Who is Dylan Daniels? bonus material and EVERYTHING I LEFT UNSAID preorder thank you contest!

Hey! I'm so thrilled about the fantastic early press Everything I Left Unsaid  is getting and I wanted to let you know that I'm planning some special stuff for Everything I Left Unsaid and The Truth About Him.








First of all - I'm running a preorder Thank You Contest. If you've preordered the books, fill out the forms below and you're entered to win a $50.00 gift card to the e-retailer of your choice.  I know these books are a little pricier than my others - so it's just a way of saying thanks!










Everything I Left Unsaid:  http://goo.gl/forms/oqJYVwtJHf

 

The Truth About Him:  http://goo.gl/forms/rZjxTMhl5o

Also I STRONGLY urge you to sign up for my newsletter at www.molly-okeefe.com  Not only do I send out my The Author Is newsletter with fantastic (if I do say so myself) interviews with some of my favorite writers, (often with giveaways and exclusive excerpts) but in between the October release of Everything I Left Unsaid and the November release of The Truth About Him - I'll be sending out four Dylan Daniel's flashback scenes so readers will get a glimpse into the events that formed my mysterious hero. 








So - preorder and fill out the form and then sign up for my newsletter so I can send you delicious bonus material!

Another Excellent Moment in Parenting: Music Lessons or The Unfair Comparison

My husband is a self-taught drummer. His father is a self-taught drummer. Adam grew up with music and people playing music. He went to concerts at a young age - the Bee Gee's was his first one.


I played the clarinet (badly) for one year. And the hand bells in a church bell choir (which I think probably gives you a pretty good idea of what kind of kid I was). And I grew up in a house with one Crystal Gayle record.


All of this to say, in matters of music education, I leave the heavy-lifting to Adam. And Adam wanted the kids to learn how to read music and so we put our son in piano. He didn't love it, but he really seemed to 'get it.' So we were encouraged.


However over the summer our son started to really get into music and he had some pretty eclectic taste - Peter Gabriel, The Talking Heads, Kiss and Bruno Mars. He didn't want to play piano anymore, he wanted to play bass guitar. Probably because he wanted to be Gene Simmons.


Whatever, he was making choices and so we went with bass in the new year.


We have a very wonderful music school in our neighborhood and the bass teacher is a pretty funky guy who plays in a jazz band and tours with a blue grass band and I can't quite meet his eyes because he's cute. And our son really likes him and he seems to like our son  - so yay! High fives all the way around.


Adam and I take very little convincing that our son is going to be a very cool bass-playing kid. He was probably going to be a musical genius. How could he not? We were doing everything right!


WE ARE AMAZING PARENTS TO A REALLY COOL KID!


A few months went by - things seemed great. Adam and I got in the practice of dropping our son off at the lesson and running errands. So we weren't hanging out outside the door of the lessons. Practice at home was going pretty well. Not that I know, really, anything about the bass guitar. Hand bells, sure... bass guitar, not so much. But it seemed to be going well.


Until one day I dropped our son off and then went to pick up our daughter to a friend's house.  As we climb the steps to the house I hear this amazing classical piano music. And I think - well they are amazing parents too, playing classical music while the girls probably color or something.


I knock on the door, the music stops and the eleven year old sister to my daughter's friend answers the door. I am stunned. Shocked - I had no idea she could play like that.


I'm invited in by the girl's grandmother and I ask to hear another song. The grandmother goes and gets me a glass of orange juice, some cookies and a box of Kleenex (I think she's politely telling me I have a booger and quickly blow my nose.) She selects a song for her grand daughter to play. I sit. The girl begins to play and...


It's insane. It's powerful and passionate and HARD. Her little-girl fingers are all over that piano, they are a blur. And she's eleven.


By the second bar I'm in tears. And I can't stop. I am clutching tissues to my face. Guzzling orange juice to replenish my suddenly drastically depleted liquids.


She makes a little mistake and that somehow makes it worse. Because she's so gifted but she's also eleven. The grandmother turns the page of the music and then leaves her hand on the girl's shoulder and she's clearly so proud. And I cry harder.


The song ends and the girl turns to me and I clap and apologize because I am a snotty teary mess.
"It's all right," she says, "It happens a lot."


Because she's eleven. And she's got a gift.


I left that house, eyes swollen, my pockets full of Kleenex,  literally aglow with the beauty of the world. With the power of music. In love with kids and their untapped talents. In love with my own kid, who was on that same musical path. Who I was sure - utterly convinced - was only moments away from such an impressive display.


I went to go pick up my son and I was early so I would get to hear a bit of his lesson. And I was excited about that. Excited to see my son's growing relationship to music and to his individual talent and taste as a young artist. I was excited to listen through the door as he struggled and practiced and got better. I told myself to be realistic. To not make unfair comparisons.


I thought I was prepared.


I let myself into the basement where the studio was and I was barely through the door when I heard the teacher's voice saying. "Hey, hey buddy...please. PLEASE! Stop rolling around on the ground."


He couldn't be talking to my kid. Could he?


I peeked through the window in the door and there he was - my musical prodigy - rolling around on the floor, singing the KISS classic - I Want To Rock And Roll All Night, in a strange duck voice.


Right. Yes.


We got home, had a long conversation about how to behave in lessons. And after we put him to bed Adam and I had a long laugh. What else are you going to do?

What's Happening For Me in 2015!!

Oh! It's a busy busy year, folks.

In May, I'm SO THRILLED to be a part of Brenda Novak's amazing fundraising efforts for Diabetes Research. She has three anthologies coming out; SWEET DREAMS which features ten new romantic suspense stories, SWEET SEDUCTION which will have all new erotica from your favorite erotica authors and SWEET TALK with all new contemporary romances from yours truly and some of the hottest names in the genre!

 Look at the amazing authors involved in SWEET TALK!

You can preorder copies here and here and here !

My story is about two childhood friends falling in love over five Christmas Eves. I pretty much love it to pieces.

In the fall/winter of 2015 I have a new series coming out with Bantam. Book 1 is called EVERYTHING I LEFT UNSAID and book 2 is THE TRUTH ABOUT YOU.

This is the story of a woman on the run from an abusive husband who finds a cell phone and starts a very exciting, but very dangerous relationship with the man on the other end.

More details to come.

And, for those of you waiting for more of my historical western series - the wait is almost over. This summer I will release book 2 TEMPTED, followed quickly by REDEEMED.

Phew - that's a lot of stuff. Through it all, you can sign up for my The Author Is...  newsletter . Every month I interview one of my favorite authors, about their books and their process and careers. There are usually books given away - it's a pretty cool thing. Here is the schedule!



January - Cecilia Grant February - J. Kenner March - Brenda Novak April - Nalini Singh May - Carolyn Crane June - Megan Hart July - Joan Johnston August - Coutney Milan September - Deanna Raybourn October - Jill Shalvis    

That one time (actually three times) I tried to start a food fight

When my brother was in High School he was kicked out of school for starting a food fight in study hall. Apparently he threw my mom's knox blocks (jello squares for those of you who didn't grow up with my mom) across the room and all hell broke loose. There's a good chance he'll comment on this blog and say this isn't at all right, but that's what I remember.

And more than remember, I dreamt about it. I fantasized about it. I created an 80's pop sound track for it. I recast my brother as Judd Nelson. (It was an easy switch, they had the same mullet). Starting a food fight just seemed so cinematic. So perfectly high school.

I was not the kind of kid who could start a food fight. I was not that brave. I had a terrible throwing arm. I was terrified of getting kicked out of school. I was weirdly self-conscious.

But I wanted to be. I wanted to be that kind of leader, that kind of bad-ass. The kind of kid who knew just when a knox block was needed.

Flash forward to college.  I spent a huge amount of time in college at my best friend's house. The Kavanaugh house was an incredibly happy place. There was singing, and parties and turkey dinners. Hijinks and practical jokes seemed to abound. JK had two brother's who always seemed to be Up To Something.

For Christmas one year JK's dad took her to get a fancy new hair cut and a new wardrobe. I think I was actually waiting at her parent's house for her to come home, like the lame best friend with nowhere to go. She arrived, totally beautiful and transformed,  decked out in new clothes with a great hair cut and we hung out in her kitchen and laughed and laughed. We were both giddy and silly and for some reason in my mind, it seemed like the PERFECT time for a food fight and I smeared red jelly frosting in her hair.

This was...twenty years ago and I remember her face perfectly.

She was horrified. And hurt. And FURIOUS.

It was a stupid idea, I realized it the second my fingers left her hair. It was the exact opposite of the right time for a food fight. And there was no way I could explain that for a second I kind of felt like we were in a John Hughes film. I could not have gotten the situation more wrong.

The next year, my best friend had moved to Chicago and I met Adam, my now husband. It was spring or maybe early fall and we were at a school-sponsored party. Which meant it was a little stiff, a little lame. There was a keg of beer no one was drinking. And those sumo wrestler fat suits in a bouncy castle. There was a table of food. Carrots with ranch dip. Chips with salsa. A band, I think.

Honestly, it really felt like it NEEDED a food fight. If a food fight started it would have been epic. Memorable. We would talk about it for years. It felt like my moment. So I took a chip, covered it in salsa and flung it across Adam's shirt.

He was horrified. And confused. And not at all entertained. I tried to make my case but he wasn't having it. He cleaned up his shirt and we went to go see a movie.

I have no idea why I've been thinking about this. My hairdresser the other day was talking about how the really embarrassing moments we have in our lives are painfully internal. They rarely involve a room full of people pointing and staring, but are instead those horrible stomach-churning moments when you realize how painfully out of step you are with what's happening around you.  I love embarrassing moment stories. I have a couple, shined to a high polish. But they're easy, really. I'm not really that embarrassed.

These food fight things, though...I'm still cringing.

And you would think after these two terrible food fight attempts, I would give up the dream. But no.

The next year, at my five year high school reunion, I threw a handful of cake at Brian Cater and instead of being horrified, his eyes lit up and he grabbed a handful and threw it at me and it was on.  I had my moment. A giant cake food fight. Organizers were not pleased. And it was a mess.

But it was perfect.

INDECENT PROPOSAL IS OUT! TODAY!!!

Today is Release Day for the 4th book in my Boys of Bishop Series!! I love that new cover - just love it!! I hope you'll take part in a contest I'm running for the next ten days! You can win a $50.00 gift card to the book retailer of your choice! Information  HERE




Perfect for readers of Susan Mallery and Rachel Gibson, Molly O’Keefe’s gritty and sensual tale of passion and politics features the brother of the heroine from the author’s beloved novel, Never Been Kissed. He’s a driven man who refuses to be distracted—until he meets a beautiful bartender who just may change his life.
 
With his chiseled jaw and thick blond hair, Harrison Montgomery was born to lead. Four generations of Montgomery men have served the state of Georgia, and now he’s next in line. Harrison, though, is driven to right wrongs: namely to clean up the political mess left by his father’s greed and corruption. But Harrison must first win his congressional bid, and nothing can get in his way—not even an angel who served him whiskey and gave him a shoulder to lean on and a body to love for a night. Problem is, she’s pregnant. Scandal is brewing, and there is only one solution: marriage.

Damage control? Ryan Kaminski can’t believe that a cold, calculating political animal now inhabits the body of the emotionally vulnerable stranger who gave her the most unforgettable night of her life. Really, she doesn’t want anything from Harrison, except to be left alone to have her baby in peace. But Ryan is broke, jobless, and essentially blackmailed by Harrison’s desperate family to accept this crazy marriage deal. For two years, she will have to act the role of caring, supportive wife. But what is Ryan supposed to do when she realizes that, deep in her heart, she’s falling in love?

you can buy it HERE  or HERE or in Canada HERE


I hope you enjoy Ryan and Harrison!

Another Excellent Moment in Parenting: Dinner Edition

This summer I cooked, put on plates and gave my kids the dinner that is perhaps the nadir of my family dinner making experience. Or maybe the apex - depends on how you look at it. But before I tell you what that is, let me give you the parameters of this particular dilemma.

1. When I was a kid, my mom made dinner almost every night and we sat around the table and ate it. She made a salad every night. Dinner and a salad. Just about every night. The table was set. Milk was poured and we all sat down together. As a kid I liked this. And when I had kids this was the benchmark in my head. This is the way family dinners look. So, there's that.

 2. I have my own food issues, none of them pretty. My brother was a high school wrestler and constantly trying to make weight, which meant that he rarely ate during the winter. At Thanksgiving Dinner he would go for a run instead of sit down. So, I ate his food. I ate all the food I could sneak under my bed, or eat on the way home from the grocery store. Tim's big treat when he was a wrestler was Pop Tarts. He could have Pop Tarts. And he was allowed to keep them in his room so I wouldn't eat them.
Oh, man. That's crazy.

 3. I also care just enough (just barely enough)about what my kid's eat that we don't eat a lot of fast food. If I need a night off, I live in a city where I can get sushi delivered, so I skip the burgers and fries. When the kids were little I chose to puree a lot of their food on my own, instead of buying jars of it. Actually - I did that with my first born. My daughter ate a lot more jarred food. But still - I think about preservatives. I think about sodium. I prefer to give my family whole foods.

I fail at this a lot. So I have this guilt...

 4. My son used to be a little garbage disposal. There was nothing he wouldn't eat. It was actually a game with my husband and I. Will Mick eat Blue Cheese? YES! He'll eat Blue Cheese. Will Mick eat pickled onions? YES! He'll eat pickled onions. So, perhaps he's rebelling against that now, but he's become picky. Really picky. Nothing with tomato sauce. Very few things that are green. No sauces. No soups. Nothing mysterious. Nothing touching another thing. He'll eat eggs. Eggs in every variation (maybe I should try pickled?) but no pizza. No pasta. No cooked vegetables.

Eggs. Bacon. Raw fruits and vegetables - those are the things he'll eat without any kind of fight or upturned nose.

 5. Dinner is my domain. It fell to me because I used to love to cook. Dinner parties were fun. New recipes. Farmer's Markets. I loved all that stuff. Having lots of time and all the food I need in the fridge - a delight! But that so rarely happens on a Wednesday night. Wednesday night I usually forget to take the chicken out of the freezer and the lettuce I thought was still good - is actually a liquified mess in my crisper.

 6. All of this is compounded by an internet full of mom blogs by women who manage to plan, shop for and prepare week's full of wholesome family dinners with things like pureed squash hidden inside for extra nutrition - and their kid's eat it! There's proof! Because there are pictures of her happy, healthy kids eating the food on the blog.

So - this is the circle of hell family dinner can be for me. (Probably for most of us).

And with all of this in mind one summer evening, lettuce liquified in the drawer, frozen chicken on the counter, bitterness and guilt in my heart - I prepared for my family:

A pound of bacon and a bag of raw carrots.

They loved it. They ask for it now. I should have taken a picture.

Whoa! Summer!!

It's almost over. One more week until they're back in school and my house is quiet and I can try to get all the sand out of my rugs. Summer is always a crazy time for my family because my kids and I operate under one central strategy. If you invite us...we will come. Dirty, uncombed, sunburned and loud, we will show up at your cottage/tent/party with half a bag of chips and a bottle of wine on offer - that's just how we roll! But this summer has been extraordinarily busy for me. In July NEVER BEEN KISSED came out...

The Reader response to this book has been astounding! Thank you to everyone who took the time to write me or to post a review! I am so grateful. In August BETWEEN THE SHEETS came out.

This is my favorite book I've written and Publisher's Weekly gave it a starred review! “Phenomenal . . . The story is deep, complex, and rich, with emotional tones of hope, loss, regret, pain, and so many flavors of love. Shelby and Ty’s romance is dark, erotic, and gloriously full of joy, a total must-read for any romance fan who likes their sex scenes raunchy and their heartstrings plucked.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) In September the last of THE BOYS OF BISHOP books INDECENT PROPOSAL will be out.

It too got a starred review from Publisher's Weekly! "When his cold front meets her fiery spirit, both characters display a remarkable amount of care, selflessness, and chemistry. Their emotional turmoil and mutual confusion feels real, immediate, and wrenching. This is a love story not to be missed." - Publishers Weekly And as if that wasn't enough - In July my book CRAZY THING CALLED LOVE won the RITA for Best Contemporary Romance! Totally astounding and absolutely shocking!

You can buy all these books HERE and HERE So? How about you? How was your summer?? Full of sand and sunburns?