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Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Ahh! The Rules!

Please welcome my guest today, Lois Winston. I had the pleasure of working with Lois on Romance Super Bundle and now on Romance Super Bundle II: Second Chances. This gal is a fount of knowledge and I'm thrilled to have her drop by today. (btw, I'm reading one of her stories now, and am loving it!)


Take it away, Lois!


Do you remember The Rules



It was first publish in 1995 (the full title was The Rules: Time-tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right by Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider.) The book generated a lot of controversy because its premise was that women should be more like the women of past generations, “easy to be with but hard to get,” never pursuing men but instead letting the men pursue them. Although the book was derided as anti-feminist, it sold millions of copies.



One of those copies was purchased by a friend of mine. Mary and her husband had recently divorced, and she was on a desperate quest to find a replacement mate. On a trip to Barnes & Noble I watched as she purchased an armload of how-to-snag-a-man books. She proceeded to read them all, but The Rules became her bible.



Watching Mary’s dating exploits as a devoted “Rules Girl” gave me the idea for Hooking Mr. Right, first published under my Emma Carlyle pen name.





Can a butt-ugly alley cat named Cupid bring together two people driven apart by secrets and lies?



After writing a doctoral thesis that exposed fraud in the pop-psychology genre, thirty-two year old professor Althea Chandler has to sacrifice her professional integrity to save her family from financial disaster. She secretly becomes best-selling romance guru Dr. Trulee Lovejoy, a self-proclaimed expert on how to catch a man, even though Thea’s a miserable failure when it comes to relationships—especially those with the opposite sex.



Burned by a failed marriage, Luke Bennett finds himself pursued by Dr. Lovejoy toting women after a gossip columnist dubs him New York’s most eligible bachelor. When he at first mistakes Thea for one of the women out to snare him, sparks fly, but the two soon find themselves battling sparks of a less hostile nature, thanks in part to an alley cat named Cupid.



Luke believes he’s finally found an honest woman. Unfortunately, Thea is anything but honest. She’s got more secrets than the CIA and a desperate gossip columnist out to expose her. Cupid definitely has his work cut out for him.



Hooking Mr. Right is also now part of the Romance Super Bundle II: Second Chances, eleven romances by eleven award-winning and bestselling authors. 



Besides me, you’ll find fabulous stories by authors Dale Mayer, Donna Marie Rogers, Stacey Joy Netzel, Amy Gamet, Edie Ramer, Pamela Fryer, Georgina Lee, Kate Kelly, Wendy Ely, and Lyndi Lamont–nearly half a million words and 2000 pages of strong heroes and daring heroines who’ll do anything for a second chance at love.



Romance Super Bundle II: Second Chances Buy Links



Kobo 





Lois Wiston
Here's a little bit about Lois:
Award-winning and Amazon bestselling author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, and non-fiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry. Visit Lois/Emma at www.loiswinston.com and Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog, www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com. Follow everyone on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Anasleuth.


14 comments:

Kathy L Wheeler said...

I remember that controversy in the 90's. I also bought the book but have never read it. Funny where we get our ideas. I was in line at Borders waiting to check out one time when I saw this huge book Quotationary. That spurred the idea for my book Quotable where the heroine uses obscure quotes to keep people from getting to close to her.

Mystery and Mayhem said...

Kathy, I don't recall that fuss, but I can tell you that I was busy having kids while my husband was on tours of duty far away. I may have been a bit pre-occuppied!

Sue Palmer Fineman said...

I remember the controversy about THE RULES. I also remember reading Lois's book, Hooking Mr. Right. It's a warm, funny book, one of Lois's best. If the other books in this boxed set are as good, this is a great buy.

Melissa Keir said...

What a fun post. I remember that book. I never got it but knew many people who did!

Love the concept for your story!

Lois Winston said...

I've always been a news junkie, and the flap about The Rules was all over the news at the time. The authors were being interviewed all over the place. That's why I was aware of it. And then this friend became obsessed with the book, and next thing I knew, I had a plot!

Angela Adams said...

I remember that I didn't pay too much attention to the book when it came out.

Mystery and Mayhem said...

Thank you all for stopping by! So how many of us did manage to snag Mr. Right?
I did. He's checking out old home movies right now.

E. Ayers said...

Somehow I completely missed The Rules. Maybe that's my problem, I've never read a book on dating. My question is do the guys read those books, too? How do they know their role in the dating games?
Waving hi to Barb and Lois!

Lani said...

Oh my goodness! I had a friend who preached that book all the time. However, she kept sleeping with an old boyfriend. Afterwards, she'd hold the book so tight and cry to me telling me she really, really wanted to live by the book, and would try one more time not to be the cow who gave away her milk for free. Oh, I cried too, and felt so bad for my poor friend, who kept trying to be a "rules" girl. I think she married that boyfriend and divorced him a few years later. Pretty sad, actually.

Lois Winston said...

Sue, thanks so much! So glad you enjoyed HOOKING MR. RIGHT. I'm sure you'll also enjoy the other books in the boxed set.

Kathy, Melissa, and Angela, thanks for stopping by.

Barb, thanks for inviting me to visit today. My Mr. Right and I have been together a very long time.

Mystery and Mayhem said...

Lani, that's so sad! I hope she found someone in the end. I'm thrilled all of you stopped by and enjoyed this post. Thank you, again, Lois. I'm so thankful for you and all the girls at Romance Super Bundle II:Second Chances. I've learned so much!

Mystery and Mayhem said...

Hello, E. Ayers!! Nice to see you!

Lois Winston said...

E., from what I know of the book, I think you're better off not following its advice!

Lani, how sad, but I think your poor friend had self-esteem issues. Even if she had been a faithful "Rules Girl," she probably wouldn't have had a happily ever after relationship, not until she addressed her own problems.

Mystery and Mayhem said...


Wise advice, Lois!! Thank you.

It's like Jello

Again, it's been ages since I wrote a blog, and I am sure my followers have forgotten all about me.  But when life takes you on a trip, ...