Announcing Head Over Wheels

The news is out! As well as my destination romances, I’m also writing spicy sports romcom.

Sports is one of my favourite subgenres of romance to read, because of the jeopardy, the high-stakes win or lose situations and the big… egos (haha). After getting hooked on the Tour de France and then World Tour road cycling more generally, it was the logical choice for me to write my first serious sports romance (I wrote a series of football – soccer – romances back in 2008, but I was still learning back then). You won’t find bulky guys with big sticks, but you will find some strong bodies (and minds) capable of almost superhuman feats of endurance – and the quirky and intense personalities to match. Oh, and a LOT of Lycra.

I’m a recreational cyclist myself. I love the combination of speedy descents and the feeling of freedom and power when you go a long distance under your own steam. Being on a bike has been a huge part of my joy in travel in my life and I wanted to celebrate the long history of women riding bicycles in this book, so the female main character is a pro cyclist (so is the male main character, but she is the bigger name). Women’s road cycling is slowly receiving more attention, as well as the men, and I hope readers who don’t know much about the sport will discover something interesting while they’re watching Lori and Seb (try not to) fall for each other.

Love is an endurance sport…

Recovering from a bad crash and a broken heart, Australian road cycling star Lori Gallagher gets back into training with the help of a coaching app and an anonymous training partner she knows only by his avatar and his voice. But with her career dependent on regaining her fighting spirit, she ditches her online friend to focus on the road. Then she hears his voice – on her team training camp.

Sébastien Franck is stunned to discover his goofy training partner is ‘Top Gun’ Gallagher, the most ruthless rider in the women’s peloton. She’s already ghosted him online and, with his career on its last legs, he’s sure she won’t want anything to do with him. But Seb and Lori’s online chemistry transfers seamlessly into real life and they sleep together – a no-strings opportunity to get it out of their systems before the start of the season.

Yet Lori’s year begins with disaster, while Seb finds the best form of his career. As the Tour de France approaches, Seb expects himself to crack and let his team down. Lori is torn between family loyalty to her brother and her feelings for Seb – not to mention the complex dynamics of a sport where teamwork and individual achievement are sometimes at odds.

Now, she faces the mental fight of her life: how much is she willing to sacrifice for love – or to win?

What’s the same as my other books?

You’ll find lots of similarities with my existing books: beautiful European settings (Girona, Siena, Liege – to name a few), a focus on the romance, a strong female main character, a light touch with deep psychology and some weird jokes.

So what’s different from my other books?

This one is told in first-person dual POV (there are chapters labelled either ‘Lori’ or ‘Seb’). There are three open-door spicy scenes spread through the book. They are pretty intense, but nothing that will push the average romance reader’s comfort zone. I’d give it three chilis (out of five) for spice. There is a little less focus on the setting and more on the romance.

There is definitely CYCLING in it! But you don’t need to be a fan to read this book. You’ll still get the win-or-lose jeopardy feeling and I did not go into much technical detail with the races, it’s more of the feeling of your muscles burning and the wind in your face.

If you’re wondering about the industry side of this, I’m planning to do a post about working with two publishers at some stage. I’m thrilled with both publishers for different reasons, and with the fact that I am able to branch out in this super competitive industry, where authors are so often the bottom of the pecking order.