Kindle Romance Novels

Later today How Much You Want to Bet? will be featured on Kindle Romance Novels. And this made me think how I rarely talk about this book. Since this is a re-release I assume you've heard the song and dance before, but you know, maybe you haven't.

This book didn't come about from a movie or reading another book. It came out of desperation for something different and new. I'd been pounding away on my first novel, Love Unexpected, for more than a year. A novel that, thank God, will never see the light of day.

I wanted to write on something that was not that book and then Neil showed up. Irritated and frustrated by a good for nothing rich playboy who had tricked her into a date. Ok. Maybe not tricked. She bet against him in a pool game and lost. The wager was a date and since Neil is nothing without her pride she refuses to back down from the deal. I wrote that first chapter at the speed of light. I was charmed both by Gib and Neil. (If Neil is nothing but pride, Gib is nothing but charm. As Neil would say, he could charm a nun out of her habit.) And since I had so much fun writing about their interactions, whenever the first book got too much I'd sneak in some more words. Sooner than later I got to the end and thought nothing of it. How Much You Want to Bet? was a contemporary romance. I wrote romantic suspense. I would not send that book out on submission because I could not imagine writing contemporary romances over and over again. (Yes, you can laugh hysterically at this. I do.)

Yet every single time I went back to re-read what I wrote I'd laugh over their antics. I yearned for what Neil wanted. I swooned over Gib. Finally I came to the conclusion I couldn't just let Gib and Neil sit on my harddrive. Barely 36k I sent it to a small e-publisher. It was contracted. At the end of the contract I pulled the book. And then, more people were trying out self-publishing. I kept hearing about it for months and months and whenever I did I thought about Neil and Gib.

Now even though I'd written the book, had read it a million times during edits and pulled out bits for excerpts, I hadn't really read it in a long, long time. I wrote this book way back in 2005 and 2006 and 2007. Yeah, my writing has grown by leaps and bounds. I didn't think it would hold up. So before I truly decided to self-publish I sat down and re-read How Much You Want to Bet? By the end of the third chapter I came to the same conclusion I did before: this book couldn't sit on my harddrive.

Reviews for How Much You Want to Bet?

"This romance is all that and more. Blue's style is unintrusive, but revealing. Her characters' souls are laid bare... as well as their deepest desires. A great read." Snapdragon, Long and Short of It Reviews

"Blue has crafted a highly interesting plot that keeps you wondering who has the biggest secret. Trust me, you'll be surprised at what comes tumbling out in a way you will not expect." LMReviews, Sable Lit Reviews 

"Melissa Blue gives readers a fun tale full of passion, humor, a little sadness and some suspense - in short, all the traits that make a book worth reading many times over. " Chrissy Dione, Romance Junkies 

"If you like wit, humor, attitude, and snark in your books, you’re going to really enjoy this read. If you like compassion, vulnerability, sensuousness, and plain old fun in your characters when you read, you’re going to love this book." Sandy M, The Good, The Bad, The Unread