Another party in The Dungeon?  Why in heaven’s name are we doing that?

You know why—because today is the day! HER LITTLE SECRET, HIS HIDDEN HEIR is officially ON SALE!

It seems like forever that we—or at least I—have been waiting for this book to hit the shelves, but it finally has.  HER LITTLE SECRET, HIS HIDDEN HEIR is now available for purchase & being shipped from Amazon, Barnes&Noble.com, eHarlequin, & all of the other online retailers.  It’s also available for download in e-book format for Kindle, NOOK, & all of the other e-reader devices.  And it should be on just about all of the bookstore & retail store shelves, so if you haven’t found it yet, keep your eyes peeled when you go to the mall, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, Meijers, etc.  That puppy is out there, I just know it!

What else can I say about this long-awaited “Bakery Book” that will make you want to get your hands on it as soon as humanly possible?

Well, you can check out its book page right here at HeidiBetts.com for a closer look at the cover, back cover blurb, & even an excerpt!  (Yes, I’ve belatedly realized that I never posted an excerpt here at WIPs, so now is your chance to read one before you buy. :babybook )

You know all the recipes I’ve been posting recently to whet your appetite for Marc & Vanessa’s story?  Well, I saved the very best for the book itself.  Inside HER LITTLE SECRET, HIS HIDDEN HEIR, you will find the recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Pinwheels, one of the tastiest cookies in the entire world.  I’m not being biased, either…they really, really are the yummiest thing ever!  As soon as everyone has a chance to read the book & bake a batch for themselves, I want to hear about it!  I want to know if they made you moan & your eyes roll back in your head.  Because, yes, they are that good. :inbed

I’ve got a handful of what I hope you will think are really fun giveaways in mind for the next few weeks, after everyone’s had a chance to read Marc & Vanessa’s story. I want to do a few more trivia-laced posts & give you all a chance to read the book before I post them, though.  So rather than picking up the book & then adding it to your TBR pile where it may or may not get read during this decade :wink do try to read it sooner rather than later.  Then we’ll discuss.  And hold drawings.  And have just oodles of Dungeon fun. :jump

Everyone who runs out & buys a copy of HER LITTLE SECRET, HIS HIDDEN HEIR this week—or orders it online, or vows to buy one at the very first opportunity—gets to partake of today’s party favors…

A sexy, half-naked Dungeon Hottie to keep you company…

…& fulfill your every desire.  Especially if that desire is for sweet, yummy, zero-calorie cookies & decadent, bakery-inspired, also zero-calorie drinks…

So what are you waiting for?  Add HER LITTLE SECRET, HIS HIDDEN HEIR to your shopping list already & let’s party!

TOMORROW is the day!  If you haven’t already lucked out & found an early copy of HER LITTLE SECRET, HIS HIDDEN HEIR at your local bookstore or Wal-Mart (or Target or K-Mart or Meijers or grocery store *g*), tomorrow is the day it will officially go on sale! :getdown

In fact, HIDDEN HEIR has already been spotted at a few Meijers stores, according to our very own Darling Laura J. & both Amazon.com & BN.com now have it listed as “in stock” & available for purchase. Yippee! :getdown

And if you have picked up your copy of HER LITTLE SECRET, HIS HIDDEN HEIR already, then A.) thank you, thank you! :hippie & B.) I hope to heck you’re enjoying it! :babybook

As I mentioned once before, I have a couple of great giveaways in mind once HIDDEN HEIR really is out & about & you’ve all had a chance to read it.  A bit of a Q&A, with you guys in the hot seat for a change. :sexy  So I hope you’ll all move it to the top of your TBR pile & pay really close attention to the story, as well as some of the related blog posts here at WIPs and Chains, in order to answer a few fun questions later. :howyoudoin

Now for today’s previously promised entertainment…  I’d like to introduce you to VANESSA MASON KELLER, the feisty & headstrong heroine of my latest Harlequin Desire release, which I loved writing so, so much, you can’t even imagine. :jump

Face-to-face with his ex-wife again, millionaire Marcus Keller received more than a jolt of deep attraction—he discovered he was a daddy. Vanessa had been pregnant when they divorced, bore him a son, and kept it a secret. It was a betrayal he wasn’t sure he could ever forgive.

But there was no way he would walk away from his child…his heir. The businessman would do his best to be civil to the lovely bakery owner, who was one tough cookie in her own right. But would it only be business between them…or would Marcus indulge his own secret agenda to make this woman his again—once and for all?

Welcome to The Dungeon, Vanessa. We’re delighted you could visit us today to talk about HER LITTLE SECRET, HIS HIDDEN HEIR and your relationship with Marcus.

So how did you and Marc first meet?

Vanessa: I was waiting tables at this awful all-night diner when he walked in wearing a suit that probably cost more than I made on tips in an entire year.  He looked completely out of place, but you wouldn’t have known it from the way he acted—you’d have thought he owned the joint.  He ordered a cup of coffee and a slice of what was definitely not the World’s Best Apple Pie, and over about a zillion refills, we got to talking.  Then he came in again later in the week…and the week after that…and the week after that.  I can’t say it was love at first sight, but there was certainly some instant lust involved.

That sounds really romantic.  But what happened?  Why did the two of you end up getting divorced?

Vanessa: Because Marc’s mother is a dragon lady.  No, scratch that.  Marc’s mother makes fire-breathing dragons look like fluffy little bunnies.  After we were married, we moved into the Keller Mansion, and I think he expected us to live happily ever after on the family estate the same way his parents had and his brother and his wife were…  But Adam had married well, you see, and I was just a lowly waitress.  Not a day went by that Marcus’s mother didn’t remind me of that fact, and let me know she highly disapproved of me pulling her son down with my red, blue-collar bloodlines.

Now for the question I think is probably foremost in everyone’s mind:  Even though you were legally divorced by then, why didn’t you tell Marc you were pregnant?

Vanessa: [through pursed lips]  Well, I would have if he’d deigned to accept one of my phone calls.  But I guess the minute the divorced papers were signed, he delegated me to the same category his mother always had—not worthy of his time or attention.

It must have been a real shock when he turned up in Summerville, then, huh?

Vanessa: You have no idea.  At first I thought I was seeing things.  Then I thought I was going crazy.  Then I started to wish I was seeing things and going crazy.

Did you tell him right away about Danny, or were you still trying to keep the baby your “LITTLE SECRET”?

Vanessa: [with a snort] Oh, my life would be so much simpler right now if I were just a little better at hide-and-seek.

So how are things going now?

Vanessa: [covering her eyes and shaking her head]  My life is such a mess right now.  I worry every minute about Marc grabbing Danny and taking him back to Pittsburgh or filing for full custody.  I’ve been baking like crazy, and if I’m not careful, I swear I’m going to eat up all of The Sweet Spot’s profits.

Speaking of The Sweet Spot, I hear the bakery you and your aunt opened in Summerville after the divorce is doing really well.  Rumor has it you make some of the best baked goods east of the Susquehanna and that you were were generous enough to share one of your most popular cookie recipes with Harlequin Desire readers by letting Heidi include it in the front of HER LITTLE SECRET, HIS HIDDEN HEIR.

Vanessa:  The bakery is doing very well, thank you.  That’s one of the reasons Marc ended up in Summerville…because I was looking for an investor with deep pockets to help me expand the business.  You can see how well that turned out.  [heavy sigh]

As for the recipe, we were happy to let Heidi use one in the front of the book.  It’s a good one, too—Chocolate Peanut Butter Pinwheels.  They’re absolutely delicious and melt in your mouth with every bite.  In fact, I think we have some in the display case right now.  They taste even better with a glass of cold milk, and I have some of that in the fridge. Dammit, now I’m hungry.  And you know I’m going to go down and grab a couple as soon as we’re finished here.

Actually, I think we are finished here.  Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us about Marc and Danny and the part you play in Heidi’s new book.

If anyone has a question for Vanessa before she runs off for those cookies, feel free to ask them now.

And don’t forget to pick up your very own copy of HER LITTLE SECRET, HIS HIDDEN HEIR this week so you can find out even more about these great characters…not to mention get your hands on that fabulous cookie recipe!  You know you’re going to want to make a batch of those just as soon as you finish reading Marc & Vanessa’s story. :gingerbread

“I feel so fortunate to be one of the lucky ones who is so grateful and appreciative to know such great synonyms for thankful.”
~Demetri Martin

Happy Sunday!

Can you believe it’s June already?  I certainly can’t.  Where the heck is the time going? On the up side, we’ve got that hot little number up there to keep us company, so it’s not all bad. :wink

I don’t think anyone will be surprised to hear that I AM HAPPY—happy, happy, happy, nearly ecstatic!—to have a new book out this week! Yes, it’s true, & you all know it…I’ve got a brand new Harlequin Desire hitting the stands pretty much as we speak.  HER LITTLE SECRET, HIS HIDDEN HEIR is already available for Kindle, NOOK, & other e-book devices (see the HeidiBetts.com home page for links to those & more) & should start showing up in bookstores & retail outlets (Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, etc.) early this week. Plus Amazon, Barnes&Noble.com, etc.  In other words, everywhere, everywhere, everywhere. :cool

I hope you’ll all pick up a copy as soon as you can, in whatever format you prefer.  And then keep an eye out over here, because I very much hope to run some interesting giveaways where I’ll be testing your knowledge about the story based on the book itself & some of my HIDDEN HEIR blog posts.  :que I promise not to make it too hard on you…but I do think it will be fun! :chick

I AM HAPPY that after sitting in the dark for two days & three nights, my power is back on & it turns out my house’s electric is just fine.  Thought I had a dead freezer…thought the wiring might be shot…thought lots of things, but after getting an electrician out here, it turns out I just had a faulty fan that was sending things wonky.  And it’s all good now. :allgood

I AM HAPPY that I got the chance to do two good deeds this week—though I’m not necessarily happy about the circumstances.  First, while walking to the post office, I noticed a bunch of papers in the front yard of one of my elderly neighbors.  So I asked around & then stopped at the local magistrate’s office & asked them to send someone over to check on him.  I don’t actually know how it all turned out, but am hoping he’s okay & was maybe just away from the house for a couple of days.

Second, I turned in another neighbor for abusing his dog.  Oh, that sort of thing makes me livid.  And though I’ve always thought the guy was a jerk, I’ve never seen him outright mistreat his animals before.  But this time…this time, he was beating the poor thing with his fist, then dragged it up the desk steps by its collar (all four legs off the ground) & I lost it.  If I could have made it outside before he got in his house, I’d have read him the riot act…& maybe I should have gone over anyway; called the cops to meet me there, but honestly wasn’t sure how to handle the incident when I was the only one around & the guy is—as mentioned before—a jerk.  I did call the SPCA the very next morning, though.  The woman I talked to seemed to take my complaint very seriously, too, so hopefully they really will do something about it.  And if they don’t…well, this guy’s on my radar now, so I’ll be watching him very carefully & probably will march over there & deck the bastard if it ever happens again. :angrychick

Last but not least, I AM HAPPY that I got the yard mowed again—second time this summer… whoo-hoo, I am on a roll!—& that I did so without death or dismemberment.  And only one close call! :jump   (Yes, it’s true, I’m kind of dangerous on a riding mower.  You wouldn’t think I could take corners too fast at only two miles an hour, & yet I totally do!)

Your turn…  What are you feeling happy or grateful about this week that you’d like to share?

And now for the winner of this week’s Free Book Friday giveaway, an autographed copy of my very own hot-off-the-presses Harlequin Desire HER LITTLE SECRET, HIS HIDDEN HEIR…

:getdown Jessica B!!! :getdown

Congratulations, Jessica! :claphat Please contact me with your full name & mailing information, & I’ll get your book out to you as soon as I can!