She could have fallen right into those incredible eyes of his. Elvis might have gorgeous baby blues, but Brett was the real deal—a living, breathing embodiment of a lifetime of fantasy. And even through the rapid-fire beating of her heart she could hear the M.C. of the Elvis Legacy competition getting ready to announce their winner.
Not that she had a doubt in her mind who that would be.
“Well lucky for you, we girls who play with crystal balls for fun don’t exactly play it safe either. I’m crazy in love with you, Brett Neale.”
“Crazy enough to come to L.A. with me?” His hands trailed down her sides, dragging her hips against his.
“Honey, I’m crazy enough not to bother packing.” She nipped his shoulder, dying to get him alone to tell him how grateful she was he’d talked her into being his manager. His lover. Maybe one day, a whole lot more.
But right now the velvet paintings all around them were shaking as reporters tried to invade their hide-away. Up on stage the winner of the day’s competition was being named. Still, Brett took his time brushing a kiss across her lips.
“Who needs clothes when you’re living on love?” His hand slid under her shirt, just enough to graze her bare back. Remind her of the heat between them.
A wave of pleasure cruised through her veins despite the growing shouts of camera-wielding journalists asking if Brett was going to come out on stage to accept his award.
Bless my soul, he’d won the Elvis Legacy.
Alyssa squealed her pleasure as she flung her arms around him and squeezed. She’d push him toward the stage in a minute so he could accept the honor and all the fun that would go along with it. But first she couldn’t help whispering one final thought….
“You realize tonight I’m finally going to have an honest-to-God icon in my bed?”
Everything you love about romance…
and more!
Please turn the page for Signature Select™
Bonus Features.
BONUS FEATURES
Love So Tender
EVER NOTICE SOME OF THE MOST romantic men wield a guitar? For the past century, the guys we would have once considered poets are finding homes in music, giving a voice to feelings and emotions through songs they write or sing. Consider Johnny Rzeznik’s “Iris” that gives us shivers when he croons lyrics of love. The man knows a thing or two about romance.
One of the most versatile singer/songwriters of the past hundred years has to be the one, the only, the King of Rock ’n’ Roll. Elvis Presley tapped into enough romantic themes that he could have been perfectly at home in any of the Harlequin/Silhouette lines. He started his career with steamy, sexy songs. After a stint in the army, he traded in some of his raw, sensual style for more dramatic, emotional fare. Just for fun, let’s take a spin through some of Elvis’s hits for a few examples of his romantic savvy…
1) If “Love Me Tender” had been a book, it would be the quintessential Harlequin Romance. Warmhearted and tender, the title says it all.
2) “Big Hunk O’ Love” has Blaze written all over it. No interpretation needed there!
3) “Suspicious Minds” delves into the more mature relationship that’s compelling but fracturing. This is the same kind of emotional punch we see in Harlequin Superromance, a series devoted to complex relationships with real-life drama.
4) What about classic romance plots featuring Mr. Right? This is Silhouette Romance’s terrain and Elvis proves he can appeal to the softer side of love. In “Don’t Be Cruel” he urges his sweetheart to take a trip to the altar and say, “I do.”
*
Q: Which Elvis single reached quadruple platinum status?
A: “Hound Dog/ Don’t Be Cruel,” his 1956 release was the only single prior to 1985’s “We Are the World” to achieve this status.
*
5) The King of Rock ’n’ Roll even knew how to capture romance that’s sparked by danger and fueled by passion—the same kind of suspenseful adrenaline ride that we expect from a Silhouette Intimate Moments. His hit song “It’s Now or Never” conveys this do-or-die urgency.
6) Songs like “Surrender” talk about hearts on fire and seem to have Silhouette Desire written all over them.
7) But Elvis’s sexy side didn’t take away from a deeply spiritual facet that permeated his music from the very beginning. He’s the only artist with two multi-platinum gospel or inspirational albums, and he shows a keen understanding of how faith and love intertwine in songs like “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
8) For more action and adventure, check out Harlequin Intrigue–style tunes like “Trouble.” Elvis does a pretty convincing tough guy.
9) Thanks to Elvis’s many feature films, his repertoire includes plenty of songs with exotic settings and glamorous, international passion. Songs like “Vino, Dinero Y Amor” capture the mood of Harlequin Presents along with “Guadalajara” and “You Can’t Say No in Acapulco.”
*
Q: What famous musician had this to say when Elvis died—“The King is dead. But rock ’n’ roll will never die. Long live the King”?
A: John Lennon
*
10) Silhouette Special Edition introduces the real-life challenges of love and family, but at the core of this popular line is still a strong romance. Elvis’s take on commitment is clear in romantic staples like “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Is there a better way to begin a happily-ever-after than a walk down the aisle?
11) Winding up our musical trip with a fun detour through Silhouette Bombshell, we find a heroine-driven line featuring strong, savvy women saving the day. Surely Elvis Presley couldn’t relate? Maybe not entirely, but he admired strong women, devoting plenty of songs to females who were bold and brash. Check out “Hard Headed Woman” or his cover of “Maybelline” about the driver of a pink Cadillac who wouldn’t back down from a Ford when she wanted to race. Sounds like a Bombshell in the making!
*
Q: Who was Elvis’s silver screen idol? Hint: This “Rebel” shot to fame shortly before Elvis.
A: James Dean epitomized the kind of brash, tough image Elvis projected in his music.
*
I met my own personal Mr. Right when I was twenty-one. Lawrence was tall and gorgeous and smart and just a bit dangerous. We met at a local bar, Sloans, in West Hollywood. I was working at Fox Studios and he was a recording engineer. We were mad for each other, but we were also crazy and still finding ourselves and our relationship was anything but smooth.
And then there was our work. I was utterly driven to make movies, which I’d wanted to do since I was ten, and he was a busy engineer, working into the wee hours of the morning at a small recording studio in Hollywood. We didn’t sleep much, but then again, we didn’t need to.
After about a year, we had our first real test. I, by some miracle, landed a job on a location shoot. It was a movie called The Deer Hunter, and I flew across the country to a little town called Coreopolis in Pennsylvania. Talk about exciting! I got to hang out with Robert DeNiro, Meryl Streep and Christopher Walken. But I missed my guy. Toward the end of the shoot, some of the cast and crew went off to Thailand, but I remained in Cleveland to wrap things up there.
Lawrence flew out to join me for a long weekend, and we drove to New York. It was incredible. We had drinks with Al Pacino, stayed with Rip Torn and his girlfriend Amy. Got lost in Brooklyn and saw a free concert in Central Park.
It was the last of the really good times.
When I got home, we fell apart. I’m still not sure why, except that we were young and insecure, and while I still loved him beyond reason, he pulled away. We broke up. Well, actually, he broke up with me, and I tell you, it nearly killed me.
I never truly got over him. I dated, but no one compared. I got lost in my work, traveling all over the country on location, making movies for television and the big screen, meeting fascinating people, learning about screenplays and the fundamentals of story structure. I worked for most of the major studios at one time o
r another, and had amazing teachers. It was a real dream come true. Professionally, at least. Personally, year after year went by, and Lawrence was still there in my heart. The pain had diminished, but had never disappeared. I tried to banish him, but I couldn’t. I didn’t know how.
In the late ’80s, I was back in Los Angeles, working for a small production company and deeply involved in The End Hunger Network, a volunteer organization putting together a telethon to raise money for Hunger charities. The night of the show, I didn’t feel well. And I didn’t feel well for a long time after that. Enter phase two of my professional life.
It turned out that I had a rare autoimmune disease, kind of like lupus, but not. What it meant was that I could no longer do my job. I couldn’t stand for longer than ten minutes. I was on a lot of serious medication, and frankly, it sucked. I had to find another way to make a living, and I couldn’t depend on my body to support me.
And that’s when romance came into my life. Again, professionally, not personally. I took a class in L.A. on writing romance novels. I figured it would be a piece of cake. Ha! It was very difficult, and very different from writing the screenplays I’d been used to, but I persisted, and thankfully, sold my first book to Meteor Books. Shortly after that, I sold a book to Silhouette, and that was it for me. I had found a way to be creative from the comfort of home, to tell stories about love and adventure and happy endings.
The irony wasn’t lost on me. How could I write about happy endings when I’d never had one of my own? So many years had gone by, and while I’d been with some terrific guys, there hadn’t been that something, that magic. None of them were Lawrence.
I had no idea what had happened to him. I wasn’t even living in Los Angeles anymore. I’d moved to Houston for a few years, and then I’d moved to Las Vegas.
But I wasn’t moping about. I loved writing, and I had fabulous friends, mostly writers. I taught story structure in workshops all over the country. I was lucky enough to write for a lot of lines—Intimate Moments, American Romance, Temptation, Intrigue and Blaze. I was happy, and I’d made peace with the idea that writing about true love was going to be as close as I’d get to those happy endings. But it was okay. I wasn’t lonely or bored.
Then in March of 2001, I opened an e-mail from an address I didn’t recognize. My heart pounded in my chest as I read the brief note.
See, it started out with the salutation Jake. Only one person in the world had ever called me Jake.
Lawrence.
He’d found me on the Internet. From my books. From my writing. He congratulated me on my success as a writer, and hoped I was doing well and that I was happy.
I shook as I typed the response.
He called a couple of days later, and oh, I may be a writer but I don’t have words to express my feelings during that phone conversation.
He told me he’d never forgotten me.
That he had few regrets in his life, but the biggest one was that he’d lost me.
I cried a river of tears, and felt my dormant heart come back to life.
Two months later, we moved in together.
It’s been almost three years now, and what can I say? My books are different now, because I’m different. I know a whole lot about true love, and not from books and movies. I know everything about happy endings, because, after twenty-three years, I’m living mine.
How’s that for romance?
Ever wonder what an editor does all day? Read on to find out about one day in the life of this editor! A day in the life? That suggests there’s such a thing as a typical day. No such beast. But I’ll try….
Monday, June 7, 7:12 a.m.: Get off elevator with lunch and a manuscript. Turn on computer, take a quick look at the message light on the phone (no red light—yay!) and make tea while computer warms up. Check mailbox (21-page fax from author—her changes to the printout/galley). Return to office, open e-mail program and see what awaits…
I have 17 messages. Delete without opening four encouraging me to obtain free drugs from Canada. Read and delete the two jokes from friends. Accept two meeting requests (one for a cover “post-mortem” where Editorial, Art and Marketing get together to look at covers and sales results to see if any trends can be seen and another to approve the October covers). Three queries from authors about publication dates/ISBNs/titles/covers (answer what I can). Two from editors asking about publication dates/ISBNs/titles/covers (answer what I can). One e-mail from an author containing changes to a line edit (print and put aside for later). One from an author with changes to a printout (print and put aside for later). One from the legal department asking about a request from an author who would like to make a small adjustment to the contract (new delivery date—send agreement). And the final one contains photos of an author’s new puppy (smile).
Take deep breath and a swig of tea and pull to-do list close.
* Editorial meeting (via videoconferencing) 10:30.
* Sign off on September “prelims” (proof and approve look of everything that goes before Chapter One in the book).
* Sign off on November “black and whites” (proof and approve cover copy).
* Add author changes to printout for October books.
* Deflag (look at copy editor’s work and also deal with any queries she has flagged) for November book.
* Draft responses to questions asked for magazine article.
* Line edit due for January book in three weeks.
* Work on revision letter for book read two weeks ago (must find time to write letter!).
* Call U.K. office (before noon) to discuss cross-line series with shared author.
* Call Australian author (after 5:00) to discuss cross-line series with U.K.
* Revise manuscript that arrived last week.
* Read for approval two proposals (3 chapters + synopsis), three long synopses and two short e-mails (to see if ideas will fly before full proposal developed).
* Art information due to Art and Marketing next week—check with editorial assistant to see which books have complete art info sheets.
* Title April and May 2005 books, finalize schedules and schedule the rest of 2005 (currently about half done).
Catch up with fellow editors and find out if there are any questions or issues that need to be resolved. (Show photo of author’s puppy.) Spend a few minutes discussing title options and a new inseries promotion. Work on prelim package, get halfway through and hear e-mail message come in. Note from French office requesting information on books that contain a particular subject matter. Get out schedule and start to compile list. Check with other authors to ensure complete, put list down and head to editorial meeting. Discuss series business, hear what books have been bought.
11:15 a.m.: Get back to office, inhale breakfast, pick up list for France, hear computer announce arrival of another message. Ignore it. Finish list and e-mail. Open newest message from Direct Marketing requesting clarification about our program. Start to answer and realize that I need clarification from executive editor. Run to next office to ask, get waylaid by editor asking about a tricky plot point in an unrevised manuscript. During discussion, receive flash of insight into a plot problem on the completely unrelated manuscript read two weeks ago. Head back to office. While eating lunch, type response to Marketing with one hand.
12:50 p.m.: Hit Send and get out of office before any more messages (or people) arrive. Meet co-worker at prearranged spot and go for walk in park across the street. Chat about books and life in general, enjoy the sunshine and warm temperature, watch a woodpecker search for grubs and fly back to its nest, arrive at the end of the trail. Turn around and do it all again for the return journey.
1:33 p.m.: Back in office. See red light on phone blinking. Creative art editor needs details on setting for chosen scene that will be depicted on a January book. Go down hall to ask assigned editor to check with author. Give opinion about a “slush” manuscript that has solid writing but many problems with characterization. (Suggest it be rejected bu
t that the problems be outlined.) Discuss e-mail that author sent regarding a possible trilogy. Read first draft of speech that editor’s writing to be given at a conference. Return to office, look at to-do list. Smack forehead at realization that phone call to U.K. did not take place (office now closed). Vow to do it first thing next morning. Check e-mails—request (with exclamation mark) from single-title-program editor for information about books that haven’t been written yet so that freelance copywriter can create back cover copy. Add it to list and send e-mail to author. Finally return to prelims. Proof, check copyright, booklists and edit reader letters for length. Return package to Production, chat with editor about a recent business presentation she gave, get called into another office for a demo of the electronic database that I’ll be testing, fill water glass, check printer and mailbox (revised ms has arrived), ask editorial assistant if she has a head count for national RWA conference. Clarify question about company policy for her.
Make it back to office. Let author know that her manuscript arrived. Look at clock—3:40. Decide to proof black and whites now that things are quiet. Proof for 20 minutes. Read one of the e-mailed “ideas.” Make notes and debate sending them right now. Opt to do so and then begin to deflag manuscript. Get message from author re: character descriptions that raises another question. E-mail it to her, notice that it’s now 5:05. Decide to deflag until 5:30. Thirty minutes later, get 89 pages into the 311-page manuscript and decide to at least get halfway.
Accomplish goal, make new list for tomorrow, drop off black and whites to Production and head on home with three chapters in hand to read on the bus.
Whew!
LEARNING CURVES
by
Cindi Myers
Available from Signature Select October 2005
Shelly Piper is a size-twelve woman in a size-six world. And in network news, where thin is in, Shelly is relegated to behind-the-scenes reporting—until Jack Halloran hires Shelly as his new coanchor. It’s Shelly’s dream job, and Jack’s her dream man. But when the ratings prove viewers want a slimmer Shelly, she’s determined to fight the ratings rather than lose a dress size—or her job.
Love So Tender: Taking Care of BusinessPlay It Again, ElvisGood Luck Charm Page 23
