, apart from music and the term we studied Wuthering Heights in English, I found school to be boring and left at a very early age. It was quite a shock to wake up one morning to find voices in my head, all clamouring to share their story – makes me sound a bit loopy, I know!

I had to write, the voices would not let up. I loved the storylines I was being given, but my lack of confidence in my writing ability, you know all the punctuation and grammar that’s needed to make the written word legible, held me back from submitting to a publisher. I did send the first five pages of two of my manuscripts off to a competition and as you can imagine I didn’t score very well. But I did get some useful tips and took advantage of that information. 

Two years on, at the tender age of forty-seven, I decided that I should at least try submitting my manuscripts. After all what did I have to lose, the worst that could happen was rejection, and I expected that, but I was hoping to gain some more advice along the way. Well imagine my surprise when I received the email that offered me the chance to work on my manuscript, my fabulous editor helping me all the way, and re-submit. Well the rest as they say is history. After cleaning up my manuscripts and I’m talking heavy duty bleach here, I now have five contracts with Total-E-Bound and still have to pinch myself each day to make sure I’m not dreaming. 

My erotic romance series revolves around the lives and loves of footy players from a fictional Sydney rugby league team, The Jets. Rugby League, a popular Australian sport, has always been a passion of mine, so it makes sense that my muse would be a footy player.



Caitlin’s Hero is book one in my League of Love Series; 

Falling for him is easy. Dealing with his high-profile life—a life deemed public property by his fans and the press, plus an ex-wife out for blood—now, that’s the hard part. 

Twenty-year-old Caitlin Walters was living a normal life. She attended university, socialised a little and had a good relationship with her mother and stepfather. But when her parents are tragically killed in a car accident, Caitlin’s life is forced to change. The once carefree girl becomes sole guardian of her stepbrother. Giving up her university course to support and raise eleven-year-old Riley, Caitlin struggles to deal with her new responsibilities.

Her job, singing at a local Italian restaurant, brings Caitlin some peace. On stage, she leaves her life and its troubles behind. Feeling comfortable and sensuous, she is like a siren calling out to lost souls. It’s on one of these nights that Caitlin begins a romance with Australian Rugby League captain, Brodie James. Brodie, not content with his so-called perfect life and struggling with commitment issues following a disastrous marriage, falls hard for Caitlin.

The relationship does not run smoothly for the self-sacrificing Caitlin, as she learns how to deal with Brodie’s nasty, jealous ex-wife, a muck-raking reporter and intrusive but well-meaning rugby fans. Along the way she makes new friends, and awakens the untapped sensual desires of the woman inside.

I hope you enjoy this excerpt.

Caitlin did not know how or when it had happened, but her blouse and bra were now undone, leaving her breasts bare to his heated gaze. She loved the way he was looking at her, touching her. She had never gone this far before, and was unprepared for the intensity of her feelings. Oddly, she was not embarrassed at all to be so open to him. She wanted to touch him and tried to pull his jumper up but couldn’t free him of it, so snugly did it fit over his bulging biceps and chest. Brodie pulled the wool garment over his head in one move, and she caught her breath at the sight of his muscled, masculine chest.

Curly, light brown, almost golden hair covered the upper part of his chest, and she couldn’t help notice it tapering down to form a path to his pants waistline and what lay beneath. She explored his chest, getting to know the feel of it, touching the hair and twisting it, brushing her hand across and around his distended nipple. He groaned and before she had taken another shallow breath, she was lying beneath him. He had lifted her off his lap and laid her on the sofa, stretching out next to her with his leg over hers.

Caitlin was unaware of how much time had gone by. All she knew was this man. She wanted to climb right under his skin and needed to feel closer. All the while he touched her and stroked her, and the hardness of his erection pushed into her hip. She wanted to touch him, but he had both her hands held in one of his, lightly pinning them above her head. The other hand was making its way up her skirt—he touched her through her panties. She felt the lips of her vulva swell at his touch. She was so wet she could feel the seep of liquid coming from her body. Unsure, she pulled away from him a little.

“Can I touch you, angel? Feel if you’re all wet for me?” Brodie whispered in her ear, the words both shocking and exciting Caitlin at the same time. “I sure hope you are wet for me. It’ll make me feel so good knowing that you’re as hot for me as I am for you. Trust me, angel, I won’t hurt you. If I do anything that you don’t like or feel comfortable with, just tell me and I’ll stop.”



Thanks so much for stopping by Caitlin. It's been great to have you tell us all about Caitlin's Hero.

Lily x

3 comments:

  1. Hi Lily,

    Thanks for welcoming me on your blog today and Caitlin sends her thanks as well ;)

    Cheers
    Donna

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  2. I know a lot of people are grateful that you stuck with your writing, Donna. (myself included)

    Congrats!

    Cheers,

    H K

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  3. Congrats, Donna! I know how you feel about the whole school and grammar thing - I dropped out as well and I hated English class, lol! But lo and behold, miracles do happen! :)

    Best wishes!

    ~Jen

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