Hiya guys, we have M.J. O’Shea stopping by today with her newest release Corkscrewed. M.J. chats about con artists (and seems very knowledgeable about them *raises eyebrow*) we have Tams review for you to check out and M.J. has a great giveaway where you can win a copy of Corkscrewed, so enjoy the post and then leave a comment to enter the giveaway. <3 ~Pixie~

Corkscrewed

M.J. O’Shea

Cary Talbot has found the perfect mark. Marigold Shelley is filthy rich, and her newly found grandson, Isaac Shelley, is poised to inherit her huge estate, complete with a priceless wine collection. Cary concocts a plan to con both of them into selling the crown jewel of that collection to him at a bargain price. Since Isaac is young, single, and gay, part of Cary’s scheme to get close to the Shelleys includes seduction. 

But Isaac isn’t the sheep he appears to be. He isn’t even the grandson he appears to be. Isaac is, in fact, running quite the con of his own. 

These two masters of the confidence game are pitted against each other, and both are after the ultimate prize—a chunk of the huge Shelley fortune. It’s only when a third cunning player comes in and is ready to outwit them both that they must band together and beat their opponent or see all they’ve worked for slip from their grasp one ruby-red drop at a time.

M.J. O’Shea

Hi there!

Soo… in honor of Corkscrewed, I thought I’d do a little talking today about con artists, or grifters. Now, I am in no way an expert other than doing a lot of reading about different tricks, watching the entire series of Leverage, and getting just as many emails from Nigera as everyone else but I do find the character of a con man or woman fascinating!

There is a certain romance to the character of the con artist. A bit of a scoundrelly modern Robin Hood. You probably don’t want them to take all your money (I know I don’t!) but somehow it would still be a fun ride. I thought I’d explain a few of the well known con plays that I learned about when I was researching this book (and one that as far as I know didn’t have a name so I made one up lol)

Short Cons: These are over quickly. Don’t require lots of prep work and can usually be applied with little change to multiple marks (victims).

Melon Drop: This one is basically “running” into someone who isn’t paying attention to where they’re going, dropping an item that’s not very expensive and tricking the mark into thinking it is so they’ll reimburse you for whatever it is they broke by being so absentminded. It was named melon drop, because it was originally performed with melons on japanese tourists who were used to melons having a much higher price than they did outside of Japan.

The Flop: Basically putting yourself very strategically in front of a car/moving vehicle of some sort. The idea is not to get hurt (obviously) but make it seem like you did. You can smack the car with your hand and then fall over, or employ other various technique. A new variety of this is to add in technology breakage, so not only is the person feeling guilty and wants to pay for you to get checked out, they also dont’ want to get sued and give you money to replace the (most likely already broken) phone, laptop or ipad. Use of a second player to help the situation along in your favor is always a plus.

Fiddle Trick: (tricking someone into thinking something is expensive so they buy it from you). This requires two people. One leaves something (a fiddle if you go by the title) at a location, cafe, restaurant etc. Let’s say they forget their wallet and leave the item as collateral until they return. The second player comes in, offers a ton of money for it, and convinces the owner/cashier that they’ll be back with cash to buy it because it’s worth a lot. The owner/cashier then offers the first person money for the ti

Long Cons: these ones usually require some mark-specific planning, and also quite a bit of time to sell the con and follow through.

Spanish prisoner also known as the Nigerian Prince (or princess)

The basic premise of this con, which is actually quite old, is to convince the mark that you (or someone you are in close contact with) is rich and trapped somewhere that they need assistance to get out of. Jail, a hostile government, etc. Quite often they’re royalty or nobility. The mark is promised huge amounts of wealth. They keep giving money until they have no more to give or wise up on the scheme. The con man and their money disappear. This has turned into an email scheme now, where people are asked to send money to free someone from a country (usually nigeria) and will be rewarded

Lost Heir – this one’s a classic, Anastasia style. I probably don’t even need to explain it. It’s harder to pull off now, with DNA testing and modern technology, but if the timing is right and the circumstances work out (like they do for my main character Isaac) then you can still pull it off!

The Reverse Fiddle Trick — I don’t know if there’s an actual name for this one, but if so I couldn’t find it! Instead of conning someone into thinking an item of no value is worth money, this time you convince them that what they have is worthless and they should sell it to you to get it off their hands. This usually takes a bit more convincing than the original Fiddle Trick, but a good con artist should be able to pull it off!

There are many many more classic cons out there, and probably quite a few not so classic cons being made every day. The final two are the ones my two cons are attempting in Corkscrewed. Two con artists, with the same mark, definitely not working together. It’s kind of a recipe for disaster…

Thanks for having me stop by! I’m always available online to talk books, music, and now even con artist tricks lol.

xoxo

MJ

If you’d like to read the first section of the book, it’s right on my blog!  http://mjoshea.com/2014/12/05/one-big-excerpt-of-corkscrewed/

About M.J.

I’m Mj O’Shea 🙂 I grew up, and still live, in sunny Washington state in a little old house. While I love to visit other places, I can’t imagine calling anywhere else home.

I spent my childhood writing stories. Sometime in my early teens, the stories turned to romance. Most of those were about me, my friends, and our favorite movie and pop stars. Hopefully, I’ve come a long way since then!!

When I’m not writing, I love to go to concerts, hang out with my friends, play the  piano (and my other instruments), dance, cook, paint pictures, and of course read! I really, really like coffee and tea, nail polish and glittery sparkly things, headbands, hats, scarves and sunglasses!

I have two little dogs who sit with me when I write. Sometimes they come up with ideas for me too…when they’re not busy napping of course.

Giveaway!

Win a ecopy of Corkscrewed

(Just leave a comment on this blog post)

(Ends 15th December 2014)

Review

Title: Corkscrewed

Author: M.J. O’Shea

Genre: Contemporary

Length: Novel (200 pages)

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (December 1st 2014)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts

Blurb: Cary Talbot has found the perfect mark. Marigold Shelley is filthy rich, and her newly found grandson, Isaac Shelley, is poised to inherit her huge estate, complete with a priceless wine collection. Cary concocts a plan to con both of them into selling the crown jewel of that collection to him at a bargain price. Since Isaac is young, single, and gay, part of Cary’s scheme to get close to the Shelleys includes seduction.

But Isaac isn’t the sheep he appears to be. He isn’t even the grandson he appears to be. Isaac is, in fact, running quite the con of his own.

These two masters of the confidence game are pitted against each other, and both are after the ultimate prize—a chunk of the huge Shelley fortune. It’s only when a third cunning player comes in and is ready to outwit them both that they must band together and beat their opponent or see all they’ve worked for slip from their grasp one ruby-red drop at a time.

ISBN: 9781632165268

Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5756

Reviewer: Tams

Review: Isaac has no memory of his life prior to the car crash that took the lives of his parents. Raised by Ronan, a grifter, Isaac is about to assume the identity of one Isaac Shelley, to whom he bears an uncanny resemblance. Infiltrating the Shelley family proves to be much easier than Isaac anticipated, perhaps because Merigold Shelly, the patriarch of the family, is certain that he is her grandson. It’s the sexy, flirtatious Cary Talbot that is the problem.

Cary is a grifter as well, and the Shelley’s extensive and expensive wine collection is what he has his sights on. The gorgeous, young, and inexperienced grandson Isaac is just icing on the cake. Cary uses their mutual attraction to seduce the heir apparent and everything is going according to plan, until a third person wiggles their way into the grift and Isaac realizes that Cary is actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

They try hard to stay away from each other, to hate each other, but something seems to always push them back together. When the third-party is revealed as well as a few more ‘family secrets’ Cary is free to go his own way. Age difference, unsavory careers, and chosen identities aside, these two have fallen in love. But can they get past all the obstacles in their way and actually trust each other enough to follow through?

Did you ever see the movie ‘The Grifters’ with Jon Cusack and Angelica Huston? Imagine that movie set in wine country with the threat of Uma Thurman from Kill Bill and a gay love story developing behind the scenes. Now you have a pretty good visual for Corkscrewed. There was mystery, intrigue, suspense and some pretty smexy love scenes. O’Shea has an ability to write the most unlikely love stories, make them believable, relatable, and still give the characters depth. Definitely an author I will buy just because her name is on the book, don’t care what it’s about because it is bound to be terrific!

A must read for anyone that likes romantic comedies with a bit of intrigue and a plethora of sexual situations. There is shy getting to know you sex, can’t seem to bury myself any further inside of you sex, I hate you but I want you sex and my personal favorite, angry sex. I promise you this, you won’t be bored!