Book Hook for A Marine’s Proposal by Lisa Carlisle #mfrwhooks

A Marine's Proposal, Books / By Lisa Carlisle

Book Hook for A Marine’s Proposal

Lisa Carlisle

When Slade Masters, her closest friend in the Marine Corps, proposes to her, Caitlyn O’Neill lets her thrill overshadow the catch. It’s a marriage in name only. Slade thinks a temporary marriage is the perfect solution to their problematic living situations in the barracks. Despite her reservations about the deceit involved, Caitlyn is thrilled to live off-base and experience the culture of the island of Okinawa, Japan, as a local—especially with Slade. Swept up in the excitement of apartment hunting and planning a wedding, she silences the anxiety within and goes along with Slade’s plans. They struggle to fight their growing attraction while acting on their script. On their wedding night, their bodies heat up with the thrill of being so close. Desire intensifies during a heated moment on the dance floor. How can they play off the charade of their marriage now that they have complicated their arrangement? Have they ruined their plan or will they find a way to continue? Or has their passionate night together uncovered hidden desires impossible to ignore?

New Adult / Military Romance
Red Sage Publishing

EXCERPT

“We should get married.”

Caitlyn didn’t blink nor twitch a muscle for a good five seconds. She must have misunderstood. “Married?” she repeated, her jade eyes opening wide as she put down the magazine. “What are you talking about? I thought you were talking about dinner. You’re joking, right?”

“No, I’m not joking. I’m completely serious.”

“Masters, get out of here,” Caitlyn said with a flick of her wrist. “I think all that thin air from rock climbing earlier has gone straight to your head.” She glanced at the television and saw a commercial with a couple exchanging rings in some outdoor setting. What the heck was this show even about? Whatever it was, it must have been where he came up with that cockamamie idea. “I still think we should go into Naha. It’s a Saturday night, we can get some noodles and some drinks. Go for a walk in the outdoor markets, maybe even go dancing,” she emphasized. She was pushing her luck with that idea. In all the time she knew him, Lance Corporal Slade Masters did not dance.

Slade ignored her and stood up. “You see,” he began, pacing the room already like a lawyer presenting a case, “we both want some privacy. You want to get away from guys hitting on you. I want to get off-base so I can study. Do you know how much they make you read in these law courses? If I’m ever going to graduate, I can’t live in a box with loud Marines stumbling in drunk all hours of the night. If we get married, we’d get a housing allowing since the staff housing is all full. Then we’d share an apartment off base and get out of these goddamn barracks.”

While watching him outlining his points with such confidence, Caitlyn found it hard not to drool. Outdoorsy, masculine, and intellectual. His self-assurance filled the area around him like a physical presence; She couldn’t help but be impressed by him. His tone, his gait, all commanded attention. He’d be an excellent officer one day if he wanted to. Or a lawyer or politician. He’s a natural leader. People can’t help but look up to him.

At the same time, Caitlyn tried to get over the shock of Slade’s unexpected proposal. Slade Masters was the one Marine she secretly fantasized about for months, ever since they met in training in the States. Now they were living across the hall in Okinawa, Japan. They started out friends, but as they grew closer, Caitlyn developed stronger feelings—something she could never admit without harming their friendship.

“I never pictured you to be the marrying type,” Caitlyn remarked.

“Why not?”

“You’re always so focused on other things. Your running times, scuba-diving, grades—never something as ‘trivial’ as romance.”

“This isn’t about romance. It’s about being practical.”

“Oh, of course.” Caitlyn smirked. “Naturally.” She knew there had to be a catch.

Buy now: Red Sage
Amazon

From Fact to Fiction

Writing / By Lisa Carlisle

It’s been four years since I last published a book. Back then, I was on deadline update a book AND write the sequel by a December 31st deadline. By the end of December, I’d burned out and swore in Scarlett O’Hara Style, “I’m never writing another book again!” At the time, I knew I was full of crap because I’m a writer so I write, whether I want to or not. But I wanted to make some big declaration to give solace to my overwrought mind.

I work as a writer all day so I didn’t think I’d miss it too much. But I wrote little pieces here and there. Getting my toes wet again. And then finally I dove back in with NaNoWriMo a couple of years ago with some fiction. Nanowrimo is definitely my kind of challenge – short intense bursts of activities with a clear deadline. The more I brainstormed ideas, the more they came.

I’d tried writing fiction back when I lived in Paris in my early 20s. If you’re a writer and you’re living in Paris, you better sit in a cafe and write something! Since I was young, on my own, recently out of the Marines and had graduated college, and trying to figure out my place in the world, my mind veered away from whatever story I was trying to write to instead write in journals or letters back home. There was so much to see and experience! I was living in Paris, the city I’d dreamed about since I was a little girl! And not only was I visiting, I was LIVING there; I made it on my own! I had to chronicle my adventures and journey of self-discovery right then in the present, not create new ones.

Now many years later, I’ve moved back to fiction. Moving to fiction again is quite a change; it’s completely freeing. You don’t have to rely on memory or when things happened; you use your imagination. Instead of chronicling the past, you’re inventing an alternate world in the past, present, or future. You can create any character you want, put them in any situation you desire, and have them react however you choose to. Master of your domain, alright! I can completely become immersed in my character’s lives, wondering what if… With my first fictional story being published in a couple of weeks, I’m finishing up the sequel and have started the third book in the series; so now my mind keeps wondering what will they do next…

So I suppose moving from fact to fiction might reflect moving from one part of life to another. I still feel the pull to write nonfiction, which I’m doing at the moment, but in a much smaller scale than an entire book. I could go on for paragraphs analyzing these ideas, but I’d rather hear what YOU think.

Cross-posted at www.lisacordeiro.com.

Started Book 3 in Series

Writing / By Lisa Carlisle

While I was in Maine this past week, I started the third book in the series, which was introduced with Smoldering Nights. Book 2 is in with my editor now.

All three begin in the underground club Vamps, which is in a fictional town in Boston’s North Shore. I love the characters and setting; the more I write the more I want to write. I can’t say this for all my projects–my study has a stack of abandoned drafts that I say I will one day return to!

Starting this story is like starting a love affair with someone new, but with a sense of familiarity with the setting. While I get to know the characters and see what they’ll do and how they react to things, I love how they view the club from their own point of view. It’s one place but with many different stories.

I don’t know where I’m going with this story just yet. My writing goal the past few months is 500 words a day, which seems achievable for me. I’ve tried several other techniques in the past–three pages a day, holding off until Nanowrimo for 1,600 word a day spurts–so we’ll see how it goes.

If you have any techniques that work for you, please share them.