Between the Sheets With Liv Rancourt

Whenever I have the opportunity to share someone new and fun with you guys, I jump at the chance. This time I was tickled pink because I don’t think when Liv Rancourt asked if I’d like to share her newest book with you guys that she realized just how passionately I love music. As a former choir girl, her premise had me sold from the get go. Seriously. How could I resist a combination of my two most favorite things? Romance and music… So, without any further ado, here’s Liv! (BTW, she’d love to hear from you.)

Thanks so much for having me on your blog, Kitt. This looks like such a fun place!

This morning while I was hanging out on-line, I saw a tweet from the amazing Delphine Dryden where she referred to one of her books as a “nerdmance”.

Isn’t that an awesome term?

Like, nerds need love too, you know? And if ‘nerdmance’ ever becomes an official category, I’ll be happy, because it’s the perfect description of my new novella Between the Sheets.

This may be a bit of a stretch, but I’m going to guess that when you’re looking for a hot, contemporary romance, you probably don’t expect the hero and heroine to be music teachers. Yeah, didn’t think so. I mean, my hero Randy can rock the house when he’s on stage with his blues band, but his main gig is teaching high school students to play in tune.

And Maggie? She’s the heroine and she teaches grade school kids the basics of music theory…when she’s not worried about how to keep the kindergartners from peeing on the carpet. No, Between the Sheets (and the title refers to sheet music, thank you very much) doesn’t feature billionaires or Navy Seals or high fashion models or superstars.

Just two ordinary – well, above-average attractive – folks who meet at a music teachers retreat and try real hard not to fall in love.

Obviously they’re not successful, otherwise there wouldn’t be much of a story, right?

Just to give you an idea, here’s a short(ish) excerpt. Maggie’s reading Cosmo, on her way to the annual Western Washington Choral Directors retreat. And, oh yeah, she’s been celibate for way too long…

Blurb

Life for music teacher Maggie Schafer has been full of flat notes lately. Sick of being single and celibate, she vows to get her groove back at the upcoming Western Washington Choral Directors Annual Retreat.  Too bad the only guy who seems interested is a pompous dork who thinks he’s God’s gift to women—and the music education world. When he gets a little too arrogant and crosses boundaries, gorgeous pianist Randy Devers swoops in to run interference. After sharing a shockingly hot kiss in front of the whole conference, Maggie and Randy come up with a plan to pretend they’re dating. However, the more time they spend together—and the more physical their “pretend” relationship gets—the more she wonders if there could be anything beyond just smoking chemistry and a friendly agreement between them. Maggie’s got history, Randy’s got baggage, and they’ve got a weekend to get their rhythms in sync and figure out how to turn their solo lives into a beautiful duet.

Excerpt
I came to the article promising to turn me into a sex diva. Crazy. Halfway down the page, one of the bold-type headings demanded I Flick His Frenulum. I vowed to flick the next one I saw, once I figured out where it was located. Apparently it would fire up his treasure trail, the line of hair running south from his bellybutton. The article said a real diva should take the initiative and undress her man. And I could imagine doing that exactly never. The next page suggested the standing doggie-style position would bring me to the highest heights.

O-kay.
The whole thing had me all twisted up, excitement and fear and desire making like ribbon candy in my belly. I tried to picture the kind of man I’d want behind me for standing doggie style. My ex came to mind, but right about the time the flood of bad memories started, Krista interrupted me with a sharp poke to the ribs.
“Check him out,” she said, her voice barely audible.
A man leaned against the railing at the front of the boat. He gazed out at the water, taking lazy drags off the butt of a cigarette. Since he mostly had his back to us, I felt free to stare.
Yum. He wore a pair of faded jeans and a light green T-shirt. He turned to the right, giving us a profile shot and showing off a pair of wire-rimmed glasses. His toned forearm had the freckled, light toast color redheads get in the sun. He wasn’t a true carrot-top; more like a sandy red, and his short hair could have used a trim. His beard, too, was a day or so into scruffy.
A black tattoo circled his arm just below the hem of his sleeve, calling attention to the swell of his bicep. I closed the magazine and sat forward, trying to get a better look at the tat, when Krista grabbed my elbow.
“There is no way.” I spoke without turning my head or moving my lips, even though my twisted candy core started to melt. “Because even if he turns out, by some miracle, to be a music teacher, I couldn’t string sentences together in front of someone so incredibly handsome.”
She gave my elbow a shake. “If you get the chance, you are totally going to hit that.”
I shoved the magazine at her, hoping the Ginger God didn’t turn around and notice my blush.
Krista had always been the optimistic one.

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About the Author

Liv Rancourt writes light, funny, contemporary romance and urban fantasy. Her novel Hell…The Story was a 2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award quarterfinal entry. Previous publishing credits include Forever & Ever, Amen, a paranormal romance from Crimson Romance, and A Vampire’s Deadly Delight, an urban fantasy novella from Black Opal Books. She has also contributed several short stories to the Ten Tales series edited by Rayne Hall and she is represented by Margaret Bail from Inklings Literary Agency.

Liv’s day job is as a neonatal nurse practitioner, and she’s taken care of small and sick infants for almost thirty years. Before she got serious about writing, she spent her free time fronting a rock band and hanging out in the church choir. Currently, she lives in Seattle with her husband, her two kids, and a slightly addled menagerie.

She can be found on-line at her website & blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter.