Lisa Plumley

I’m so excited! My latest contemporary romance, Let’s Misbehave, is a finalist for the Booksellers Best Award in the single title/mainstream category!

Let’s Misbehave is in excellent company too. Here’s a list of the finalists:

Traditional
Best Friend… Future Wife – Claire Baxter
The Italian’s Wife By Sunset – Lucy Gordon
Hired By The Cowboy – Donna Alward
His Christmas Angel – Michelle Douglas
Millionaire To The Rescue – Ally Blake

Short Contemporary
Breathless! – Trish Wylie
Trouble In Tennessee – Tanya Michaels
The Forbidden Enchantment – Nina Bruhns
Fortune’s Vengeful Groom – Charlene Sands
His Style of Seduction – Roxanne St. Claire

Long Contemporary
Baby Makes Three – Molly O’Keefe
Could Been A Cowboy – Brenda Novak
The Soldier And The Rose – Linda Barrett
Danger At Her Door – Beth Cornelison
The Rancher Needs A Wife – Terry McLaughlin

Inspirational
And Baby Makes Five – Gail Gaymer Martin
Over Her Head – Shelley Bates
A Treasure of the Heart – Valerie Hansen
Operation: Married By Christmas – Debra Clopton
Midnight Sea – Colleen Coble

Long Historical
Beware A Scot’s Revenge – Sabrina Jeffries
Dark Rider – Kathrynn Dennis
Claiming The Courtesan – Anna Campbell
Southern Seduction – Alexandria Scott
The Cornstalk – Heather Garside

Short Historical
Falcon’s Heart – Denise Lynn
Bodine’s Bounty – Charlene Sands
Ever My Love – Gretchen Craig
Sleepless At Midnight – Jacquie D’Alessandro
Seduction is Forever – Jenna Petersen

Single Title / Mainstream
Tempting – Susan Mallery
Let’s Misbehave – Lisa Plumley
Who Wants To Be A Sex Goddess? – Gemma Bruce
Your Mouth Drives Me Crazy – HelenKay Dimon
There Goes The Bride – Lori Wilde

Paranormal / Time Travel / Futuristic
Persecuted – Lisa Childs
Lord Of The Fading Lands – C . L. Wilson
Thirty Nights With A Highland Husband – Melissa Mayhue
In The Midnight Hour – Patti O’Shea
More Than Fiends – Maureen Child

Romantic Suspense
Dead Giveaway – Brenda Novak
Dead Right – Brenda Novak
One Last Breath – Laura Griffin
Overkill – Linda Castillo
Count To Ten – Karen Rose

Erotic
Slave To Love – Nikita Black
Raina’s Fantasy – Jo Carlisle
Born Again – Rena Marks
Close Encounters of the Sexy Kind – Karen Kelley
Everything Forbidden – Jess Michaels

Hi! I’m guest blogging today with the inimitable Lee Hyatt and the gang at Tote Bags ‘n’ Blogs — so why don’t you stop by? You can join the conversation, ask questions, and find out why my lovable dog, Cid, is pictured to the right. (See? It’s not just my book covers that feature dogs!) Please check it out today.

Till later,
Lisa

Hi! I’m doing the happy dance today, because I just learned that Let’s Misbehave has been named one of Booklist’s Top Ten Romances of 2007! Yay!

Here’s the full list. It’s great to be in such good company.

TOP 10 ROMANCE FICTION BY BOOKLIST
Adieu, My Love. By Lynn M. Turner. Avalon.
Agnes and the Hitman. By Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer. St. Martin*s.
Billionaires Prefer Blondes. By Suzanne Enoch. Avon.
A Distant Magic. Mary Jo Putney. Del Rey.
The Landlord’s Black-Eyed Daughter. By Mary Ellen Davis. Five Star.
Let’s Misbehave. By Lisa Plumley. Zebra.
Rough and Ready. By Sandra Hill. Berkley Sensation.
Soul Song. By Marjorie M. Liu. Dorchester.
Tempting. Susan Mallery. HQN.
Virgin River. By Robyn Carr. MIRA.

Booklist is a terrific magazine published by the American Library Association, so I’m doubly honored to see Let’s Misbehave included in this year’s Top 10 list. Thank you, Booklist!

Till later,
Lisa

I’m guest blogging with the fun folks at Romance Reader at Heart today! Please drop by and join us. If you’re generous enough to leave a comment, you might win an autographed book.

I’m so excited! My new book, Let’s Misbehave, is finally on the shelves!

I’m running all over the Phoenix metro area leaving autographed copies for readers at Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Waldenbooks stores. (Thank you, booksellers, for being so nice and friendly!)

Please pick up a copy at a bookstore near you or visit Kensington Publishing to order Let’s Misbehave at 30% off the cover price today.

Till later,
Lisa

I just picked up the latest issue of Romantic Times BOOK Reviews magazine and was thrilled to see that Let’s Misbehave was awarded a 4-1/2 stars Top Pick! rating! Wahoo! Here’s a snip from Marilyn Weigel’s wonderful review:

“Plumley not only delivers a fun-filled premise, clever dialogue and a delightfully sexy sports-loving hero, she brings to life a memorable, hilarious and utterly unique heroine readers will adore. This is pure romantic fantasy and an absolutely entertaining novel from start to finish.“ —Romantic Times BOOK Reviews (4½ stars Top Pick!)

This is a first for me, so I’m doubly excited. Thanks, Marilyn and RT!

Now I really can’t wait for Let’s Misbehave to hit bookstore shelves, so I can share it with you.

Till later,
Lisa

What’s the deal with those back-of-the-book excerpts? You know the ones I’m talking about… You’re down to the last few pages of a fantastic book, reading along, sighing in contentement, when you reach The End. Eagerly, you flip to the next page, looking for IT — an excerpt from the author’s forthcoming book. And it sounds amazing! You can’t wait to get your hands on it! If only you could buy it right now! Right?

Unfortunately, you can’t buy it right now, because sometimes it’s a year or more before an author’s next book is published. So now you’re wondering… If the first chapter is already done (obviously), then maybe the book is too! Maybe the darn publisher is just stringing you along like a girl waiting for a second date, making you wait for no good reason (you think, gritting your teeth as you reread that aggravating phrase: Watch for Incredibly Awesome Book, coming from Your Favorite Author in 2020!)

Okay, so it’s not really 2020. It only feels that way. But what’s up with that?

In my case, there’s usually an excerpt from my next book in the previous book I wrote (for the same publisher, at least — so far, my publishers don’t cross-promote my books). But sometimes… well, I’m only human. Sometimes the excerpt slips through the cracks. Sometimes it doesn’t make it to my editor in time for inclusion in the next book.

That’s what happened with Let’s Misbehave. Whoops. My bad. And I really did feel bad too. I like sharing a sneak preview with my readers! Which is why I’m so excited today, because…

(drum roll please)

…we just posted the entire first chapter of Let’s Misbehave to the lisaplumley.com Web site! Please read the excerpt right now, then come back here and share your thoughts.

It’s a fun book, I promise. I’m only sorry you don’t get to meet the yummy Cash Connelly in chapter one. (He shows up later.) You’re going to love him…

Till next time,
Lisa

Okay, so if you’re like me (at least me a few years ago), right now you’re saying, “Meet me on the whaaaa…?” (Answer: gridiron = football field, for the uninitiated.)

Why do you want to know that? Because football is fun!

I know, I know. You’re envisioning a bunch of huge, helmeted, sweaty guys crashing into each other, seemingly at random, with ultra long “timeouts” in between. You’re thinking about how you can never even see that teeny-tiny ball on TV, much less figure out who’s supposed to hold onto it. Maybe you’re even feeling a little guilty, because the last time you tried to watch a football game with your husband/boyfriend/significant other and everyone started jumping up and down and screaming about something…you did too, just so you wouldn’t feel left out. Even though you didn’t have a clue what all the fuss was about. Sound familiar?

Well, I’m here to tell you that football really can be fun. The game is full of riveting moments of competition, brute strength, savvy, personal sacrifice, heated rivalry…even humor. There’s drama galore, just like on Desperate Housewives. You’ll see amazing plays. You’ll feel smart as you begin to recognize the strategy behind those plays. You’ll be unable to resist sneaking peeks at the players’ tight uniformed butts (hint: pay attention to the snap!). I confess: I love football now, and I’m always bummed when the season ends.

That’s part of the reason why my newest book is about Cash Connelly, a former pro quarterback in the NFL and a character I’m especially fond of. Cash is brash, burly, macho, and smart, with a knack for leadership and a total inability to comprehend why his pampered new nanny/housekeeper, Marisol Winston, can’t seem to control things in his chaotic household. I worked hard to come up with a storyline that was good enough for Cash. I’m happy to say that I think I found one in Let’s Misbehave.

Don’t worry though! You don’t have to know a blitz from a backfield to have fun reading the book–I promise. Although part of the story centers on Cash’s efforts to get re-signed to the pros (with his former team, the imaginary but awesome Phoenix Scorpions), the rest is pure, sexy fun as he and Marisol fall in love and try to mesh their two very different worlds.

So if you’re a football fan like me, rest assured that all the background in Let’s Misbehave is thoroughly researched, and it comes from the heart. And if you’re not? That’s okay too. Just settle in for a few laughs…and enjoy the tight butts while you’re there.

If you’ve got questions for me, please feel free to leave them in the comments. And if you haven’t dropped by my MySpace page yet, why not try it today? I’d love to be friends.

Till next time…
Lisa

“Where do you get your book ideas?”

That’s the question people ask me most often, and I’m usually left groping for an answer, because getting ideas is never a problem. I have a million of them! So do all the other writers I know. It’s taking one of those fledgling ideas and transforming it into a 400 page manuscript that gets tricky! But I think I understand why the “ideas” question is so popular. As a reader, I’m curious about how writers come up with characters and plots too. But as a writer, I know there’s no easy way to describe that unpredictable process that leads from idea to outline to manuscript (and I’m too superstitious to delve into it very deeply).

I can give you an example though. Let’s Misbehave came about because I had an idea that collided with an interest at exactly the right time. That’s usually my “formula” (for lack of a better word): idea + interest = book I want to write. See, I’d just finished another manuscript, and I was kicking back with one of my guilty pleasures (a glossy fashion magazine) when I saw it: a one-paragraph piece about a shopaholic rehab center in Italy. Apparently, shopaholics went to the center for therapy, then were assigned jobs in the community as part of their treatment.

Now, I realize that oniomania (the clinical name for disordered shopping) is a serious condition. Of course. But come on—I’m a romantic comedy writer! I couldn’t wait to come up with the perfect shopaholic heroine, ambush her with a shopaholicism intervention, and set her up with the worst possible (for her) “real job” assignment…as a nanny/housekeeper to a trio of wild-and-crazy triplets and their football player bachelor dad. Voilà! Let’s Misbehave was off and running, at least in my imagination.

That just about covers the idea portion of the Let’s Misbehave equation. So where does the interest part come in? I’ll be back soon with the inside scoop!

Till next time…
Lisa

P.S. Early reviews for Let’s Misbehave are already coming in! Drop by my Web site to find out what readers are saying about the story.

Hi, and thanks for checking out this page! I’m so excited to have this chance to tell you about what’s new, what’s now, and what’s coming next! I promise I’ll try to post frequent updates for you.

As I write this, I just finished double-checking the copy-edited manuscript for my next book, Let’s Misbehave. I have to tell you, looking at the story again made me remember how much I loved writing it. I really can’t wait to share it with you.Wondering what it’s about? Here’s my quick and dirty description:

When Marisol Winston’s “shopaholic rehab” requires her to work as a nanny/housekeeper for three rowdy kids and their hunky NFL quarterback single dad, the last thing she expects is to fall in love. But Cash Connelly makes resisting his charms all but impossible! How is a partygirl heiress supposed to cope with PB&Js, dirty laundry, and an irresistibly appealing man, all at the same time?

That’s it! Sounds fun, right? I can’t tell you what a blast it was to write Cash and Marisol’s story. I hope you’ll be on the lookout for it this summer!

In the meantime, please drop by my Web site to find out more about any of my books, read complete first-chapter excerpts, find out about contests and freebies, sign up for new-book reminder e-mails and more. The site is pretty much a compendium of everything related to my books, so if you can’t find it there…well, just drop me an e-mail and I’ll do my best to answer your question myself. Or post a question in the comments here. Either way, it’s always nice to hear from readers.

That’s it for now! Till next time…
Lisa