Monday, November 14, 2016

Get Your Sparkle on!




By: Marcia King-Gamble
www.lovemarcia.com







One dress, four festive occasions…each with an enchanting hero!
Get your Sparkle on with this uplifting holiday series!



The concept for this holiday quartet (4 novellas) came about when author, Bettye Griffin reached out to me with an idea for a holiday series.  Bettye’s initial idea centered on a scarecrow who had inherited an overcoat; an overcoat with history. I countered by saying why not make these novellas about a very special rental dress that has the power to change the heroine’s life. And so the magic began.




We came up with four different holiday scenarios each of which one author would write. Unfortunately due to personal circumstances, two of the four authors dropped out of the project, leaving me and Bettye to write two novellas each.

The holidays/events chosen were a Thanksgiving Wedding, an Office Party, a Snow Ball Gala, and a New Year’s Eve, black tie event.



First up, and soon to be released, November 18th, is Bettye Griffin’s Love on Lake Shore drive.  Available for pre-order on Amazon:  http://a.co/09gGBKD.    Also available at Barnes and Noble.


Set in Chicago’s Gold Coast, Reine Robinson settles in for a long wait when a sudden November snowstorm brings traffic to a halt.   

The tenants of luxury high rises lining Lake Shore Drive, brave the elements to offer refreshments to stranded motorists. This includes Chase Benedict, stuck at his parents' co-op. 

Chase takes one look at the beautiful driver with the weather-like name, and is smitten. He just has to see her again and asks her to be his date for an elegant family wedding.

Reine is stunned by the invitation. She's black and from Chicago Heights, and he's white and comes from wealth. But she does have that stunning red dress rented to wear to her class reunion the very next night...and Chase is soooo sexy...



Next up, and second in the series, is Naughty in New York, (my contribution to this collection,) and scheduled for release no later than December 6th, 2016.

Theodora Johnston has worked all her life to get to where she is; Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Beau Visage; a major cosmetic house. Theo has sacrificed having a personal life, and given up on finding love. Now she is seriously considering having a baby on her own.

Theo hates the holiday season. She associates it with a difficult time of life when both parents were killed in a plane crash. Still, she’s obligated to attend the executive party on Long Island, New York, hosted by her CEO.  Important announcements regarding upcoming promotions will be made that night.

Enter, Anderson Macdonald, the newly appointed COO, and her new boss; a man Theo has had a love affair with almost two decades ago. There is unfinished business between them and a love that clearly remains.



Third on the docket is Bettye Griffin’s Holiday in Houston.  
Larissa Carvalho and her mother Valentina, are grateful to the McGee family of Texas for getting them out of slums of Rio. Larissa, just four years old at the time, grew up idolizing Devin, the eldest of the McGee’s two sons. And even though Devin left for college and she hasn’t seen him in 17 years she hasn't forgotten him.

Devin McGee is disappointed when his planned date for the Snow Ball, (Houston’s premier African American charity event) falls through.  He considers not going when his mother suggests he take Larissa, the daughter of her housekeeper. Devin remembers Larissa as a cute pigtailed kid and can’t imagine them having anything in common. He’s totally unprepared for the stunning woman Larissa has become.



And finally, number four, a New Year’s Eve story, my contribution, Loose in Las Vegas.

Lana Hunter, recovering from a broken engagement, has spent the last four months conversing online with software developer, Russ Connell, whom she meets on a dating site.  Discovering they are both at loose ends on New Year’s Eve, they decide to meet up in Las Vegas. Russ is invited to a black tie event and asks Lana to come along.

But surprise, surprise, it’s not Russ who wants to meet Lana, but his boss, Cato  Tennille, entrepreneur extraordinaire and  technical genius -  The new “Wonder Boy.”

What is Cato doing on a dating site when he could have anyone he curves his finger at? He says he’s looking for something serious. Lana is not. Their agreement was ‘what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.’  But Lana needs to keep an open mind.  After all, they do share something else in common.

Please “Get your Sparkle on,” by bringing in this joyful season with our holiday quartet!  We enjoy hearing from you and appreciate your reviews  

Have a great Thanksgiving and  a wonderful holiday all! 

 
Warmly,

Marcia
 http://amzn.to/2fS50Vf

p.s. 
My gift to the first two people contacting me at mkinggambl@aol.com is a code to get one of my Audible books free!


About:
 Marcia King-Gamble hails from a sunny Caribbean island where the sky and ocean are the same mesmerizing shade of blue.

She is a former travel industry executive and a self proclaimed globetrotter. 

A National Bestselling author, Marcia has penned 31 books and 6 novellas. Her free time is spent at the gym, traveling, and with her animal family.

She loves hearing from you. E mail her at mkinggambl@aol.com or like her on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marcia-King-Gamble/12364168212


5 comments:

Judith Ashley said...

Wow! Love the concepts of each story!!! So many bundling publishing options you and Bettye have! Are these books widely available? Like on Kobo? Just checking in case I've a little extra to spend this month. Looks like they'd be fun Birthday gifts to me.

Marcia King-Gamble said...

Thank you Judith. We're sticking to Amazon and Barnes Noble right now. I'll be gifting a few, and you will be on my list.

Bettye and I had so much fun writing our novellas.

Bettye Griffin said...

I'm so happy to have finally gotten a holiday story--actually TWO of them--written in time for the holidays, an idea I toy with every year and have never managed to complete. I'd forgotten about the overcoat (thanks, Marcia!), a concept taken from a 1942 movie called Tales of Manhattan in which a once-elegant tuxedo tailcoat goes through several owners before ending up in a rural area on a scarecrow. That was never my idea (a romance series about a tailcoat?), but I liked the concept of four stories linked by the same possession as opposed to writing about the very popular but much-done four sisters or four brothers. Marcia quickly suggested the common item be a rental formal, with the advent of places like Rent the Runway that rent special-occasion designer dresses and accessories (ain't the Internet wonderful?). This allowed us to set the stories in different geographical locations within the U.S. We later worked the geography into our titles (my favorite is Marcia's Naughty in New York). We are both very pleased with the result, and I soooo enjoyed working with Marcia, with whom I've been friends for over 15 years!

Judith Ashley said...

Bettye, I can relate to the idea of writing holiday themed stories. I love the idea of writing holiday-themed romance but have yet to follow through. You and Marcia think about story ideas the way Sarah does. Do the two of you have future plans for more connected books like this? If you are asking for a vote, my hand is raised!

Bettye Griffin said...

Like everything in writing, Judith, future books all depend on present sales! But thanks for the vote of confidence!