Review: All Fore Revenge by Piper Denna

MorganO: Jmo begged off this week’s book review due to work and pending deadlines, so I grabbed a trusted friend to help me out. I'm here today with guest reviewer, Carlee J. Winn, a rabid reader. I've known Carlee a long time and she's always steered me in the right direction when recommending books, so I asked her to read All Fore Revenge and give me her opinion. And since she lives in Colorado, it gives me the perfect excuse to catch up with her and write off the drinks afterward.

So, Carlee, tell me how you liked the book. Did it grab you right off?


Carlee: It certainly did! What woman hasn't fantasized at least once about the cable guy, or the plumber or the... It grabbed me right off and led to great sex scenes but with great plot too.

MorganO: LOL, and how often do they NOT live up to the fantasy? But then, there was this one heating guy who was darn cute... but I must agree with you, the book caught me from the get-go and held me to the end. Piper's writing style draws me right in and I feel as if I'm in the room with the characters. Their thoughts and actions so closely relate to things I've thought of, or done and it makes you never want to put the book down. Later on she brings the reader to great empathy with her characters - sometimes even the bad guys!


Wait...You did the cable guy on the floor of the family room??? And I missed it? Sheesh.

Carlee: Nice try - I speak of no secrets like that, but... hmmm.


MorganO: Okay, I’ll let you off the hook…this time. You say you felt some empathy with the "bad guy" and I have to agree. I couldn't completely hate the husband, despite his sleazy cheating ways.


Carlee: Exactly. He just seems, well, human, with human foibles - though perhaps a bit more advanced than I'd let my husband get away with... and Ali doesn't let him get away with it either. She just reacts in, again, a perfectly human way.


MorganO: How did you feel about the side story of Shurre and her uncle?


Carlee: I was pleased with the way Piper handled that. The situation can be very daunting to the reader as well as the characters. Piper handled it with grace and understanding and let Ali's emotions come through as well. I thought too that the scenes with Ali and Shurre were handled with excellent taste and added greatly to the plot line. It’s a great book with a lot of great sexual undertones (and explicitness) that draws in all types of readers.

MorganO: Oh, the sex scenes. And I’m not just talking about the heat wave out here. Whew! Got me fanning my face a couple of times. That Cam sure is a hottie. I also liked how he grounded Ali and really encouraged her to learn to listen to her instincts.


Carlee: The story wasn't all about him, or his ego. A nice change to so many men out there! Cam really wanted Ali in the end but had great instinct about how to get her. Piper did a great job with that as well.


MorganO: No kidding. Not all alpha. I like my alphas, but give me a sweet supportive beta now and again and I melt. Not to say Cam wasn’t strong, ‘cuz whoo-boy, he sure was, but he didn’t rush in with all the solutions to her problems.


Carlee: Sometimes the best alphas know how to be beta too.


MorganO: True. Men. I think we had a discussion about alphas last week… Anyhow, Cam was a great hero. He even understood that Bill would still be a part of their lives and kudos to Ali for keeping Bill active in the lives of their kids


Carlee: Cam also seems to relish the whole extended family scene - he wouldn't expect to have his ex-wife disappear either, and neither would Ali. The whole new blended family concept is today's reality.


MorganO: …And how it can work with a little understanding and tolerance for some issues and holding a hard line on others. So far you've had lots of good things to say about the book. Were there any points which slowed you down a bit?


Carlee: I struggled a bit trying to understand where the relationships would go between a fling with Cam and a marriage to Bill. At first I wasn't too sure. But frankly, Piper brought me back to the characters quickly and handled my questions/thoughts with great style, almost as if she anticipated the concerns of the reader. Again, a good dose of reality!


MorganO: Okay, so it sounds like you liked the book as much as I did, so here's the big finale. How many stouts do you give it? And since we don't do halves, you have to pick whole numbers between 1 and 5 - 5 being the best, as who doesn't want more drinks?


Carlee: Oh man, I hate when you do this to me!! I guess I'd have to go with 4 because it really was a great read, but I'd only give 5 to my top 10. This would make my top 20! (For those who don't know me much, it really is a rare month I don't read 20 books or more!)


MorganO: No kidding, Carlee reads more than I do, but only because she isn't writing too.


Carlee: Ah hem... but some books I seem to read about 20 times, and all before they hit the publishers shelf...


MorganO: Yeah, well, you get input which few readers get.


Carlee: I am really looking forward to Piper's next book - she's definitely an author I'll track down again.


MorganO: I’ll be sure to let you know when her next one comes out! And while we've been chatting I've been mulling over my own choice of score. This is where I wish Jmo and I had agreed on half points, because I'm a bit torn. So... I'm also going to say 4, but only because there were points where dialect-type dialogue pulled me out a tiny bit. Otherwise, over all I'd give this book a 4.75, but we don't do that, so I'm giving it a good, solid, golden 4, which is still very high praise from TMD and I, too, am ready for the next book. Piper is one to watch.


Carlee: Maybe 4 stouts and a shot of tequila to go with??


MorganO: Hey, now there's a thought! I agree, a shot of tequila too! So that makes it a 4+



Carlee: Exactly.


MorganO: Now it's time for us to go find a pitcher of frozen 'ritas. Thanks for joining us this week and please be sure to post any comments you have about All Fore Revenge!


Carlee: Oh honey, and that waiter up at a certain restaurant???


MorganO: uh, yeah, him too -LOL. And since I haven’t been at altitude for awhile now, I’m going to be a cheap date. Now where’s my sombrero?

Interview: Piper Denna

Today we travel to meet a relatively new author on the romance scene, Piper Denna. Her first book, All Fore Revenge, debuted with Lyrical Press just last week. We caught up with her high in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Could it be she was looking for that famous Rocky Mountain High John Denver was always singing about? As Morgan knows, the air can get pretty thin up there, but the vistas are incredible. Jmo’s ears are still popping. The scent of evergreens is enough to counteract the nitro high we got with Sutton down in Georgia. We finally found Piper on the Vail golf course trying to play behind some VIP. Too bad we interrupted that plan. The guys in black Dockers and Polos with mirrored sunglasses keep giving us dirty looks.

TMD: Piper thanks for allowing us to join you on the green today and please ignore Jmo. I have no idea why he brought a hockey stick to a golf course. Please tell our readers a little about your book?

PD: Hi! Thanks so much for meeting me here. I’ve heard a few former presidents live in the area. Maybe we’ll get lucky and see one.

All Fore Revenge starts out with a common – if unpleasant – scenario: Ali Smyth discovers her Phoenix golf-pro husband is cheating. Once her initial shock wears off, she goes for revenge in the form of an affair (insert gasp here!) with Cam, the hunky cable guy. With two sons to think of, she intends to take her time deciding what to do about her marriage. When she realizes Cam has fallen for her (and the feeling is mutual), she retreats to her childhood hometown in Colorado for the summer. She’s got to figure out how to survive betrayal, her sons’ fear and anger, her husband’s pleas for reconciliation, and Cam’s growing feelings. Then there’s the mystery of what’s driving her best friend to act even more crazy than usual…

I’ll share the trailer link: http://www.youtube.com/v/n9-hItyspCY&hl=en&fs=1

TMD: As the title indicates, golf plays a large role in this unusual romance. So, what’s your handicap?

PD: You know, I love golf. Truly. Unfortunately, up until today, my Wilson “Pink Ribbon” golf set has languished in the garage this season. (Feel free to sniffle on my behalf.) In order for me to determine my handicap, two things need to happen:

1- my life has to slow down so I have leisure time
2- I’ve got to sell lots of books! (especially to afford the green fees up here)

TMD: Cheating. How did the romance publishers first react to the subject?

PD: My uncle used to have a saying something like, “That went over like a lead balloon.” In other words, it didn’t fly. I got lots of rejection letters which started with “We really love your writing...” or “Your writing is very strong…” but…The publishers were determined their readers would never accept a story about infidelity.

I’d love to prove them wrong. The shelves at Barnes & Noble always have books about adultery, so I know it’s not an entirely taboo subject to the women of today. Tune in to the latest dramedy during primetime, or even the nightly news, and you’ll see women dealing with the issue of adultery from both sides.

TMD: Did you think the subject was controversial when you were writing the story?

PD: I once did an exercise from a book on writing. The author suggested you sit undisturbed for five minutes (yeah, I know, how many writers are not disturbed!) and brainstorm words, ideas, images that move you. Could invoke good feelings or bad. Adultery happened to be one of these topics for me.

Ali and Cam’s story came to me and I felt compelled to write it. Sure, I thought Ali’s actions would be controversial. But I never imagined it would be such a hard sell in the erotica market.
If I had it to do over, would I change it? Not a chance.

TMD: Why do you think the publishers you approached were so resistant to the idea? It is, after all, real life.

PD: Most romance publishers cater to what the majority of their readers have wanted in the past. What I needed was a publisher willing to take a risk, one who’d bet on a newer generation of readers. I believe Lyrical Press is the perfect fit.

TMD: How much reality do you think is important for a novel to be believable to a reader? Or do you think most readers approach a book for escapism?

PD: Traditional romance readers seem to gravitate toward escapism: Prince Charming falls head-over-heels for a virgin/widow, with little more than a few cross words from a friend (or the possibility of losing her) to help him overcome fear of commitment. A reader of women’s fiction tends to want a stronger dose of reality. She wants a heroine she can relate to.

My aim is to write books women like me would like. Most of the women I know have had more than one romantic relationship, possibly with a rough beginning or end. Seems like they’ll relate to a heroine who has made a mistake or two along the way. No matter the problems my hero and heroine encounter, I promise you can always count on me for a Happily Ever After!

TMD: When you were writing Fore did you think a lot of women would empathize with your heroine’s plight and her way of dealing with the situation?

PD: Have you ever mused about what you’d do if you caught your significant other cheating?

There are knee-jerk responses: Kick him out, file for divorce, pick up the kids and leave.

Then there are extreme reactions: Go crazy with rage and do bodily harm to him and or/his cheating accomplice.

But what if you were shocked and pulled away until you’d had time to think? “Perfect justice” just might feel, well…perfect.

TMD: It does bring out the question of what do you do when the old magic has changed or gone away. How hard to you try to fix things before you realize they can't be fixed?

PD: It would take tons of soul-searching to make such a decision, particularly when kids are involved. Ali’s decision effectively channels her anger into action – revenge – in order to avoid hurting. As we learn from her example, adultery isn’t a solution, but another problem.

TMD: Crazy question time. Thought you were immune did you? Sorry, it has to be done. If you could play a couples tourney with anyone from a famous golf movie, would you pick Bill Murray, Chevy Chase or Happy Gilmore? No JMo we’re not calling you Happy Jmo!

PD: God. You’ve gotta love Bill Murray’s philosophy as the groundskeeper in Caddy Shack. Still, I suspect he’s got major B.O. Can’t see myself crowded into a golf cart with him.

Chevy Chase. Hmmm. He was quite suave on the course, but I’d have a hard time forgetting he’s also the dope in the National Lampoon movies, making eyes at every set of D-cups he sees. Besides, if he bet thousands on one of my shots, I’d miss for sure!

I’d have to say Happy Gilmore would be my choice. His colorful language would entertain me (who else in the world could call Bob Barker “bitch” and make us laugh?). And with those wild temper-strokes, I might finish with a better score than him!

Er. Speaking of wild strokes…

TMD: Oh Lord! JMo, you’re supposed to yell fore before you hit the ball into a crowd. I think you just killed a secret service agent. Piper before we’re hauled away for murder, could you please tell us about any other books you've got looming on the 18th hole and where we can find them?

PD: This fall from Sinful Moments Press, comes my book about Fantasy Mountain, the resort where no want is too wacky, no urge to unusual, no passion too peculiar.

Meet the owners:
On her remote ranch, Victoria has built a world-renowned business with her ability to create any sexual scenario requested. She has it all; power, money, independence. The only other thing she wants is the one she knows she’ll never have, and he works just down the hall.

Brett has all but given up hope of breaching the wall around Victoria’s heart. In fact, he’s engaged to be married back in London in only two months. But he knows Victoria has desires; he’s seen them firsthand. When one night of passion rekindles old feelings, can he finally fulfill the ultimate fantasy of the woman who’s made it her mission to satisfy everyone’s desires but her own?

Whatever the erotic dream, it can come true at Fantasy Mountain.

TMD: Thanks again for letting us join you today and let our readers know where they can find you on the net? Jmo stop running, that’ll only make them shoot to kill!

PD: Thanks for the interview, I really appreciate…wow, those two Morgans really have wheels! Guess they can’t hear me anymore.

All Fore Revenge is currently available as an ebook from http://www.lyricalpress.com/ and will release in print on February 2, ’09. Watch the trailer at: http://www.youtube.com/v/n9-hItyspCY&hl=en&fs=1

Fantasy Mountain will also be available November 15th from Sinful Moments Press in print and ebook format.

My website is http://www.piperdenna.com/ and I’m also at www.myspace.com/piperdenna .
Email me at piperdenna@gmail.com

Excerpt: All Fore Revenge by Piper Denna

ALL FORE REVENGE
by Piper Denna
Genre: Erotica/Romance
Print ISBN: 978-0-9818905-5-5
Length: Novel
Price Digital: $5.50
Digital Publication: August 18, 2008
Print Publication: February 2, 2009
Cover art by Renee Rocco

Excerpt: Copyright Piper Denna 2008

The service call was scheduled for “sometime between one and three.” My doorbell rang at one-o-five.

Appreciating the technician’s punctuality, I stirred from my window seat in the family room. I’d spent the better part of the day curled up there, contemplating my life while staring out at the pool. My introspection would have to go on hold. The cable guy was here to install my husband’s latest-upgrade, high-def boxes.

Rather than being thankful we could afford the best picture quality available, I was simply annoyed. I needed time to myself to solve a dilemma, and didn’t appreciate the interruption Bill’s demanding taste had imposed. Actually, he’d imposed the dilemma as well, and four days of concentrating on it had brought me no solutions. Well, I was married to a man who knew what he wanted and got it. That’s how he got me, and how I’d ended up soul-searching for the last few days.

Out of habit, I fingered my wedding ring on the way to answer the door, still wondering what the hell to do about my discovery of four nights ago. With a defeated sigh I opened my front door and pasted on what I hoped would pass for a smile.

“Hi. Are you, um…” The tall blonde technician, seeming a bit flustered, had to peek at his clipboard. “…Alison Smyth?”

I nodded my head. “Ali.” It was what my friends called me, but why was I telling the cable guy to call me that, when he should be calling me Mrs. Smyth?

“Ali. Okay.” He seemed a little surprised by my familiarity, but he smiled, and oh, what a smile he had! All dimples and sparkly blue eyes. “I’m with the cable company, here to install your new box.” A name badge on his wide chest read Moreton.

Tension over my problem began melting as I opened the door wider and he brushed past me, giving me a whiff of warm, woodsy cologne. He was tall—over six feet—and not one of those gangly, tall guys, either. I could tell this guy worked out by the way his muscles rippled and strained against his clothes. Below his standard-issue khaki uniform shorts, nicely tanned, ripped quads gave me the impression he was a serious bicyclist.

He asked, “How many sets do you have?”

I was still thinking about his legs, and the set of glutes surely hiding above them. “Um, sets?” I asked, feeling dopey (and, frankly, pretty turned-on).

“TVs?” he prompted. He’d looked the living room over and turned back to face me.

“Oh. Yeah, TV sets. Sorry.” I smiled up at him, already knowing I’d like him to be the solution to my problem. “Four. But only two are getting HD boxes.”

He followed me back to the family room, where I’d been sulking before he came. His lowered brows told me the heap of crumpled tissues must have betrayed my previous activity, though I hadn’t actually been crying since right after dropping my kids off at school. I’d given myself fifteen minutes of “breakdown time” before my daily power-yoga routine and swim. Since then I’d been thoughtful, but not distraught.

Too bad I hadn’t had the sense to destroy the evidence.

He set his bag of tools down next to the TV, then turned to look me over. I could see he wanted to ask me something (probably whether I was okay), but professional courtesy stopped him.

“So, Mr. Moreton…”

“CJ.” His sympathetic smile didn’t include dimples.

“CJ,” I repeated. “Would you like something cold to drink?” He looked interested, so I began listing what I had to offer. “Water, soda, iced tea…”

His eyes returned to the window seat, where my own tumbler of tea still sat.

“It’s sweetened. The tea.”

“I like it sweet. I’ll take that, thanks.”

I felt his eyes follow me to the kitchen, where I had to reach on tiptoe for the tall glasses in my cupboard. I hadn’t given much thought to what I put on that morning after my shower. It was just my most comfy cotton shorts and a cami. Dammit, I should have spent more time putting on makeup. This guy was hot, and flirting with him would have been very therapeutic. Hell, even seeing him was therapeutic.

Maybe I’d have to spend some time on the net later, checking out hot guys, possibly unearth the old vibrator. If I had a picture of this CJ, I could probably do the job without the vibrator.

I was out of breath from anticipating my solo encounter when the icy tumbler left my hand for his.

“Thanks,” he said, before he drank. “You swim a lot.” It wasn’t a question—he just knew. I wondered how he’d figured that out, staring at my legs like he was, then the reflection of waves on the pool outside the window flashed over his face.

“Every day. One of the few benefits of living in Phoenix, right? Year-round swimming without freezing your butt off.” Since he was still looking at my legs, and it was making my heart race, I kept talking. “And year-round golf, too. That’s how we ended up here. I mean, my husband…” Shit. Why did I have to bring up being married? That’s not usually the best way to start a flirting jag.

CJ closed his eyes, then turned to the huge LCD screen on the wall and began unhooking the cable from our old digital box. Damn, lost him.

Might as well keep talking. “He’s a golf pro. We came from Colorado. Well, I did. But he can’t really work there in the winter, so we moved here.”

“I’ll go get the boxes. Be right back.” He hustled out to his truck.

Good going. He can’t get out of here fast enough now. Like he really wanted to hear my life story.
CJ’s eyes went to the window seat as soon as he came back in.

I’d disposed of all the mascara-smeared tissues and put the box away under a table.

Sympathy eclipsed the serious, all-business expression he’d worn in. His eyes seemed a darker blue now, almost cobalt. He turned his back to start working. “Somebody die?”

Now here was dilemma. Should I play my biggest card and tell him why I’d been crying earlier? It was a shortcut, but if it got me to the destination I suddenly wanted to reach, so what? “Thursday night, I found out my husband’s been banging his personal assistant.”

CJ sucked in his breath. “Musta been tough.” He set one receiver on the carpet and asked, “Uh, where’s the other box go?”

“Master bedroom. I’ll show you.”

He followed me up the stairs without a word. When I turned to face him in front of the bedroom TV, he observed, with raised brows, “Thursday. That’s four days ago, but his stuff’s still here.”

Indeed it was. Bill’s usual string of dirty socks and pricey collared shirts had accumulated on his side of the bed, since I hadn’t felt inclined to pick up after his cheating ass.

With a shrug, I said, “It’s his house, technically. I haven’t brought it up with him, because I haven’t decided what to do. For sure.”

I knew by then what I wanted to do, but it didn’t mean I would, or could. I wanted to do CJ. Repeatedly, and in every way possible. My breath was coming faster again, so I put some distance between us, closing my bedroom shades against the blinding mid-day April sun.

“How’d you find out?” he asked, his head inside the armoire where the old box sat.

I took a moment to check out his rear end before answering. Taut biker buns. Perfect. Thankful he couldn’t see my face, I told him what I hadn’t yet told another soul.

“I was, um,”—there was no delicate way to phrase it—“going down on him…” CJ’s head smacked the shelf above it, “…and the smell of latex was incredible. You know, lubricated latex. So I started kind of looking around, and found lipstick smeared on lots of places I hadn’t been yet.”

“How’d you know it was his P.A. and not some lunch-time hooker, or a rich bitch at the country club trading lessons for lovin’?” He sounded not only curious, but maybe a bit angry on my behalf. I liked that.

“Oh, I’d know that lipstick color anywhere. A friend of mine sells that lipstick to her, and she’s the only person I’ve ever known who buys Berryluscious. It’s a hideous color.” It was supposed to be the longwearing, non-smearing kind of lipstick, but it obviously fell short of its advertised promises.

After pulling his head and shoulders out of the cabinet, he wrapped coaxial cable around the old box. “I guess the latex was a good thing. It’s better than no latex.” He started hooking up the new receiver as he asked, “Got any idea what you’re gonna do?”

Boy, do I.

Guest Blogger: Piper Denna

If you’ve watched the trailer for my new book, All Fore Revenge, or heard about it all, you probably know it’s about adultery. And ultimately, the demise of a marriage.

We’ve all heard the statistics about marriage and divorce. They’re sobering. Every day, we see headlines about celebrities and their fly-by-night marriages. But what about the famous folks who’ve spent decades upholding their wedding vows? Here are some couples who prove true love is forever:

• Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver have been married all of 22 years. Hey, it’s not an eternity, but to survive Hollywood hype and politics, they’ve got my admiration!
• Bono and his wife Ali have been married since 1982, which means they’ll be celebrating 26 years, along with music’s most revered (insert grin here) couple – Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne.
• Jay and Mavis Leno are celebrating 28 years together, Dr. Phil and Robin have hit the 32 year mark, and one of my all time favorites – Mr. George Forever-the-Cowboy-Next-Door Strait and his wife have managed over 37 years.
• America’s most famous dad based his TV show on his own family and marriage. If he handles himself like he did on his show, Mr. Bill Cosby has been a real handful for his wife of 44 years.

We’re getting up there…

• Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward celebrated their golden anniversary this January. Yep. 50 years. In Hollywood!
• George and Barbara Bush had an anniversary in January, too. They’ve made it to 63. Lots of people don’t even live that long. Way to go, “41”!
• Last – but not least – for our celebrity marriage attaboys (and attagirls), Bob Hope was married nearly 70 years when he died. Wow. 70 years. What’s the gift for that anniversary, anyhow? Space dust and moon rocks? Most houses don’t even last that long.

A few numbers I found heartening:
82% of marriages make it to 5 years
52% make it to 15 years
and a whopping 5% make it to their 50th anniversary. For those of you who aren’t impressed, just think: one out of 20 couples survives the seven-year-itch more than 7 times!

The longest marriage on record? 86 years. And it lasted “til death did them part”.

So the next time you’re reading a romance, believe the couple stays together forever. Some do!

Piper Denna
Romance is sexy!

Trailer Trash Tuesdays: Piper Denna

Cheating. Wow. What a subject! Piper Denna isn't afraid to take it on. Watch the trailer today and keep an eye out for her interview, the next stop on The Morgan Diaries World Wide Tour, coming on Friday.

You can find All Fore Revenge at http://www.lyricalpress.com/ Get your copy today!