The submission window is now open for the Entangled Publishing pitch event. Hurry and enter your pitch in the comments of this post. The window IS NOW CLOSED. Make sure your manuscript falls into a category that Entangled publishes. You will have to list at least one of the Entangled lines you feel your manuscript best fits on your submission. During the contest, November 10 through November 14, editors at Entangled will read the pitches and make requests on the ones that interest them. Go to Entangled Publishing’s site to find out more about the editors and their likes.
This pitch event is for finished and polished manuscripts only. You may enter as many pitches as you like.
What will you need?
- A 100-word pitch (max). This would be the meat of your query condensed to the 100-word limit.
- 1st 100 words of your completed manuscript. (If the 100th word falls in the middle of a sentence, you can go to the end of the sentence.)
Formatting …
Title: THE TITLE OF YOUR NOVEL
Word Count: Your manuscript’s word count (Example: 50,000 words) Make sure to round up/down to the nearest 1000th.
Category/Genre: The category and genre of your manuscript (Example: YA Contemporary Romance)
Line: The Entangled Line that best fits your story (Sample: Crush Teen)
Pitch: 100-word (max) pitch – single spaced, a space between paragraph, no indentions.
Excerpt: The first 100 words of your manuscript – single spaced, a space between paragraph, no indentions.
DO YOUR HOMEWORK … Make sure to only pitch what Entangled publishes. Here’s some information about the editors and the lines that Entangled editors will consider …
Single-title Imprints
- Entangled Select (adult single title) – adult romance imprint, encompassing all subgenres of romance including contemporary, suspense, sci-fi, historical, paranormal and fantasy. The romance should be a primary focus in the story, and heat levels vary.
- Entangled TEEN (young adult single title) – high-concept, engaging line of books geared to the young adult audience. Accepting submissions in all subgenres including contemporary, suspense, sci-fi, historical, paranormal and fantasy, and require there be at least a romantic subplot.
- Embrace (new adult single title) – ushers readers from the halls of high school graduation into the wide open world beyond. With protagonists typically ranging from 18-24, Embrace publishes high-concept stories that focus on the endless possibilities this stage in life brings, and above all, romance. Heat levels vary.
Category Romance Imprints
Entangled’s category romance imprints are released digital-first across a wide variety of platforms. With high royalty rates and price points that attract buyers, these lines have been very successful for Entangled and its authors. Many of their titles have appeared on Amazon and Barnes & Noble’s bestseller lists, and more than twenty have hit the USA TODAY and New York Times bestseller lists. Three are currently RITA finalists.
More information on the specific imprints can be found on their respective submission pages.
- Crave (Teen) – Teen category romance – engaging, irresistible first-love stories set during the characters’ teen years—with an out-of-this-world, trope-driven bend.
- Crush (Teen) – Teen category romance imprints, is all about engaging, irresistible first-love stories set during the characters’ teen years. Heart-stopping feelings and never-ending drama, ranging from funny to emotional, flirty to dark.
- Brazen – Sexy contemporary category romance with high heat levels.
- Lovestruck – Flirty contemporary category romance about finding love in the modern world.
- Bliss – Sweet contemporary category romance with a small-town, family vibe.
- Indulgence – Contemporary category romance with rich and powerful alpha heroes.
- Ignite – Suspenseful category romance.
- Scandalous – Historical category romance.
- Covet – Contemporary category romance with a paranormal twist.
146 Comments
Tricia Saxby · November 9, 2014 at 11:19 pm
Title: IT’S JUST BUSINESS
Word Count: 48,000
Category/Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Line: Red Hot Bliss
Pitch:
Architect, Jace Russo, always keeps his promises. His ailing father’s request to rebuild their neighborhood gives him the chance he’s always wanted to make amends for his past mistakes. When he finds out his ex lives in the building he’s demolishing, his hope for redemption is in jeopardy.
Tired of her gypsy caravan lifestyle, Anna Ursu finally finds a stable home with her elderly relatives, but now it’s being ripped away by the one man she’s been unable to forget. Can Anna convince Jace that home and family are more important than stonewalls and his reputation?
Excerpt:
Jace sat watching his money burn away with every puff of machinery smoke. This demolition had been a massive headache since the beginning and now live power lines lay feet away. To top it off, there was some gypsy woman inside the store refusing to leave. He’d seen a lot of things when dealing with property acquisitions, but this woman’s stupidity took the cake.
He charged up the steps and banged on the faded front door. It flew open seconds later and the vision that greeted him stole his breath.
“Anna?” The name burst from him in a gasp.
Sandra Panting · November 9, 2014 at 11:49 pm
Title – His At Midnight
Word Count – 51,000
Category/Genre – Adult Contemporary Romance
Line – Red Hot Bliss
Pitch –
Tara Bradford has shaken up her life by working as a dancing bartender. After being abandoned by her mother, her brother was the only person she could count on. Something that was once again proven when she ended her relationship with Mason Gray.
Bestselling author Mason prefers to work while he travels the country. His family made him crazy with their entitled attitudes, but after his parents’ death, Mason was even more lost. His grief and confusion had cost him his relationship with Tara, but Christmas is just around the corner. After three years maybe it’s time to make amends.
Excerpt –
“I assume you’re trying to decide whether or not to run.”
The warmth of Mason Gray’s body pressed against hers as he leaned over her shoulder was a blatant reminder of everything that had happened between them last night. And of everything Tara Bradford wished she could forget.
“It had crossed my mind.” Hot, erotic images chased through Tara’s mind. Images of heated touches, hungry kisses, and lots of naked flesh.
Stomach twisting with nerves, her fingers flexed against the sheet, hidden from view by the tent of blankets. Granted most of the covers were askew due to last night’s activities.
Sussu Leclerc · November 10, 2014 at 12:07 am
Title: DJINNI ME AWAY
Word Count: 60,000
Category/Genre: YA Paranormal Mystery/Romance
Line: CRAVE (Teen)
Pitch:
Hothead psychics Moira and Janna have everything in common. They look alike, love the same guy Ross, and end up in the same summer Juvie for Paranormal teens.
Except that one of them has been switched at birth and faces charges in the Beyond. That’s what Janna learns when she sends her twin into the Beyond using her haunted Ouija board. She lets out a gatekeeper who guards the way to Moira and dictates her behavior.
Either Janna must trick her djinni to save her sister or she could lose her twin, her freedom and the love of her life.
Excerpt:
At Juvie for Paranormals, they call me Janna the psychic klutz because every time they give me an Ouija, I blow someone across the room. That’s how allergic I am to these boards.
I stood in front of the long house door, my fingers following the sinuosity of the wood, the wind slamming a handful of brine over my face and wisps of hair flowing around my shoulders like cobwebs.
On the other side of the door, feet shuffled around. Giggles pierced through the wood like the voices of warriors ready for me to run the gauntlet, Ouija boards on hand.
Brittany · November 10, 2014 at 12:10 am
Title: Bad boys have feelings, too.
Word Count: 52,000
Category/Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Line: Lovestruck
Pitch:
After Serena’s superstar client, Asher Thomas, finds himself on the rumor mill for his bad boy behavior, she gives him two choices:
1. Go to rehab to calm his partying ways.
Or 2. Start a “fake relationship” to gain positive publicity.
Asher chooses option two, but if he’s going to be forced into a fake relationship, he wants it to be with his sexy, too-good-for-him publicist, Serena.
She’s reluctant, but when they begin Asher’s movie tour, things between them heat up. As their relationship turns not-so-fake, she fears heartbreak when fame temptations challenge Asher to revert to his old ways.
Excerpt:
He is going to ruin me. Serena thought, reading the latest gossip headline about her most troubling client. Asher Thomas, an Abercrombie model turned lead actor in an upcoming film based off tween shape shifters. All the girls obsessed over the trilogy and the film’s release. And to Serena’s delight, they obsessed over her client.
“How’d that date go last night?” asked Lydia Reynolds, popping her head into Serena’s office.
“God awful. I told him I was a tranny so that he would finally take me home.” She said, rolling her eyes. There weren’t any decent men in Nashville. Southern gentleman her ass.
Ashley · November 10, 2014 at 12:39 am
Title: SHADE AND SHADOW
Word Count: 81,000 words
Category/Genre: YA Contemporary Fantasy
Line: Crave (Teen)
Pitch: After moving to Uncertain, sixteen-year-old Ari Jones meets the very charming and very dead Samael Lowood. Here, even the ghosts have agendas.
Sam wants Ari to find something called a Nanorian, a demon’s heart stolen by his mother.
Forced into the search when her father is kidnapped, Ari learns hell will stop at nothing to get the Nanorian back. And when she discovers it grants the wearer’s innermost desire, she’ll have to choose. Though Sam insists he wants the Nanorian destroyed, his story doesn’t add up. Either he’s lying, or he’s believed a lie for over a century.
Excerpt:
Texas, November 1883.
The wind was cold and numbing, a promise of the coming winter. Samael Lowood sat on the sill of his bedroom window, enjoying the chill. He had always liked the changing of the seasons. A mix of orange and white layered the wet ground, and the air smelled of rain-dampened dirt and needle-sharp ice.
Sam gazed downward. His eyes were drawn to an unfamiliar coach rumbling up the drive. Mud covered its exterior, obscuring any name or emblem, while vapors as gray as the misty fog streamed from the horses’ noses.
With a splash of muck and water, the coach rolled to a stop at the front entrance.
P.D. Pabst · November 10, 2014 at 12:59 am
Title: BLACK FOG
Word Count: 62,000
Category/Genre: Sci-Fi Romance
Line: Entangled TEEN
Pitch: Because of her no-show father, Raeni’s anger has manifested into nightmares of a black fog. Fed up, she throws a hellacious tantrum at his workplace, resulting in a lab explosion and killing him.
Raeni’s heart is crushed.
Luckily, Anath’s bronze tribal tattoo and perfect smile almost make her forget the tragedy, until her nightmares become a reality. And when Anath accompanies the black fog’s appearances, Raeni suspects he’s the monster. But this luscious guy wants her to believe the fiend is her father. Frightened and confused, Raeni must learn the truth about the black fog before it kills her.
Excerpt: Nightmares of a black fog devoured my sanity making me want to return home before I’d even left the house. I wanted to stay and devise a way to sleep dream-free. But school beckoned. So I trudged out the door, stopping on the way for a caffeine-loaded soda.
“You look like crap,” Tara said, walking along the convenient store aisles searching for morning munchies.
I combed my fingers through my mop of hair. “Can’t sleep.”
“Right,” she said, staring past me and batting her lashes toward Anath. He gazed at me from the muffin section, browsing me instead of the cakes. “Somebody’s crushing.”
Kathleen S. Allen · November 10, 2014 at 1:06 am
Title: MUSIC OF THE NIGHT
Word Count:63,000
Category/Genre: NA retelling of Phantom of the Opera Romance
Line: Embrace
Pitch: When Isabette, Ash’s muse and vocal coach dies, he turns to his best friend for comfort. In her company he finds love again. But not even death can keep Isabette from the spotlight.
She returns to him as a spirit possessing him body and soul, promising to make him into the great star she used to be. But it’s not enough. Determined to have the life she misses she takes over Teagan’s body despite Ash’s declaration of love for Teagan.
Ash must find a way to banish the woman he once loved in order to save the girl who made him realize that life without Isabette was possible
Excerpt:
Breathe, damn it, breathe.
I push the door open. I can do this. I can.
My steps falter as I venture inside. I close my eyes and pretend she storms through the door, a swirl of silk costume and light flowery perfume. I pull her into my arms, we kiss. The fabric of her gown, a soft crush beneath my fingertips. She laughs and drifts away. My eyes fly open, my hands clutch empty air, and the warmth of her touch lingers on my lips. I pull my gaze to her vanity table and imagine her as she puts on stage makeup, laughing, speaking in half-French, and half-English to the makeup girl.
Cassandra O'Leary · November 10, 2014 at 6:15 am
Title: UP IN THE AIR OVER YOU
Word Count: 77,000 words
Category/Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Line: Entangled Select
Pitch:
Sparks fly in mid-air when Sinead, a glamorous and cheeky Irish flight attendant, meets Gabriel, a sexy but stressed-out Aussie CEO. An approaching storm diverts their flight to Singapore, then a typhoon hits full-force. The airport shuts down, hotels are booked-out and the pair are forced to share a suite. Attraction crackles between them like bottled lightning, an elemental force of nature neither expected to find. Love hits like a bolt from the blue, throwing their lives up in the air. Can two people from opposite hemispheres navigate the turbulence in their lives and find a lasting connection?
Excerpt:
Showtime! Sinead Kennealy and her colleagues Yuki and Deanna stood in a line at the front of the first class section. Yuki flipped a button on the PA system and the music started. The airline’s theme song, a hackneyed rendition of the Macarena, blared from the plane’s speakers. Hey! Mermaid Airlines. Sinead tried to psych herself up for the show, but her heart was simply not in it.
Plastering on her trademark beaming smile, Sinead placed her hands on her hips, then in a practised and synchronised routine, shimmied forward to do the move she privately called the booby shake.
Kim · November 10, 2014 at 7:33 am
TITLE: Keeper
WORD COUNT: 80,000
CATEGORY/GENRE: YA Fantasy
LINE: Entangled TEEN
PITCH:
When a 200 year old ghost attacks her in the woods, Lainey Styles is shocked to discover that she is the last remaining descendant of an ancient line of Keepers—witches who guard and protect the Grimoire, a powerful spellbook. Struggling to deal with the news—and her feelings for a mysterious boy with secrets of his own–Lainey suddenly finds herself in the middle of a civil war between the Supernatural race and the men who would use the power of the Grimoire to destroy them all. Faced with danger, she must decide: Will she become the next Keeper?
EXCERPT:
The temperature was much colder than she had expected, but as her dive broke the glassy surface of the water, Lainey felt nothing but relief.
Catch. Pull through. Rotate. The familiar words from her childhood swimming lessons played over and over in her head as she let the rhythm of the stroke set her pace.
She knew it was dangerous to be swimming alone at night—not to mention illegal since she was technically trespassing, but Griffin, GA was the very definition of a “sleepy, little southern town,” and she was more likely to sprout gills than she was to get caught— and frankly, it was a risk she was willing to take.
Kim · November 10, 2014 at 7:34 am
TITLE: Keeper
WORD COUNT: 80,000
CATEGORY/GENRE: YA Fantasy
LINE: Entangled TEEN
PITCH:
When a 200 year old ghost attacks her in the woods, Lainey Styles is shocked to discover that she is the last remaining descendant of an ancient line of Keepers—witches who guard and protect the Grimoire, a powerful spellbook. Struggling to deal with the news—and her feelings for a mysterious boy with secrets of his own–Lainey suddenly finds herself in the middle of a civil war between the Supernatural race and the men who would use the power of the Grimoire to destroy them all. Faced with danger, she must decide: Will she become the next Keeper?
EXCERPT:
The temperature was much colder than she had expected, but as her dive broke the glassy surface of the water, Lainey felt nothing but relief.
Catch. Pull through. Rotate. The familiar words from her childhood swimming lessons played over and over in her head as she let the rhythm of the stroke set her pace.
She knew it was dangerous to be swimming alone at night—not to mention illegal since she was technically trespassing, but Griffin, GA was the very definition of a “sleepy, little southern town,” and she was more likely to sprout gills than she was to get caught— and frankly, it was a risk she was willing to take.
Sunni Rose Blendette · November 10, 2014 at 7:40 am
Title: PLAY A GAME WITH ME
Word Count: 59,000+
Category/Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Line: BRAZEN
Pitch:
When Tess utters Max’s name in an erotic moan their lives forever merge regardless of her father’s interference and his mother’s revenge. One kiss, one lie, one all consuming romance could unravel a corporate empire.
Millionaire CEO Maximilian Westfield doesn’t care about the arranged marriage his mother is forcing on him until he meets Tess, a feisty costume designer who will never meet his mother’s standards for his wife.
But, Tess Medici has a secret. Keep it, and she might lose Max. Tell it, and she’ll never know if he loves her or her money.
Excerpt:
“Jon, why on earth would I want to go to such an uptight garden party?” Tess jabbed a long sewing needle into the waistband of the costume before her.
“Thank goodness there isn’t a person inside that dress. She would be poked full of holes. What is wrong with you today? I just asked you to a party. I didn’t ask you to marry the man for god sakes.” Her best friend Jon reclined on her couch watching her sew one of her new designs.
Tess put her fingers to her temples and let out a resigned sigh. “I spoke with my father last evening.
Heather Howland · November 10, 2014 at 2:21 pm
I’d love to take a look at this! Please send the full to my attention via our submissions portal, noting that this is a request from today’s pitch contest in the query letter.
https://entangledpublishing.submittable.com/submit/
Looking forward to seeing more!
Sunni Rose Blendette · November 10, 2014 at 7:13 pm
Thank you, Heather!
Heather · November 10, 2014 at 7:43 am
Title: THE CARDINAL SIGN
Word count: 71,000
Category/Genre: YA Contemporary Fantasy
Line: Entangled Teen
Pitch:
Kenzie Temsik believes hard work and her take-charge personality have gotten her what she wants. So when Grams tells Kenzie and her sisters they’re the immortal Fates, she has to rethink actions versus destiny.
The sisters take tests to determine who will be responsible for each role—spinning, measuring or cutting life-threads. Kenzie’s determined not to end people’s lives, until she meets Tanner. Kenzie can make him immortal, but only if she cuts another thread short. She doesn’t know if Tanner will forgive her for ending lives, but the life hanging by a thread isn’t at all what she expects.
Excerpt:
I picked my way down the porch steps, careful to avoid the clumps of damp leaves.
On my way, I texted to Angela.
I’d missed my ride to the game with her, so now I had to brave the two-block walk to school in the cold.
My phone pinged. Hurry. Almost half time.
Even though my shoes weren’t exactly cut out for running I picked up the pace as I texted back. 5 mins. What’s the score?
Shouts from the stadium echoed through our neighborhood, a plus and minus of living so close to the high school.
Tied. Dylan scored.
Crystal Christie · November 10, 2014 at 8:02 am
Comment
Title: BETWEEN REALITIES
Word Count: 84,000
Category/Genre: New Adult Paranormal Romance
Line: Embrace/Covet
Pitch:
Since waking without memories of her life, nineteen-year-old Anniston has been driven by a relentless void inside to search for what is missing. She struggles to get by with a few friends who have become like family, but nothing seems to ease the emptiness until she meets Zac. She feels strongly drawn to him even after learning about his abilities to show her visions through his eyes and move at the speed of thought. When she connects him with the death of her friend, others question his existence. Unable to live without him, she must fight to find the truth.
Excerpt:
It was like a flow of ecstasy at first, growing so intense that time seemed to stand still. Every nerve ending in my body pulsed simultaneously stealing my breath away. And then, I slammed into the ground. My hands and knees breaking my fall at the same time an explosive sound bounced off every surface through the subway tunnel. A ringing in my ears distorted what sounded like chaos around me as I came to and saw the train I was supposed to be on, the only chance I had at getting to work on time, rushing away without me.
Crystal Christie · November 11, 2014 at 2:26 pm
The fact that she almost died the night she first saw Zac should have been a clue that being around him was dangerous. But even though Wesley took care of her and made her feel safe, he couldn’t numb the burning void that nineteen-year-old Anniston felt, since waking with Amnesia a few years earlier, like Zac could. When Anniston suspects that Zac is not human and he admits to being here from other dimensions to protect her, Wesley has her admitted to a psychiatric hospital and Zac claims Wesley has been taken over. She must escape to find the truth.
Andie · November 10, 2014 at 8:08 am
Title: LISTEN TO THE SILENCE
Word Count: 40000
Category/Genre: NA Contemporary M/M
Line: Embrace
Pitch: 100-word (max) pitch – After his secret lover’s betrayal, culinary student Alex flips the bird at forever, and heads to Italy as part of an exchange programme seeking only the oblivion found in fine food, and hot Italian men. Until he is beaten and left with only a phone number scrawled into his palm.
Law graduate Marco is keen to play up to a purely platonic role in Alex’s life. Bound by guilt for his brother’s death, and his parents’ expectations, the last thing he wants is tomorrow. But he soon realises that Alex is worth fighting and facing the consequences for.
Excerpt: The first 100 words of your manuscript – I’d always anticipated Carter’s arrival. But instead of the usual fluttering fanfare, this felt more like the pounding of horses hooves as they fled an impending storm. I’ve taken the train from New York too many times over the past thirteen months that I’ve been studying at ICE for the journey to hold my interest. Leaving plenty of time for doubts to sprout and multiply like mold on an abandoned peach. Left to fester in my stomach along with that endangered flicker of hope that this wasn’t really the end.No matter how many times I remind myself of Carter’s reassurances that we would make it, the malicious whispers continue to taunt, reminding me that we haven’t spoken properly for more than a month.
Heather Howland · November 10, 2014 at 2:23 pm
I’d love to take a look at this! Please send the full to my attention via our submissions portal, noting that this is a request from today’s pitch contest in the query letter.
https://entangledpublishing.submittable.com/submit/
Looking forward to seeing more!
Carolyn Chambers Clark · November 10, 2014 at 8:12 am
Title: NEVER FORGET ME
Word Count: 90,000 words
Category;Genre: Adult Romantic Suspense
Line: Ignite
Pitch:
Thirty-year-old, New Jersey-born nurse practitioner Cassie Morgan suffered some kind of trauma, but she can’t remember what it was. Sometimes she can’t tell the difference between her nightmares and real life, but she’s sure someone is following her. Cassie’s high school love appears, igniting romantic feelings from the past, but she’s not sure if he’s the stalker. She must decide whether to risk all and trust him or go to the police with no evidence that someone is after her. NEVER FORGET ME is a story of romantic suspense.
Excerpt:
She was alone in her dark and locked apartment, when her front door creaked open.
Her roommate was away. It couldn’t be her.
Cassie sat up in bed, heart pounding, fingers frantically searching for her phone. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and her mouth went so dry with fear she couldn’t call out. She watched in horror as the knob on her bedroom door slowly turned.
***
The tang of medicines and floor wax floated her way and the memory of last night faded.
It must have been a nightmare—or had someone actually been in her apartment?
Sharon Belknap · November 10, 2014 at 8:14 am
Title: TIMELESS
Word Count: 98,000
Category/Genre: New Adult Time Travel Romance
Line: Embrace
Pitch: Alexander’s botched time travel experiment thrusts only his soul 150 years ahead into the present day. He must find a way to reunite his soul with his body or not only will he die, but those he loves face danger as well. Lizzy, who presently lives in Alexander’s Civil War house, finds his time travel notes and poetry. Believing it’s her destiny to go back and save her father, she and Scott have built a time machine. When Lizzy’s and Alexander’s ghost paths collide, they must fight together against The Society, their own misconceptions, and each other to accomplish what each of them desires.
Excerpt: Across the crowded ballroom, the chime of a clock drew Alexander’s attention to the man standing next to it, the man who would one day kill him. Alexander’s glance connected with the mad-dog glare. Alexander’s skin tightened as panic grew within him. He’d seen those eyes before. Across an ocean and a decade of time, they followed him. The man lifted the corner of his blue, Union frock coat. Under the massive chandelier’s candlelight, Alexander saw the holster and butt of a gun. A pistol, probably a Navy Colt. Perfume and the hint of sweat saturated the damp air.
Katherine Pisana · November 10, 2014 at 8:23 am
Title: BELLA AND THE CURSE
Word Count: 73,000
Category/Genre: YA Fantasy
Line: Entangled TEEN
Pitch:
Aquila Katharros, future Queen of Alogo, is preparing her country for battle. On one front is the kingdom’s neighboring misogynistic ruler. On the other is The Curse, a lethal plague, spreading across the realm.
For the former, she needs an army.
For the later: (secret) shape-shifters.
Alogo, unfortunately, is lacking in both.
To defend her throne, her people and her family, Aquila agrees to marry Erik Winterras, the highest-placed noble in the Twelve Kingdoms. Yet Aquila has her own reasons for not trusting her betrothed.
What she doesn’t realize is Erik might just be her most dangerous enemy of all.
Excerpt:
Aquila Katharros, eldest Princess of Alogo, stared at the portrait.
The King of Leontaria definitely lived up to the myths surrounding his name. It wasn’t what his people called him—The Kind King—that she could comment on, since for that she didn’t know one way or the other. But as for other more physical descriptions…well, for those, Aquila could find no exaggeration.
Seated atop a horse, he was dressed in rich velvets, a fur cloak, and heavy jeweled chains—clothing fit for no less than a king. With wide shoulders, a lean waist and muscular arms, his body would have been the focal point—perfectly formed as it was—if he had not had that face to accompany it.
Bridget Adair · November 10, 2014 at 8:40 am
Title: OF PENS AND SWORDS
Word Count: 53,000
Category/Genre: YA Contemporary retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac w/gender roles reversed
Line: Entangled Teen
Pitch:
All Cyra wants is a date with Rochan and a chance to prove a one-handed girl can fence in the Olympics. When Cyra is set up with a coach who could take her all the way, she panics. The new coach costs too much. With her dreams slipping out of reach, she agrees to tutor a ballerina with a rich father and a D-minus in English, but the ballerina isn’t interested in English, only Rochan. She’s threatened to turn her D into a full-fledged F if Cyra doesn’t help her win Rochan.
Excerpt:
The first day of school was like waxing your legs: pointless, painful, and everyone was relieved when it was over. I pushed into the hallway traffic and crushed a racquet ball between my thumb and my index finger. Winning was a matter of design, not luck.
“Louis Vuitton is my favorite,” Sara Davies told her toadies. She saw me and stopped.
In our freshman year, she called me a fat Captain Hook, complete with hook. I called her a vapid matchstick with an atrophied vocabulary. Three years later, and nothing had changed—I still had a hook, and she still had the vocabulary of an insipid earthworm.
Stephen Morgan · November 11, 2014 at 12:31 pm
I’d love to take a look at this! Please send the full to my attention via our submissions portal, noting that this is a request from yesterday’s pitch contest in the query letter.
https://entangledpublishing.submittable.com/submit/
Looking forward to seeing more!
Debbie Koristz · November 10, 2014 at 8:49 am
Title: COLLIDING SKIES
Word Count: 87,000
Category/Genre: YA Sci-fi Romance
Line: Entangled TEEN/Crave Teen
Pitch:
Eighteen-year-old Skye Reilly has life all planned out. She got into to her top choice school, and she’s dating her longtime crush. But when an alien spaceship lands on the lawns of the Washington Monument, falling in love with Ethan, an alluring Celeian, is definitely not in her plans. Neither is meddling with the aliens’ secret plot to conquer Earth— or becoming a threat that must be eradicated.
Despite the Celeians’ promises to help humankind, suspicions arise. But Skye can’t pull herself away from Ethan, and following her heart could mean risking her life—and that of everyone she loves.
Excerpt:
A perfect first date is supposed to end in a perfect first kiss. My first date with Taylor Manning ended with the beginning of the end of the human race. Just then, though, sitting next to him on a picnic blanket under the moonlight with the nerves bouncing around my stomach like tiny rubber balls, the fate of humankind was the last thing on my mind.
“I hope you like this place.” Taylor leaned in closer, gently pulling out a leaf that must have gotten caught in my hair.
Warmth flushed my cheeks. I’d been crushing on him since the beginning of senior year, now only two months away from graduation, he’d finally asked me out.
Tamara Lush · November 10, 2014 at 8:50 am
Title: Uncovered
Word Count: 81,000
Category/Genre: New Adult Romantic Suspense
Line: Embrace
Pitch:
Skylar Shaw, a 22-year-old rookie reporter in Florida, would rather have a scoop than a boyfriend. While reporting on a plane crash she meets an enigmatic Italian man. The erotic nights they share are like nothing Skylar has experienced.
Luca De Rossi wants to give his heart to Skylar, but can’t because of his dangerous past. The journalist-turned-author is on the run from the Mafia and doesn’t want to put Skylar in harm’s way. He can only give Skylar his body, not his heart.
Will Luca and Skylar find love first – or danger?
Excerpt:
I wasn’t afraid when I saw the small plane flying toward me. It was so close overhead that I could almost reach up and touch its belly with my fingers. So close that the wind from its wings ruffled my hair as it sliced through the sun-washed Florida sky.
Dying doesn’t scare me. Death is something I’m comfortable with.
The plane skimmed past, almost in slow motion, over the terrace where I stood. It shaved the tips of a few fronds off a tall palm tree and spared my life. There was only one noticeable thing in that moment: the plane was silent.
Robin Haseltine · November 10, 2014 at 5:49 pm
This sounds so interesting! Please send the full to my attention via Entangled Publishing’s online submissions portal. Please mention this is a request from today’s pitch contest in your query letter.
https://entangledpublishing.submittable.com/submit/
I can’t wait to read your story!
Robin Haseltine, Editor, Entangled Publishing
Christina · November 10, 2014 at 8:52 am
Title: MAGNOLIA
Word Count: 76,000
Category/Genre: YA Romance/Suspense (light paranormal elements)
Line: Entangled Teen
Pitch:
Are you looking for an intelligent and suspenseful romance with a strong female protagonist and a hero who is protective without being predatory?
All Sophie wants is to leave the snobby southern girls’ school her mother chose and take the first train back to New York. Things change when she meets the antebellum ghost of Stuart, and Sophie finds herself falling in love with him, the South, and its history. But if she’s going to stay, Sophie needs to confront another ghost from her and Stuart’s past – the wronged woman who has returned to settle a century-and-a-half old score.
Excerpt:
On August first, Sophie Mitchell decided her life was perfect.
She lived in the best city in the world, one that was alive every minute of the day. Mom promised her a trip to Rome over fall break. And her high school friend Matt – a soon-to-be college guy – was looking like something more than a friend. But the kickass news arrived fifteen minutes ago: Columbia University admitted her to its über-selective high school program for the fall semester. That practically guaranteed admission next year.
Looking out the window, down onto the tree-lined streets of Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Sophie Mitchell felt like the Queen of New York.
Emily Dunn · November 10, 2014 at 8:56 am
Title: MISSING
Word Count: 86, 000
Category/Genre: YA Contemporary
Line: Entangled Teen
Pitch:
At 16, Annie’s best friend Michelle goes missing. At 19, they find her remains. Annie is launched into a world of interrogations and secrets where everyone thinks she holds the key to the case, until evidence starts pointing toward her. But when Michelle’s younger half sister reaches out for help to pin it on her father, Annie has to decide to take matters in her own hands or risk taking the fall herself. PRETTY LITTLE LIARS meets THE FACE ON THE MILK CARTON.
Excerpt:
My insides gnawed at the strangeness of the fact that Michelle was gone. Well, not gone, gone. But she wasn’t here. I had to keep telling myself that it was just for one night. I wasn’t a bad friend. This was normal, right?
The movie theatre was packed for a Sunday night, or at least it seemed that way. Normally my parents wouldn’t let me out on a school night, but I begged. I was amazed at how many familiar faces I saw crowded around Claire and me in line.
Claire’s natural blond hair rested on her shoulders, but she kept flipping it like it was a nuisance.
Heather Howland · November 10, 2014 at 6:13 pm
I’m not sure if there’s a romantic subplot to this, but I’d love to take a look! Please send the full to my attention via our submissions portal, noting that this is a request from today’s pitch contest in the query letter.
https://entangledpublishing.submittable.com/submit/
Looking forward to seeing more!
Emily Dunn · November 11, 2014 at 10:50 am
Thank you, Heather! I have sent the requested materials.
Cindy Goyette · November 10, 2014 at 8:59 am
Title: KEEPING MY CHIP UP
Word Count: 83,000
Category/Genre: Adult Romantic Suspense
Line: Covet
Pitch:
Jaime had been bounced from foster home to foster home, to end up in a center for delinquent adolescents. She struggled. She worked hard. Now she’s a doctor.
Jaime’s boss pleads her to go to St. Espoir. The children of the mining village have begun sleepwalking every week. She owes him one. There is no way out, she’ll have to go.
Her fearless attitude leads her into dangerous situations like meeting a bear face to face and being confronted by aggressive villagers. But she’s not going home.
There’s no time to waste on Ben. Ben is not intimidated by her demanding career and big city life. He takes every opportunity to bait her. Bring it on. Jaime likes to play, she likes to play dirty.
Excerpt:
“Excuse me, Doctor Smith.”
Jaime Smith didn’t bother looking up. She continued to scan the patient file in her hand. “What?”
“Dr. Fogel would like to see you in his office. He said it was urgent.” The nurse’s voice lowered to a mere whisper, “He sounded very upset.”
Jaime reached the end of the corridor and pressed on the elevator button. The bell rang and the large stainless steel doors slid open. She stepped into the elevator and glanced at her watch. It was already eleven o’clock. Her brows furrowed together. Dr. Fogel had never stayed at the hospital this late before.
She knocked on the door of his office and walked in. She dragged a chair closer to his large wooden desk.
Ariel Fowler · November 10, 2014 at 9:06 am
Title: Caught In His Net
Word Count: 96,000
Genre: Historical Paranormal Romance.
Line: Scandalous
Pitch:
Which one is the siren?
Arriving on the ship that Lucinda believes is netting her pod, she mingles with the humans to discover the truth. Captain Denman manages in enchanting her with his kisses, and she cannot even blame the full moon!
She woke him from his rigid existence.
Through every critical escapade, Denman becomes all the more awestruck, despite knowing she has cherished secrets she refuses to release.
In a whirlpool of passion and lethal stakes, her mission is beyond complex. Yielding to her obligation would mean sacrificing her heart…and Denman’s life.
Excerpt:
Third quarter moon
Atlantic Ocean
Not another Mer. Lucinda Severn prayed to the Gods that she misinterpreted the message that called to her in the ocean.
The waters echoed its pain.
“Oh Poseidon,” she cursed, knowing her sense of the sea couldn’t be faulty.
She halted, and her hand slid from the fin of the dolphin she was twirl diving with during the early sun.
A bond between a mer and ocean…destroyed.
The herd of dolphins shrieked in terror as the humpback whales carried warnings of lethal dangers that occurred, and will soon befall.
She flicked her tail and hurried on the path to home, trying to hold back terror. Bluefin tuna followed near her as she glided above, trailing the seamount.
Crissy Sharp · November 10, 2014 at 9:09 am
Title: LOVE AND FAT-FREE CHEESE
Word Count: 71,000
Category/Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Line: Entangled Select
Pitch: With her love of ice cream and disdain for yoga, Juliet Easton seems like an average twenty-five-year-old woman. Seemingly average, because no one knows she helped her sister’s fiancé disappear two years ago.
Now, with a new job, a doting boyfriend and an irresistibly handsome boss, it seems she can move on. Unfortunately, hopes of putting her past behind her are dashed when she walks through her front door to find the missing fiancé, Will, sitting on her couch.
Excerpt: I thought yoga was supposed to make me feel tranquil, peaceful, and sculpt my legs into those of a Greek goddess. However, as I strain every muscle in my body in an effort to do this Downward-Facing Dog pose, I feel anything but calm or goddess-like. I guess it is clearing my mind. For the last three minutes, I’ve been too focused on the intense physical pain that this relaxing exercise is causing me to think about how nervous I am to step foot inside The Bradley Corporation.
“Breathe. Remember to breathe,” the instructor sporting head-to-toe spandex sings out as she demonstrates a One-Legged King Pigeon.
Heather Howland · November 10, 2014 at 6:19 pm
Okay, I must know why she helped her sister’s fiance disappear. Please send the full to my attention via our submissions portal, noting that this is a request from today’s pitch contest in the query letter.
https://entangledpublishing.submittable.com/submit/
Looking forward to seeing more!
Crissy Sharp · November 10, 2014 at 9:35 pm
Thanks, Heather! I sent it.
Theda Fresques · November 10, 2014 at 9:14 am
Title: The Last Stop
Word Count: 62,000
Category/Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Line: Entangled Select
Pitch:
A gunshot. Nicholas has messed up her life – and her porch. Traumatized and sleep-deprived, Lily moves to Wakefield, but it doesn’t curb the nightmares. Nor does it keep her from forming new bonds, a promise she once resolved to keep.
Just when things start looking up, love prospects suddenly find themselves in freak accidents. Coincidence or curse? Regardless, Lily is acutely aware that next-door charmer, Charlie Ross, could be next. Worse, his tight-lipped, straight-laced friend Graham, seems intent on ruining her chances. As the ‘curse’ looms, Lily flees to Paris seeking safety in solitude, but will she find it?
Excerpt:
Lily paused, turning the key in her hand, half sad, half angry that it made its way there like a stowaway. She drew in a big breath as if keeping her world intact depended on it. How could such a small thing feel so heavy?
“I need some air,” she muttered, tossing the offending object onto the table before walking out. It spun noisily for a moment in a last ditch effort to catch her attention.
At the intersection, early traffic performed their green-yellow-red dance while pedestrians waited their turn at the wings. Lily caught the eye of a driver who slowed down at the curb to make a right. A hint of panic shot through her when his gaze lingered a little too long.
TSLiard · November 10, 2014 at 9:21 am
Title: KODA
Word Count: 62,000
Category/Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Line: Bliss
Pitch:
After an IED ends his military career, Major John Rathborne struggles to re-adjust to civilian life. John is fortunate to find a job as a ranch foreman. Katie, the owner’s, makes it known he is unwelcome and they clash until John learns of Katie’s past.
Consumed by fear and flashbacks after being assaulted, twenty-three-year-old clinic Katie wants the new foreman gone. His presence has disrupted her safe haven, not to mention his smart mouth makes her want to scream.
As their relationship heats up, both realize they must heal from their past wounds or they will lose each other.
Excerpt:
John tried to open his eyes, but they were stubborn and kept clamping shut. He rubbed at them until he could make out the numbers displayed on his clock. The red digits seemed brighter than normal, and for a moment, they swam before his gaze.
Three-thirty.
He bolted upright thinking he slept through most of the day and after taking a second, he realized that it was pitch black all around him. Three-thirty in the morning, he groaned to himself.
His unit rarely went to bed at regular intervals given their staggered safety patrols, so he decided to see if anyone else was still up.
Heather Howland · November 10, 2014 at 6:22 pm
I’d love to take a look at this! Please send the full to my attention via our submissions portal, noting that this is a request from today’s pitch contest in the query letter.
https://entangledpublishing.submittable.com/submit/
Looking forward to seeing more!
Denise Drespling · November 10, 2014 at 9:22 am
Title: FROM THE AFTER
Word Count: 73,000
Category/Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Line: Entangled TEEN
Pitch:
First loves aren’t easy, but when Claire falls for a ghost, things get complicated. His past tears them apart, and to bring him back, Claire must fight against the dark side of the supernatural and a deceitful ghost who seeks to destroy her.
Excerpt:
Kitty jumped from my lap and hissed, her tail poofed up and back arched. I know that’s a totally normal cat thing to do, but it’s not a normal ghost thing to do. Kitty never wigged out like that.
“What’s with you?” I said. When I looked around my room, she was the only ghost I saw.
Instead of settling down, she hissed again, flattened her ears, and stalked toward the door. I set down my pencil. Geometry, my hot date for the night, could wait. I crept behind Kitty down the attic stairs and through the quiet hallway of bedrooms.
Teresa Richards · November 10, 2014 at 9:23 am
Title: EMERALD BOUND
Word Count: 78,000
Genre: YA fantasy/retelling
Line: Entangled TEEN
Pitch:
Maggie learns the true story of The Princess and the Pea when a 400-year-old curse claims her best friend after a spying attempt goes awry. To save her, Maggie teams up with a down-and-out princess to stop an enchanted, power-hungry emerald, also known as the Pea. Step one: steal life-sucking emerald without getting caught. Step two: Return it to the princess. Step three: decide if the handsome stranger who showed up to help is friend or foe. Lock-picking skills and Maggie’s amateur stalker status just became her greatest assets.
Excerpt:
It began like any other stakeout, or spy-by, as we used to call our combination drive-by and spying sessions: with Red Vines, Dr. Pepper, and my two best friends. The only difference was that now, at seventeen, we had a car instead of bikes (assuming you’re imaginative enough to call my crappy beater a car).
In truth, we hadn’t had much time for our old stalkerish ways since phrases like ‘SAT prep’ and ‘college applications’ crept into our conversations. Our plastic binoculars were long gone, and we hadn’t been on a spy-by in ages. But tonight, somehow, here we were.
Michele Lombardo · November 10, 2014 at 9:36 am
Title: THE PAST IS HISTORY
Word Count: 86,000
Category/Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
Line: Entangled TEEN
Pitch:
Despite the recent death of a friend, ambitious Rebecca Young trains hard to nail a dance audition that will deliver her from small town America. Her college applications need the boost. But when a team of misfit classmates decides her boyfriend is responsible for the death, her search for the truth incites the interest of a local cop and threatens to derail her lifelong dream.
Excerpt:
You can’t save other people.
That’s what I told myself. Jon and his friends crowded together on the far side of the bonfire. They shouted into the tangle of woods around us, laughed at jokes I couldn’t hear. The party had peeled into two – girls around the fire, boys in a rowdy knot just beyond.
A beautiful night. A party just for me. It was my 17th birthday.
Although if I were really calling the shots, Jon would be by my side, kissing my neck, sighing into my skin the way he sometimes did.
A beer bottle shattered against the squat stone wall that ran along Chess’s driveway, and the clot of boys cheered.
Heather Howland · November 10, 2014 at 6:24 pm
I’m wondering how the boyfriend being implicated/drawing a cop’s interest plays into the romance! Please send the full to my attention via our submissions portal, noting that this is a request from today’s pitch contest in the query letter.
https://entangledpublishing.submittable.com/submit/
Looking forward to seeing more!
Jessa Russo · November 10, 2014 at 9:39 am
Title: CHLORINE & CHAOS
Word Count: 60,000 words
Cat/Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Line(s): Entangled Select or Brazen
Heat Level: Very High
100-word Pitch:
Brandon was the swim champion.
Sage was the punk foster kid.
Their secrets nearly drowned them once.
When employment returns Sage to her home town, she unknowingly walks back into Brand’s life. She hasn’t believed in second chances since he broke her heart the first time around, and it’s taken years to move past the scars and regret.
The one love of his life, Brand sees Sage’s return as the opportunity of a lifetime—he’ll be damned if he lets her slip away again.
But as passion threatens their happily ever after, it’s all they can do to stay afloat.
100-word Opening:
Nine years away from this town, these memories, and the burn of the blade still seemed fresh on her skin, the raw ache of shame still gripped her heart. She’d moved on, moved away—there was no arguing that—spent the past few years making a name for herself, building a career . . . yet the scars remained ever-present in her mind.
A psychological demon she couldn’t quite tame.
No matter how far she traveled, or how much she grew, this town would always signify one thing for Sage Shepard.
Dirty little secrets.
Sheritha Singh · November 10, 2014 at 9:54 am
Title: Rescue Me
Word Count: 53, 000 words
Genre: NA Sci-Fi
Entangled Line: Embrace
Pitch:
Lana Gordon’s nearly done with her bucket list when she’s attacked by a gang of Fucktards. A dramatic rescue by sexy biker, Tyler Daniels, gets Lana’s heart racing – the last item on her bucket list suddenly seems possible.
Falling in love is the last thing on Tyler’s mind but Lana’s captivated him. Tyler quits resisting loving Lana until he discovers he was created in a science lab – he has no idea who or what he is.
Tyler leaves Lana and later learns she’s dying. He’s forced to choose between saving her or exposing the new breed of destructive living weapons.
Excerpt:
“You did what?” Bree, my best friend stares at me, stunned. A strand of spaghetti dotted with Fra Diavolo sauce hangs out of her fuchsia stained lips.
“I told my parents I want my trust fund,” I tell her calmly. “They offered it to me after I graduated and I told them I’d let them know when I needed it.”
Bree shakes her head and glares at me as if I’ve committed the ultimate sin. She sucks in the spaghetti. “You shouldn’t have been so hasty, Lana.”
We’re at a tiny Italian restaurant in Ballito — Pavarotti’s — Bree’s favorite eatery on the Kwa-Zulu Natal North coast.
Cathrina Constantine · November 10, 2014 at 10:24 am
Title: INCENSE & PEPPERMINTS
Word Count: 77,000
Category/Genre: YA/Historical Romance
Line: Entangled Teen
Pitch:
Amid a music and drug revolution, the Vietnam War spurs a young generation to live riotously, and fifteen-year-old Mary is determined to spread her wings. Mary’s first rock and roll party till you drop with the new hot boy, Michael Covington comes to a halt when she’s blindsided in a dark bedroom and cruelly molested. During the assault she faints and wakes up in Michael’s car. Bruised and beaten Mary’s a mess. When the gym teacher detects bruises on Mary’s thighs and arms, Mary fears for her reputation and, all accusations are leading to the boy she’s falling for, Michael.
100 word opening:
The corners of my bedroom had dulled to a muddy gray and the nightlight shed a subtle glow over the pages of my diary. I propped the heels of my bare feet on the bed frame and hunched over to write:
September 28, 1969
Six more days until I turn 16!!
I wiggled happy toes and continued: Candy promised me a make-up lesson. She said, “I’ll zap those ugly freckles.” I never thought my freckles were—
My brother spooked me as he leaned on my bedroom door. Glassy eyes floated in their sockets—high, again. “Whatcha doing, Sis?” Stevie’s words slurred as he wobbled.
Jamie Adams · November 10, 2014 at 10:26 am
Title: PREJUDICIAL
Word Count:64,000
Category/Genre: NA Contemporary Romance
Line: Embrace
Pitch: When Andee Leaver, current tutor and future ESL teacher, accidentally agrees to a bet with a gorgeously blue-eyed friend of a friend, she knows saying yes to everything is going to turn her quiet, hard working world upside down. What she doesn’t realize is that saying yes to some things always means saying no to something else, and if she’s not careful, she’ll lose not just the study-abroad position she’s been working so hard for or her chance at love, but herself.
Excerpt:
There’s something about a best friend who brings out your homicidal tendencies like no one else. It’s better yet when they don’t even notice.
“I already said I have no interest in going skating in the middle of winter,” I say, crossing my arms and giving Tessa my best drop dead look.
She tosses her wrapper in the garbage, arcing it perfectly, before shoving through the restaurant door and almost hitting me in the face as she lets it swing shut behind her.
“You also have no interest in doing things with other human beings at all.”
Heather Howland · November 10, 2014 at 6:27 pm
I’d love to take a look at this! Please send the full to my attention via our submissions portal, noting that this is a request from today’s pitch contest in the query letter.
https://entangledpublishing.submittable.com/submit/
Looking forward to seeing more!
HollyD · November 10, 2014 at 10:26 am
Title: Fractured Spirit
Word Count: 76,000
Cateory/Genre: YA Romantic Suspense
Line: Entangled TEEN
Pitch:
Sixteen-year-old Sierra Montgomery hopes her family’s latest move will end the constant feeling of being watched.
Sierra quickly settles into her new life in Ohio making friends and even crushing on the hot guy in her Geometry class.
Seventeen-year-old Riley Walker’s plans didn’t include falling for the new girl, especially one with all the baggage this one brought with her.
Good girl Sierra soon goes from victim to suspect when her stalker disappears. To regain control of her life and protect her loved ones Sierra may just have to break a few rules.
Excerpt:
Death, the coward, had dared to visit my family once again.
From my hiding place, at the back of the church, I watched as people dressed in their Sunday best, filtered in. Soon the only seats left were those reserved for immediate family. There were so many flowers that someone had cleared a path to the altar.
Two hundred people speaking in hushed tones filled the air with a steady hum. When it suddenly got quiet, I looked to my left and found Father Andrew standing only a few feet away. I sighed. It was time.
Melanie Stanford · November 10, 2014 at 10:45 am
TITLE: SWAY
WORD COUNT: 91,000
CATEGORY/GENRE: Adult Contemporary Romance/Retelling
LINE: Entangled Select
PITCH: Eight years ago, Ava made a big mistake: dumping fiancé Eric because she was scared of being poor, of her Dad’s disapproval, of getting married at eighteen.
Now Eric’s a successful crooner, while Ava has a Master’s from Juilliard but nothing to do with it. Their lives collide as they both return to LA. Eric’s determined to make her regret the past with his spiteful songs. Ava’s determined to ignore him by dating a hot actor.
But Ava’s feelings for Eric won’t stay buried. She must decide whether a second chance with Eric is worth risking her heart, and his.
EXCERPT: I didn’t know my own feelings. A medley of emotions played through my body, unidentifiable and messy. The wind blew through the open cab window, twirling my hair around my face, tickling my cheeks. I listened to the leaves rustling in the Royal Empress trees, the sound like a flute transposed to a lower octave. I let out a slow breath.
“We’re here,” the cab driver said, stopping the car.
Slinging my bag over one shoulder, I exited the cab and stared at Kellynch Mansion—my childhood home. The camel-colored stucco, stretched windows, even the ridiculous marble fountain were all ingrained in my very being.
Vanessa Barger · November 10, 2014 at 10:45 am
Title: CRY HAVOC
Word Count: 77,000 Words
Category/Genre: YA Thriller
Line: Entangled TEEN
Pitch:
Murder. Love. Madness. Betrayal. Rebekka Mark isn’t prepared to be worth nearly a billion dollars before her eighteenth birthday. But when her father is murdered, he leaves her everything. She’s the only one who caught a glimpse of the killer, and her mother is sleeping with the prime suspect. When Rebekka gets trapped on a Caribbean island with her father’s ghost and all the suspects, she must reveal the truth of what happened before becoming the next victim.
Complicating things are two boys who may or may not be the enemy, and this trip to the islands may just be to die for.
Excerpt:
Everyone should greet death with a smile. Robert Mark does just that, shooting me his famous, thousand-dollar grin as I walk into the study. My fingers caress the cool metal of the blade in my pocket. One fingernail catches the edge and snags. My heart races. But there’s no pain. I didn’t cut myself. That would be a foolish mistake.
I’m not foolish. No matter what others may think.
I will my heartbeat to slow. Don’t want him to hear it. He could, of course. The great Robert Mark can do so many things. Knows so many things.
Ah, but he doesn’t know this.
Heather Howland · November 10, 2014 at 6:29 pm
I’m wondering if you mean her father’s ghost in a literal sense, or more figuratively. Either way, I’d love to take a look at this. Please send the full to my attention via our submissions portal, noting that this is a request from today’s pitch contest in the query letter.
https://entangledpublishing.submittable.com/submit/
Looking forward to seeing more!
Vanessa Barger · November 10, 2014 at 11:04 am
Title: SHAME THE DEVIL
Word Count: 70,000 Words
Category/Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Line: Entangled TEEN
Pitch:
Verity Kline moved to Winter Harbor, Virginia after her father’s death to put her past behind her. All that is about to change. Everyone in town knows Verity is psychic, but none know the details of her life. Except Nathaniel Marshall, who moves in just before a film crew rolls into town to film a paranormal reality show.
The other participants think it’s a typical made-for-TV fabrication, Verity knows the truth. The spirits and a mysterious man known only as The Director want to further an unknown agenda. Verity must battle the darkness that killed her father, stay alive, and decide if the boy she loves may love her to death.
Excerpt:
Imaginations ran wild in a place like this. Creaking floorboards turned to clattering chains. Wind through gaps in the shingle siding turned to hideous moans of the damned. Something moved in my peripheral vision. I jerked, the beam of my flashlight bounced across the abandoned furniture. A wardrobe, one door missing, filled with gnawed fur coats rested against one wall. A couch, bowed at the center as if it carried the weight of a body, stretched across the other. Dust motes writhed in the light. The last inhabitant covered the furniture in white sheets, grown moth eaten and rumpled from years of neglect and teenage dares.
Wendy Knight · November 10, 2014 at 11:11 am
Title: Rocker Boy
Word Count: 64,000
Genre: New Adult Contemporary
Line: Embrace
Pitch: Levi’s rock star dream only came true because of his musical prodigy girlfriend, Alaska. But when his manager says having a girlfriend isn’t good for the band, she walks away, not willing to put his dreams—or her heart— on the line. Levi doesn’t want the dream if Alaska’s not in it, but it will take nearly losing everything before Alaska realizes that Levi is serious—he wants her with him or he walks away from the fame and the glory and the dream—for good.
Excerpt: Breaking up sucks. Levi was Alaska’s hero. Her protector. Her song bird. Her best friend. She couldn’t imagine a life she wanted to live that he wasn’t in. But it didn’t matter. Levi had a dream, and she was standing in the way. That meant it was time to run. And as anyone who’d ever met Alaska knew, running away was what she did best. Well, that and music. Music might heal her heart later, but running would get the job done now.
Alaska sucked in a breath.
She had to say goodbye to her soul mate.
Kristin Boldon · November 10, 2014 at 11:18 am
Title: TANGLED UP IN BLUES
Word Count: 71,000 words
Category/Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Line: ENTANGLED Teen
Pitch:
Sex and food engage all five senses. That’s why they cause such a ruckus for 17-year-old Sophie Nelson. Sophie has a brain condition called synesthesia. It’s weird, no one can pronounce it, but it’s not fatal. Words on a page, loud sounds, even food, take on colors and more through her crossed-wire senses. Head down, guard up, she’s done a decent job of blending in–till she meets Theo.
Surging hormones and her growing skill with baking spark a rebellion against her parents’ college agenda. When a rising chef offers Sophie a job, her future opens up.
Excerpt:
When the bell rang, I saw dark red spikes and tasted metal. The first day of senior year, one more year, of bell after bell after bell. Lather, rinse, repeat on my hyperactive senses. I flinched, not much, but enough. A guy across the room noticed. Nuts. Head down, guard up. Years of practice and I still could not fit in.
Instead of study hall, I’d been summoned to the Cave, aka the library, where a sign said “Peer Tutors 3rd Period.” Mom always said I didn’t have enough extracurriculars. Apparently she’d taken things into her own hands.
Elle Marlow · November 10, 2014 at 11:25 am
Title: SEDUCING HIS SENATOR
Wd Ct: 56k
Category/Genre: Contemporary
Line: Brazen
PITCH:
Shackled…
Senator Vivian LeMasters is Arizona’s favorite and most talked-about politician. Her ethics and sexy charisma might win over the voters—but not the ‘establishment.’ They can’t wait to see her fall from her pedestal. She can’t risk her career for anything—even love.
Scandalized…
Blackmailed into a plot to end Vivian’s career. Cowboy Bryce Barone is supposed to wrap the young senator in a sex scandal—not fall in love. Now he has to choose; seduce her for love or betray her for money.
Seduced…
Phoenix gets hotter when the sun goes down.
Excerpt:
“Thank you, thank you Arizona. I promise to make you proud…”
Patriotic confetti rained down over Vivian’s closing remarks to her constituents. The flurry of paper slightly distorted her view of the crowd that waved campaign signs and cheered with such overwhelming enthusiasm, she decided to step away from the microphone to gratefully take it all in.
She’d been unsure about running for a second term, but the outpouring of support eased a few of her doubts as she used her hands to make the shape of a heart. She lifted the heart high for all to see. Her signature move incited the crowd to stomp and clap so loud that the very stage bounced beneath her.
Laura Brown · November 10, 2014 at 11:29 am
Title: PERFECT TOGETHER
Word Count: 80,000
Category/Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Line: Entangled Select
Pitch: Stressed-out social worker Nica never dreams the Deaf man she brings home from a bar is a dying client’s relative. The closest she’s ever come to breaking the rules is adding extra chocolate to her brownies. One look at Cam and she’s tempted for a different kind of indulgence.
Cam was all but raised by his dying grandmother. He reaches out to Nica to help him cope. When an incriminating letter is sent to Nica’s boss, she is given an ultimatum, Cam or her job. Now Cam must fight against the letter and prove to Nica he’s worth the complications.
Excerpt: I NEED to get laid, Nica thought as she stared into her amber cocktail. Deceitful little drink, really. It looked harmless, tasted fruity, and was packed full of potent alcohol. Potent enough that she lost her common sense halfway through the first glass.
She was now on her third, scanning the room for a man to prey on.
She sighed and pulled herself up from her gloom. The bar was packed for a Tuesday night. Waves of chatter encompassed her, creating a low hum in her ears. Across the narrow room, a young couple flirted close together, clanking glasses.
Amber Weaver & Nikki Wallace · November 10, 2014 at 11:38 am
Title: Ascending from the Ashes
Word Count: 115,000
Category/Genre: NA Paranormal Romance
Line: Embrace or Covet
Pitch: Life isn’t all pie, stripping, fast cars or casting spells in the magical community. Friends must come together, keeping the magical society hidden from the “regs” while saving a friend from herself, and worse.
In Hibernia sits Orion’s Square, undetected by mere mortals. Elijah and Xavier Prideux, pyrokinetic brothers, must work through their differences in order to help their friends, Cat, Selene and Cassadee. Not to mention, deal with love and relationships, while keeping their stripping job hidden from their parents.
Ascending from the Ashes is written from multiple points of view, allowing a deeper sense of each character.
Excerpt: The heat and humidity pressed down on the county like a hot, wet blanket that only the King of Hell would enjoy. The air conditioning units hissed and whirred, trying to keep up with the heat of August in Indiana. A sliver of moon peeked through the branches of the old oak tree, illuminating a well-worn path coming from the forest and wrapping around the west side of the behemoth of a family home that had been sitting on the plot of land for over one hundred and thirty years. Well worn, but still loved, the faded brick mansion had been turned into a boarding house.
Janet Wrenn · November 10, 2014 at 11:39 am
Title: VEXED
Word Count: 85,000
Category/Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance
Line: Entangled Select
Pitch:
Kena’s mated to a Vodou spirit. Only she doesn’t remember. Hottie mechanic, Luc, shows up and pulls her from the Vodou Witness Protection Program, because he’s the one who put her there. As her memories come back so do her feelings for Luc, the secret object of her affection for centuries. And he needs her for more than a stroll down memory lane. Luc’s brother is possessed by a vengeance demon conjured by NOLA’s crime syndicate kingpin. But saving him means damning herself to a spirit prison in a loveless, arranged union with the very man she’s supposed to rescue.
Excerpt:
They say all the good guys are gay, dead, or married. I had one that was all three. Minor detail, I was straight, alive, and single.
There were worse things in the world than living with a fashion keen phantom who’s good at waxing. But that didn’t help me in the love life department. Yet, bound and determined AJ worked to fix me up with every eligible bachelor he encountered on his nightly haunts.
Okay, so he really didn’t haunt per se. He taught Zumba on Thursdays. Taking on corporeal form sucked his energy, so he only attempted it once a week.
Heather Howland · November 10, 2014 at 6:35 pm
I’m not in the market for a paranormal romance right now, but I had to let you know I’m in love with her phantom roommate based on your excerpt alone. Nicely done!!
Janet Wrenn · November 10, 2014 at 7:50 pm
Thank you so much, Heather. I appreciate your kind words.
Robin Haseltine · November 10, 2014 at 10:12 pm
Love your voice. Please send the full to my attention via Entangled Publishing’s online submissions portal. Please mention this is a request from today’s pitch contest in your query letter.
https://entangledpublishing.submittable.com/submit/
I’m looking forward to reading your book.
Robin Haseltine, Editor, Entangled Publishing
Janet Wrenn · November 11, 2014 at 12:10 am
Thank you Robin! I appreciate the opportunity!
Colleen Halverson · November 10, 2014 at 11:53 am
Title: THE CHILDREN OF THE FIANNA
Word Count: 119K
Category/Genre: Fantasy Romance
Line: Entangled Select
Pitch: When an ancient manuscript triggers her powers, Elizabeth Tanner finds herself in a centuries-old Faerie Civil War and at odds with the forces of Trinity, a secret organization composed of the three magical races of Ireland. To end the war, Trinity forces Elizabeth to take her Fae mother’s place in a marriage covenant forged a generation ago with the leader of the Dark Fae, Lord Bres. With the help of Finn O’Connell, an eighteenth-century Irish rebel, Elizabeth must find the strength to resist the magic that binds her to Bres or lose herself and the Faerie world to darkness.
Excerpt:
I slammed the last dregs of my coffee, the coarse grinds sticking in my teeth and the back of my throat. Kicking the door closed with my boot, I crumpled the Styrofoam cup in my hand. It clattered in the bin, and I took a tentative step toward my desk at the corner of the reading room. With a churning ache in my stomach, I braced the bottom of the archival box holding The Book of Arranmore inside, the slide of cardboard breaking the long silence of a Friday afternoon in the Celtic Studies Institute.
Please don’t be different this time. Please don’t be different this time.
Lori Ann Palma · November 10, 2014 at 11:58 am
Title: LEMON LAVENDER
Word Count: 82,000
Category/Genre: YA Contemporary
Line: Entangled TEEN
Pitch:
Since her sister perfect older sister took off, Lemon Lavender is expected to act less like her name—a lemon—and become more like a person she can’t be—flawless. And keeping Gavin Stuart a secret only complicates matters, because Lemon knows her father is watching every move and counting every mistake.
When a classmate reveals her secret boyfriend, Lemon is thrust into instant celebrity status on the school gossip blog. As the lies and rumors intensify, threatening her relationship with Gavin, she must decide: either live with the humiliation so her father doesn’t find out, or go to war.
Excerpt:
My best friend Isabel told me that our fight-or-flight response developed thousands of years ago, when people lived under a constant threat for survival. You might be peacefully perched on a rock in your morning loin cloth, gathering your favorite beetles for breakfast and humming the latest tribal hit, when a saber-tooth tiger roars, bolts from the brush, and bitch slaps you with its razor claws. That’s when the decision happens—fight (it’s a tiger, so probably not), or flight (the better option, even if only half your face is left). Fast forward ten thousand years: the jungle has turned into high school, and even though there aren’t any killer tigers hiding in bathroom stalls, evolution hasn’t allowed us to let go of that instinct, the one that forces us to make snap judgments for our own safety.
Cynthia Podgorski · November 10, 2014 at 12:00 pm
Title: The Blood that Binds
Word Count: 115,327
Category/Genre: NA Paranormal Romance
Line: Embrace/Indulgence
Pitch: What would you do if you were almost murdered, found love, kidnapped, and found out you had a case of Lyncropothy, A secret life and supernatural influence, will Zara choose to become the Alpha of the WWRD or live a normal life?
What would you do if you were almost murdered, and found out you had a case of Lyncropothy? This is what happens to Zarathine Davis. Elijah Norwak was her safety. She will soon find out that her father is the reason she was almost murdered. She finds herself in new surroundings. A place is called WWRD (Werewolf Royalty Den). Soon she will find that she was born into a very prominent family. The whole time trying to find out who was after her. In this epic 115,327 word 22 chapter, supernatural romantic tale.
Excerpt: When I was a little girl, I always thought that the moon and stars came out at night just to follow me and keep me safe. Until that one faithful night. I was getting ready to go out on a blind date with a man that I have only talked to on the phone. He seemed really nice. All I know is his first name and last name Elijah “Eli” Norwak. Our first and only phone call went surprisingly nice. We sat up a time and where to meet. I am supposed to meet him at seven o’clock at a local restaurant, and then if everything goes we are to see a movie.
Katharine Penney · November 10, 2014 at 12:04 pm
Title: THE RESURRECTION OF ALICE MAY
Word Count: 70,000
Category/genre: YA paranormal romance
Line: Entangled Teen
Pitch:
Scarred and lonely after a car crash, Evie thinks she’s going mad when she starts reliving someone else’s memories. Then Will, the grief-stricken boy from next door, turns up; he seems intent on making her life worse. Evie doesn’t know that Will is the host of an ancient entity involved in a centuries-old battle with the demonic Incarnates; he’s actually trying to protect her. But the Incarnates aren’t the only dark force pursuing Evie. As the net closes around her, she and Will face a choice between their own lives, and the lives of those they love.
Excerpt:
Drugs and head injuries all mixed up together do funny things to your brain.
Time and space and my body have fragmented, and my mind seems to have shattered in sympathy. I can hear the sounds of machines and voices I’m familiar with, the counterpoint to a constant current of fear and pain. Part of me knows I’m in the hospital. But somehow, I don’t seem to be there the whole time.
Sometimes I’m in the car, with Jules.
‘What the hell were you thinking, Evie?’ she says. ‘You can’t go to the party now – you’re bleeding again. And red is so not your colour.’
Emmalee Aple · November 10, 2014 at 12:49 pm
Title: NEOPHYTE
Word Count: 96,000
Category/Genre: YA Paranormal Fantasy
Line: Covet
Pitch:
Addisyn White takes a bullet intended for her friend, earning herself a pair of flightless wings and a family of dysfunctional angels.
Two years into her immortal life on Earth, a dark angel kidnaps her, only to die at the hands of her angelic family. On the brink of her first real relationship, Addi has enough drama adapting to this life without having to negotiate the seedy underbelly of angel culture. Once she realizes there are other Neophyte angels in danger, she risks her new family and first love to free them from the Fallen’s grasp.
Excerpt:
Honestly, they must have thought I was going to throw a celestial-sized party the minute they left me alone. They’d promised me some time to myself, and yet, twenty minutes later they were still skulking around trying to find ways to delay the inevitable. I’d been under almost constant supervision for nearly two years. An hour or two alone wasn’t going to kill anyone. So much had changed since I’d died and all I wanted was some time alone to decompress.
I sank further into the porch swing as the sun dipped over the California coastline, creating a cascade of colors across the evening sky.
Gina Hagedorn · November 10, 2014 at 12:51 pm
Title: COULD IT BE MAGIC
Word Count: 58,000
Category/Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Line: Red Hot Bliss
Pitch:
Seeking solace from her broken engagement in Denver’s high country, substitute teacher Isabella Stevens expects to spend the upcoming holidays completely alone. But when her attempt to ignite the magical hope of the season in a particularly sad student unintentionally sparks a ‘wish’ that can’t come true, Isabella feels obligated to join forces with Jordan Butler, to protect his orphaned nephew Tyler from further heartbreak. Determined to convince Tyler’s emotionally isolated uncle to provide a permanent home for Tyler, Isabella uncovers a shocking secret — and learns that love is more powerful than betrayal, and more magical than Christmas itself.
Excerpt:
Isabella Stevens’ heavy sigh echoed down the quiet hall of Snow Pass Elementary School. She stopped at the door of her first grade classroom and turned the key. Nibbling her bottom lip, she entered the room with a touch of sadness. This was the last day of school before the long weekend, and the concept of holiday depression came sharply into perspective for her. As a new resident in the suburbs of Denver, it would be the first time Isabella would be completely alone for Thanksgiving – and Christmas.
She glanced at the clock above the door. Seven forty-five. Her students wouldn’t be arriving for another thirty minutes.
Jennifer Galasso · November 10, 2014 at 12:53 pm
Title: THE LOVE SPELL
Word Count: 70,000
Category/Genre: YA Contemporary Romance with Magical Realism
Line: Entangled TEEN
Pitch:
Sixteen-year-old Ivy begins the perfect romance with Adam until he breaks up with her because of a love spell cast by his ex. With the help of her Salem witch friend, Ivy casts another spell to win him back. It works, until she realizes she wants Adam’s love to be true, not conjured from magic, but before she can break the spell, Adam finds out what Ivy’s done. Furious, he refuses to speak to her and Ivy fears for the future of their relationship. Then, when his crazy, black magic-wielding ex finds out, she begins to fear for her life.
Excerpt:
A glimpse of him was all I caught as he positioned the sandwich board outside the new café across the street. My heart quickened and I turned just as he looked my way. Not wanting to look back in his direction, I hung the flag and stepped inside. I peered out the frost-covered window, but he’d disappeared.
I sat behind the counter and grabbed my sketchpad when the front door flew open. A girl with hot pink streaks in her hair walked up to me, tears leaving a roadmap of mascara down her cheeks.
“I have a tarot reading with Luna,” she said, wiping her eyes with a gloved hand.
Jenna Barclay · November 10, 2014 at 1:52 pm
Title: FLIPSIDE
Word Count: 52,000
Category/Genre: YA Contemporary Romance with Fantasy and Historical Twists
Line: Entangled TEEN
Pitch:
Studying a bunch of dead white guys from history sucks, but when fifteen-year-old Everly becomes haunted by the mysterious disappearances and brutal murders of her classmates by day and all-too-real dreams by night, she realizes that history is anything but dead. Once she discovers that time is as linear as the world is flat, she must take an extraordinary trip where she struggles to keep the ugly stains of history from resurfacing and the present—including the only boy she’s ever loved—from becoming a distant memory of the past. Not bad for a girl who’s never really been anywhere.
Excerpt:
I’ve never been anywhere, unless you count Nebraska where my wild-haired insomniac grandmother lives, chain-smoking her way through Friday evening’s professional wrestling to Sunday morning’s televised sermon. I’ve never seen the clouds from the cramped seat of an airplane or dodged jellyfish on the shore of an ocean sparkling beneath the sun. The farthest I’ve been is 20 miles away on a class field trip, and I barfed on the bus ride home.
For me, it isn’t until the rest of the world sleeps that my travels begin.
In my dreams, I’m a seasoned globe-trotter. I have crossed the thirsty Sahara on camel back, sailed the volatile Bering Sea by fishing boat, and skied the fresh powder of the Alps.
Heather Howland · November 10, 2014 at 6:45 pm
Though Everly is a bit young for Entangled, I’m intrigued by your voice. The bit about her grandmother is fantastic! I’d love to take a look at this. Please send the full to my attention via our submissions portal, noting that this is a request from today’s pitch contest in the query letter.
https://entangledpublishing.submittable.com/submit/
Looking forward to seeing more!
Jenna · November 11, 2014 at 11:45 am
Thank you, Heather! I’ve submitted what you’ve requested. Please let me know if you need anything else.
Jenna
Silas Champion · November 10, 2014 at 2:21 pm
Title: Deadwood Gamble
Word Count: 73,000 words
Category/Genre: NA Romantic Adventure
Line: Embrace
Pitch:
Alice plans on a quiet spring break until Vance shows up with an old book. The book holds the secret to finding a lost treasure, but some bad people want that treasure too. Now her plans are: Find the treasure, stay alive, and keep Vance securely in the friend zone. Not necessarily in that order.
Excerpt:
Alice wondered if the perfect sorority girls at the next table would shut up if she dumped her drink on their table. Ugh, of all the days to forget her ear buds. If they gushed any more about their perfect sorority spring break plans, she was going to flip her own table. Sighing, she stirred her iced mocha with a straw. That was stupid. She was irritated with herself, not with them. It wasn’t like she’d ever do anything like that anyway.
She read Vance’s email again, looking for any clues between the lines. He said he needed her help with a book.
Carolyn Chambers Clark · November 10, 2014 at 2:37 pm
Title: LOVE ME, KILL ME
Word Count: 85,000 words
Category/Genre: Romantic Suspense
Line: Ignite
Pitch:
With the clock ticking, Captain Caitlin Stanwyck is on special assignment to investigate the deaths of twenty U.S. women who died suspiciously in a U.S. Military Hospital in Germany. The action takes her across Europe and Asia as she tries to unravel the mystery of why the women were killed and stay alive herself. Close behind and sometimes even in her arms, is Keller, bringing with him the threat of romance or death.
Excerpt:
Icy fingers of suspicion crawled up Caitlin’s back at the crowded Washington DC diplomatic party. Her internal radar flipped to full alert when her target for the evening, the assistant to the President of Zimbabwe, a man known for his attraction to young women, stepped into the line at the buffet table.
She opened her mouth to speak when a familiar voice intruded.
“I’ve got important information for you, Princess.” That low, smooth, resonant voice could belong to only one person.
Even without the words, she’d know Keller anywhere. Despite her anger at him, a tingle of excitement raced through her body. He stood so close to her she felt his breath warm and intoxicating on her neck.
Katrina S. Forest · November 10, 2014 at 2:43 pm
Title: WATER SPEAKER
Word Count: 57,000 words
Category/Genre: YA Fantasy
Line: Entangled TEEN
Pitch: Sixteen-year-old April Harding is a deaf athlete determined to compete in mainstream magical sports. Her biggest obstacle? Her new game partner, Travis. Sure, the guy might be great at signing, and maybe even a little cute, but his lax planning drives her insane. When several players mysteriously vanish from the game, April wants to find out why, but Travis keeps interfering “for her safety.” If the two of them can’t overcome their differences, not only are their careers at stake, but so are their powers and the sport they both love.
Excerpt: The pebbles had started growing again. I ran as fast as I could, but by the time I reached them, they’d blown up to the size of refrigerators and blocked the entire length of the playing court. Behind them, my opponent merrily dribbled the ball towards my goal.
Not now. Not this game. Focus on his weakness.
Right. Focus. I never had to tune out the screaming spectators; perks of being a deaf athlete. So I breathed deep and recalled my research on this opponent. His boulder-growing magic was nice and all, but it made him a one-trick pony.
Bran Bagley · November 10, 2014 at 2:49 pm
Title: ABRAZO
Word Count: 92,000
Category/Genre: CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Line: ENTANGLED SELECT/LOVESTRUCK
Pitch: After the death of her husband, Lillian Prescott thought she would never find love again. Until Russian dance instructor, Aras Rickus, enters her life, igniting a forgotten flame within her.
Haunted by past memories and plagued by the jealousy of her teammates, Lillian is forced to mask her growing desires for a man that now consumes her fantasies. However the moment she feels the warmth of his touch against her skin, her resistance begins to fade. From California to New Orleans, Aras literally sweeps Lily off her feet and leads her into a dance of passion and love that can only survive in the shadows of the night.
Excerpt: His name was Aras. That’s all I knew as Emily and I followed the receptionist down the long hallway leading to the grand ballroom.
Although my daughter had been performing for eight of her ten years, she lost her desire to dance the moment my husband lost his battle to survive. For over a year, she withdrew further into her darkness and away from a sport she once adored. Until one night, by chance, she turned on the TV. She had never heard of ballroom dancing until she began watching Dancing with the Stars. The moment she first saw the lavishly dressed couples gliding across the floor, a spark flickered inside of her.
Sarah Bailey · November 10, 2014 at 2:54 pm
Title: THE REN
Word Count: 98k
Category/Genre: NA/Contemporary Romance
Line: Embrace
Pitch: An artist, hired to paint in a Los Angeles nightclub, crashes into her first love, now an international film star. After nine years, she’s forced to examine decisions and relive her past. At nineteen, the answer seemed simple, even if the outcome wasn’t. At twenty-eight, Lizzie’s swirling in secrets and a history that could tear her world apart. Will she defy her instincts and satisfy her desires, or safeguard the life she has and walk away? Most people dream of second chances, but it’s Lizzie’s greatest fear. Will she succumb to her fears or risk everything to follow her heart?
Excerpt: Faith is a curious thing.
Believers walk bare-footed over screaming hot coals. Young lovers pledge their loyalty in passionate speeches. Families sit desperate vigils over sick beds, doubtless their fealty will be rewarded.
Many of the faithful have no problem in applying that conviction to themselves and the things they want out of life. Faith, after all, carries with it a blind certainty.
Generally that’s how it works, but not always.
* * *
How the hell did I get here? The job’s a good one, sure, but I’m not at all convinced it’s worth it. L.A.’s never been my favorite city, by any stretch of the imagination.
Ashley Jackson · November 10, 2014 at 3:02 pm
Title: Militia
Word Count: 67,000
Category/Genre: YA Suspense
Line: Entangled Teen
Pitch:
Jamison Walker likes sneaking around cyberspace with the girl next door, Hadley. When a new game leads him to overhear plans of a Russian terrorist, Jamison becomes the only one that can stop the terrorists from destroying his hometown.
Jamison and Hadley search for answers deep in the woods, among the ruins of plantations. Armed only with technology and the desire to save their town from being demolished, they come face to face with the enemy in a battle to retrieve the Script of Catherine the Great, an artifact that might be as deadly as it is clouded in mystery.
Excerpt:
The best he could hope for was that the voice of the girl he loved would whisper in his ear moments before he had to kill her. He knew he wouldn’t recognize her by the color of her hair or by the light in her eyes. Jamison Walker leaned forward and adjusted the frame of his glasses, careful not to let himself be distracted even for a second.
The underground passageway was dark, bathed in a greenish light, making it hard to see. He focused the lens attached to his headpiece. Back to the wall, not knowing what was around the corner, he held his breath, waiting for the right moment.
Anne Van · November 10, 2014 at 3:16 pm
Title: JIN IN TIME
Word Count: 60,000
Category/Genre: YA Fantasy Romance
Line: Entangled Teen
Pitch:
After being dumped by her boyfriend, seventeen-year-old Esme thinks things couldn’t get any worse, but then her grandmother dies. All she has left of her is an antique vase. Esme rubs it for luck and out pops a bowler hatted genie! Jin is handsome and dashing like her favorite hero, Darcy. Things are looking up. Jin tells Esme his wishes will bring love back into her life but there’s a catch—she must use a wish to travel through time to Victorian England and help him defeat his diabolical former master or she may never find love again.
Excerpt:
No one told me when Grandma died my life would be over, too. Like being dumped by my boyfriend Chris wasn’t painful enough. I take in Dad’s vintage ranch, aka my new home.
“Esme.” Dad pats my shoulder. “It’s good to have you home again.”
He’s lying. I point to his blacklight poster collection. “The place is like a time machine.”
Dad beams. “Brings back memories.”
Like the day he left me with Grandma. “It sure does.”
He gives me a weak smile. “You must be hungry. I’ll make dinner.”
Remembering Dad’s cooking skills, I hope he orders a pizza.
Gina Hagedorn · November 10, 2014 at 3:23 pm
Title: TANGLED RAINBOWS
Word Count: 50,000
Category/Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Line: Bliss
Pitch:
Rodeo Champion Jarrod Winston has returned to Sunspot, Wyoming to settle his grandparents’ estate. He is at a crossroads in his career and his life – falling in love again isn’t part of his plans. But after running into Kate Connor, his heart has other ideas.
Kate Connor has come to Sunspot hoping to find a quiet, uncomplicated existence – and heal from the personal disappointments in her life. After a trust-shattering divorce and a heartbreaking miscarriage, she doesn’t believe in happily ever after, and isn’t looking for one anymore.
Will love mend their fragile trust, or break it beyond repair?
Excerpt:
“A divorce?” Craig Beauman mocked her. “You’d be doing us both a favor…”
Kate Conner sprang up in bed, startled by the sound of crashing thunder. Outside, the weather was wild and windy, just as the evening news had forecast a few hours earlier. She tried to push the nightmare she’d been having out of her mind as she rubbed her eyes, squinting at the digital alarm clock on the night stand. Two a.m. Groaning, she reached for her robe, wrapping it around her petite frame as she sleepily found her way down the dark, unfamiliar hallway.
Lightning lit up the small hotel suite as she pushed the switch near the doorway.
Amanda · November 10, 2014 at 3:25 pm
Title: A Governess or a Bride
Word Count: 70,000 words
Category/Genre: Adult Historical Romance
Line: Scandalous
Pitch:
Sabrina is an amnesiac governess that is really her employer’s fiancée.
On her journey to meet her fiancé Sabrina is robbed, leaving her with amnesia. An advertisement for a governess becomes an assumption of identity.
Her employer is Jonathan, a respectable gentleman who has taken charge of his niece and nephew after the death of his sister. Jonathan is annoyed by Sabrina’s arrival. He had been expecting a bride, not a brazen governess meddling into his affairs.
Sabrina’s memory returns, however revealing her identity is hindered when her malevolent sister arrives pretending to be Jonathan’s bride.
Excerpt:
Pain encompasses every inch of her skull. She presses her hands to her head. Her left temple is sticky. Groaning and confused, she sits up. Torn open bags and scattered clothing surround her. She realizes not only does she have no idea where she is; she doesn’t know who she is.
What am I to do? Clenched palms drip pools of sweat. Tears stream down her face culminating in a burst of sobs. She rummages through her belongings. No reticule is found nor anything revealing an identity except a crumpled piece of paper. Unfolding it she reads the headline: ‘Governess wanted.’
Erin Molta · November 10, 2014 at 9:50 pm
Comment
Amanda, I’m a sucker for amnesiacs. Please send the full to my attention via our submissions portal, noting that this is a request from today’s pitch contest in the query letter.
https://entangledpublishing.submittable.com/submit/
Can’t wait to see it!
Jenny Siegel · November 10, 2014 at 3:37 pm
Title: A Good Girl
Word Count: 78,000
Category/Genre: New Adult Romance
Line: Embrace
Pitch: Charlie’s done her last walk of shame. Escaping to college she reinvents herself as good girl Charlotte.
Hiding her past is easy until she catches the eye of bad boy Dominic Hudson and he is everything she’s trying hard to resist. Charlotte fights against their undeniable attraction, not ready or willing to reveal her past and ruin her reputation. But Dominic is out to prove that good guys do exist.
Being good is hard and faced with temptation Charlotte is left with a choice: take a chance on Dominic and risk her heart or save her good girl reputation.
Excerpt: The bass vibrates through me as lean against the wall and try, without success, to stop the room from spinning. Out the corner of my eye I catch the curl of Lisa Myer’s lip as she sneers in my direction, before turning to her friend. “She’s the one I was telling you about.” Her voice travels over the noise, and I glare back. God, don’t they ever get fed up talking about me?
Because of my reputation they think they can say what they like. Bitches. At least after tonight I won’t have to deal with them anymore.
Dave Ferraro · November 10, 2014 at 3:38 pm
Title: Yokai
Word Count: 66,000
Category/Genre: YA Paranormal Fantasy
Line: Entangled TEEN
Pitch:
Yumiko was spirited away when she was seven. Since returning, she can see the supernatural monsters of Japan called yokai. But on her eighteenth birthday, the yokai lord of that realm will return for her, to devour her, body and soul.
Yumiko has become an expert at hunting down yokai, but when things go south, she finds herself working alongside a group of humans and yokai to try to save the world. But the very yokai lord she fears has wormed his way into her life in the guise of a handsome young man, and she has fallen for him.
Excerpt:
The water was still and black as oil under the moonless sky. Yumiko Sato stared straight ahead, into the open sea, as if daring it to offer up its secrets. She breathed in the cool night air, welcoming its cleansing touch.
Leaning against the railing, she watched as a man rushed along the deck toward her. Glancing up at the dark sky, her eyes lingered on the white luxury yacht. It was a beautiful ship, bone white, standing out starkly against the surrounding darkness, and she noted that many of the men onboard were scrambling about frantically.
Abbey MacMunn · November 10, 2014 at 3:40 pm
Title: VIOLET SOULS
Word count: 80,000
Category/Genre: Fantasy/science fiction romance
Line: Entangled select/Covet
Pitch:
While searching for clues to her past, shy single mum Bree Mills discovers there are aliens living on Earth. And she’s one of them.
For Bree, it’s pretty amazing, made more so by the man assigned to find her, violet-eyed Quinn Taylor, a drop dead gorgeous alien whose destiny appears to be entwined with hers.
But their intensely passionate relationship is threatened when Bree is captured by a sadistic alien who wants her power—a magical power she doesn’t know she has.
Excerpt:
Silence echoed around the empty waiting room.
What the hell had possessed her to think she could do this? Possibly the most important meeting in her entire life, and she’d chosen to come alone. Oh crap.
‘Brianna Mills?’ asked a woman, popping her head around the door.
Bree forged a smile, one she’d practiced far too many times. ‘That’s me,’ she said, her voice sounding a little too cheerful.
‘I’m Mrs Newman, one of the post adoption team members here. Can you come this way, please?’
Mrs Newman walked along the corridor to another room, as drab and unwelcoming as the waiting area, and seated herself behind a large desk piled high with papers.
Maggie Land · November 10, 2014 at 3:51 pm
Title: I Want You To Want Me
Word Count: 80,000
Category/Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance with a healthy dose of Romantic Comedy
Line: Entangled Select
Pitch:
Stirling Aylesworth has a problem – a psychotic, ex-fiance stalker problem. After a chance meeting with a handsome but shy police constable, she believes Fowey, Cornwall, might be the perfect spot to disappear. Unfortunately, she discovers small town life isn’t as idyllic as expected. Between wrestling with her feelings for PC Simon Landry, resisting his awkward advances, dealing with the jealousy of his deranged ex-girlfriend and deflecting the curiosity of the local GP, Stirling’s cover story is unraveling. And when the mysterious woman’s past finally catches up with her, things become really interesting. What’s a commitment phobic control freak to do?
Excerpt:
It was the white uniform shirt tied tightly beneath her breasts like a halter-top, a black lacy bra easily glimpsed underneath, which first attracted him to her. The police cap, knee-high black boots and loosely knotted black tie made her impossible not to notice. But the fact she’d just strutted onto the pub’s stage to a chorus of whoops, hollers and shrill whistles made her positively mesmerizing.
As Simon Landry watched the auburn-haired beauty grab the microphone and shake her groove-thing, he thought it might be possible he’d crossed over into some form of constabulary heaven.
“I told you! I told you!” The man standing beside Simon grabbed him by the shoulders and gave him a vigorous shake.
Magali Frechette · November 10, 2014 at 3:52 pm
Title: MY SOUL TO GIVE
Word Count: 60,000 words
Category/Genre: Adult Paranormal Mystery
Line: Ignite
Pitch:
Celina is shot by intruders who murder her husband, and she won’t survive the night. That’s before the demon Mekaisto offers her revenge. Determined to kill the people responsible for her husband’s death, Celina takes the deal, even though the cost is her life and soul.
Now Celina fears that Mekaisto has his claws all over her husband’s murder, and she isn’t just an opportunistic soul grab. Celina will have to decide if she still wants revenge or if she’ll betray a master of deceit in the faint hope of reclaiming her life and soul.
Excerpt:
Celina’s grin widened after the flash of lightning illuminated through the night sky. The thunder that followed made the window she held onto vibrate. The sound of the rain pounded against the windows in the kitchen as she continued to look out into the storm. Her husband, Thomas, moved toward her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
“You shouldn’t stand so close to the window,” he said with a gentle tone.
“Did you feel the house shake?”
“Another reason not to be so close to glass then.” He leaned his mouth in the nape of her neck and kissed her gently.
Lisa Evans · November 10, 2014 at 4:37 pm
Title: BLACK BIRD
Word Count: 82,000
Category/Genre: NA Post-apocalyptic Romance
Line: Embrace
Pitch:
18-year-old Oak embarks on her tribe’s rite of passage. To be successful, she must survive alone in the woods. Rab, a 24-year-old man from another tribe, shows up and tries to “save her” by killing the animal Oak was tracking. She is injured in the process, and furious at Rab for interfering. Things get even worse when he whispers about his feelings for her, which is against the rules of her sex-segregated tribe. Oak wants him gone. But when he leaves, she finds herself thinking of him. To be with him, she would have to choose to abandon her tribe.
Excerpt:
An ear-splitting growl cut through the trees and Rab lost his footing on the slippery path. His backside hit the ground with a muffled smack and a wave of pain shot down his spine. He rotated his neck to ease the soreness and his breath caught at movement over his left shoulder.
A girl approached an enormous two-horned beast with her hand extended. The animal’s hind legs teetered inches from a rocky overhang but she seemed unaware of the danger. Rab forgot his injury and jumped up, running up the hill while grasping for the bow at his waist.
Jessica Greene · November 10, 2014 at 4:41 pm
Title: TWO TEASPOONS AND A MICROPHONE
Word Count: Approx. 80,000
Category/Genre: Contemporary Romance/Women’s Fiction
Line: Lovestruck
Pitch:
Forget that twenty-four-year-old Regan Stinson doesn’t like animals or own the dog she gushes about as the host of Pet Talk — she’s on the path to becoming just like her idol, iconic radio personality Delilah Rene.
Set in Orlando, Fl., Two Teaspoons and a Microphone follows Regan as she struggles to balance reviving the family restaurant with the lie she’s created to reach her dream, all while juggling her rocky relationship with the local food critic and a chance meeting with sexy Food Network personality, Nick Bellingham, who, despite troubles of his own, could help Regan save the restaurant.
Excerpt:
I’m not going to say everything was perfect. It wasn’t. Still, for the first time it felt like I’d made a good choice. Taking over my dad’s restaurant had never been in my plans, but I did it and managed to hold on to my part-time position at the radio station. All things considered, it was going well until about half an hour ago.
At 3:00 a.m. the city of Orlando was cocooned in darkness, but the small strip plaza stood illuminated. Fire trucks and emergency vehicles lined the parking lot. The smoldering buildings were highlighted like a focal point on a dark stage. Strobes cut through the night, a visual metronome of red and blue.
Amanda Carney · November 10, 2014 at 5:11 pm
Title: FIRST FRUITS
Word Count: 120,000
Category/Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance
Line: Entangled Select
Pitch: In FIRST FRUITS, Parsley can read minds and it’s made her a target. As a natural born telepath who’s also telekinetic, she’s learned to hide who she is. To keep moving. She’s a nomad in a waitress’s uniform. This is how she survives until Jesse.
Jesse is a vampire. He lingers over coffee and steals her heart. But he has an underlying motive. Sent to evaluate and ultimately abduct her, he begins to unravel and in the end, makes the choice to pick a fight he knows he cannot win in order to save her life.
Excerpt:
“You’re late.”
I brushed past Kristen, ignoring her offended gasp as I clipped her shoulder. I didn’t apologize. She would assume it was intentional no matter what I said. I didn’t look at the few customers sitting at the counter as I hurried down to the cash register where Lou stood leaned against it, her arms crossed over her ample bosom as she talked with one of the locals.
“Well, isn’t that something,” she was saying, shaking her head. “That there’s gotta be some kind of record, Frank.”
The old man tucked his worn leather wallet into the back pocket of his denim overalls and nodded. “Biggest damn pumpkin in the county,” he said. “Maybe even the state.”
Tracy Blalock · November 10, 2014 at 5:12 pm
Title: THE DOCTOR’S BABY
Word Count: 42,000 words
Category/Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Line: Bliss Novella
Pitch:
A patient’s death during Dr. Sean Holden’s humanitarian work brings back tragic memories, and he finds comfort in the arms of another volunteer. But their working relationship extends past the relief mission to his practice back home in Texas.
Nurse Rachel Jensen finally has her life back on track after escaping a fraudulent marriage. She has no desire to complicate things by having an affair with her boss—though their attraction hasn’t diminished. But a surprise pregnancy threatens her hard-won independence.
Can Sean convince Rachel to reconsider marriage, or will he lose his second chance to have a family?
Excerpt:
“That shouldn’t have happened.”
Those were not words Rachel Jensen wanted to hear from the man she was in bed with. Especially not the moment she snuggled up against his naked body following a mind-blowing climax.
But Dr. Sean Holden lay rigid under her touch, his body reinforcing his regret. A muscle jumped in his jaw, and he stared upward, refusing to meet her gaze.
She hadn’t fooled herself that it was more than sex. She wasn’t expecting a lifetime commitment or a declaration of love—didn’t even want them—but a little affection and cuddling would have been nice.
TN Payne · November 10, 2014 at 6:00 pm
Title: BIRTHDAY DISASTER
Word Count: 56,000
Category/Genre: Adult Romantic Suspense
Line: Ignite
Pitch:
All Daniella Montgomery wanted was to spend a relaxing birthday at home. But when she mistakes Atlanta PD’s Malcolm Jones for the stripper her friend Jackie hired, everything goes downhill.
Detective Jones only knows how to go by the book. So when Daniella tries to undress him, he has no choice but to take her in. But when Daniella’s arrest links her to a series of homicide investigations, Malcolm finds himself breaking all the rules to save the woman he’s fallen for.
Desperate to prove Daniella’s innocence, the detective/ lawyer duo must identify the true culprit before it’s too late.
Excerpt:
“Girl, I’m so sorry I won’t be able to spend the day with you.” Jackie Brown, Daniella’s best friend, said as soon as Daniella answered the phone. Daniella shook her head in amusement at the guilty tone in her friend’s voice.
“Honestly, Jackie. It’s no big deal. I was just hoping to spend a relaxing day at home anyway before I headed over to Darrell’s for dinner. So stop worrying.” Daniella glanced at the clock. Since it was only noon and she didn’t need to go to her brother’s until nine that night, Daniella planned to rest the entire day.
Alycia Tornetta · November 11, 2014 at 2:26 am
This looks fun! Please send the full to my attention via our submissions portal: https://entangledpublishing.submittable.com/submit/ and list the contest in the query.
Thanks!
Carol Opalinski · November 10, 2014 at 6:01 pm
TITLE: Rescuing Riley
WORD COUNT: 58,000
CATEGORY/GENRE: Adult Contemporary Romance
LINE: Red-Hot Bliss
PITCH:
Can you give your heart to someone you don’t trust?
Riley knew his friend’s little sister was off limits but he couldn’t resist spending one night in her arms before deploying. Having decided to devote his life to the military, he told her she needed to forget him.
Meghan has been in love with Riley her whole life and still dreams of a future together. When he returns her love letters—unopened—she faces the truth and motherhood alone.
Riley is back but will he trust her when he learns her secret? Can Meg trust him again with her heart?
EXCERPT:
“Mommy, Mommy, Tor is in our driveway. I saw him, Mommy, I saw him.”
Meg pried open one bleary eye then the other. Her four-year-old daughter bounced up and down next to the bed.
“Thor? In our driveway?” Meg swept her hair back from her face and struggled to sit up. She glanced at the glowing green letters of her alarm clock and groaned. 6:05. Thor was one early rising superhero. Meg had spent half the night painting. She’d bet while she’d wielded a paintbrush, Thor had been tucked in his bed, sound asleep. “Is he out there right now?”
Heather Howland · November 10, 2014 at 7:06 pm
This sounds incredibly cute. I worry that there isn’t enough romantic conflict (what’s keeping them apart?), but the premise and the opening is too adorable to pass by. I’d love to take a look. Please send the full to my attention via our submissions portal, noting that this is a request from today’s pitch contest in the query letter.
https://entangledpublishing.submittable.com/submit/
Looking forward to seeing more!
Carol Opalinski · November 10, 2014 at 7:35 pm
Awesome! Thank you, Heather. I have submitted the full.
Francesca Grossman · November 10, 2014 at 6:55 pm
Title: THE TWO
Word Count: 64,000
Category/Genre: Contemporary Romance
Line: Bliss
Pitch: 100-word (max) pitch
Everyone knows THE ONE, but what about THE TWO? The one you Facebook-stalk at 3 am; the one you think about when you husband is snoring loud enough to wake the neighbors. The one who so easily could have been the one, had life gone differently.
When Stella gets divorced, her friends launch an impromptu, cross-country tour to find their TWO’s – hoping Stella might find true love in a sea of almost perfect. What unravels is smart, sexy and fast paced.
THE TWO reminds you there might be a sexier version of you, a few chapters back waiting to be reread.
Excerpt:
It was the middle of dinner and Stella was trying to get out of a hand job.
Dylan wasn’t going to give her an easy out, she was sure of that, considering it was the only kind of sex they had lately. He seemed to like it. She didn’t. Regardless, Stella could tell it was going to happen tonight. He took her out to dinner, a swanky, swathed-in-leather, completely obvious kind of place in West LA, and Stella had seen the look. The one Dylan always got on his face when he was feeling frisky.
Andie · November 10, 2014 at 7:01 pm
Title: THE SINNERS
Word Count: 60,000 words
Category/Genre: Adult (Hot) Contemporary Romance
Line: Brazen
Pitch: “Sons of Anarchy” meets “Anne of Green Gables” in wine country. Skyler Clark returns to the Russian River Valley to make award-winning wine, not to get caught up with her hopeless crush or his biker gang. Travis Maddox almost doesn’t recognize Sky after all these years. She left a girl, and now she’s the woman he has to have. He should be thinking of growing his custom garage and his motorcycle club, but every time they’re in the same room the icy vintner melts under the biker’s heated touch.
Excerpt: The Harley came to a stop in front of the feed store while Skyler Clark paid for her tampons and lip balm. She saw some fancy lotion by the register, and added that when she saw how torn up her fingers were from pruning vines that morning. She tapped her foot on the wood plank floor as the woman took her time scanning her purchase. When Skyler heard the door open and the clunk of a pair of biker boots, she forgot about her stuff and slid behind one of the displays. The woman at the register gave her a strange look, but Skyler held her finger to her lips, imploring the woman not to say anything that might alert the biker to her cowering behind a rack of magazines.
Alycia · November 12, 2014 at 8:04 pm
Travis Maddox is the name of the hero in Beautiful Disaster, so I suggest switching out the last name at the very least to avoid confusion.
Tiffany Berryman · November 10, 2014 at 7:04 pm
Title: THE SHADOW OF THE TURNING
Word Count: 120,000
Category/Genre: YA / Paranormal Romance
Line: Covet
Pitch: Loosely based on the Native American myth of the Thunderers, here the secrets are only the beginning. NJ is no ordinary state and this is no ordinary teenage identity struggle. Angels don’t always fall, sometimes they’re pushed. Past life nightmares, supernatural origins, and the impending date of a soul contract coming due. High school is the least of sixteen-year-old Brielle Archers problems. Choose her soul mate and the world might end. No big deal. Fall in love with her Watcher and she’ll lose her soul. So, there’s that. But when your mother bargains with your destiny and disappears, you might need some help.
Excerpt:
They say there is no mistaking the sound that death makes when it comes to call, but what if ‘they’ are wrong? What if this life is all just one big joke? Surely, there must be incidents when the unexpectedness of death’s arrival can obscure clarity while simultaneously lifting the guarded veil of that which we had previously believed to be true. Or maybe I had been dreaming this entire life from the very beginning and was already dead. Perhaps we were all dead- every last one of us- because that would certainly make more sense to me.
Heaven, this was not.
Allie · November 10, 2014 at 7:18 pm
Title: Free Pass
Word Count: 58,000
Category/Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Line: Embrace
Pitch: Laney wasted three years with a guy who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants. When she tries to kick him to the curb, Josh suggests she have a fling of her own. She’s speechless, but considers it when the fantasies of his hot friends creep in. She agrees to keep quiet about the status of their relationship until after a family celebration. When she stumbles into the arms of a guy not on her list of possibles, Laney knows who she wants to use her free pass with. But Josh screams that his brother, Jake, is off limits.
Excerpt: The pencil in my hand gave a satisfying pop when it pierced Josh’s bicep. He flinched away and the pencil slid out. Blood welled up in a tiny circle in its wake, the minuscule droplet anti-climactic compared to his reaction.
With the curses flying out of his mouth, you’d think I used a machete, not a #2. The cheating bastard deserved every minute ounce of pain I could inflict. Three years! I wasted three years on someone who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants for two weeks.
“Damn it, Laney! I screwed up. I didn’t plan to start something with Kara.”
R.S. Kovach · November 10, 2014 at 7:56 pm
Title: THE PIRATE KING AND I
Word Count: 71,000
Category/Genre: Historical Adventure with Romantic Elements
Line: Scandalous
Pitch:
He just wants her booty, but she’ll end up stealing his heart.
In 1781 Panama, housemaid Ana fears for an uneventful future. After pirates kidnap her in a case of mistaken identity, she prepares for the worst.
Playing the wholesome daughter of a Spanish admiral among rag-tag buccaneers, however, becomes the least of her concerns. Battles, a shipwreck, mutiny, and most unexpectedly, love are what really turn her world upside down.
When the truth threatens to end Ana’s adventures, it’s the secrets of the dashing Alestair Kincade, Pirate King of the Caribbean, that prove to be the most dangerous.
Excerpt:
All I can see are their boots, but I can tell these men are savages. They’ve been at it non-stop ever since they’ve broken into the manor: rummaging through drawers, overturning furniture, and occasionally ferreting out one of the residents from their hiding spot.
They found Señora Ayala, the cook, first. From the sounds of it, she tried to ward them off with one of her copper pots, but it didn’t seem to do any good. She was still screaming when they dragged her out into the courtyard. Only the harsh bang of a pistol could silence her.
R.C. Matthews · November 10, 2014 at 8:00 pm
Title: A Night To Remember
Word Count: 52,000
Category/Genre: Contemporary Romance
Line: Brazen
Pitch:
When Brett Montgomery attends a charity event, he’s surprised to learn that the Irresistible Women in History Auction is hosted by the woman he desired most other during college. Beautiful, sexy, and seemingly immune to his charms, Anna was the only woman to refuse him—but the only one he wanted to claim.
Anna Cosgrove has pledged to help her best friend in his mayoral pursuits by marrying him. But when Brett attends her charity event, she gives in to her own desires. For one night, she will be his. But will it cost her heart?
Excerpt: Anna Cosgrove slipped into the shadows of an alcove at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel and peeked around the burgundy gossamer curtains for a closer look. Her heart threatened to burst out of her chest as she ogled the man standing a mere eight feet away, engrossed in conversation with two others. Although the buzz of the crowded ballroom drowned out their words, she could still hear his hearty laugh. The sensuous sound resonated deep within her, sending delicious little chills racing down her spine. She closed her eyes and savored the moment; it had been too many years since she’d last heard the rich timbre of his voice.
Tracy Blalock · November 10, 2014 at 8:12 pm
Title: THE CONSEQUENCES OF THAT NIGHT
Word Count: 46,000 words
Category/Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Line: Lovestruck
Pitch:
A one-night stand leaves nurse, Nicole Madison, with a baby on the way. Single motherhood hadn’t been part of her plans, but she’s prepared to raise her child on her own. She doesn’t count on the clinic’s new doctor being the man responsible for her pregnancy.
Ricardo Alvera receives an unpleasant surprise when he discovers he’ll be working alongside the woman he shared a night of passion with. A divorce in his past makes him leery of jumping into another serious relationship, and his time-consuming job means that taking an active role in his child’s upbringing will be difficult.
Excerpt:
“Have you seen the new fertility specialist? He’s dreamy!”
Taken aback by the abrupt question fired in her direction the moment she walked into the New Life Fertility Clinic, Nicole Madison paused, the saltine en route to her mouth, suspended in midair. “I just got here, so no, I haven’t met him yet.”
A fourth reproductive endocrinologist, Dr. Ricardo Alvera, was joining the practice, but it had completely slipped her mind he was starting today.
And right now, she had more pressing concerns than the new doctor. Namely, trying to halt her stomach’s imminent revolt. She stuffed the cracker in her mouth, praying for a quick end to the unsettling churning.
Heather Howland · November 10, 2014 at 9:41 pm
Great voice! I’d love to take a look at this. Please send the full to my attention via our submissions portal, noting that this is a request from today’s pitch contest in the query letter.
https://entangledpublishing.submittable.com/submit/
Looking forward to seeing more!
J. K. Wise · November 10, 2014 at 8:25 pm
Title: FINE LINES
Word Count: 65,000
Category/Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Line: Entangled TEEN
Pitch:
Seventeen-year-old Kate Conner is a ballerina who knows life is filled with fine lines. She’s a recovering coke addict who knows that dance can save her, but it’s hard to stay strong when her friends keep pulling her toward her old bad habits.
She meets sexy and sweet Marcos. He seems like the perfect guy to pull Kate’s life in a different direction. However, he’s more a part of her old world than she realizes. Marcos is the heir to the Vega drug cartel. For his family, drugs aren’t a hobby or a fix. Drugs are deadly serious business.
Excerpt:
Your true self is the voice that tells you what you need, Kate, if you trust yourself.
Whatever, doc. My car’s convertible top folds into the boot, and as soon as it is down, I speed out of the clinic’s parking lot. It’s Friday rush hour, and I weave through traffic and play my music as loud as I can stand it. The Arizona sun lowers behind Camelback Mountain, casting the day’s final shadow over six lanes of palm-lined street. The wind and the speed and the music help me shake off Dr. Auerbach’s words.
Stephen Morgan · November 11, 2014 at 12:32 pm
I’d love to take a look at this! Please send the full to my attention via our submissions portal, noting that this is a request from yesterday’s pitch contest in the query letter.
https://entangledpublishing.submittable.com/submit/
Looking forward to seeing more!
Erin Spillane · November 10, 2014 at 8:47 pm
TITLE: The Cabin
WORD COUNT: 27,000
CATAGORY/GENRE: Adult Contemporary Romance
LINE: Brazen
PITCH:
Jake fought through a blizzard to get to his friend’s vacation cabin for a weekend alone, only to be dismayed when he pulled in to find Carly there. She’s the girl he promised he would never have, yet wants above all others.
Carly has always had a crush on her older brothers best friend, Jake, but she could never get the infuriating man alone long enough to see if something could happen between them. When a mix up leaves them stranded alone together, Carly’s resolved to finally seduce him.
She’d determined to move on after, but Jake has thoughts of forever.
EXERPT:
The small flames captivated Carly’s attention.
Back home in the city she had an electrical fireplace, much more reasonable but it couldn’t measure up to the smell of a real wood stove.
The hearth in front of her was small, but it would heat the living area in no time.
A forceful gust outside shook the window panes. The blizzard that raged around her would trap her for at least twenty four hours. The alone time was precious and she clung to days like that, when she could do whatever she wanted, even if all she did was hang out in bed.
Sara · November 10, 2014 at 8:53 pm
Title: GHOST OF A CHANCE
Word Count: 96,000
Category/Genre: Historical / Time Travel Romance
Line: Entangled Select
Pitch:
When actor Jason “Hart” Hartley purchases an English manor a stone’s throw away from his childhood home he begins a one-sided game of “how do you like me now” with the villagers he blames for his brother’s death.
Lady Eleanor Duntan, the infamous ghost of Ravensdell Manor, has spent centuries with only discarded books for company. Now she needs Hart’s help but must first convince him she is not a figment of his imagination.
Propelled back in time, trapped between past and present, Hart must ultimately choose between sacrificing Ellie’s life and the chance to go home.
Excerpt:
What the hell had he been thinking?
Jason Hartley skidded his Aston Martin, unapologetically painted Skyfall Silver, to an abrupt halt outside what he’d been assured was a stunning example of mid-sixteenth century British architecture, spraying tiny rocks in a dozen different directions.
Completely. Fucking. Mad.
With a groan born of ten hours on a plane, Hart unfolded his six-foot, three inch frame from the right-side of the car, pushing his sunglasses to the top of his head as he went. Rubbing the grit from his eyes, he retreated down the stony drive, turning back to survey his £20 million mistake.
Brittany · November 10, 2014 at 9:01 pm
Title: HOSTILE PLAY
Word Count: 58,000
Category/Genre: NA Romantic Thriller
Line: Ignite
Pitch:
Rayden Cirilli and her best friend, Anica, escape college stressors and venture to a Californian town, Knox Harbor.
Landon Willis, a mountain ranger, finds an injured Rayden, not Anica, living on the town’s mountain. Determined to help, he escorts her into the safety of his cabin. The chemistry is undeniable as Landon lets her into his life- and into his bed.
Trouble stirs up in town and the town’s people blame Anica. Except she’s missing and records of her cannot be found- as if she never existed.
As Landon uncovers the mystery, he finds something that not only puts Rayden in danger, but him as well.
Excerpt:
“Who are you?”
She held herself tightly in the overgrowth of the forest floor. Her brown hair tangled, an extension of the tree roots. Her holed clothing battered and dirtied. Her breaths shallow. She was alive.
He exhaled a deep breath. There couldn’t be another dead body found on this mountain. Not on his watch.
“Ma’am, do you need some help? It’s turning nightfall soon and unregistered campers aren’t allowed to stay out here past sunset.” Her eyes flickered opened. Ice blue, clearer than glass, in a heap of brown and moss.
Heather Howland · November 10, 2014 at 9:40 pm
I’d love to take a look at this. Please send the full to my attention via our submissions portal, noting that this is a request from today’s pitch contest in the query letter.
https://entangledpublishing.submittable.com/submit/
Looking forward to seeing more!
Carol Andrews · November 10, 2014 at 9:23 pm
Title: WAKE MOORE
Word Count: 90,000
Category/Genre: YA Fantasy
Line: Crave Teen
Pitch:
After a lifetime of rejection, emancipated Layla finally finds love in local boy, Henry, at the prestigious Adams Academy. But her inability to control her own energy, to stay within her body, and out of the frozen landscape of the Tesla dimension, forces her to keep her distance.
When Henry is attacked by vicious aanegetic catamounts, Layla must face the father she’s never known, steal the audesc, an energy transformer that killed her mother, and escape back to Earth to save her love. But if she is caught, her link between the two worlds could sap Earth’s energy, killing everyone.
Excerpt:
I dreamed of Adams Academy since I was seven years old, and all I wanted now was to escape.
I burst through the exit into the unseasonably warm air. The late blooming daylilies were still open in the garden, their soft petals glowing embers of orange and pink. A tall post lantern marked where garden met forest, soft moss path trampled to earth, root and rock at the mountain’s trailhead.
I stopped to take in a breath, drinking in deep earthen perfumes mixed with light dancing notes of flowers in bloom. I absorbed the peaceful atmosphere around me. It was magical here.
Jamie McLachlan · November 10, 2014 at 10:37 pm
Title: MIND OF THE PHOENIX
Word Count: 84, 000
Category/Genre: Fantasy Romance
Line: Entangled Select
Pitch:
Moira Del Mar is an empath–a person capable of reading other people’s emotions, thoughts, memories, and even controlling another person’s mind. She has been imprisoned for murdering her master and trying to escape.
But, when an empath called the Phoenix begins manipulating people into committing suicide or murder, the Elite seek Moira’s aid in the investigation. Moira is then forced to use her unique powers to catch the empath responsible for the murders. But her relationship with the enigmatic detective, Keenan Edwards, threatens to claim her heart while a new menace on the streets endangers her very life.
Excerpt:
Braxton, Fortland
January 7, 1903
On a clear evening night, Charles Darwitt sat contentedly in the back seat of his motor vehicle as his driver wove at a brisk pace through the streets of Braxton. A cloud of warm air coalesced with the frigid atmosphere with each breath that escaped his lungs and the darkening clouds above were a precursor to the flurry that would unveil later in the evening. But Charles was unperturbed as he had spent a pleasant evening between Mia’s luscious thighs. He was House Instigator of the city’s dream house, and his lovely young wife Estella–all of the age of twenty–was pregnant with their first child.
Lisa Cresswell · November 10, 2014 at 11:21 pm
Title: THE COLOR OF WATER
Word Count: 50,000
Category/Genre: YA paranormal thriller/romance
Line: Entangled Teen
Pitch: Life can be a little confusing when you’re dead and don’t know it. Sixteen year old Samantha thinks she’s trying to solve the mystery of who’s killing young women in the sleepy town of Beaufort, only the killer is way more than your ordinary psychopath. The blood-thirsty ghost of Blackbeard is to blame and now he wants her mom. With only the help of a two-bit psychic and the ghost of a young, drowned sailor she might be falling in love with, Samantha has to save her mother. But Sam has some demons of her own to conquer first; coming to terms with her own death.
Excerpt: It’s funny what you notice when you’re dying. It’s not your breath or your heartbeat, or the ripple of your mind slowly coming undone. It’s what you love. For me, it’s the color of the water. First, it’s green like bottle glass. Then it’s deep, dark blue-black, like a midnight sky.
The water seeps into my ears blocking everything else out. It creeps into my clothes, through the strands of my hair. It invades my nose, my mouth, and slides into my lungs, into my stomach. It envelopes me, claims me as its own. I’m going with it.
And then something jerks me back.
Shannon · November 11, 2014 at 12:12 am
Title: Scriptors
Word Count: 86,000
Category/Genre: YA Romance/Fantasy
Line: Crush Teen
Pitch:
Allie has lived her entire life thinking there was only one love for her. That was until she met Sebastian, a gorgeous and mysterious boy who insists he has more to offer than anyone else ever could.
They both share a rare gift; the ability to dream lucidly and turn the experiences into reality. When Sebastian pulls Allie into a world she didn’t even know was possible, she begins to question his intentions becoming confused, and losing the ability to distinguish dreams from reality.
Sebastian must face his own fears to prove his love for her is pure.
First 100 word excerpt:
Allie’s sleepy lids opened to a familiar scene before her. It was a long winding road, climbing over so slightly up hill lined with a thick fringe of pine trees. The ground beneath the green umbrella was a blanket of fine sand and browning needles, and the sweet smell of sap was inviting as she inhaled deeply; testing her surroundings.
Her dreams always began the same way. She deliberately scanned the forest for the moss covered concrete bench which set itself apart from the rich darkness of the woods behind it. Its heavy frame representing what has been and what has yet to come.
Sheritha Singh · November 11, 2014 at 3:43 am
Title: Rescue Me
Word Count: 53, 000 words
Genre: NA Sci-Fi
Entangled Line: Embrace
Pitch:
Lana Gordon’s nearly done with her bucket list when she’s attacked by a gang of Fucktards. A dramatic rescue by sexy biker, Tyler Daniels, gets Lana’s heart racing – the last item on her bucket list suddenly seems possible.
Falling in love is the last thing on Tyler’s mind but Lana’s captivated him. Tyler quits resisting Lana until he discovers he was created in a science lab – he has no idea who or what he is.
Tyler leaves Lana and later learns she’s dying. He’s forced to choose between saving Lana and uncovering the secrets behind his mysterious creation.
Excerpt:
“You did what?” Bree, my best friend stares at me, stunned. A strand of spaghetti dotted with Fra Diavolo sauce hangs out of her fuchsia stained lips.
“I told my parents I want my trust fund,” I tell her calmly. “They offered it to me after I graduated and I told them I’d let them know when I needed it.”
Bree shakes her head and glares at me as if I’ve committed the ultimate sin. She sucks in the spaghetti. “You shouldn’t have been so hasty, Lana.”
We’re at a tiny Italian restaurant in Ballito — Pavarotti’s — Bree’s favorite eatery on the Kwa-Zulu Natal North coast.
Jamie McLachlan · November 11, 2014 at 10:57 am
Title: MOONFLOWER
Word Count: 115, 000
Category/Genre: Fantasy Romance
Line: Entangled Select
Pitch:
Two sisters: one is blessed by Life, and the other is blessed by Death.
Eeva, the twin blessed by Life, has been revered by everyone in Naelmeira, yet her life has always been dictated by the Oracle. But, when the rulers assign a shapeshifter as her guardian, Eeva’s life becomes a constant struggle between what she wants and what she’s instructed to do.
Ebony has been blessed by Death, and all she has ever known is resentment. Then, an elemental magus appears in her life, and she becomes torn between her childhood desire for acceptance and years of acquired cynicism.
Excerpt:
Prologue
In the gloom of the cold wintry night, the whickering of the horses on a modest farm interrupted the usual quietude of darkness as the presence of supreme power stirred in the air. Every animal cowered in confusion as their unbridled fear was accompanied by euphoric veneration for the two Immortals who appeared within the undisturbed farmhouse. The owners remained deep within the clutches of slumber in their bed, but their bodies were aware of Life and Death standing in close proximity. Their skin prickled as if Death himself had left a trail of gentle caresses across their limbs, and their blood hummed to the cadence of Life’s melodic voice.
Sara Jo Cluff · November 11, 2014 at 11:56 am
Title: AWKWARD ANONYMOUS
Word Count: 75,000
Category/Genre: YA Contemporary
Line: Entangled Teen
Pitch:
When Cassidy’s swoon-worthy crush is snatched away by her bullying archenemy, she wishes she had enough self-confidence to slap the stuck-up tyrant right off her overly-jeweled pedestal. Luckily, her best friend is an aspiring life coach with a plan to help Cassidy achieve her goals. With the aid of the 12-Step Confidence Intervention Program, Cassidy must overcome her social fears and learn to accept herself in order to win back her crush and end her bully’s time in office once and for all.
Excerpt:
As my boyfriend and I stood in a pool of my own vomit, I knew it wouldn’t end well. When I woke up with a giant knot in my stomach, I almost cancelled my date with Seth. But I wanted to end it with him before my nerves got the better of me. So far, Nerves: 1, Cassidy: 0.
My best friend, Veronica, told me to break up with Seth. It was number one on her stupid 12-Step Confidence Intervention Program. In theory, yeah, it made sense as she explained it to me. Seth and I had reached Act III in our relationship and it was starting to feel like more of a tragedy than a fairytale.
Kelly Hirt · November 11, 2014 at 2:21 pm
Comment
Kelly Hirt · November 11, 2014 at 2:30 pm
Title: The Village
Word Count: 52,000
Genre: Contemporary Adult/ LGBT
Line: Bliss
Pitch: Prompted by sudden news of their best friends moving, long-time couple and adoptive mothers, Audrey and Lauren, go to extraordinary lengths to provide an extended family for their son. Jamie’s high-intelligence, social awkwardness, and characteristics that present as Autism, prove to be too much for his neighborhood school. Adoption, surrogacy, LGBT families, and advocating for those you love, are themes throughout this unique story. These smart and likeable characters discover how blood might be thicker than water, but it has almost nothing to do with family. If you like The Bravermans or The Fosters, you’ll fall in love with The Village.
First 100 words: “Kimberly and I are moving.” “You’re doing what?” I paused and then took a slow sip of my wine as my heart tried to catch up with this news filling my head. I looked directly at Julie and then at the others dining at the table. I wanted to add “you must be kidding” but I could tell by the expression on her face, that she wasn’t. “We’re moving to Oregon.” The words shot from her mouth as though she had to release them or risk imploding. “It’s not right away, but we wanted to let you know about our plans.”
Laura Diamond · November 11, 2014 at 3:36 pm
Title: BEAT
Word Count: 70,000
Genre: YA psychological thriller
Line: Entangled Teen/Crush Teen
Pitch: Seventeen-year-old heart transplant recipient, Adam Gibson, must pair up with a snarky artist to fight the demons in his mind if he’s to survive the psychological torment of someone dying so he can live.
First 100 words:
It’s hard to muster up joy and awe when all I’m doing is waiting for someone to die so they can give me their heart. Anything we do—whether it’s a weekend trip to the city, having front row tickets for a concert, or celebrating another week of life with a hot fudge sundae—all it amounts to is killing time.
And all I want is more time.
But not like this. I want healthy time. So I can live my life.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
I press a palm to my chest and sigh.
It’s bad enough I was born with a bum ticker.
Heather Howland · November 15, 2014 at 11:20 am
I’m not entirely sure I understand the conflict in the story, but I love the voice and the struggle this character must be going through. Please send the full to my attention via our submissions portal, noting that this is a request from today’s pitch contest in the query letter.
https://entangledpublishing.submittable.com/submit/
Looking forward to seeing more!
Laura Diamond · November 17, 2014 at 4:54 pm
Yay! Thanks, Heather! 🙂
Kimmy :) · November 11, 2014 at 3:38 pm
Title: LOST REPUTATION
Word Count: 75,000
Category/Genre: YA Contemporary
Line: Entangled TEEN
Pitch: Casey Hayes writes the conspiracy theory column for her high school newspaper. She thrives on the thrill of uncovering the facts—until she gets tangled up in a scandal.
When she exposes a teacher’s shameful secret, threats start, demanding she stop spreading the vicious rumors. Casey blows it off and keeps writing. Even sexy Victor Cruz, the hot senior with the adorable accent, fails to convince her to keep her mouth shut. But things only get worse as she ignores the warnings, and soon, Casey must decide if exposing the truth is more important to her than her life.
Excerpt: The dead brown rat hanging in my locker didn’t scare me. But my veins heated and my cheeks burned as I watched blood run down the thing’s jaw and drip onto my brand new Nike sneakers. I untied the string holding it up, grabbed its hairless pink tail, and flung it over my shoulder. The scream of the sophomore behind me when it landed at her feet echoed my own feelings.
I wanted to scream, too.
But with four older brothers to beat on me, I was used to pranks and threats and all kinds of bullshit.
Gina · November 11, 2014 at 4:39 pm
Title: SWEET SURRENDER
Word Count: 53,000
Category/Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Line: Red Hot Bliss
Pitch:
Who wins in a war of wills between a man who makes an impossible vow to a dying friend, and the woman who considers him her lifelong enemy?
Braden James has vowed to protect Jacob Dodge’s legacy and look after his long-absent daughter Gracie.
Spurned by her father, Gracie Dodge has finally returned home, determined to put Braden in his place and claim what’s hers.
A short-term marriage of convenience is their only option in accomplishing their goals and bringing about peace.
But will long-buried secrets keep them both from claiming what they truly want, and need, in the end?
Excerpt:
Through the rainy service, Braden James watched her. Gracie Dodge. The polished writer from New York – cooler than the Rocky Mountain weather, sharper than the peaks that outlined the cemetery. And even more
beautiful than the last time he’d seen her. Gracie had said she was coming home, even reserved a room at the Lodge, but he was surprised she’d actually shown. Why was she here now, when her father no longer needed her? He had hoped his phone call would be enough.
He should have known better.
As if feeling his scrutiny, Gracie looked up, catching his stare. Braden’s thoughts stalled, his blood pounded through his veins.
Alycia Tornetta · November 12, 2014 at 8:13 pm
This looks fun! Please send the full to my attention via our submissions portal: https://entangledpublishing.submittable.com/submit/ and list the contest in the query.
Thanks!
Gina Hagedorn · November 12, 2014 at 9:21 pm
Thanks so much for the opportunity, Alycia! 🙂
Anne · November 11, 2014 at 7:58 pm
Title: The Seder Incident
Word Count: 90,000
Genre: New Adult Contemporary
Line: Lovestruck
Pitch:
25-year-old Ayla Berg decides to reassess her life while contemplating a job offer from an elite Manhattan Synagogue.
During her reflection she realizes something important has been missing from her day-to-day activities—romance. On a whim, she buys a one-way ticket to London after seeing an advert for an awesome “one day only” European sale on Expedia.
With only a tiny blue suitcase under her arm, Ayla jets off across the pond in a desperate attempt to find love. But she gets much more than love when she meets Jeremiah, the perfect “Jewish” Mr. Darcy.
Excerpt:
I feel asleep at a Seder once.
No, that’s not right. I feel asleep twice actually…at the same Seder. That was two months ago and my Mother still hasn’t forgiven me. In fact, she hasn’t spoken to me since then. I must admit though, it’s nice to be free of her for a short while. I’ve not been nagged about who I’ve gone out with or what his last name was for nearly 45 days now…and it’s lovely. I feel free and liberated. Which is probably why I allowed my roommate Daniella to drag me to this dive karaoke bar in Brooklyn.
Christy Newton · November 11, 2014 at 8:45 pm
Title: Naturally Enchanted
Word Count: 50,000 words
Category/Genre: New Adult Fantasy Romance
Line: Entangled Select
Pitch:
All Ezra Ravenhart ever wanted was to feel the magic of love, but a man had yet to give her that mystical feeling. No man except handsome, Owen Cooper the big lying jerk from Chicago.
When Owen hears about a real-life witch posing as an herbalist on Mango Cove, it may be the story of a lifetime he’s after. The island can be a dangerous place for outsiders, so after Owen gets hurt, Ezra may be the only person that can heal him. Undercover as a ship-wrecked tourist, he finds that witch or not, Ezra has him under her spell.
Excerpt:
A warm, floral breeze tickled the strands of beads hung in the doorway sending a cascade of color throughout Mystic Herbs. With a smile, Ezra Ravenhart removed the bottle of catnip from the lowest shelf. As she turned around an anxious sensation accompanied by a sudden burst of energy took her by surprise. The bottle slipped through her fingers and even though the glass didn’t break, most of the greenish-brown herb ended up scattered over the countertop.
“Sneaking into the love vine?”
Ezra grabbed a paper towel from the drawer. “No, Grana.” Still a bit shaken, she funneled the herb back into the container.
Amanda M. · November 11, 2014 at 9:46 pm
Title: LULLABY OF BEASTS AND ROSES
Word Count: 74,000 words
Category/Genre: YA Contemporary Fantasy
Line: Entangled TEEN
Pitch:
When Lunabella Boutte turns sixteen, beasts come to kidnap her. Once at their castle, Lunabella searches for clues on why their dead Queen wanted her. But she can’t seem to get the mysterious and infuriating beast-prince, Scorpio, out of her mind enough to stay focus, whose stories threaten to steal her heart. What’s worse is beasts and servants keep turning up dead with gouged-out eyes.
If Lunabella has any hope of staying alive and finding why she’s connected their world, she’ll need to get her hands bloody. Or else she’ll become the next victim with gory holes for eyes.
Excerpt:
They took my mother ten years ago. Tonight they’re coming for me.
I creep across the moaning floorboards of the orphanage careful not to awaken any of the other sleeping girls. I’m thankful that Elodie, the nine or ten-year-old girl in one of the dozen or so beds, snores loud enough to wake the buried copses in the graveyard next to the orphanage. Her torn dolly handmade by her grandmother has fallen to the floor beneath her bed once again. I pick it up—pitying the dolly’s missing arms and patchy head of red sting hair. With careful steps over the wooden boards, I place it gently next to Elodie’s sleeping form.
Heather Howland · November 15, 2014 at 11:13 am
Intriguing! Please send the full to my attention via our submissions portal, noting that this is a request from today’s pitch contest in the query letter.
https://entangledpublishing.submittable.com/submit/
Looking forward to seeing more!
Amanda M · November 15, 2014 at 4:18 pm
Thank you so much for the opportunity, Heather! 🙂
Krista McLaughlin · November 11, 2014 at 10:35 pm
Title: SILENT BEAUTY
Word Count: 50,000
Category/Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Line: Entangled Teen
Pitch:
Seventeen-year-old Alanna Merrick is the only deaf girl in her school. Her plan is to pretend she’s invisible, until she sees Jared becoming a football player’s punching bag.
When Jared becomes paired with her as the only way she’ll pass math, she accepts him. Jared makes her laugh as he struggles to win her over with sign language and watching Star Trek. Yet her lack of hearing is a burden. Alanna is afraid of opening herself up. Alanna will have to be vulnerable to love Jared, her prince charming with Trekkie tees and his own past of abuse.
Excerpt:
The ball collided with my head, knocking me to the waxed floor. Yeah, yelling at the deaf girl to move as a ball came at her… not the best plan. I should have been watching the balls instead of practicing my lip-reading skills.
“Sorry Alanna!”
I sat up and rubbed the sore spot. There was a reason I didn’t wear my hearing-aids during gym class. No one came running to make sure I was okay. No big surprise there. I straightened my dark blue gym shorts and stood up. My feet took me straight to the bench. I assumed getting hit in the head meant I was “out”.
Heather Howland · November 15, 2014 at 11:10 am
The hero sounds adorable in this. Please send the full to my attention via our submissions portal, noting that this is a request from today’s pitch contest in the query letter.
https://entangledpublishing.submittable.com/submit/
Looking forward to seeing more!
Kara Marshall · November 12, 2014 at 9:34 am
Title : MISTLETOE MADNESS
Word Count : 51000
Category/Genre : Adult Contemporary Romance
Line : Lovestruck
Pitch
ER doctor Cara Jennings has hated Christmas ever since her beloved Alex was killed. And this year sucks more than usual with her On-Off relationship heading for the rocks and the ghosts of Christmas past refusing to be laid to rest. Now she also has her guilty conscience to deal with. A foolish one night stand with her old friend has shaken her up but now her Ex is trying to win her back just as Rory turns up to work in the ER. Yet Rory has enough problems of his own and is it ever worth risking their friendship?
Excerpt
“Page the OR.”
Dr Cara Jennings stopped dead at the deep familiar voice.
It couldn’t be him. Not here in the ER. Was this a joke?
But her goosebumps and skittering pulse proved it was definitely him. The only guy who’d ever made her lose her mind plus every stitch of clothing she’d been wearing – but for one night only. One too many. Rory O’Neill should come with a health warning. This man will drive you wild and over-ride every inhibition you ever had. Keep clear!
She couldn’t be more shocked if Santa himself appeared. Hadn’t Rory been heading off overseas, somewhere far away from her and their naughty little secret?
Kim Pierson · November 12, 2014 at 9:55 am
Title: The Dear Jane Letters
Word Count: 77,000
Category/Genre: YA Contemporary (1980s) Northanger Abbey retelling
Line: Entangled TEEN
Pitch:
After winning a lead role in her high school musical, Kate Fielding’s status gets a major upgrade. She has a cool new best friend, all kinds of attention from Alex Cooper, lighting guy extraordinaire. . . and jealous castmates probing for signs of weakness.
Not that Kate’s weakness is hard to spot.
See, Kate isn’t exactly the superstar singer the director thinks she is. She can’t even carry a tune. But she’s not about to let her dream role fade away. She has a plan. And a partner. With a little work, and Alex to shine the spotlight, she might just succeed.
Excerpt:
Kate wasn’t proud of herself for thinking it, but the freshman on stage really needed to stop grinning and head back to her seat.
Not that Kate didn’t understand what the girl was feeling. Up on stage for what might have been her first time ever, the girl had finished her piece and was now basking in the spotlight, warm as sunshine on her face. What kind of awful person wouldn’t let her have her moment?
Kate’s answer came by way of a whisper from a few rows behind her.
“That’s a pretty big smile from someone who managed to completely screw up her audition.”
Dana Faletti · November 12, 2014 at 11:15 am
Title: Beautiful Secret
Word Count: 80,000
Category/Genre: Romance/Women’s Fiction
Line: Entangled Select
Pitch:
After her beloved grandmother’s death, Tatiana travels to Europe to learn more about the scandalous secret her Nana waited a lifetime to disclose. More than simply a fact-finding mission, the trip will be a brief respite from Tatiana’s own troubles, including her failing marriage. Tatiana anticipates a connection with distant family, a glimpse into Nana’s early memories. What she doesn’t expect is to become entangled in a love that’s as deep as it is forbidden. Tatiana not only discovers a shocking conclusion to her grandmother’s secret, but unearths pieces of herself that hold the key to experiencing joy.
Excerpt:
Tate squinted through tired eyes at the archaic stone structures along the left bank of the river Seine. Here she was in the most romantic city in the world with centuries old sights to take in, a mammoth’s share of culture at her feet, and all she wanted to do was get on with this boat ride and get to Revin, the provincial town where Nana’s best friend waited on her. Goosebumps bubbled up on her bare shoulders as she imagined the stories, the photographs that Zia Luisa might share. Sure, modern day Paris was a sight, but what she really wanted was an excursion into the memories of her beloved Nana.
Andrea Stanet · November 12, 2014 at 6:10 pm
Title: Umbra’s Shadow
Word Count: 41,000 words
Category/Genre: NA Urban Fantasy
Line: Covet
Pitch:
Merc—a 22-year-old shape-shifter unlike any other—can take the form of almost any living creature. Orphaned, she does not remember her origin, her parents, or her true form. The mercenary thief/spy has made a name for herself rescuing changelings—human/faery hybrids.
Her reputation leads Dúl, the sexy, raven-haired Shadow Court emissary, to offer Merc the job of a lifetime: rescue the king’s lieutenant.
The lucrative opportunity that promises an escape from poverty thrusts her into a labyrinth of intrigue, danger, and romance. Once deceptions unravel, will Merc embrace the Shadows and the fey that captured her heart?
Excerpt:
The brown girl with the wild hair sat in the corner of a dusky bar with a couple, the woman of the duo breaking down in tears. Soft rhythm and blues streamed from the jukebox. The bar’s patrons, if they noticed the poignant scene at all, ignored it. The girl leaned forward to pat the woman’s knee. Achingly compassionate.
Staring out the penthouse window of his Manhattan office, the king couldn’t shake the image of the girl he’d spent the evening observing from the shadows. What he wouldn’t do to be on the receiving end of that comforting touch.
Harriet Hale · November 12, 2014 at 8:54 pm
Title: Unrequited
Word Count: 81,000
Category: Romantic Suspense
Line: Entangled Select
Pitch: Small-town heiress Maggie Mathis doesn’t need a bodyguard. Yes, she has a stalker sending her flowers, but a hired goon will only make it worse. She can handle it on her own.
After a shooting, FBI agent Gray Harper is trying to reclaim his life. Surreptitiously guarding his best friend’s stubborn sister isn’t going to help.
But when Maggie needs a husband to inherit her fortune, Gray volunteers for another temporary job. The thwarted stalker escalates, threatening Maggie’s life.
Will a temporary arrangement result in permanent changes, or will it be too late?
Excerpt:
A guy walks into a bar … .
Every lame joke Graham Harper could remember flitted through his head as he stood just inside the door of Orrin’s Bar. He was as tired as those overused punch lines.
Instead of boarding a plane with a week’s worth of clothes and his tux in an easy to roll carry-on, he’d spent five days in a moving van with all his portable belongings, like a turtle. The worn suspension had rattled every bone in his body, and the springs in the seat had been poking him in the ass since Montana’s eastern border.
Heather Howland · November 15, 2014 at 11:07 am
I love your voice in the sample! Please send the full to my attention via our submissions portal, noting that this is a request from today’s pitch contest in the query letter.
https://entangledpublishing.submittable.com/submit/
Looking forward to seeing more!
Harriet Hale · November 15, 2014 at 4:57 pm
Thanks for the opportunity, Heather!
Marie Lark · November 13, 2014 at 4:26 pm
Title: JULIE AND JESSE TAKE THE TWIN CITIES
Word Count: 79,000
Category/Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Line: Embrace
Pitch: Scrambling to settle herself and her daughter after a move, Julie hires Jesse to babysit for the summer. A recent addition to her extended family, Jesse is the only person Julie knows in Saint Paul. Without his help, Julie could end up back where she started—on her parents’ doorstep, broke, with her kid in tow.
Jesse has barely begun the long climb back from an early end to a promising hockey career, but he can recognize a chance when it’s offered. In seizing the one Julie gives him, he can maybe get hockey back. He might even get the girl.
Excerpt: The rhythmic thump of a ball striking drywall and rolling across the floor may as well have been nails on a chalkboard. Up to her elbows in a box of her daughter’s winter clothes, Julie tried to tune it out. But the thumping had started at about nine that morning and her alarm clock said it was now eleven.
“Charlotte, could you please find something else to do for a while?” she called out to the living room.
Charlotte didn’t answer—but Charlotte hadn’t really answered any of Julie’s direct questions since they’d piled into a U-Haul and driven across the state border three days ago.
Heather Howland · November 15, 2014 at 11:06 am
HOCKEY!! My favorite. Please send the full to my attention via our submissions portal, noting that this is a request from today’s pitch contest in the query letter.
https://entangledpublishing.submittable.com/submit/
Looking forward to seeing more!
Tina Ellery · November 13, 2014 at 11:45 pm
Title: GREED & JEALOUSY
Word Count: 90,000
Category / Genre: Adult Contemporary
Line: Entangled Select
Pitch:
Plucky jewelry designer Tova Hudson wants to get laid. Well that – and for her marriage to work. Disillusioned she meets Neil Hamilton, a P.I. who makes her question the vow she never dreamed of breaking.
When Tova’s husband Andrew Cain threatens her life, any hope of saving her marriage disappears. Unwilling to let a man hold her heart again, Tova swears off all relationships. Neil thinks otherwise and is willing to earn Tova’s trust. Trouble is, Tova’s life is in danger and Neil has to keep her alive as her estranged husbands darkest secrets are exposed.
Excerpt:
Andrew had five messages from me and couldn’t be bothered to send a courtesy text. The past weekend held the painful promise that would mark our end. He didn’t see it that way, but I certainly did.
I wanted Andrew to give a damn that our relationship was suffering, I wanted him to talk to me because he missed me, I wanted him to want me, and I wanted him to fight for us. When I got to the Land Rover those thoughts collided with my belief that things would get better, and I threw my purse inside and watched the contents fly like confetti.
Comment
Brenda Drake · November 15, 2014 at 9:55 am
THE WINDOW FOR THE PITCH EVENT IS NOW CLOSED. ALL COMMENTS AFTER THIS ONE WILL NOT BE READ. IF YOU ENTERED, GOOD LUCK AND CHECK BACK TO SEE IF AN EDITOR REQUESTS TO READ MORE OF YOUR WORK.
123150614971489149314913215131489148914971241506149714891493149132151314891489149732150215021493149515131489124150614971489149314913215131489148914973215021491149314971497151112415061497148914931491321513148914891497329911099124150614891493149132151314891 · June 10, 2015 at 2:18 pm
I just wanted to thank you once more for this incredible site you’ve built here. Its full of valuable ideas for people who are definitely interested in this topic, particularly this really post. Your all so sweet and also thoughtful of others and reading the blog posts is really a good delight to me. And thats a generous surprise! Jeff and I are going to have excitement producing use of your points in what we should do within the near future. Our listing can be a distance long and guidelines is going to be put to fine use. Prishtina Reisen
Comments are closed.