Wednesday, March 21

Guest Author & Giveaway: Karen Erickson

Ah, the office romance. I'll confess, it is one of my favorite romance tropes. The sexy boss in suit and tie, telling his assistant what to do, all the while hiding his secret desires for her. I seriously can't get enough of that particular story line!

Maybe it's because my husband and I met at work? He wasn't my boss, though. In fact, we started out as just friends. And then when we started seeing each other, we kept it a secret. We didn't want anyone we worked with to know. What if it didn't work out (that was his fear)? I must admit, the secrecy was fun. Made everything much more illicit--and sorta naughty. Oh, how times have changed. Now we're just old married folks with a couple of kids...

But I digress. I wanted to tell you about Worth the Scandal, the first book in my new Worth It series at Samhain. Not only does Worth the Scandal have that boss/assistant trope I love so much, but there are a few other familiar tropes in the book as well. Not that I want to reveal them (I need to leave a few surprises!) but I will say I was feeling kinda old school while I wrote it.

Typical powerful, alpha male boss. Sweet little assistant who comes from a hard luck background. Glamour and wealth and jet setting around Europe, all of this and more is what makes up Worth the Scandal. I adored creating this world (and I'm still deeply immersed in it as I'm currently working on the third book of the series, Worth the Challenge.) and I hope readers adore it too.



Strictly business? Try telling that to her heart…



Worth It, Book 1


Alexander Worth, President and CEO of Worth Luxury Goods, is a man never to be crossed. His unwavering sense of responsibility to the family business requires him to always be in complete and utter control. Until it comes to Tessa Crawford.

She’s quietly professional, shy, voluptuous…and she works for him. Which means she is the one woman he must never touch, no matter how hard his gut twists with need for her.

After rising above her disadvantaged childhood, Tessa knows the last thing she should do is risk throwing it all away by falling into bed with her sexy boss. But on an extended European business trip, all self-imposed barriers burn away in the heat of their sizzling chemistry.

Once back home, though, whispers of corporate espionage turn into full-blown scandal—and Tessa finds out the hard way where Alex’s loyalties lie. Determined to soldier on, she picks herself up and carries on with a secret, yet welcomed burden. Never guessing that Alex will make a reappearance in her life, ready to show her once and for all that family does, indeed, come first.

Worth the Scandal is available at: Amazon | B&N | iBookstore | Samhain

Contest: I'm giving away a digital copy of Worth the Scandal PLUS a $10 gift card to Amazon or B&N (winner's choice!) to one lucky winner. Also this will run for the day and I will announce the winner in the comment section. Just answer this question in the comments, make sure you leave a contact email too:

Have you ever had a crush on your boss or a fellow employee?

Give us the all the scandalous details! I've had a few crushes, I'll admit it. One in particular that caused me to lose ten pounds. I lost my appetite whenever I was near him -- and we were together a lot! What a great diet that was. *winks*



26 comments:

sasharenay said...

I haven't had this type of experience. The only thing close to this is that my husband was my Recruiter when I joined the Army Reserves. We were already married and everyone used to tease us that I couldn't take money from or sleep with my recruiter, so I told him he had to sleep on the couch!! lol Technically he was my boss while I was in since he outranked me but I'm the boss at home so that doesn't count!! :)

Phuong said...

Does working at Chuck E Cheese as a teenager count? LOL I was working prize/ticket redeeming counter and he was the one fixing the games when they broke. He had a movie star look about him and I swear all the girls working there had a crush on him. Every time he was in the vicinity, I would pause, look, sigh and then go back to work. He sure made being at work mor fun :)

bookfan0747@aol.com

Chris said...

I had a terrible crush on a coworker in my teens, looking back he was a total geek, but I luuurved him!

Worth the Scandal looks like a great read. I'm grabbing asap!

Thanks for sharing it...

CrystalGB said...

I had a crush on a guy who worked in the same building that I did. We went out on a date a couple of times but it didn't work out.
Crystal816[at]hotmail[dot]com

kog said...

My experience is a lot like yours, Karen.

I had a firm & fast rule when I graduated from university and started working: never date co-workers. I am an engineer and work almost exclusively with men. I had seen office romances go terribly wrong, thus the rule.

Then I broke the rule. He was a colleague and a friend and I realized one day that I really liked him. So I took a chance and told him. We started dating, kept it secret for a long time. Fast forward and we've been together for 16 years. So yeah, I'm glad I broke the rule that one time.

pamerd said...

Hi

I did have a crush on a co-worker in my early 20's - as a matter of fact we dated and are still happily married.

Thanks for the giveaway - I love Karen Erickson's books.

Pam
tpibrew@msn.com

andieleah said...

I've had a couple work crushes...ive also dated a guy from work that was my boss. Too bad we kinda meet each other at the wrong time for each other...but we promised ourselves to each other in our next life

andieleah said...

Oops forgot my email
www.goddess197829c@AOL.com

Colleen said...

One time I had a crush on a guy that worked where I worked... never had the guts to approach him... only ever said a few words to him...

greenshamrock AT cox DOT net

Unknown said...

I haven't had this happen to me. I am the "good friend" type. The one everyone comes to to vent and share feelings with...Kinda put me off getting involved at the work place...Very few of these relationships seem to last.

thanks for the giveaway.

kcnrhtx (at) charter (dot) net

SheriV said...

I've never had a crush on a boss or employee. :( Am I missing out? :P My husband would say no but there were men I ogled while I worked in the mall but they didn't work with me directly. ;)

June M. said...

I have had crushes on bosses & coworkers, but nothing that I ever acted on. They were when I was very young though, teens & 20ish.

Congrats on the release, it looks great!
June
manning_j2004 at yahoo dot com

Anonymous said...

Yes, I've had two crushes at work--at different times--and they both turned into affairs. We were supervising different departments--yes, we all worked together at the same place.

Drmgrl99 - Dawn said...

I had a huge crush on two of my bosses and I actual wound up dating one of them but I was so young he was scared of me- lol. I was 18 he was 25 and divorced, we dated for about 6 months but after him keeping things VERY slow 1 kiss in 6 months i broke it off and married my hubby :)

Anonymous said...

Ive been married to my crush for 15 years now :)
CONGRATS on the new release!!!

reginamayross@gmail.com

Karen Erickson said...

Thanks everyone for stopping by and sharing your stories! I must confess - my husband was not my first crush at that particular place I worked. There was another one who was a complete bad boy and he made me jittery in a good way. ;) It was not meant to be which is FINE with me because I got the good guy in the end.

Let me tell ya, that place where we worked was a hot bed of scandal. I could write a book about it and no publisher, editor, etc. would believe a word of it. It's THAT crazy. It was also a lot of fun LOL!

Unknown said...

No, I haven't but I do love reading this kind of storyline. Worth the Scandal sounds great.

amysmith98 @ gmail.com

Jane said...

Congrats on the new release, Karen. I've never had a crush on a boos, but I have admired a few coworkers from afar. It was never anyone I worked closely with.

Crystal Jordan said...

I've totally dated in the workplace, and it was a baaaad idea. Heh.

Congrats on the release, Karen!

Tami said...

Haven't really had any hot n heavy crushes at work since I work in a hospital and work with mostly with women on a locked pediatric unit! I think I might have missed out on that one! Book sounds great thou! Going to go check it out on amazon! Thanks Karen!

Bookwyrm369 said...

I haven't ever had a crush on anyone at my workplace but sounds like a fun storyline :-) Thanks for the giveaway!

smaccall AT comcast.net

Pommawolf Emeraldwolfeyes said...

Congrats on your new release!
I've been married for a very long time, and quite honestly...never had that this experience...but I love reading about them..*S*
Thank you for the giveaway!

Darcy
pommawolf @hotmail.com

Mary Preston said...

I had a crush on my boss, years ago now. It was all on my side I'm sure.

Mary Preston said...

Sorry,

I forgot my email.

marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Karen Erickson said...

pamerd - you're my winner of the gift card! Congratulations!

A big thank you to everyone for stopping by and commenting. LOVED reading your answers. :)

And another huge thank you to Mel (and Brandy too!) for letting me be a guest on the blog. I love me some Mel! ;)

Fedora said...

I think I did have a crush on a co-worker way back when I was in college--he was from Ireland, and he and his brother had the most delicious accents :)

Looking forward to read the Worths, Karen!!

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