Blog Tour: BALLROOM BLITZ by Natalie Cross

 

Ballroom Blitz

by Natalie Cross

 

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GENRE: Romance Suspense

 

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BLURB:

 

In the glamorous world of ballroom, love and dancing do not always mix.

 

Professional dancer Anita Goodman has learned that lesson the hard way. With her studio and her reputation on the line, she has to take a chance on the last person she ever wanted to partner with: her best friend.

 

Patrick O’Leary has loved Anita since high school, but he has languished in the Friend Zone for long enough. He will take this last chance to prove to her that love is greater than winning.

 

Neither of them realize that conquering their rising attraction won’t be their biggest obstacle. Someone does not want them to be together, and will stop at nothing to get their way.

 

Love, dance, and danger. It’s a Ballroom Blitz.

 

 

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Excerpt One:

 

The ballroom still thrummed with the clack of heels and the slide of suede, though its last inhabitants had vanished over an hour before. Applause and cheering from the final night party echoed across the hallway. The tables were strewn with hair pins, empty water bottles, and sweaty towels tossed with exhilaration before another heat. The perfume of sunless tanner and hairspray drifted toward the apex of the ballroom’s ceiling, and it almost seemed that a few notes of a Viennese waltz still clung to the utilitarian white hotel tablecloths.

 

Rapid footsteps broke the waiting silence. Stilettos from the click click click, glimmering with crystals, a few of which scattered from the shoes with a brackish clatter as the heels struck the parquet of the ballroom floor. Heavy breathing, panting. “No!” A stumble as one heel of the red satin crystal-encrusted stilettos snapped. Sobbing.

 

Then another pair of footsteps, flats, fashionable. Something hard, with an edge that might draw blood. These footsteps were measured. No panic. No anxiety. Calculating.

 

The sobs intensified. “Please, please, please, no, I didn’t do anythi—”

 

A gurgle, a grimace, a thud. The wash of silk from a bone-white evening gown susurrated along the cold parquet floor. The scent of copper flooded the air.

 

A grunt, a vicious exhale, an audible sneer.

 

Then the ballroom closed upon itself again. The tables, the cloths, the chandeliers, the lights. All waiting for its new secret to be discovered.

 

 

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What have you learned from being a published author?

 

When I started my writing journey, it was as an escape from the realities of parenting in lockdown while maintaining a full-time career. Reading and writing offered me a chance to exist in a different world.

 

Once I had finished my first manuscript, which was for Ballroom Blitz, I did not fully appreciate the time and effort that would go into publishing. In my naivete, I thought, “I’ll send around a few queries, and when no one takes me up on it, I’ll just pop it up for self-publishing.”

 

That was foolish. I had no idea of the complexity of publishing, from crafting the perfect query to draw interest from agents and publishers, to the intricacy and small-business entrepreneurial spirit necessary for self-publishing. Everything, from cover choice, to editing, to formatting. It’s a whole new world, one entirely separate from my other career.

 

At the same time, I learned that there is a wealth of support out there for authors, whether published or unpublished. There are writing support discords, groups who meet on TikTok or Facebook to write and share ideas, beta and sensitivity writers, and copious websites dedicated to supporting authors on their journey to publication.

 

Thank heavens for all of them.  What I’ve gleaned from my interactions with other published authors is that the key is flexibility. If one strategy doesn’t pay off, you try another. This path worked for one author, but if it doesn’t work for you, try something different. The beauty of publishing nowadays is that there are options.

 

It’s a wide, beautiful world out there, and somewhere there is a place for the novel only you can write.

 

 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Love is an adventure.

Natalie writes romances and cozy mysteries featuring women who want to be seen and the men and women who cannot look away from them.

 

Natalie lives in Los Angeles, where writing is an acceptable way to avoid sunburn. She is mom to two lovely young munchkins who despise brushing their hair and eat way too much cake. She is unapologetically terrible at taking selfies.

 

Ballroom Blitz playlist available at https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7LHlIjrZEKsD1aDyJAxLAU

 

Newsletter sign up: https://nataliecrosswrites.com/nlsignup1/

 

Follow Me on:

 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/nataliecrosswrites

Facebook: www.facebook.com/nataliecrosswrites

Tiktok: www.tiktok.com/natcrosswrites

 

Buy Links for Ballroom Blitz:

Universal Link: https://books2read.com/u/3yV6r6

 

 

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GIVEAWAY

 

Natalie Cross will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway