Author Spotlight - Excerpt from Temp to Permanent

Temp To Permanent Blurb

Because Carina Carrington equates happiness with success, she has a sound business and a nonexistent sex life. To replace her ailing secretary the agency sends over Greg Lawless, a secretive temp without credentials but with pecs to die for and Carina soon discovers he had exceptional office skills.

With this temp comes temptation, and Carina's problems multiply. Her strong attraction to Greg leaves her in breathless confusion. Her longing for his hard body interferes with her work.

Then Carina learns someone, perhaps even Greg, seeks to destroy her company. Torn between her belief in his innocence, and the likelihood of his guilt, Carina fires Greg, but he convinces her to give him twenty-four hours to find the one responsible.
The villain kidnaps Carina. Greg discovers her stalker's true identify and figures out where he's taken her. Her safe rescue makes his day. Then he learns he passed the bar exam, and with his future now secure can propose to his boss and reveal his past.

Temp to Permanent Excerpt

Carina Carrington's fingers flew across the computer keyboard.
Not fast enough.

She'd never meet her schedule without another pair of hands. Of all possible days, why did Rachael pick today to call in sick?
And what happened to her replacement? The temp agency had promised to send a secretary an hour ago. What was keeping her?

At the scrape of a leather shoe sole, Carina's concentration cracked.

"Hello, is anyone here?"

Startled, Carina hit a wrong key. Unless his face matches that heart-stopping voice, I'll throttle this salesman.

She abandoned the keyboard and swiveled around in her chair. Six feet of tanned muscles crossed her carpet. No way would she choke this hunk.

"There's no one at the desk out front," a husky male voice rasped.

Surrounded by masculine scent, Carina riveted her gaze on his business card, then glanced up. Devilish blue eyes locked with hers. She looked away to conceal her unprofessional, very unladylike reaction.

"I'm Gregory Lawless from Data Services. Pat Kilpatrick said to see Mrs. Carrington.

Your receptionist--"
"Has the flu."

This perfect example of centerfold material could not possibly type.

With all the work still to turn out, I'll kill Pat, instead.

Reluctantly Carina pushed back her chair and stood to shake his hand. Good grip, self-confident.

"That's why you're here, Mr. Lawless. I'm short handed today, and it's Miss
Carrington."

She indicated a chair and waited for him to sit. "The agency didn't say they were sending a man." Oops. Maybe employers weren't supposed to say things like that anymore.

"Is that a problem?"

"Only if you can't do the job." She wasn't about to acknowledge how difficult he made the simple act of speech.

He folded his lanky frame into the visitor's chair she'd indicated and placed a folder on her desk. "Ms. Kilpatrick asked me to give you this copy of my résumé."

A deep cleft creased his chin. How could she think with that distraction? With her weakness for cleft chins she couldn't hope to actually work around this man. His devastating smile belonged in a bedroom. In a bar. Anywhere but in her office, ruining her concentration.

Carina sank into her own chair and opened his file to study the brief list of qualifications while steadying her heart beat. San Diego Data Services normally provided exceptional help, but Pat had warned this flu epidemic had also left her short handed. Gregory must be the last healthy soul available.

Healthy? He was that, all right. From what she could see, far healthier than a man had any need to look.

He'd indicated a willingness to work. Any warm body could man the phones in her secretary's absence. What about this unexpected heat? Maybe Mom was right and she was sex-deprived.

Perhaps tomorrow Pat would have a real secretary available. Her mind pictured a prim woman. Someone wearing a skirt whose very presence wouldn't take her mind off her work.

She glanced up from the résumé to study Gregory. Information in the agency's file was scant, little more than name, address and social security number. He looked about her age. Why would a man approaching thirty resign himself to temporary work?

Carina drew a steadying breath. "Have you been with Data Services long?"

He tilted his head, obviously mulling over a reply. "This is my first assignment."

Great. Disgruntled by his admission, she looked away. Few skills and even less experience. Carina stole a glance. The smile hovering about his mouth prevented objective reasoning. "With a busy week ahead of me, there won't be much time for training."

He peered at the scribbled notes on her calendar and lifted one cocky eyebrow, giving him a rakish appearance that almost brought her out of her chair.

"Tell you what. Let's not waste any more time. Give me a chance to help and if I don't meet your requirements, you don't owe me a cent."

Desperation evident in his voice caused her to give him a sharp look. "So you're a gambler, too."

He straightened his back against the chair, then leaned forward and gazed at her. "I've nothing to lose," he admitted with admirable honesty.

Carina pondered everything she would gain if Gregory could fill Rachael's shoes. She wouldn't need to postpone tomorrow's meeting and might still land that contract.

Quick decisions were her trademark. "I'll only expect you to answer the phone. On Mondays it rings constantly."

He grinned, nodding. "How shall I answer?"

Criminey. Would she need to hold his hand and walk him through the office as well?

"Carrington Graphics will do."

"I'll manage. What is the nature of your business? Ms. Kilpatrick said you needed someone in a hurry and didn't take time to fill me in."

"Advertising." From the bookcase behind her desk Carina selected two brochures and unfolded them for Gregory to examine. "This is a terrible time to come up short handed. I've two important presentations scheduled, one tomorrow, and another on Friday. Rachael always handles my prepress. Without her, I'll never be ready."

After a moment, Gregory leaned across her desk to return the brochures. Fragrance, spicy-clean and fresh, teased her nostrils. Aftershave and a recent shower, a masculine scent far too likely to distract her, if she gave it a chance. She wouldn't, absolutely couldn't. Not this week. "I've had some experience with--"

"It's likely the phones will occupy all your time." She couldn't picture his neatly trimmed fingertips flying over a keyboard.
Imagining his hands tangled in some woman's hair though...

Easy. Far too easy.

Cut that out. "Why don't I get you settled at the front desk, Gregory."

He followed her into the outer office. "I prefer Greg."

She ignored the thump of her heart. "Greg it is."

The phone rang. Carina reached for it, only to find Greg's hand already there. He gave her a complacent look and shrugged.

"Good morning, Carrington Graphics," he said into the receiver. "How may I direct your call?" He listened a moment longer.
"Certainly, just one moment, please." He placed the caller on hold. "There's a typesetting question on line one."

"Thank you. I'll take it in my office." She rubbed the circulation back into her fingers as she walked away.

The less she heard Greg Lawless' voice, the more she'd accomplish. Carina decided, and pulled her door closed before lifting the receiver. She had her secretary's work to finish and when she hung up the phone a few minutes later, she settled down to do it.

Several hours passed before Greg's deep voice sounded over her intercom. Startled, she jumped.

"Miss Carrington, Acme Imaging called earlier. Although they promised delivery this morning by nine, they couldn't deliver before three. When I discovered they had your order ready, I sent a courier to pick it up. Nathan's here with it now."

She gripped the phone. If time allowed, she'd keep this circuit open just to hear that seductive voice speaking in her ear. "How did you know about Nathan?"

Greg chuckled. "I found him in the Rolodex. Is that all right?"

He wasn't all good looks and muscle after all. Delighted to learn initiative hid beneath his dark curly hair, she smiled for the first time today.

"Fine. I'll be right out."

Carina unlocked the petty cash drawer, withdrew a ten and re-locked it. She opened her door to sign the charge slip. Nathan gave her his usual appreciative once-over. Smiling, she pressed the tip into the courier's hand.

"Thanks, Nate. I really needed these today."


He pocketed the cash and headed for the door. "Have a good day."

Without those images it wouldn't be.

A yellow package lay on Greg's desk. She opened the envelope and slid out the contents.

"You saved me a lot of heartburn, Greg. Thanks."

His blue eyes failed to reveal his thoughts. "These are your messages. You seemed preoccupied so I took the liberty of screening your calls."

Wise move. She could easily adjust to his thoughtful manner, but found it impossible to ignore his presence. Even at her desk behind closed doors his deep voice had disrupted her thoughts.

She glanced through the stack of pink slips. Cleaners, dentist, a salesman of some kind.

"Good." Carina pulled one from the stack and held it out to him. "I need that suit for tomorrow. Have my cleaning delivered, please. There's nothing else here that can't wait."

"Yes, Miss Carrington."

His submissive reply weakened her knees. "Carina will do fine."

"But Miss Carrington--"

"I insist, and Greg, thanks again for getting those images delivered."

The phone rang and they both stared at it. Greg picked up the receiver, his well-groomed fingers caressing the mouthpiece. Her mouth went dry. He bent his dark head and jotted down a number, lifted his gaze and caught her staring.

He grinned. She blushed and her heart skipped. Four quick steps away from his desk took her to the relative safety behind her office door. She pushed it closed, leaned against it, and shut out his deep, disquieting voice.

What was wrong with her?

It wasn't every day a handsome man shared her office. Regardless, she should be able to carry on with her work. Greg had a job to do. Heaven knows, she had, too.


For a chance to win a free download on Temp To Permanent and an "I need my reading time" T-shirt, email Toni from her website. Winner will be announced on June 30.
http://www.toninoelauthor.com/contact.html

Here's a buy link: http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-template/Toni%20Noel/Page.bok

Author Spotlight - Toni Noel talks about the many faces of love

Poets believe love makes the world go round, but that's too broad a premise for the novel I have in mind. I'm looking for a suitable premise for a Valentine's Day novel I hope to have published next year, so I turned to the bestselling book of all time, the Bible, for inspiration.

In First Corinthians, Chapter 13, starting with verse 4 I found inspiration for more ways to show love than I have room to list here. For instance:

'Love is patient and kind.'

I immediately pictured a young mother in the park, caring for her children, the youngest crying over a skinned knee, while at home her mother bathes her bedridden husband of sixty years.

Or a kindergarten teacher consoling the son of a fallen Marine.

And how about the mother of triplets spoon-feeding her brood. These are all excellent examples of kindness and patience, but those images didn't inspire a plot for a story that will jump off the page.

I read further.

'Love does not insist on its own way.'

A headstrong companion does, however, perhaps the first indication of a relationship on the rocks. When you truly love someone, there's an easy give and take, not a struggle for supremacy. I pictured a macho lover slapping around his mate while a toddler crouched in the corner, afraid to move, not the kind of story I want to tell.

'Love is not jealous or boastful.'

Another indication a relationship is in trouble. To truly love a mate is to give your companion room to grow. The man who boasts of his prowess in the bedroom is too dependent on the adulation of his peers. That's not the kind of hero I like to read about and I'm not anxious to write about him either.

'Love is not arrogant or rude.'

Someone who truly loves you does not put you down in public or symbolically step on your toes, hogging the conversation, or declare you don't know what you're talking about loud enough for friends or family to hear. It would be far too easy to nail this character to the page in just a few words, but that novel would only be about a page and a half long, and I doubt anyone would read that far.

'Love does not insist on its own way.'

How about the husband who tells you what to wear? The date constantly suggesting you change the way you wear your hair? These relationships are headed for heartache down the road, definitely not the kind of relationships I want to write about.

'Love bears all things.'

There are certain things a character may be certain he or she cannot bear: a child's lies, the running away of a child, an adult offspring on drugs. Infidelity. Now I'm getting somewhere, that's four possible story ideas right there.

'Love believes all things.'

... Even the things the heroine knows in her heart are not true. What if the character wants them to be true because she loves the one telling the lies. 'No, I didn't bite my sister.' 'My fifteen-year-old is still a virgin.' 'No, I didn't put that scratch on Dad's new car.' 'No, I am not having an affair.' Love blinds a character to another character's faults. This premise has merit. I might give it a try.

'Love hopes all things.'

Love forces us to hope when there is no hope. The week before a friend with terminal lung cancer died his wife said, "We can still hope."

Are good causes ever really hopeless?

Can this marriage be saved?

Will law enforcement officers find the lost child in time?

Is global warming reversible?

Can Japanese scientists find a way to stop that nuclear reactor from melting down?

If this blog has caused you to stop and think, please comment.

Did any of these verses give you a new idea?

What kind of love do you like to write about?

Which kind of love warms your heart? Fills you with joy? Brings you to tears?

Your comment might help some other writer see where her character has gone astray.

Author Spotlight - Toni Noel talks about today's libraries

Our libraries are in real trouble. A shortage of funding. Budget cuts. Shortened hours. Some doors permanently locked.

My granddaughter came to visit during spring break. She loves for me to read to her, and is crazy about children's videos, so after lunch one day I took her to the library to check out a few.

The doors were locked. I had to step over 6 teenage couples making out on the covered porch to reach the door and read the small sign displaying the library's hours.

Closed Mondays, and not open most mornings.

Our existing libraries represent a big investment of taxpayer's money, not just in books, but in videos, magazines and newspapers, computers with online capability for the cardholder's use, and all of it wasted when the doors remain closed. Our branch library is surrounded on three sides by senior citizen complexes whose residents spend most of their waking hours in the library. At least they did.

On hot days in Southern California elderly residents are urged to seek shelter in the library to stay cool. Most day that won't be possible this summer. Once their next in line on the librarian's signup sheet, the unemployed, and our city has many, can apply for jobs and send out resumes on line for the entire twenty minutes of their computer time. That means sending out 4 or 5 resumes if they type fast, but not if the doors are locked. These are jobless people without cars.

Is this happening in your neighborhood too? Are your schools, recreation centers and libraries feeling the brunt of the budget cuts? If the answer is yes, it's time you take a stand.

It's time for the younger generation to take a stand. City officials get tired of listening to senior citizens complain. I've had my turn. Thirty years ago I pestered the City Council until my (closed on Mondays branch library was finally built. I'm seventy-eight-years-old now and no longer able to take a stand, but young mothers whose toddlers enjoy the library's weekly story hour can and should. The parents of teens locked out of the library during spring break can, and should.

You can, and should.

Please leave a comment on this DBP sight to show someone else besides me cares about the future of our libraries.

And visit my blog for more on this subject: http://www.toninoelauthor.com/contact.html

Author Spotlight Week -Toni Noel shares her passion for Romantic Suspense

Right after 'Write what you know' should come 'Write what you love to read.' A third rule should be 'Write what readers want to read.' Currently Romantic Suspense is outselling all other genres.

I love to read a good romantic suspense, the kind of book guaranteed to makes you burn the hard boiled eggs and forget to pick up your son after baseball practice. The kind of book you can't put down, with characters you fall in love with on page one, laugh with, cry with and almost die with before the end of the book.

All great reads, but not as easy to write as you may think. Writing romantic suspense is far more complicated than writing a straight romance. I have to remember to sow seeds of doubts, plant red herrings and put off solving the mystery to allow the hero and heroine time to fall in love, not an easy goal.

Plotting these novels is like carefully shuffling two decks of cards. One deck represents the mystery, the other the romance. All the events must be seamlessly merged or the reader will be drawn out of the story and is likely to throw the book across the room. Or delete it from her eReader, a new and possible threat for writers.

And yes, I'm a true believer in romance. If my hero and heroine face death before morning, they're bound to spend their last night in hiding in each other's arms. In Temp To Permanent, my romantic suspense just released by Desert Breeze Publishing, right before Carina gets kidnapped, Greg and Carina spend a night in each other's arms, all the more reason for Greg to find the woman he loves and save her life.

I prefer to read books where the hero seeks the heroine's help to catch a bad guy and they fall in love while thrown together, not books where there is no romance, and I have a long list of authors who never disappoint me. I'll share a few with anyone who leaves a comment here.

Author Spotlight - Q&A with Toni Noel, author of Temp to Permanent

STEPH: I don't know much about Temp To Permanent. Can you tell me a little more about?

TONI: In Temp To Permanent, the beleaguered owner of an advertising firm is thrown for a loop when the temp agency sends her a male replacement for her secretary who has the flu. This man is all she's ever want in a lover, but she's doubtful he'll be able to manage her busy phones.

Greg surprises Carina. His skill with computer graphics far exceeds her secretary's ability, and Carina's thriving business returns to normal, until troublesome things start happening, little irritating things that slow down their production, until the petty cash disappears. Carina suspects Greg is a plant sent by her competition to force her company to fail. Will the attraction she has for him survive her suspicions?

STEPH: How long did it take to write?

TONI: It takes me six weeks to write the first draft of a novel, and may take several years to polish it for submission. During the Temp To Permanent revision I began to wonder who wants to pick up a book about a lady boss who can't keep her hands off the temp help, but must? The situation was already humorous, or could become erotic, which ever I chose.

Not erotic, I was certain. Maybe what I needed was a good mystery to distract my characters, but for them to work more closely together, a situation rife with opportunities for romance. That's why I added the mystery. It gave my characters a problem to solve other than the sexual harassment one they'd face if either acted on their desires.

STEPH: Did you do a lot of research for the novel?

TONI: No research was need for this novel. Authors are instructed to write what they know. I'd worked in accounting offices for thirty years. I knew all about the subtle games office workers play, but there was nothing the least bit romantic about our accounting department. We were kept too busy for office intrigue, so I needed a different setting for my novel and decided on a quieter office situation for my characters, a business with only two employees. I wanted a place where a hero and heroine already attracted to each other would be forced to spend time together in conference every day, rubbing elbows, you might say. I already knew a little about computer graphics. The last company I worked for designed and built remotely controlled underwater vehicles. I interviewed a few of those designers, questioned the owner of a graphic arts business and started writing.


STEPH: Where did the inspiration for the story come from?

TONI: Prior to year end close ach year, I interviewed and hired a temp to take over my timecard duties while I produced financial reports and worked the accounting year close. One year I hired a male temp, not because of his drop-dead looks, but because of his obvious skills. He had an accounting degree and office experience, and best of all, required little training before I was able to tackle my work without interruption. Not so for the rest of the company. Even the married female employees hung out of their cubicles each day when he made his rounds.

STEPH: If your story was going to be made into a movie, who would you cast as the leads?

TONI: Greg would look like Sean Penn, with twinkling blue eyes and curly black hair. Carina would be a young Glenn Close.

STEPH: What is the theme of the novel?

TONI: The theme of Temp To Permanent is Love finds a way. Carina is convinced Greg lacks ambition. In reality, he's ashamed of his past failures, and refuses to talk about his past. To Carina, her father lacked ambition and determined not to fall for someone without goals in his life. She's a highly ambitious, successful businesswoman who has scratched her way to the top of her field, but has recently realized she is unhappy with her current life. Something is missing. She's not sure what until Greg walks into her office and she discovers she wants the very thing she cannot legally have: her temp.

STEPH: What do you want readers to take away from the novel when they finish it?

TONI: I always want my readers to finish my novels with the satisfaction of a happy ending, a resolution that leaves them smiling, and memories of a couple whose newly found love warms their heart long after they read 'The end.

STEPH: Do you have an eBook reader? If so, which one?

TONI: My husband gave me one of the first Nooks, bought when they were still pricey. I have a cover for it that feels like suede and folds back flat when I'm reading. I also have a light for it, but am yet to need it.

My husband recently bought a mini-computer for me to use in the motor home, so I also download .pdf files, copy them to a flash drive and read on the mini. In some ways I like it better.

STEPH: How important was the setting to the novel?

STEPH: Here again, write what you know influenced this novel. For several years I was the accountant for a local hotel and worked at San Diego's Embarcadero. This city's main business district is located a few blocks east of the bay, and all up-and-coming business owners need easy access to downtown, so Carina's opened her business in Little Italy, a stones-throw from downtown, and Greg rented an apartment in Old Town to avoid a lengthy freeway drive to where he hopes to eventually work. This setting gave my characters scenic views right outside their doors, and excellent places to dine while they became better acquainted.

STEPH: What's your writing space like?

STEPH: I emptied a spare bedroom for my office. My desk, a six foot door, turns the floor space into a mini-maze. Four tall, stuffed bookshelves line the wall I face when I write. One narrow end is beneath the window. The other end protrudes into the room, parallel to the bookcases and the sewing machine at my back. When we have company, this room becomes a catchall room for odd , collecting things we'd like to keep out of sight, items that never seem to find their back out of here, so not, my office is not neat, no many how many classes I take on organizing my writing space, but it almost serves my needs.
You'd think with a six foot desk I'd have plenty of room.

Not.

STEPH: Thanks for popping in, Toni! It was great to have you on the blog today!