Heidi Rice: Heidi breaks the Four Star barrier at RT!

Wednesday, 23 February 2011

Heidi breaks the Four Star barrier at RT!

Amazed to discover that my April release in the US of Surf, Sea and a Sexy Stranger has got a Four and a Half star review from the venerable Sandra Madan at RT Book Reviews! Cheers Sandra, never thought I'd manage it.

Here's the review:

SURF, SEA AND A SEXY STRANGER (4.5) by Heidi Rice: Lifeguard Maddy Westmore has had enough with fixing everyone else’s problems, though she can’t help but check on the “bad surfer” she rescued earlier in the day. For said surfer, entrepreneur Ryan King, his injured leg is the least of his concerns, as a previous accident has left him psychologically impotent. So when a solution to his most worrisome problem turns up in the form of storm-ravaged Maddy, he can’t resist. But when Maddy finds out Rye is actually her boss, he’ll have his work cut out for him if he wants their affair to continue. A steamy romance and interesting characters will leave readers smiling.

In other news, I'll be taking part in Brenda Novak's Diabetes Auction again this year and offering a critique of a first chapter and synopsis aimed at Harlequin Presents (or M&B Riva) with the promise of a follow-up breakfast meeting at the RWA Conference in NYC. Obviously, if you win it, and you're not going to RWA we can always have an email chat! Anyway, bidding is from 1st-31st May and there's tons of great lots on offer for readers and aspiring authors alike (Presents author Kate Hewitt is offering a critique of an entire manuscript), so definitely worth checking it out.

Just wanted to also add a quick word for the people of Christchurch, New Zealand. One of our lovely Riva authors Natalie Anderson lives in the city and as I'm sure you all know the earthquake there has been absolutely devastating. My thoughts are with them.

6 comments:

Lacey Devlin said...: Congrats Heidi! That's fantastic news :); 23 February 2011 at 22:40
Jackie Ashenden said...: Yay for you, Heidi! Awesome news. And it WAS a fab book. :-) Yes, the earthquake has been pretty grim all round really. The pictures on the news every night are just dreadful.; 24 February 2011 at 01:07
Lorraine said...: That's great news Heidi and congrats on finishing your latest!

Glad to 'see' you Jackie, I've been thinking of you and your friends in Christchurch xx; 24 February 2011 at 06:15
Heidi Rice said...: Cheers guys... And Jackie, very glad to hear from you too! News keeps getting worse.; 25 February 2011 at 08:27
Unknown said...: Wow! Congratulations! This book sounds utterly delicious I must snag a copy! So glad I found you on twitter!

I'm excited to tweet and blog stalk you (in a non-creepy way of course)!; 27 February 2011 at 08:58
Heidi Rice said...: Cool Jen, always happy to have a new stalker! Will have to stalk you in return..; 27 February 2011 at 10:21

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My Book Recs!

Dirty Secret by Mira Lyn Kelly
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So I know absolutely NADA about ice hockey, I'm a Brit after all. But when I saw my old writing mate Mira Lyn Kelly had written a series of HAWT hockey romances I hit the insta-buy button because I know what a fabulous writer she is – and I had a week-long holiday in Spain with lots of lounging-around-a-pool time to fill. I'm happy to say I was not disappointed. Because this book hit all my sweet spots hot hero, smart savvy heroine, snappy dialogue and deep deep emotion wise.... (Although I still know nada about hockey I feel I can now talk quite knowledgeably about how hot ice hockey players are at least!)

Dirty Secret is the first of the Slayers Hockey team stories (although Greg and Julia feature in Dirty Player, in another series, which I will sooo be checking out after I finish this series). Anyway Dirty Secret features team captain Greg Baxter's arch rival Vaughn Vasser and Greg's little sister Natalie, who is absolutely OFF LIMITS to the rest of the team. But most of all to Vaughn, who recently threw a punch at the cap, is not much liked by the Chicago press, the Slayers fans or nearly all of his teammates either, and has his sights set on a trade back to Oregon ASAP...

But what Vaughn does not know is that the "Allie" he had an uber hot one-night stand with eight months ago in Vancouver, and who ran out on him without leaving a number and who he cannot forget is none other than the guy he hates little sis. Natalie is so busted when Vaughn turns up at her door, after discovering who she is... And that she knew who he was all along, and that's why she was using an assumed name. To say he's pissed is putting it mildly, but the truth is he is also hurt. WTF was she thinking, leaving him in the lurch like that after pretty much the best night of his life? Ofc, it's only a matter of time before pissed gives way to provocative, because these two really cannot keep their hands off each other, or any other crucial parts of their anatomy tbf. But while the secret sex scenes are the perfect blend of explosively intense and toe-curlingly spicy, the real secret in this book is that the hard-nosed (and hard everything else) Vaughn, is actually a really sweet guy. But only Natalie ever gets to see that side of him...

Not all that surprisingly, given their explosive chemistry, it doesn't take long before their under-the-radar romance is impossible to keep under the radar (or anything else for that matter).

Once Greg finds out that his rival is secretly dating his kid sister, all hell breaks loose, leaving Vaughn's career in the crosshairs and Natalie having to deal with her big brother's ego explosion. So how is Vaughn not gonna blow up his career and get over the girl he can't have but still wants all the damn time? How is Natalie gonna get her big bro to back the hell off and give her space to figure out that Vaughn is the guy for her? Which is a big ask for her, because she spent her whole life living in the shadow of Greg's career. And she does not want to risk living in the shadow of another man's career - however right he seems....

I'll leave the answers to those crucial questions for you to find out, but I was rooting for them both throughout the fallout, even when they made mistakes. I loved the underlying theme,too, that love is never easy, that chemistry can be dangerous as well as delicious but that ultimately it's the compromises you make and the secrets you are brave enough to share about who you really are, and what you really want that give you the greatest rewards.

What a terrific start to this series, I'm already three books in and I am TOTALLY ADDICTED which is good because I'm now back in a cold and rainy London, and some Slayers Hockey heat is the perfect antedote. So thank you Mira Lyn for giving me my summer back, I appreciate it.

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Wednesday, 23 February 2011

Heidi breaks the Four Star barrier at RT!

6 comments: