Lara Ward Cosio's Blog

Hello! I wanted to drop a quick note to say hello to the recent Rogue readers/newsletter subscribers. It occurred to me that I'm not very good and making sure I share all the places you can "stalk" me, so here goes:

Website*: http://www.larawardcosio.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaraWardCosioAuthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laracosio
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lara_ward_cosio/?hl=en
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14585080.Lara_Ward_Cosio
BookBub:  https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lara-ward-cosio   
Book+Main Bites: @LaraWardCosio

Don't be shy - go ahead and connect! 

*A little tip for when you visit my website - there are now four "deleted" chapters posted that are basically outtakes from the Rouge Series. I'm going to post another one before Danny Boy's book comes out because it references a character you'll see pop up in that new story - stay tuned! 

Thanks - as always - for your support of the Rogue Series!

Lara

The next book in the Rogue Series has a release date!

Martin's story - Finding Rhythm - will be available on

Tuesday, October 24, 2017!























Pre-order here: Finding Rhythm

I hope you're as excited about this as I am! Martin has really become a character I love. And, of course, the other characters are all intertwined into this story, as usual

Though I don't have a release date, I do know that the next Rogue Series Novel will be out later this year. And it will tell Martin's story. Here's a little taste . . . 

* * *

Martin Whelan has always been a “middle of the road” guy, content with his lot in life. Granted, his lot was a fortuitous one. As bass player for Rogue, the world-famous Irish rock band, he’d gladly ridden the coattails of his more passionate and inspired bandmates. He was proficient and dependable at his part in the band, and that was enough for all concerned.

Having at a young age gone straight from his mother’s overprotective arms to his wife’s, Martin settled into married life and quickly became the father to three boys he loved more than anything in the world. Celia ran their lives with both precision and restraint, and Martin took comfort in the boundaries she set. It was a welcome counterbalance to the reckless lives his bandmates led.

Everything was fine. Until Celia found his text messages.

I thought I'd share this deleted chapter from Playing At Love because it references Felicity's discomfort over Sophie and Conor's relationship. That issues is explored further in Hitting That Sweet Spot. In Playing At Love, this would have happened while everyone is in New York and after Sophie's dinner party.

***

It was a busy week for the band, running from morning radio interviews to appearances on MTV and VH1, to promo tapings and rehearsals at Saturday Night Live for that weekend's show. They lost two whole days to the filming of the video for their next single, “You’ve Been Found Out.” On Friday night, they had a roving interview with Rolling Stone's John Riley joining the boys to talk and drink their way through several hot spots in New York City.

While the guys were out that night, Sophie took Felicity to dinner at one of her favorite restaurants. They descended the staircase of the converted brownstone to the ground floor and were seated in a leather booth at a white cloth table.

They took the waiter’s recommendation for a red wine and started with a bowl of soup each. Before they could begin eating, the chef came out from the kitchen to introduce himself to Sophie. Felicity didn’t mind that he barely looked at her and rather enjoyed watching Sophie deftly flirt with the man without giving him any real hope. She took mental notes, thinking she could sorely use such skills.

“How late do you think the lads will be out tonight?” Felicity asked when they finally had the table to themselves.

Sophie smiled and shook her head. “I’d expect an all-nighter.”

“That doesn’t bother you?”

“No. As weird as it may sound after everything that’s happened, I do trust Gavin.”

“You two seem happy.”

“Things are good. It’s been a long road, but we made it.”

“I’m glad you did. Somehow it would be like all wasn’t right with the world if you two hadn’t made it.”

Sophie’s eyes watered at this sentiment and she blinked. “Yes, that’s how we felt, too.”

“And where’s Colette tonight?” Felicity asked as she plucked an oversized garlic crouton out of her bowl of tomato basil bisque. She bit into it with a satisfying crunch.

“I don’t know. We aren’t exactly close anymore.”

“Do you suppose that will ever change? Could make for a long tour.”

“Oh, didn’t you hear? She’s not going to be on tour much. She has her own thing going on. She’s going to do a guest stint with a burlesque group.”

Felicity pictured the buxom Colette in bra and panties, shaking her assets on stage and felt inadequate in contrast.

“Wow. Okay, then,” she said. “That doesn’t bother Conor?”

“I don’t think so. He’s not the jealous type. At least not with her, anyway.” She took one more spoonful of the soup and set the bowl aside.

Two-thirds of the soup remained untouched and Felicity knew this was typical for Sophie. She ate a little of a lot of things, preferring to taste a variety of things with restraint so as to keep from overindulging. Felicity couldn’t imagine having that kind of discipline. The soup was cream-based and went down with a richness that made her want to lick the bowl.

The waiter approached their table and apologized for interrupting the “beautiful ladies” and proceeded to take their entrée order while doing his best to flirt with them both. This time, Felicity actually thought she might be the one getting more attention and she did her best impression of Sophie’s coquettish banter as practice.

“He is jealous with you, though,” Sophie said, picking up their conversation as soon as the waiter left them.

“How do you mean?” Felicity asked. But recent images flashed through her head from when they were in London and he seemed uncomfortable with her kissing Gavin ever so briefly and then later when she flirted with Jackson.

“You should have seen the look on his face when I said that about setting you up with Stefan.”

She scoffed. “How could he be jealous about me bringing someone to his wedding of all things?”

“Because he’s confused about Colette,” Sophie said simply.

“Meaning?”

“He thinks he has to marry her. But he’s wrong and I’m going to talk to him about it.”

“Is that . . . your place?”

Sophie met her eyes. “He’s my friend, Felicity. And I think he’s making a mistake. I have to at least say something. Does it bother you that he and I are friends?”

Felicity shook her head but wasn’t sure what she felt about the entanglements they all had made over the years. It definitely complicated individual dynamics.

“Well, there’s no reason for you to be worried by our friendship.”

Felicity almost laughed at the innocence Sophie was trying to project. “He told me how in love with you he was . . . for years he was in love with you, Sophie.”

Sophie took a deep breath and sat back in her chair. “I know. And I know that must be weird for you to know about that. But we have absolutely put it all to rest. We’re keeping our friendship, though. As his friend, all I want is his happiness.”

Felicity wanted to ask what the depth of Sophie’s feelings had been for Conor. At the same time, she did not want to know. Sophie had quickly become her good friend once again, and she knew instinctively that it could only continue that way if she willfully stayed uneducated on the level of Sophie’s emotional intimacy with Conor.  

“I hope it’s okay with you that he and I are friends,” she continued.

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Oh my goodness!” Sophie said and smiled. “It’s so obvious that you and Conor have a connection. Felicity, the way he looks at you . . . there’s definitely something there.”

Felicity looked away and thought about her friend’s assertion. It confirmed what she thought she had seen and felt herself but it didn’t resolve anything. Conor was still about to be married. He was still an immature rock star and not the vision of stability she always said she wanted. And he definitely wanted children, something she couldn’t give him.

“We have a good time together, is all.”

“You’re telling me that if he was free you wouldn’t be open to being with him?”

She took a slow sip of her wine, trying to craft an answer.

“I knew it! You like him!”

Felicity had to laugh at Sophie’s contagious giddiness. “Even if I did, there’s no future there, Sophie.”

“Why? Tell me why.”

They spent the rest of the evening talking non-stop as Felicity admitted to her attraction to Conor but also explained her reasoning for why the two could never work even if he were free.   

© Lara Ward Cosio

Most sales of the Rogue Series are via e-book copies. I suspect that is the case with the majority of indie authors' books. Likely because of this, a lot of authors don't bother with offering a paperback version. But I always have and always will go to the trouble of offering a paperback version of my books. I'm old-school like that. I need to see and feel a book - especially one I've written! This is not to say I don't read e-books or otherwise have anything against them. I just will always be one of those holdouts, hanging on to the "old" version of books. 

That being said, all three of the Rogue Series Novels are now available as paperbacks! I've kept the original cover design for these. Go ahead and grab a copy - if you're "old school" like me, that is!

So very excited that the day is finally here! Shay's story - Hitting That Sweet Spot - is now out and in your hands. I so hope you enjoy!

99 Cents for a limited time!

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2ljCEXZ

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Shay and Jess' love story is revealed in Hitting That Sweet Spot - out Tuesday, March 7 (pre-order now!).

Here's a little snippet from their first meeting: 

Shay had stood outside the restaurant that night, leaning against the stucco wall as the summer heat abated. It was after midnight now and the staff had been departing in a slow trickle without sign of the one he waited for. He didn’t mind staying put. Patience was something he had always possessed.

Fishing in the pocket of his black flight jacket, he pulled out a pack of Lucky Strikes and a lighter. He should quit. That’s what he told himself every single time he lit another cigarette. People quit all the time. It can be done. Isn’t that what he had told Danny Boy? This argument was as effective with himself as it was with his brother.

Laughing softly at himself, he pressed the cigarette between his lips and tilted his head toward the flame of the lighter cupped between his hands.

“A smoker? Strike one.”

He looked up quickly to find Jessica—the waitress he’d been waiting for—standing before him. Damn it. He didn’t like being caught unaware. But he saw that though her large dark eyes were trained on him, they shone with amusement.

“Make that strike two,” she said and adjusted the canvas carryall on her shoulder. She was slight of frame, though not frail. There was strength in the way she held herself. With both Asian and African American features, she was a captivating beauty.

Careful to blow a stream of smoke away from her, he then lowered the cigarette to his side. “What’s the other strike?”

She gestured to him, then the restaurant. “Stalker.”

He laughed but her face was impassive. Shite. Did she really fear for herself with him being there? He had her number from earlier, when he and Conor had dinner there. She’d been their waitress and Conor had taken it upon himself to play matchmaker. It only occurred to him now that waiting for her this way might have seemed too forward. If you had a phone number, that meant it was okay to call. Not okay to skulk around outside the woman’s workplace.

“I’m kidding!” she said.

Her smile was something to behold. It brought out dimples in her cheeks and made you want to smile right back. And so he did.

“You remember me from before, yeah?” he asked and she nodded. “Would it be all right if I saw you home?” he asked.

She watched him for a moment, assessing him. He waited her out.

“My roommates are expecting me,” she said cautiously.

“Listen, I’m sorry if this seems odd. I know you gave me your number and that I should’ve waited a few days and then called you or texted. But, I just, I—”

“You what? Thought you’d cut to the chase and try to get lucky?”

The amused smile wasn’t quite gone, but had definitely faded as her guard came up.

“Jesus, no. I was going to say that I don’t play games. I don’t even know how. I liked your smile when you waited on us. I liked that you looked at me, not just—” He cut himself off rather than finish the thought.

“Not just Conor Quinn, the gorgeous guitar player for Rogue?” she asked.

He met her eyes, silently affirming this information. As the epitome of a sexy guitar god, Conor was recognized nearly everywhere they went. More often than not, Shay would happily slide by undetected. He hadn’t thought she recognized either of them earlier, though.

Flicking the cigarette ash he knew without looking was growing, he prepared to apologize and move on. What a stupid move it had been to just show up and wait like this. Casanova, he was not.

But she spoke before he could. “Well, if you don’t mind me smelling like tempura . . . .”

“What now?” he asked.

“I always come away from the restaurant smelling like fried tempura. Hazard of the job,” she said with a shrug.

“Ah, no, I don’t mind. It’s grand, Jessica.”

“This way, then.”

She started walking and he was struck dumb for a moment, admiring the view of her long, lean legs through the slits in her dress. Her movements were fluid, easy. She stood straight, her head elegant and poised as she looked forward.

“Come on, Shay,” she said.

He dropped the cigarette, crushing it with the toe of his shoe and followed after her.

* * *

And here's a good photo to keep in mind after you read *that* elevator scene:
 

The release date for the third book in the Rogue Series is here!

Shay's story will be revealed in Hitting That Sweet Spot on March 7, 2017! Pre-order is available now for only $0.99, so grab it at that price while you can. 

I hope you will fall for Shay like you did Gavin and Conor. Here's the blurb for the book:

Shay Donnelly has always been the support player. Whether it’s taking care of his irresponsible brother or being the drummer in his band, he’s always there for others—even at the expense of his own wants and needs. 

Jessica Hall only ever wanted to dance. Dancing was the one place where she felt at ease, where she belonged. After being told she wasn’t quite good enough, however, she set her sights on a more mundane career. Just when she thought her life’s plan was made, the drummer for the biggest rock band in the world upended it.

Together, Shay and Jessica found a sweet spot of happiness. But when Shay’s split allegiance costs him the love of his life, he ends up at a breaking point. It’s the point at which he must finally find his own life’s rhythm.
 

After much internal debate, I decided to veer away from the hot-barely-clothed-guy on the cover vibe for the new look of the Rogue Series. The books aren't about just the male lead, after all. They are about the relationship dynamics of the various couples: Gavin and Sophie, Conor and Felicity, Shay and Jessica. 

To that end, I found that couples might give the right vibe. You might notice that I tried to pay "homage" to the old covers with the colors of the font.

One bit of advice has stuck with me ever since I started this indie author thing:

"Don't be afraid to change your cover."

I have long resisted this idea, though, even as I've seen that the books shown on my books' Amazon page's "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" have covers very unlike mine. Those covers invariably feature a good looking man or couple, some with a musical instrument or a concert audience to suggest the rock star theme.

Though I absolutely adore the simple covers I already have (especially when they are grouped together), I have to admit that they may not be as compelling as they could be to the average reader. 

The other bit of advice that I keep thinking of is that your cover should immediately show the reader what your book is about.  Mine are contemporary (rock) romance, but the visual of, say a tangled up mic and cord for Tangled Up In You may not evoke that as quickly as it should when taking into consideration the need to express this within a glance.

So, I've commissioned new covers for the Rogue Series Novels in hopes of producing a look that might tempt more of those "one click" buys. It will be an interesting experiment to see how/if this makes a difference. 

I'll be sure to share the new covers here. In the meantime, here's a bit of eye candy that'll give you a sense of the new direction.