HelenKay Dimon

LEAVE ME BREATHLESS is officially out – wahoo!!! I’m starting to get emails about it and am seeing reviews. I have hit that time authors think of as panic mode. This is the in-between stage where the book is hitting the shelves and you’re waiting for feedback. There’s not a darn thing I can do at this point but sit back and hope…and write something else.

A visual image for you:

Thought I’d go ahead and answer a few questions I’m getting:

1. LEAVE ME BREATHLESS is a stand alone book. I don’t have plans to write a follow-up. The stories of Ben and his brother are pretty much wrapped up. I have other books set in Washington, D.C. because it’s an area I know well, but this isn’t the start of a series.

2. I did practice in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County Maryland. In fact, my former law partner is now a judge there. And, no, I did not have a crush on any of the judges. That’s all I’m saying on that.

3. Unless it’s changed in the three years since I worked there, the hallways to the judges’ chambers did not have any security checkpoints. It stunned me too. In fact, for years the only metal detector was in the hallway going into the offices where the initial domestic case hearings were scheduled and held. That should tell you something about the dangers of divorce work.

4. I do not hate judicial clerks.

5. While the heroine is not based on me, I do admit to having a wee bit of her snarkiness.

Any other questions? Just let me know. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the book.

Hi everyone! I’m finally back to work and feeling better. Today I am blogging at RR@H Novel Thoughts and Book Talk. The topic is Luke Hathaway, my hero in UNDER THE GUN.

RR@H is giving away four – yes, I said four – copies of the book. Go check it out.

I’m at the Rom Con Contemporary forum today talking about imperfect heroes and heroines. Stop by!

I’m blogging at the Access Romance blog today.

And, believe it or not, I’m finally feeling better and should be back on my regular schedule (or close to it) next week. Yay!! I have a bunch of contest prizes to get out. I’m late on that and apologize. Promise to make that a priority once the schedule and body are back in order.

Fabulous author Carolyn Jewel interviewed me on her blog. It was a lot of fun. Very clever questions. Go check it out…because there’s a contest. You can win a copy of HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO. Also spend some time looking at Carolyn’s books because they are as awesome as she is.

And Happy Valentine’s Day!

This is the book I plan to buy the second I’m up to going out and doing some book buying:

THE BLISS FACTOR by Penny McCall:

I really liked some of McCall’s previous books. My sense is that she’s a bit overlooked and underrated, and I hate that. If that doesn’t tempt you, this should: this book has an male undercover FBI hero with amnesia. How can you resist that?

Some fabulous reviewers posted fabulous reviews of my (hopefully fabulous) books.

First up is Wendy, the Super Librarian’s, review of HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO. Here’s the important part – she really liked it and gave it a B+. Let’s just post that section, shall we?

It’s been a while since I’ve read a book where I literally wanted to drop everything (oh, like my entire life!) to keep reading. The dialogue is fantastic, the story is solid, and the final chapters are just….wow, amazing! If I had been on the ball at all, this easily would have made my Best Of 2009 list. As it stands right now, don’t be surprised if Holding Out For A Hero makes my Best Of 2010 list.

Next, Lori at the blog I Just Finished Reading got an early copy of LEAVE ME BREATHLESS and posted a lovely review. You can read the whole thing, but the former lawyer in me loved this part:

The description of the courtroom scenes. Loved this. Loved how Dimon portrayed them as incredibly deadly dull. Dimon is a former attorney herself, and so I imagine that she knows whereof she speaks. While normally, authors attempt to put the most exciting courtroom drama scenes into their books, Dimon does just the opposite here. While Ben is such an exciting, vibrant man, it shows how committed he is to his profession. He sits and deals with it, while Callie’s eyes want to roll back in her head from the boredom. I thought that was quite interesting for some reason.

And all of me loved this:

Dimon is one of those authors that I’ll forgive close to anything just because I like her wise-ass dialogue, strong heroines, and hot heroes so much.

Lori was not the only one who enjoyed LEAVE ME BREATHLESS (thank goodness). Danielle at Coffee Time Romance also posted an awesome review:

Ben and Callie made such a compelling couple. The sparks were practically shooting off the pages. Ms. Dimon knows how to tell a story with one thrilling moment after another. The sensual scenes were highly erotic, and the emotional conflict that Ben felt was realistic and heartbreaking. Leave Me Breathless will keep the reader guessing until the very end. A highly enjoyable story with non-stop action.

Thank you, ladies!

Here’s Romance No Havai (Romance In Hawaii), the Portugese cover for It’s Hotter in Hawaii:

The title kind of gives that one away, but can you guess this one?

The first person to guess correctly (U.S. Residents only for this one) gets a copy of one of my books – winner’s choice.

UPDATE: Ellen got it – Congratulations! The translation of the title is When The Lights Go Out. It’s the Portugese cover for Viva Las Bad Boys!

I have a bunch of foreign covers and will gather them and eventually post them somewhere on my website. Until then, here is my favorite:

Can you tell what it is? Aloha! is actually the Dutch version of Your Mouth Drives Me Crazy. And I love it!

Recuperating and whining about it over at the Brava Blog.

Am hoping to be back up and running (ie, blogging and writing) by the end of next week.