Julia Barrett's World

Stacey’s Review:
Eva is a chef that loves her job. She takes pride in the food she makes and it shows. There are a lot of food and meal preparation descriptions, but rather than bore us, they stimulates our senses…and makes us hungry. At the end of the book, there are recipes and quick facts about the meals Eva makes in the book, which was a nice touch.

Eva is hired to prepare a romantic dinner for two for Gabriel Abbott and a date. When she discusses the meal plan on the phone with him, she falls for his sexy voice, just as he does for hers. Later, when they meet by accident, there is perfect chemistry between them and nothing is ever the same.
One of the biggest hurdles facing them is the fact that Eva is a simple country girl and Gabriel is wealthy and educated. Can their two worlds blend enough for them to have a life together? Can Eva trust Gabe, even though he has a past reputation as a playboy?

This book was great with many layers. Julia Barrett created characters so real that I could read about their daily activities all day and enjoy every minute of it. Not only the main characters, but the complimentary cast of secondary characters as well.
I found around the middle, I began to wonder where this book was going. Then a spiteful ex-girlfriend comes into the picture and creates all kinds of problems for our lovers and plenty of suspense for the reader!

If you enjoy a classic romance with a dose of suspense to keep you anxious, then give Beauty and the Feast a read. The sex was hot and the last scene of the book was just perfect and kept me smiling long after I closed the book. Julia Barrett is a talented author that can pull you out of reality with her writing. I look forward to her next release.

Rated 5 Delightful Divas by Stacey!

http://ddrreviews.blogspot.com/2010/05/beauty-and-feast-by-julia-barrett.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

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Well yeah, of course. We all wish we could rewrite history - I guess that’s what regrets are for. But what I mean is, every single time I read a nonfiction book about Henry VIII and his wives, I want to go back and return Anne’s head to her shoulders. I hate the fact that she was accused of infidelity, treason and incest and beheaded - when you come right down to it - because she didn’t give Henry his promised son. Yeah…yeah…yeah…succession and all that. No female rulers since Matilda versus Stephen and blah blah blah. Everyone hated her for supplanting Katherine, the acknowledged queen…

If Anne and Henry had not been forced to wait so long to consummate their relationship perhaps Anne would have born him a son and she would have remained forever the Queen of the King’s heart. If she’d given Henry a son, he would have felt utterly and completely justified in his treatment of his first and well, pretty much legal wife, Katherine, who also had to be gotten rid of because she didn’t give him a son.

Good God I’m glad I didn’t live back then…oh wait, since I believe in reincarnation and that period of history fascinates me, I probably did.

I guess when you come right down to it, if Anne had given birth to a male child, then England would never have been ruled by Anne’s daughter, Elizabeth, quite arguably the most successful British monarch of all time.

Anne was both brilliant and impolitic and was, unfortunately, much maligned in her time. She is by far my favorite historical figure, as opposed to that simpering Jane Seymour who learned well from her mistress, Anne, and played the same game to catch a king, not that it did her much good in the short or long run.

Just like Queen Mary was her mother’s very scary revenge, Elizabeth - although she always referred to herself as her father’s daughter, was her mother’s revenge and her greatest achievement.

Sorry - don’t mean to preach, it’s just that I’m reading The Lady in the Tower by Alison Weir and the book is fascinating from word one! But I must say that while I agree with the author’s well-researched theory as to who was the mover and shaker behind the plot to remove the queen, a son and heir or an heir and a spare would have made it all moot. Besides, as the King, Henry could have set aside the verdict and pardoned his wife or he could have made certain charges were never brought against her in the first place. I believe in Henry’s heart, he wanted to be rid of Anne and the international scandal his own pursuit of her had caused.

In other news - You can still win a copy of Beauty and the Feast by leaving a recipe for me.

Congrats Stacey Espino on your St. Patrick’s Day release: Fearless Desires, Siren Bookstrand.

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Today is my interview day on the Logical Lust Blog

http://bit.ly/ZWnZq

Drop by, leave me a comment and you can win a signed hard copy of The Cougar Book!

This is one sizzling read, containing stories from twenty-three amazing authors.

My contribution is - You Might Just Get It. Here’s an excerpt:

Excerpt from You Might Just Get It, by Julia Barrett, The Cougar Book, Logical Lust

Eric lifted his eyes and studied the woman seated across the small table from him. Her damp curls surrounded her head like a halo. The first time he’d seen her, in the window across the courtyard, her hair had been damp, just like this. Sweet. Very appealing. He wondered if she had any idea her kitchen window looked directly into his. Probably not. She’d only moved in ten days ago. Eric assumed she was still busy unpacking. That was one of the reasons he’d invited her to dinner, one reason among many. He wondered briefly how old Kate was. It was hard to tell. She could be anywhere from twenty-nine to forty-five. But he wasn’t about to ask her and he didn’t care. Her age didn’t matter to him. Her laugh did. Her big brown eyes did. Her luscious lips. Her wide white smile.

When he’d arrived home and found her soaked to the skin and shivering on the stoop, he got to play the hero. That was twice in two days. There was no way he’d pass up an opportunity to spend time with her. He’d hoped she’d accept his offer of dinner and he‘d been pleased when she did. It was no big deal, one of his easy meals. Oven toasted rustic bread with melted gruyere, roasted tomatoes, baby arugula and a soft fried egg. Simple and sensuous. The sandwich was messy and it required the use of all your fingers. There was a lot of runny egg yolk and licking involved. Eric hoped he could segue that licking into something else entirely.

God, there was a lot to like about her. Not only was Kate easy on the eyes, she was intelligent, articulate, mature, and she appreciated his sense of humor. Plus she blushed at the drop of a hat. Eric found that adorable. She wasn’t jaded or flighty, like so many women he’d met recently. He’d bet the farm she hadn’t grown up in California. Probably Iowa or Illinois. Someplace rural. An old-fashioned country girl.

“Where’d you come from? I mean, where are you from originally?” he asked.

“Blair, Nebraska. It’s a little town near the Missouri River. I went to school there. Dana College. You?”

“Minneapolis.”

“You’re kidding? You don’t have a Minnesota accent.”

“Yeah, well, I worked hard getting rid of that. I can do it if you like.”

“You mean like…Minnesooooota, North Dakoooooota, ya think? Like that?”

It was Eric’s turn to laugh. “More or less.” He looked at her plate. “Finished?”

“Oh, yes, thank you. The sandwich was great. I can cook, but I guess it never occurred to me that such simple ingredients could taste so good together.” Kate reached for his empty plate and set it on top of hers. “Let me help clean up. That’s the least I can do.”

He watched as Kate rose from her chair and stretched. He enjoyed watching. Her breasts were pert. Not large, but pert with perky nipples. Two handfuls. That’s all he needed.

“You have a long day today?”

“Not too bad. Really. It would have been better if I hadn’t locked myself out. But…what can you do? I was sort of hoping to curl up in a hot bath with a good book, but I left my book in the car and then the key…well, you know the story.” Kate carried the plates to the sink.

Eric followed with the empty glasses. “You can still have a hot bath,” he said.

“Yeah, I guess,” she replied, rinsing off the plates.

Eric set the glasses down on the counter and ran a hand lightly through the chestnut locks that hugged the back of her neck. He watched goose bumps rise as he trailed his fingers along her shoulders. He heard Kate’s sharp intake of breath. He waited momentarily to see if she’d move away, but she remained still.

“I mean, if you’re interested, you could have a hot bath…with me.”

***Today begins the Siren-Bookstrand Valentine promotion. Win ebooks and Strandbucks. Contests will run all week on

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SirenBookstrand/

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Don’t have a date yet, but

I’ve signed a contract with Cobblestone Press for My Everything, a romance/suspense previously published with Cerridwen. This is exciting news. The Good, the Bad and the Unread gave me a lovely review months ago - which of course thrilled the hell out of me. Sandy M. graded the book a B+ and said:

” I gave Ms. Barrett a little bit of a hard time on my review of her first book, Anytime Darlin’. There were things about that book that I liked but more things that I didn’t. But Ms. Barrett was very gracious, took her average grade from me, finished up her next book, and came back to us for another review. I’m glad she did.”

“I thoroughly enjoyed this sophomore book by Ms. Barrett. The storyline is intriguing and the hero and heroine have great chemistry. Now, that isn’t to say there aren’t a couple of little problems, but for the most part, I see growth in this author’s writing and I will continue to read her books.”

No, it doesn’t bother me to admit that Sandy gave me an average review for my first romance, Anytime Darlin’. An average review from a tough reviewer is all right with me - I happen to love Anytime Darlin’, but Sandy took issue with a few aspects of the story and that’s okay. I think if we are willing to keep an open mind, we can learn a great deal from our critics…unless, of course, they criticize without reason and/or resort to name calling. Besides, despite Sandy’s issues with my first book, there were portions she liked a lot and she thought enough of my ability as a writer to read my second. She could have blown me off entirely.

I’ve been writing for a long time and although I don’t have a thick skin, over the years I’ve gained enough confidence to keep on keepin’ on. That’s what we do.

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Do you write to music?

Many of my author friends do. Katalina Leon, a writer with Ellora’s Cave, mentioned in her blog over at Seven Sexy Scribes that she likes to put on a song and loop it so that it plays over and over again. I’ll do that on occasion, but only when I’m alone in the car and I can sing at the top of my lungs. And only with certain songs. I pity the poor fool driving behind me on the freeway watching me dance in my seat at 75 mph!

I found myself wondering just the other day, the Allman Brothers blasting on my car stereo, why do we sing? Birds sing. Some insects sing…sort of. What evolutionary advantage does singing confer? I came to the conclusion that it provides none - I guess I think of singing and music as a gift - oh…I don’t know…as in a gift from the gods? I suppose one could surmise that a person who could sing the best got the pick of the litter, attracted more mates, because most of us do love to listen to a beautiful voice, but somehow that doesn’t seem right. Men and women are attracted to each other for more reasons than I can count, the ability to make music is merely one.

I think we sing for the sheer joy of it. Or maybe out of sorrow - poetry and weeping put to music. Yes, to sing is to be one with the heavens. Music is sublime…well, aside from maybe William Hung.

So. My favorites? Too many to mention but I am partial to rock and roll and Motown. In my contemporary romance, Beauty and the Feast, coming out in March - Resplendence Publishing - my heroine, Eva Raines, likes Bonnie Raitt and Lowell George of Little Feat. Grace Raphael, in My Everything, coming with Cobblestone Press, is a big Barry White fan. Both women love to sing. Me too!

Little Feat - Dixie Chicken

The Allman Brothers, Whippin’ Post

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To all who participated in my first contest!

Anna, Gayle, Fran, Amber, Jenn, and Mortal Sinn…great name!

My right hand is raised in solemn promise that I will not inundate you with never-ending emails and spamish-type stuff!

Each of you has earned a copy of Captured upon it’s release from Siren - As you can tell, I am super excited about this book!

Announcement - when I was a kid, at camp we used to sing: Announcements…announcements…announcements…what a horrible way to die!

Anywho…Cobblestone Press just offered me a contract on a previously released work of romance/suspense My Everything. I am walking on a cloud today because this is one fun book that earned great reviews and I can’t wait to see it back out there in the ethernet!

*Note - anyone who tried unsuccessfully to sign up - even though it may say error, you are still signed up provided you received an email asking you to confirm. Please confirm and you will be added to the newsletter list.*

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Captured

There is nothing like a great title, a title that captures your book perfectly. Siren and I have gone back and forth, working on a title for my upcoming science fiction romance and we’ve finally, and very satisfactorily, settled upon Captured. That one word sums up the book - a woman is not only captured by an alien trapper, she finds herself captured by her own reluctant respect and growing love for the man himself.

Usually I have no problem with titles, but the name for this work escaped me. It was kind of weird. Siren and I went back and forth - I sent a list of ten suggestions, they took my suggestions and sent a list of additional suggestions back. We decided upon Beloved Captor, but like I said, that didn’t quite capture the spirit of the story.

Captured is perfect! I cannot wait to introduce you to Mari and Ekkatt and the world of the Attun-Ra!

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Black Friday

No…I won’t be braving the crowds, I’ll be with family, but head over to cyber Black Friday and take advantage of Resplendence’:

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sale, enter the code: Holiday 20 to get 20% off your entire purchase.

Meet some fantastic authors - some of my best friends, read a great book, and contribute to the continuing recovery of our economy!

http://www.resplendencepublishing.com/

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For a Taste…Read The Artist

Head over to Resplendence Publishing at: http://www.resplendencepublishing.com/

and click on Free Reads. You’ll find my name listed, along with some of the other RP authors and if you click on me…you’ll link to my free read - it’s different than a lot of my stuff - it’s in first person, and it’s all about angry sex. The Dream Series will be issued sometime next year…I hope…in a longer work.

Enjoy!

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The Cougar Anthology - Logical Lust

Cougars are all the rage - on the big screen, small screen, in the news, on the internet…and I guess all I can say is…it’s about time! The older man/younger woman dynamic has existed forever…now it’s our turn.

Of course, historically speaking, in some cultures it was common for younger men to be paired with older, more experienced women so that they could not only learn the social norms of sexual behavior, but so a wiser, more mature woman could manage his household. Unfortunately, our culture hasn’t placed much value on older women - as the saying goes - men grow distinguished, women just get old…one of the more disgusting sentiments I’ve ever heard - The words devalue women, dismiss our contributions to society and negate our sexuality or sexual identity.

My only personal experience as a Cougar occurred when I was nineteen years old and I dated a sixteen year old. We became great friends, working together detassling corn and hoeing soybeans one summer. He was a mature sixteen and I was between boyfriends, so…Not that we did anything other than laugh a lot. We had fun and we’ve stayed friends.

So when I saw the call from Logical-Lust asking for Cougar Stories for an anthology, I decided - What the heck! Go ahead and write one! I submitted it, sent it off, and low and behold, was informed that my story was one of twenty-three stories accepted. Yee-hah!

So click on my pages and read an excerpt from You Might Just Get It, from The Cougar Anthology, coming Valentine’s Day, 2010!

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Welcome to my world…

I’m officially here, though still trying to figure out how to work all my gadgets and widgets!

If you don’t know me yet, here are a few facts:

I have an off-beat sense of humor and I love nothing more than to laugh until I cry.

I’m an animal lover and we care for a whole stable full of creatures and they all get along - fish, foul, dogs, cats, mice, snakes, horses…we happily support an entire food chain of creatures and they all know their names…except maybe the snake.

I somehow managed to marry the love of my life, my soul mate - we first met when I was fourteen, and we have three remarkable children because I figured the best thing I could do for this crazy world of ours was to raise conscious children.

We are a bunch of sports fanatics - all sports…all seasons. My husband is a runner, he was all-state in football and wrestling, and we hike up hills, down hills, up mountains and down mountains like maniacs.

I played softball, volleyball, basketball, soccer and aw shucks - was a cheerleader. Love to ride horses - it’s been an obsession of mine since I was a little kid.

My son played soccer, football and now he’s into hockey and ultimate frisbee. One daughter is as into horses as I am, she still rides constantly - she’s a real life wrangler - my youngest played softball and soccer and basketball at a very high level and she hopes to coach.

As you can tell - sports-obsessed!

Oh yeah, I’ve been a vegetarian since I was in the eighth grade!

Enough about me for now. Next post - my books…maybe!

I love to hear from readers, romance fans, writers - subscribe to my newsletter and keep up - I’ll be getting one out soon!

Much love, Julia

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