It’s cool to be participating in the Sunset on Summer Blog Hop.

Simply by reading the posts of bloggers participating, you could win your choice of a Kindle Fire 7? HD or Nook HD (US Only Winners Choice) or if you are one of the awesome international posters you get Paypal Cash instead!!? There are other prizes to be had as well.? Each stop on the hop is going to have their own giveaway too. There are all the details you’re looking for further along in the post.?

So back to the whole summer sunset thing…

See, I’m delighted to say that for me it’s just the opposite. The sun is just rising on summer in Australia.

Yep, the air outside gets a little warmer every day, the chill of winter has left and another flower blossoms each morning. Spring is here and summer is on its way.

Which means the streets will soon be permanently scented with sun creams, hats and caps will be permanent fixtures on kids heads around the country, and Sydneysiders will be headed to the beach in their droves.

Personally, I can’t wait. There is very little that depresses me more than cold days and long nights. And when that sun sets in the sky at 5pm and darkness descends before the day should be over, I can cry. Which is why I’m celebrating every minute of sunshine here, and loving how each day it gets darker just a little later.

Soon while be eating dinner while it’s still light outside, and we can take the dog for his walk after we’ve eaten instead of before. There’s a weight that seems to have lifted from everyone’s chest. Yep, the silent, grim weight of winter has gone.

I’m feeling happy people. I’m excited. Spring is here and summer’s on it’s way, and the world is full of of promise.

Okay, so excited am I, I think it’s only fair to share the joy.

How about a little contest?

Just leave a comment below about your favorite season, which it is and why.

I’ll pick two winners to each win a choice of an ebook from my backlist. So please, when you comment, make sure and leave your email address to, so I can contact you.

Good luck!

I’m gonna leave you with a little excerpt from my latest release. It’s set right about this time of year, when the days are warm, but the mornings still a little chilly, and our heroine, Sarah, is seeking out her hero, surf instructor, Charlie – in the ocean at Bondi beach, very early one spring morning.

MORE THAN LOVERS: An excerpt:

She edged her way in until water swirled around her knees. Her nipples beaded into sharp points and goose bumps covered her flesh. But the cold was less intimidating than the waves forming up ahead. Cold she could deal with. Ten footers and massive breakers she couldn?t.

She laughed at her foolishness. The waves were probably no bigger today than usual. It was just peeking at them from around the surfboard she now clutched to her chest that made them appear insurmountable.

She scanned the hordes of surfers in the water, trying to pick out that one familiar, beautiful face. But with the rising sun forming a golden halo behind them, she couldn?t make out more than human shapes on boards. Hopefully the shapes would become clearer the closer she got to them.

Taking a deep, fortifying breath, she plopped the board on the water and waded in deeper.

Now or never.

She grabbed the front of the board with both hands and dived on top of it.

The water hit her like a deluge of melting ice, the cold so astonishing she let go of the board, lost her balance and tumbled over it sideways, landing unceremoniously in the shallow water.

The chill took her breath.

She jumped up, spluttering, just in time for a wave to knock her back, and over she went again.

Less than a minute in the water, just a couple of meters from shore, and already she was fumbling and stumbling like an idiot.

Surfing was so not her thing.

She felt like a grade-A klutz. Even though she?d swum in the ocean a million times before, she?d never done it at dawn, never when she was this cold and never with a surfboard attached to her ankle.

Then there was the whole coordination business. How the heck did Charlie go from lying to standing in one fluid movement? It seemed, in a word, impossible. Surely the fifteen years spent determining the human genome had been less complicated than mastering one wave?

She longed for the safety of her lab, for the warmth of her white coat and for the encouraging comments from her colleagues. All she got was a mouthful of salty water.

At least she could swim, she consoled herself. Which made drowning only a very small possibility?especially if she had the board to hold on to.

With renewed determination, and a cause worth fighting for, Sarah found her feet, jumping up to avoid disaster as another wave tumbled around her on its way to the beach.

Before the next breaker could knock her over, she steadied the board and slid onto it, using more finesse than she had before. This time, much to her surprise and delight, she managed to stay afloat.

Sarah sized up each wave as it approached. She cut through a couple, paddling as hard as she could, and crested others, gliding harmlessly over them.

Her heart beat like the devil, and she didn?t dare take her gaze off the approaching surf. Her only saving grace was her body?s ability to acclimatize to the cold. Now instead of frostbite setting in, she imagined there were only a few icicles hanging from her fingers, nose and toes. But at least her heart still pumped, and her arms and legs worked.

Breathing twice as hard as usual, she crested a wave, eluding its fury as it broke behind her.

A cloud must have shadowed the sun, letting Sarah make out more than sunlit silhouettes in the distance. She could now see colors and faces as well. And though she didn?t spot Charlie, she clearly saw three people wearing his Bondi Surf rash shirts over their wetsuits.

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More Than Lovers is available now at Amazon, B&N and Samhain.

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Don?t forget this is a hop! Click the link below to check out the other blogs.?

Click here!