Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Word Count: 76,000
My Main Character's Most Fearsome Obsession is:
Faith's most fearsome obsession is flowers, specifically daisies. She's fascinated with their symbolic meaning, the unspoken language of what the blossoms represent. The dark, swirly ink adorning her backside pays tribute to her passion. Most people believe daisies symbolize purity and innocence. On the outside, Faith appears to embody the spirit of her chosen totem. But if someone will dare to look, they’ll discover a deeper meaning to the common bloom--the loyal love and commitment to shared secrecy Faith so desperately seeks.
Query:
Grad student Faith Wainwright is financing her education by writing erotic romance novels on the side. But with a successful Christian author for a mother and a famous televangelist for a stepfather, she'll do anything to keep her pen name a secret.
Cocky bartender Dante Bishop is two semesters away from earning his MBA, and isn’t interested in anything more than the occasional one-night stand. With the exception of his spunky grandma, he hasn’t let a woman lay claim to his heart since his high school girlfriend cheated on him with his best friend.
After a series of unexpected encounters leaves Faith and Dante locking lips and breathless for more, they agree to a no-strings fling. She needs new material for her scorching sex scenes, and Dante’s never been one to deny a blistering booty call. Just as their sinfully sweet hookups develop into something more, Faith’s alter ego is exposed. And with it, Dante’s identity as the devilish hero of her next novel. Furious at Faith for using him in the name of research—and at himself for letting his heart get involved—Dante walks away. Now, Faith has two choices: deny the vixen he’s awakened inside and shut down her budding career or embrace her alter ego and fight like hell to win him back.
First 250 words:
Faith could have played it either way: waltz into the library like she owned the place, or go full incognito. She’d always sucked at dancing, so she stood in front of the self-checkout in a bulky sweatshirt, dark shades and a LA Dodgers baseball cap tugged low over her eyes. Hopefully she’d find something in one of the books to inspire the final sexcapade in her manuscript before submitting it to her editor.
Receipt in hand, she pushed through the heavy glass doors into the unseasonable blustery September afternoon. A gust of wind ripped her hat off, and Faith rushed to snag it. The hat bounced along the sidewalk, and she lunged as it tumbled toward rush hour traffic.
As she grasped the brim, her sunglasses slipped and the books fell out of her arms, scattering across the sidewalk. Faith snatched Cunnilingus: An Oral History and Love Knots: A Beginner’s Guide to BDSM and tucked them under her arm. The last book sat open on the pavement two feet away. Before she could reach it, a large hand closed around the spine.
Six-plus feet of prime male crowded the sidewalk in front of her in black, high-top sneakers and snug ripped jeans. An unbuttoned plaid oxford revealed a tight white t-shirt below.
Her heart flip-flopped in her chest as his fingers casually flipped through the pages of The Illustrated Kinky Kama Sutra.
“Whoa, I didn’t know the library had books like this.” A deep, husky tone vibrated through his words.
Faith's most fearsome obsession is flowers, specifically daisies. She's fascinated with their symbolic meaning, the unspoken language of what the blossoms represent. The dark, swirly ink adorning her backside pays tribute to her passion. Most people believe daisies symbolize purity and innocence. On the outside, Faith appears to embody the spirit of her chosen totem. But if someone will dare to look, they’ll discover a deeper meaning to the common bloom--the loyal love and commitment to shared secrecy Faith so desperately seeks.
Query:
Grad student Faith Wainwright is financing her education by writing erotic romance novels on the side. But with a successful Christian author for a mother and a famous televangelist for a stepfather, she'll do anything to keep her pen name a secret.
Cocky bartender Dante Bishop is two semesters away from earning his MBA, and isn’t interested in anything more than the occasional one-night stand. With the exception of his spunky grandma, he hasn’t let a woman lay claim to his heart since his high school girlfriend cheated on him with his best friend.
After a series of unexpected encounters leaves Faith and Dante locking lips and breathless for more, they agree to a no-strings fling. She needs new material for her scorching sex scenes, and Dante’s never been one to deny a blistering booty call. Just as their sinfully sweet hookups develop into something more, Faith’s alter ego is exposed. And with it, Dante’s identity as the devilish hero of her next novel. Furious at Faith for using him in the name of research—and at himself for letting his heart get involved—Dante walks away. Now, Faith has two choices: deny the vixen he’s awakened inside and shut down her budding career or embrace her alter ego and fight like hell to win him back.
First 250 words:
Faith could have played it either way: waltz into the library like she owned the place, or go full incognito. She’d always sucked at dancing, so she stood in front of the self-checkout in a bulky sweatshirt, dark shades and a LA Dodgers baseball cap tugged low over her eyes. Hopefully she’d find something in one of the books to inspire the final sexcapade in her manuscript before submitting it to her editor.
Receipt in hand, she pushed through the heavy glass doors into the unseasonable blustery September afternoon. A gust of wind ripped her hat off, and Faith rushed to snag it. The hat bounced along the sidewalk, and she lunged as it tumbled toward rush hour traffic.
As she grasped the brim, her sunglasses slipped and the books fell out of her arms, scattering across the sidewalk. Faith snatched Cunnilingus: An Oral History and Love Knots: A Beginner’s Guide to BDSM and tucked them under her arm. The last book sat open on the pavement two feet away. Before she could reach it, a large hand closed around the spine.
Six-plus feet of prime male crowded the sidewalk in front of her in black, high-top sneakers and snug ripped jeans. An unbuttoned plaid oxford revealed a tight white t-shirt below.
Her heart flip-flopped in her chest as his fingers casually flipped through the pages of The Illustrated Kinky Kama Sutra.
“Whoa, I didn’t know the library had books like this.” A deep, husky tone vibrated through his words.
*SCREAM* Please send ms to stacey@donaghyliterary.com as a word.docx attachment. Include query/synopsis in body of email. Use #NoQs in email subject line with Title of story.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to the review.
Shriek--please send pitch, synopsis, and pages to query@newleafliterary.com with NoQS: Danielle in the subject line!
ReplyDeleteSHRIEK! I would love to take a look at this. Please send the pages as an attachment, along with the query in the body of the email, to patricia@marsallyonliteraryagency.com. Make sure to put "NoQS Request" in the subject line. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteShriek! Please send the pages as an attachment, with the query in the body of the email, to querymichelle@fuseliterary.com. Don't forget to include "NoQS" in the subject line.
ReplyDelete