Rebecca Zanetti's Blog, page 10
August 3, 2015
A Very Large, Buff Alien/Shifter/Vampire/Were-Dude
Hi all! I’m Charly, Rebecca’s assistant. We thought it’d be fun to do a ‘Romance: The Good, the Bad, and the Disastrous’ theme with guest bloggers throughout the summer months. Every Monday and Thursday, we’ll have a guest blogger talk about fun stuff like horrible dates, good dates, etc. Some bloggers will have a contest, and some won’t – it’s totally up to them. If there is a contest, I’ll randomly draw a winner from the post comments, send the winner’s email address to the guest blogger, and they’ll take it from there. Rebecca will jump in and blog when she can. For now, enjoy as we play!
It is a truth universally acknowledged that kidnapping is not a great way to begin a relationship.
Unless the hero is a tall, buff alien/shifter/vampire/were-dude searching for a bride or baby-mama. Then this can work. The genre is sometimes called ‘capture romance’, and it’s fun! Especially if you’re the invading hero, because, y’know, sex.
Everyone knows Earth girls are easy, right? Heh. Not so much.
I get it, our buff alien/shifter/vamp/were-dude has gifts. He’s fast, powerful, etc. But he can still make a bad choice.
For example, let’s take your average woman up here in North Idaho, USA. She lives surrounded by forested mountains and meadows full of wild game, which means she’s also surrounded by people (husbands, fathers & boyfriends) who enjoy stalking this wild game … with large weapons that go boom! and blow holes in things. She may even enjoy hunting herself.
And around here, as in all areas with good hunting, the more weapons the better. Buy a firearm, and a strange mind-seduction begins. One is never enough. The firearm owner now needs another for a different type of wild game, and then for game birds, and then ‘Ooooh, shiny, is that an antique firearm?’ And so it goes.
Thus, surrounded by such a wealth of weaponry, a girl’s naturally gonna learn how to use them. I speak from experience. When I travel alone, I do so with purse-size protection. And if my husband is gone and my dog growls at the sound of a nighttime intruder, I know how to cock, aim and fire the shotgun by the bed. Hard to miss with a scatter-gun, especially if the target is a very large, buff alien/shifter/vampire/were-dude.
And that’s just the Inland NW. I have a cousin in California, where the girls are tan (oh, wait, that’s a Beach Boys song). Great place to find that bride or baby-mama, right? Weeell, let me tell about my cousin. She lives on an almond orchard, and her husband is gone a great deal. So this petite, slender woman packs a concealed weapon as she goes about her daily business. She says, and I quote, ‘Cathryn, there are a lot of nuts in California.’
And then there’s my DIL in Seattle area. I’ve been to the shooting range with that girl, and she can lock and load her firearms faster than our hero can aim his seductive gaze. She would not be a good capture choice either—plus, my son saw her first! Hmm. Sounds to me like our capturing hero better be darn careful out there.
I’ll continue to read and enjoy fantasy capture romance (including our own Rebecca Zanetti’s fabulous vampire series!!) Hey, I even began my own latest book by having my hero Jack kidnap the heroine, right here in Coeur d’Alene. And I didn’t let her blow a hole in his manliness, either.
Because it’s romance! All a sexy fantasy, whether paranormal or contemporary.
But in real life, if you’re a large, buff alien/shifter/vampire/were hero out to capture a bride or baby-mama … watch it. We Earth girls are armed, and when I say we’re ready, that may mean something different than you’re fantasizing, dude!
ABOUT CATHRYN:
I’m Cathryn Cade. I write red hot romance in the lake country of North Idaho. When I’m not writing, I usually have my nose in a book, or I’m chatting on Facebook. Outdoors, my handsome husband and I enjoy boating, bicycling and walking with Copper the golden retriever. If there’s a new brew-pub in the area, we’re out to try it.
Cathryn Cade
Author of red hot sci fi & contemporary romance
Sign up for My Newsletter for a chance to win goodies!
LATEST RELEASE:
SHOW ME THE HONEY, Book 1 of the Sweet & Dirty BBW Romance Series:
When a small town cafe owner is grabbed by a rambling biker looking for stolen cash, she must convince him to let her go. But discovering he has the wrong woman only makes him more determined to hang onto her … this time for all the right reasons.
RT 4.5 Stars and Night Owl Reviews TOP PICK
July 30, 2015
Funky Mommy
Hi all! I’m Charly, Rebecca’s assistant. We thought it’d be fun to do a ‘Romance: The Good, the Bad, and the Disastrous’ theme with guest bloggers throughout the summer months. Every Monday and Thursday, we’ll have a guest blogger talk about fun stuff like horrible dates, good dates, etc. Some bloggers will have a contest, and some won’t – it’s totally up to them. If there is a contest, I’ll randomly draw a winner from the post comments, send the winner’s email address to the guest blogger, and they’ll take it from there. Rebecca will jump in and blog when she can. For now, enjoy as we play!
Hey y’all! I’m Jodi Linton, writer of sexy westerns and bad- boy biker contemporary romances. Now that summer is almost coming to an end, and I’m gearing up to send my youngest—a spunky, five year old daughter –to kindergarten, I thought it might be fun to tell a few motherly tales of my own.
Well, where do I start?
Okay, I posted my funky author picture, as my daughter calls it, because in her words, “It’s good to be funky, mommy.” (Translation: “You’re such a thirty-something.”) We also have a cat that she insists on believing is her best friend. Penelope, our ten year old Persian “first baby”, would beg to differ and probably if she could talk spew a few choice words of her own. *cough* Duncan and Delores by Barbara Samuels is my daughter’s relationship with said kitty cat.
But that is beside the point, because I love the fantasy land my daughter lives in. From her 
fascination with “Sugar”, a.k.a. Adam Levine, (and yes we did have to buy her a fake wedding dress so she could act out the music video), to her knowing that across the street from her favorite taco hut is a tattoo parlor she’s such a blast. And as I grow older I realize the amazing gift I’ve been given. I’ve been handed the keys to help my little girl grow into a bright, strong young lady. And as summer comes to a close I realize she’ll no longer be considered a baby but a big kid. Still, I’ll secretly call her my baby as she dreams up tall tales about cowgirls in red boots, and men in Jeeps riding down to the river bank, or when she decides to belt out all the words to a Taylor Swift song in the backseat while strapped into her booster seat.
Most of all, I remember that the spunky little girl that liked to wear flower headbands and princess gowns to the store is the reason I write about strong females. The reason I chase after my own dreams even when on some days it seems I hit more road blocks than wishing wells. Because in the end it’ll all be worth it to have her look at me on her graduation day and say, “I’m ready to start my adventure, mom.”
Dream big, dream grande, and never forget that a new adventure is just around the bend.
Hugs,
Jodi Linton
ABOUT JODI:
Jodi Linton is the author of the Deputy Laney Briggs Series and her upcoming The Original Sinners Motorcycle Club with Entangled Publishing. She lives in Texas with her husband and two kids. When she’s not writing about sassy females and dirty talking heroes, she enjoys long walks and family time down at the river.
Join the Pink Pistol Readers!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/PistolPinkReaders/
FAVORITE QUOTE:
When it comes to a pair of narrow-hipped Wranglers, I give in quicker than my mother did to a slice of lemon pound cake back when she was doing the Atkins Diet.
~Laney Briggs from Pretty Lawless, A Deputy Laney Briggs Novel
LATEST RELEASE:
Pretty Lawless:
She’s about to go vigilante on his ass…
Laney Briggs was almost certain that her sexy-assed Texas Ranger, Gunner Wilson, was gonna pop the question. Instead, he went and pulled one helluva fast one – he arrested her best friend, Luke Wagner, and skipped out. Now Pistol Rock’s firecracker deputy is ready to go Wild West on Gunner…if she can just keep that raw, sexual chemistry under control.
Gunner was planning to propose, and it all went to hell. Now he’s boots-deep into an investigation with ties to the Dirty Southern Mafia and corrupt cops. Yep, Laney is definitely gonna have his hide. Especially when she finds out just how much he’s been keeping from her…
But Laney has a weakness for Gunner’s delectable cowboy hotness. And for him, she will break every rule in the book – including the ones she’s sworn to uphold.
July 27, 2015
Love: Single Mom Style
Hi all! I’m Charly, Rebecca’s assistant. We thought it’d be fun to do a ‘Romance: The Good, the Bad, and the Disastrous’ theme with guest bloggers throughout the summer months. Every Monday and Thursday, we’ll have a guest blogger talk about fun stuff like horrible dates, good dates, etc. Some bloggers will have a contest, and some won’t – it’s totally up to them. If there is a contest, I’ll randomly draw a winner from the post comments, send the winner’s email address to the guest blogger, and they’ll take it from there. Rebecca will jump in and blog when she can. For now, enjoy as we play!
Dating when you have children is like having an overprotective older brother. A friend of mine had her son (aged 9) stare down a man at the pool for daring to look at his mom. I could see the writing on the wall with my son. He had a significant laundry list of “musts” for a potential step-dad.
The top three items on my son’s list were that the man play basketball, be independently wealthy, and have children, hopefully a boy my son’s age. My daughter’s list included the idea that a potential mate not have children.
As a consequence, when my kids were younger, I never let them know I was dating. They’d get a bonus trip to Parents Night Out, and think it was all for their enjoyment, so I could “sneak out” on a date.
The older they get, however, the harder it is to “sneak out.” Surprisingly, many men embrace the midday while-the-kids-are-in-school date because it’s low pressure. Equally surprising are how many times my children bought the lie that I was meeting friends for coffee. How much coffee do they think I drink?
But no matter how many times you meet for coffee or a late lunch, sooner or later you find yourself with the dreaded Saturday night date. Once you have kids, Saturday night requires some logistical maneuvers.
At 13 and 15, the kids are too old for Parents Night Out. They have to be fed, and possibly bribed to behave (pizza acts as both food and bribe). Plus there’s the fact that I haven’t told them I’m dating again.
My daughter figured things out pretty quickly, and her only concern was that I still have time for her. That’s an easy thing to promise. My son, however, was a different challenge. He’s protective in the extreme and has been known to get abrasive and verbally abusive to boys who get too close to my daughter (a habit I may or may not encourage). What would he think about me dating?
“So,” I say across the kitchen as I put away the dishes. “I have a date tonight.”
The third degree begins: what does he do, how many kids does he have, does he have pets, how did we meet. This inquisition continues long after the dishes are put away and the dishwasher reloaded. I answer them all and lean against the counter facing my son.
“That’s fine,” he finally says, “as long as he treats you right.”
Aw, how can I not love this kid? But before I get too happy, my son wags his finger at me. “But I get to meet him after three dates.”
I smile and think to myself, not going to happen. My friend Dan’s rule is that he has to be in a monogamous relationship for six months before he introduces a love interest to his daughter. I’m not sure I’d go with six months, but three dates is too soon. I’m sure there’s a happy middle ground.
Any single parents out there? How soon do you let your kids meet your date?
ABOUT CINDY:
When they told her a woman could do anything, she thought they said everything, and decided to give it a go. Cindy holds an MA in Creative Writing, is an MFA student, a single mom, pet owner, child chauffer extraordinaire, and works three jobs on the side. When she’s not writing, she’s trying to prevent the neurotic dog from either chewing the furniture or eating whole sticks of butter (often still in the paper). She’s beginning to think maybe she can’t do it all. At least not all at once. You can contact her on her website: http://www.cskaggs.com
FAVORITE QUOTE:
“He stared at her like she was chocolate and tomorrow was the first day of Lent. Sure, she might be forbidden, but no one could withstand temptation forever.”
~Excerpt from UNTOUCHABLE
LATEST RELEASE:
Untouchable:
She’ll do whatever it takes to find her son – Lie. Cheat. Steal. Seduce…
As the former wife of an infamous crime boss, Sofia Capri is untouchable. She exists outside of the law…and outside of the criminal world. When her son is kidnapped, Sofia’s desperate to find him. She’ll do anything. Lie. Cheat. Steal. Anything but trust. But it’s a strikingly handsome FBI agent who’s her only chance to get her baby back…
Something about Sofia’s fiery beauty must be hitting all of his weak spots, because suddenly Mr. Law And Order Logan Stone finds himself bending the rules. When they’re implicated in the kidnapping, Logan and Sofia discover they have less than 72 hours to find the boy and clear their names.
Now the heat is turning up…and time is running out…for everyone.
GIVEAWAY!
Cindy doing a blanket giveaway through rafflecopter for all her release activities.
Click here to access the Rafflecopter giveaway
July 16, 2015
Single to Engaged in 6 Weeks
Hi all! I’m Charly, Rebecca’s assistant. We thought it’d be fun to do a ‘Romance: The Good, the Bad, and the Disastrous’ theme with guest bloggers throughout the summer months. Every Monday and Thursday, we’ll have a guest blogger talk about fun stuff like horrible dates, good dates, etc. Some bloggers will have a contest, and some won’t – it’s totally up to them. If there is a contest, I’ll randomly draw a winner from the post comments, send the winner’s email address to the guest blogger, and they’ll take it from there. Rebecca will jump in and blog when she can. For now, enjoy as we play!
At heart, I’m an old-fashioned girl… after living with my best girlfriend for six years running, and a year of serial-dating men I met on an online dating website, I was done. Ready to settle down— but not ready to settle for anything less than a man who would be the perfect husband for me.
DH had just moved to Los Angeles, and I was the first date he had from the dating website. He was my…(ahem) 100th? But DH immediately stuck out from the crowd. He brought me flowers on our first date at Coffee Bean (I never met up at a bar or at night—too dangerous. Coffee for twenty minutes in the afternoon, in public, was my first-date modus operandi).
He paid for my coffee and held the door for me. Bonus points for that, because chivalry.
He asked me questions and actually listened to the answers! Who does that anymore? Not the men I had been dating. Double bonus points.
He had some dog hair on his shirt. I LOVE DOGS. Triple bonus points.
That first date went beyond the twenty minutes of coffee-time I had originally allotted him. We hung out all night talking. From that moment on, we were a couple. He texted and called me every day, without me having to wonder if he was into me or not. No games (crazy, right?!).
After six weeks, on the same day he first told me he loved me, he proposed marriage. I said yes! It was fast— really fast. But it just felt like a perfect fit. Eleven years, one child, and numerous dogs later (we have 3-4 at all times), I am still so grateful to God for dropping this incredible man in my lap.
If you’re looking for a relationship but haven’t found The One yet, keep the faith! They’re out there, looking for you, too.
xoxo Shoshanna Evers
Sexily *Evers* After… ShoshannaEvers.com
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author
Sign up for my newsletter to hear about new releases first, and read excerpts you won’t find in the sample pages!
ABOUT SHOSHANNA:
New York Times and USA Today bestselling hybrid author Shoshanna Evers has twenty-plus romance novels and novellas published, including I Am Not Your Melody, The Enslaved Trilogy, The Tycoon’s Convenient Bride…and Baby, and How to Write Hot Sex.
In the past she was a syndicated advice columnist in New York and a registered nurse, but now she’s a full-time writer and a home-schooling mom in the mountains of northern Idaho. Evers is also the cofounder of SelfPubBookCovers.com, the largest selection of premade book covers in the world.
Books on Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | ARe
Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
UPCOMING RELEASE:
Shoshanna’s Short Shorts:
If you’re in the mood for a quickie (ahem), you’ll love this collection of eleven sexy short stories from New York Times and USA Today bestselling erotic romance author, Shoshanna Evers — “Queen of the erotic novellas.” (Fandom Fanatic). This collection pulls Evers’ published stories together from nine different anthologies into one volume. Includes a never-before-published story, plus the bestselling Overheated!
On preorder for just 99c! Releases 7/28/15
(Direct buylinks coming soon. These links take you to the author’s books at that retailer.)
From Shoshanna’s Short Shorts (Falling Ashes)
© 2015 Shoshanna Evers. All Rights Reserved.
The lust in Shayne’s eyes made her believe him. Tonight, she was beautiful.
“You lay back now,” he ordered. “It’s celebration time. I ain’t stoppin’ till I hear you scream my name so loud the neighbors can hear.”
“Ain’t no neighbors,” she said breathlessly, slipping easily into his casual way of speaking. Her fingers gripped the cool sheets beneath her hands, grasping as if the world had tilted on its axis.
“That’s what I’m talkin’ about.”
GIVEAWAY:Shoshanna Evers will give away an ebook of The Tycoon’s Convenient Bride…and Baby from Entangled Indulgence to one commenter!
July 13, 2015
Worst Date Ever!
Hi all! I’m Charly, Rebecca’s assistant. We thought it’d be fun to do a ‘Romance: The Good, the Bad, and the Disastrous’ theme with guest bloggers throughout the summer months. Every Monday and Thursday, we’ll have a guest blogger talk about fun stuff like horrible dates, good dates, etc. Some bloggers will have a contest, and some won’t – it’s totally up to them. If there is a contest, I’ll randomly draw a winner from the post comments, send the winner’s email address to the guest blogger, and they’ll take it from there. Rebecca will jump in and blog when she can. For now, enjoy as we play!
First off, my thanks to Rebecca Zanetti for sharing her space with me today and to Charly Alexander for the professional presentation of this blog. Ladies—your generosity and skill are very much appreciated!
This is going to date me, but what the heck. 
In the mid 1990’s I discovered Linda Howard and Suzanne Brockmann. Howard and Brockmann quickly became two of my favorite authors, mostly because of their super sexy, super alpha, military heroes. I LOVED Howard’s Mackenzie family series as well as Brockmann’s Tall, Dark and Dangerous series. So when a good looking naval officer asked me out, I said yes (Internally, I may have squealed a bit in excitement.). I was so looking forward to finding my own, flesh and blood military hero.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t what I got. What I got was the worse date of my life. 
At the time I was training for a marathon, which meant early morning runs before working out with weights in the gym and I was in great shape. Which my new beau didn’t appreciate. On our first date, he put his arm around my waist to escort me into the restaurant and made the comment that “he liked more curves and softness and less muscle on his women.” Yeah, not the best start to a date. During the conversation at dinner, he said at least three or four times that he didn’t like his women to exercise because he liked softness in bed. By that point I already knew that bed was off the table—like forever.
After dinner, we went to see some action packed adventure movie and during the movie this guy continued hammering home his point about muscles versus softness. When the date was over, he took me back to my apartment and said, “How about you lay off the exercising so we can see where this goes?”
At this point I’d had enough and decided to respond in kind. So I said “You know I understand completely how you feel. I can’t stand softness in my men. I want a man to feel like a man. You know, muscles rather than softness. So how about you start getting some exercise so we can see where this goes?”
Let’s just say that quip didn’t go over well. There was no goodnight kiss. No hug. Just a frosty “good night” and he was out the door.
But, surprise, surprise, he called a few days later and apologized for the comments he’d made and asked me to give him another chance. Well, I thought that was pretty decent of him considering how I’d responded at the close of our first date, so I said sure. He told me he wanted a fresh start and was taking me to Antonio’s, one of the fancier restaurants in town—which meant fancy clothes. I didn’t have anything quite so classy, so I ended up buying an outfit, which I couldn’t afford, but I didn’t want to look out of place.
When the night he was supposed to pick me up rolled around, he never showed. I waited for over an hour in my new, pricey outfit before I admitted that he’d stood me up. I suspect the no show was revenge for my comment since he never called to explain. From a mutual friend I know he was in town and on base. He hadn’t shipped out. There hadn’t been a death in his family. He hadn’t contracted some sudden, life threatening disease.
So, all in all, my introduction to Naval Officers left a lot to be desired, which makes it kind of ironic that the heroes of my Red-Hot SEALs series are all officers in the United States Navy. And yeah, a couple of them do end up on their heroines’ worst date lists.
ABOUT TRISH:
Trish McCallan was born in Oregon and raised in Washington State, where as a child she sold her first crayon-illustrated books for a nickel. This love of writing led her to study the craft at Western Washington University. She worked as a bookkeeper and a human-resource specialist before trading in her day job for a full-time writing career. Her debut novel, Forged in Fire, went on to final for two prestigious Romance Writers of America RITA® awards. Forged in Ash is her second book, finaled for a RITA® award as well. She currently resides in eastern Washington with three golden retrievers, a black lab mix, and a cat.
Website- www.trishmccallan.com
Link to Facebook profile- https://www.facebook.com/trish.mccallan
Twitter profile- https://twitter.com/@TrishMcCallan
LATEST RELEASE:
Forged in Ash Blurb:
Kait Winchester inherited a special gift from her Arapaho ancestors: she can heal with her touch. And there is no one she would like to get her hands on more than the super-sexy SEAL who seems determined to ignore their off-the-charts chemistry. When the wounded warrior finally seeks her help, she’s ready to nurse him back to health…and into her bed.
Navy SEAL Lieutenant Marcus “Cosky” Simcosky is no stranger to hot water, but recent events have boiled over into one hell of a mess. His team is under investigation for a hostage rescue gone wrong, a crazy female stalker is on his trail, and the last few bullets he took just may sideline him for the rest of his career. The kicker? The one woman who can help him get back on his feet—and has haunted his fantasies for years—is his teammate’s sister. He’s looked but never touched. When his stalker targets Kait, though, Cosky will have no choice but to do whatever is necessary to keep her safe.
GIVEAWAY!
I’m giving away two Kindle eBooks or two signed paper copies of Forged in Fire and Forged in Ash (winners’ choice). To enter the drawing, all you have to do is post in the comments. Any comment will get you entered, but I’d love to hear some of your worst date stories, so please share!
July 9, 2015
Best Anniversary Date Ever
Hi all! I’m Charly, Rebecca’s assistant. We thought it’d be fun to do a ‘Romance: The Good, the Bad, and the Disastrous’ theme with guest bloggers throughout the summer months. Every Monday and Thursday, we’ll have a guest blogger talk about fun stuff like horrible dates, good dates, etc. Some bloggers will have a contest, and some won’t – it’s totally up to them. If there is a contest, I’ll randomly draw a winner from the post comments, send the winner’s email address to the guest blogger, and they’ll take it from there. Rebecca will jump in and blog when she can. For now, enjoy as we play!
Hey guys! I’m Rebecca Yarros, and I write New Adult military romance with some pretty hot hockey players and Apache helicopter pilots. It helps that I’m married to one!
I’ve been in love with my soldier for fifteen years, and we’ve been married for thirteen of them. We got married super young, and just like a lot of newlyweds, we couldn’t afford the honeymoon we’d dreamt of. So we vowed that on our 10 year anniversary, we would take a Mediterranean cruise, knowing that with his military career, nothing is ever certain.
The powers that be smiled on us, and between his 3rd and 4th deployment to Afghanistan, we snagged our cruise, 18 perfect days while our family juggled our kids back home state-side. But the best date? Our actual anniversary.
We found ourselves on the aisle of Capri, how perfect is that? My husband booked us a small sailboat, and we toured the island, exploring the grottos, and taking in the water that can only be sufficien
tly known as “Mediterranean Blue.” But what nailed that most perfect date is when the sailboat threw an anchor off the coast, and we renewed our wedding vows, just us. It’s so funny how vows change after ten years of marriage, how what you thought was difficult at twenty-one is now second nature, like thinking of your partner first. We’d been through three deployments, one where he was seriously wounded, four little boys, three military moves, and learned that in an eternally shifting world, there was one constant, each other. The funny thing, even though we both wrote our own vows, we used that exact phrase—One Constant.
The day was perfect, the kind that doesn’t come around often, and it’s one that I’ll never forget. It was worth every dime we saved, every favor we pulled in to watch our kids, every second spent planning, lamenting that we didn’t speak Italian. It was a reminder that even in our crazy, military-owned lifestyle, there are moments that we do get to control, and they make our lifestyle worth it.
Since then I’ve signed an amazing agent, published a couple books, and now I’m the one leaving for signings in between his deployments. But even in a room full of readers, where my heart is racing, and I’m stumbling over my words, thanks to this little Italian tattoo I got this year, I’m reminded that none of this insanity is what life is really about. Nope, it’s about love, and he’s with me no matter where I’m signing, or where he’s called away for duty.
One Constant.
ABOUT REBECCA:
Rebecca is a coffee-seeking paleoholic who can usually be found seeking chocolate. She’s a mom of six, four boys who play hockey, one young woman headed off to college, and one little girl in diapers, whom they foster and are madly in love with. She’s been married thirteen years to her army aviator husband, and they’re split between home in Colorado and New York while they wait for the foster system to determine their daughter’s future. If you catch her at a quiet moment, chances are she’s writing, playing guitar, or simply waiting for one of the kids to ask for another snack…
Come follow her!
Facebook: www.facebook.com/rebeccaElizabethYarros
Twitter: @rebeccayarros
FAVORITE QUOTE:
“The fire you have within you is impossible to kill. The first breath you take when you’re free of all this, it will come roaring back. That’s what’s so impossibly beautiful about you.”
~ Full Measures
LATEST RELEASE:
Eyes Turned Skyward:
A 2015 Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence finalist in the New Adult category
Life’s too short to play it safe…
Since her sister’s death, twenty-year-old Paisley Donovan has been treated like delicate glass by her parents. She may share her sister’s heart condition, but nothing will stop her from completing her Bucket List, even if it kills her. And it almost does, until Jagger Bateman pulls her from the ocean and breathes more than air into her lungs—he sets her soul on fire.
Jagger is enrolled in the country’s toughest flight school. He’s wickedly hot, reckless, and perfect for a girl looking to live life to the fullest. Except that Paisley is the commanding general’s daughter, and her boyfriend is Jagger’s biggest rival. Now Paisley must decide just how much to risk for a guy who makes her heart pound a little too hard.
They’re flying through dangerous territory—and one wrong move could make them crash and burn…
GIVEAWAY!
What was your best date? Leave a comment for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card. One winner will be randomly picked.
July 6, 2015
Romance: The Good, the Bad, and the Disastrous: the Wedding Edition
Hi all! I’m Charly, Rebecca’s assistant. We thought it’d be fun to do a ‘Romance: The Good, the Bad, and the Disastrous’ theme with guest bloggers throughout the summer months. Every Monday and Thursday, we’ll have a guest blogger talk about fun stuff like horrible dates, good dates, etc. Some bloggers will have a contest, and some won’t – it’s totally up to them. If there is a contest, I’ll randomly draw a winner from the post comments, send the winner’s email address to the guest blogger, and they’ll take it from there. Rebecca will jump in and blog when she can. For now, enjoy as we play!
Hey, everyone, Kate Meader here, writer of sexy, contemporary romance about chefs and firemen and Texans, to name a few of my hottie subjects. Now that we’ve hit summer in full stride, I thought it might be fun to talk about something that usually happens when the weather turns warmer: weddings. Not just beautiful, perfect weddings, however, but weddings where it didn’t go quite as planned. I’m sure everyone has been to a disastrous one—or perhaps had disaster strike their own. Mine, while I wouldn’t call it disastrous, definitely had a hiccup or two.
It all started in Italy… that’s where Mr. M. popped the question and über-romantics that we are, we decided to head back there a year later with thirty of our closest family and friends to make it official. I’m from Ireland, he’s a Bostonian, and Italy was neutral territory. Our story—sticking to it. Bonus: “It would keep the riff-raff out”, pronounced Mr. M, who didn’t want to splurge on 300 chicken dinners for a bunch of third cousins, twice removed. This way, the people who really wanted to celebrate with us would make the journey and get a fabulous vacation to boot. And it worked! We had a lovely mix of guests, a cosmopolitan bunch, all of whom wanted to stay with us at the villa we rented in Tuscany and none of whom wanted to actually drive in Italy. So twenty villa guests, four cars, you do the math. My future brother-in-law crashed an Alfa Romeo into the villa’s three hundred year old stone wall. Our honeymoon was spent ferrying guests around Tuscan villages. But before that, we got lost on the way to the castle where the ceremony was to be held. My mother misplaced her hat during the reception (though “hat” was pushing it—a piece of gauze attached to a 
wafer-thin cap, really) and my new sister-in-law dumpster-dived in the trash cans behind the castle to try to find it. I’ll tell you, nothing bonds two families like searching through Italian rubbish.
The wedding itself went off without a hitch, despite the fact it was entirely in Italian and the celebrant looked like Andrew Lloyd-Webber. Later I found out that two of my friends had broken up with each other rather spectacularly during the reception. It could have been much worse, I suppose. At least the maid of honor didn’t drop the cake (that happened at my brother-in-law’s nuptials). Ours was a fairytale wedding in a tenth century Italian castle in the hills overlooking Florence. Can’t complain at all.
But I know you all have tales of wedding day horror. Tell me in the comments: what crazy thing almost upended your wedding or the wedding of a friend or loved one? One lucky commenter will get a digital copy of something from my backlist: choose from sexy chefs, alpha firefighters, or tortured Texans at http://katemeader.com/books/.
ABOUT KATE:
Originally from Ireland, Kate cut her romance reader teeth on Maeve Binchy and Jilly Cooper novels, with some Mills & Boon thrown in for variety. Give her tales about brooding mill owners, oversexed equestrians, and men who can rock an apron or a fire hose, and she’s there. Now based in Chicago, she writes sexy contemporary romance with alpha heroes and strong heroines who can match their men quip for quip.
FAVORITE QUOTE:
“Hold off on touching yourself until I see you again. Think you could manage that for me, Tess?”
Her breath caught. She wanted to remember this moment later after whatever was happening between them had flat-lined and died.
~Excerpt from From EVEN THE SCORE, releasing July 21, 2015
UPCOMING RELEASE:
EVEN THE SCORE, releasing July 21:
He’ll make her an offer she can’t refuse…
Actress Tess McKenzie is performing in the Tenth Circle of Showbiz Hell—dinner theater. All she really wants is to start a theater of her own. Then Tess receives an offer she can’t refuse. She’ll get her funding . . . if she pretends to be the fiancée to her nemesis, Texan property tycoon Hunter Dade. If she’s going to pull this off, she’ll need all the luck she can get. Break a leg, indeed.
On the verge of a big business deal, Hunter needs to hire a fiancée. He hasn’t quite forgiven Tess for ruining his wedding, but when their chemistry goes from combative to straight-up lust, the “no sex” clause in their mutually beneficial arrangement is tested. Which is a serious problem, because if Tess isn’t careful, she’ll go from breaking a leg to breaking her heart . . .
GIVEAWAY:
Leave a comment about your crazy wedding experience for a chance to win an eBook from Kate’s backlist. You can see the entire list here: http://katemeader.com/books/. Open to international as long as Kate can gift it through Amazon.
July 2, 2015
A Real World Romance
Hi all! I’m Charly, Rebecca’s assistant. We thought it’d be fun to do a ‘Romance: The Good, the Bad, and the Disastrous’ theme with guest bloggers throughout the summer months. Every Monday and Thursday, we’ll have a guest blogger talk about fun stuff like horrible dates, good dates, etc. Some bloggers will have a contest, and some won’t – it’s totally up to them. If there is a contest, I’ll randomly draw a winner from the post comments, send the winner’s email address to the guest blogger, and they’ll take it from there. Rebecca will jump in and blog when she can. For now, enjoy as we play!
I met my husband when I was five years old. That’s right. It was love at first sight. Okay, not really. In fact, I barely remember it.
My parents bought the house his parents had built on the outskirts of a tiny town known as Stratford. He and his family then moved two miles away to live on a dairy farm. We went to separate schools until the 5th grade, and then it was love at second sight. No, not yet.
We attended the same high school and were in many classes together. We became casual friends, although I had a crush on him my senior year. At Winter Carnival, Prom, whatever, I always asked him to dance with me once, and he would, then return to his friends. He never got the hint. Go figure.
After high school, we ran into each other again at a graduation party. I had some drinks (shh, don’t tell) and followed him around like a lost puppy, and at some point in the night he told me he hadn’t given me a graduation kiss yet. Sigh. A kiss. And yup, we made out for a while. Best graduation party ever!
Being the romantic, I expected him to call the next day and ask me out. He didn’t. Apparently I’d read more into the situation than he had. So like a fool, I mooned over him all summer, until I found out in the fall that he had a girlfriend. Bummer.
My crush must not have been that big because I decided it didn’t matter. I was going off to college, and there would be plenty of guys there. No problem. The first couple of weeks after school began, I hung out with girls from my high school, and one night, there he was.
He joined our group of small town kids. Again, no problem. I was so over him anyway, and he was a nice guy. As the school year progressed, our group began to break apart as we expanded our circles of college friends. As a fairly shy introvert, I didn’t make friends as 
fast as others. So one night, all the friends I’d counted on to eat dinner with me had other plans. Which left me with two choices. Eat alone, or call Jeff. He still had a girlfriend, but I wasn’t interested in a date, just dinner with someone. I paced and stewed about asking him for quite a while before I finally reasoned that worst thing he’d do was tell me no. So I made the call. And we went to the cafeteria that night together, as friends.
Soon it became a regular thing. We ate dinner every night together, studied together, hung out and talked. All as friends. In fact, he became my best friend. The best friend I’ve ever had.
One weekend, his girlfriend broke up with him. The long distance relationship just didn’t work out. At the time, nothing changed between us. We stayed friends. He even told me who he was thinking of asking out on a date.
We’d been hassled for weeks by a friend who couldn’t understand how we could spend so much time together and not date. One night that friend spoke up again, and while I ignored it, something clicked in Jeff’s head. He kissed me that night. Funny to look back on it now, but I pulled back and asked him if he would remember this kiss the next morning. He said he would, and he did. We’ve been together ever since. That was over twenty-six years ago, and we’re still going strong. He’s my partner in life, my partner in crime, and the best guy I’ve ever known.
ABOUT TAMARA:
A small town girl with a big imagination, Tamara Hughes had no idea what to do with her life. After graduating from college, she moved to a big city, started a family and a job, and still struggled to find that creative outlet she craved. An avid reader of romance, she gave writing a try and became hooked on the power of exploring characters, envisioning adventures, and creating worlds. She enjoys stories with interesting twists and heroines who have the grit to surmount any obstacle, all without losing the ability to laugh. To learn more, stop by her website: www.tamarahughes.com. You can also find her on:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/tamarahughesauth
Twitter: www.twitter.com/TamHughes
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/7738043.Tamara_Hughes
Amazon Author Page: www.amazon.com/author/tamarahughes
FAVORITE QUOTE:
A crisis of her own making, yet again. Would she ever be free of this curse that followed her?
~Excerpt from From Beauty’s Curse
LATEST RELEASE:
BEA
UTY’S CURSE:
England, 1722
Amelia Archer will be the ruin of her family. Her extraordinary bad luck is burden enough, but her sweet, trusting nature often lands her in impossible scrapes. After the last straw, Amelia’s harried father ships his unfortunate daughter off to the Colonies to live with her aunt. But wherever Amelia goes, bad luck is sure to follow…
Pirate David Lamont is taken with the lovely young Englishwoman the moment she’s pulled aboard from her sinking vessel. But sailors are already a superstitious lot and Amelia is unwelcome. In a feat of chivalry, David defends and claims her for himself…
Now their fortunes—for good or ill—are invariably tied. But as much as she longs for him, Amelia cannot allow a romance. For a lady of misfortune can only bring ruin to those she loves…
June 29, 2015
Worst First Date
Hi all! I’m Charly, Rebecca’s assistant. We thought it’d be fun to do a ‘Romance: The Good, the Bad, and the Disastrous’ theme with guest bloggers throughout the summer months. Every Monday and Thursday, we’ll have a guest blogger talk about fun stuff like horrible dates, good dates, etc. Some bloggers will have a contest, and some won’t – it’s totally up to them. If there is a contest, I’ll randomly draw a winner from the post comments, send the winner’s email address to the guest blogger, and they’ll take it from there. Rebecca will jump in and blog when she can. For now, enjoy as we play!
Dating my husband was hazardous to my health. There were numerous death-defying outings over the course of our relationship, but our first date was the one that set the tone.
I’d just arrived in Barrow, Alaska. If you’re not familiar with where Barrow is, it’s at the top of the world, above the Brooks Range in the Arctic. I’d taken a job and was excited to start my adventure. I met my husband on the first day in Barrow, but we didn’t have our fateful first date until a few weeks later.
It was September and already getting cold. For the most part the tundra was frozen and my husband thought it would be fun to go on an Argo ride. An Argo is an all-terrain vehicle that looks like an enclosed golf cart with tracks like a tank. Perfect for the Arctic landscape. Like any single woman, approaching thirty, I wanted to look irresistible. We’d be inside the Argo and I figured I’d be warm enough. It never dawned on me we’d end up in a Survivor-type outing. Still, it was the Artic and had been told repeatedly to be prepared. At the time my definition of being prepared equated to a pair of long johns under my jeans and a thick pair of socks. I wore a shearling coat that had one button around my cleavage area and a knit headband instead of a full stocking cap. After all, I was trying to look cute and in order to do that I couldn’t smash down my hair. I also wore hiking boots and mittens. No scarf. No snow boots. No clue.
My husband and I in the Arctic later that year. Me still being an awesome girlfriend.
A thrill of excitement raced through me when we started across the tundra, driving along the Arctic shore. My husband pointed out different sights of interest, including Hollywood, which was the location for a movie they’d shot years before. At Hollywood we turned inland, chatting, laughing, and flirting. The date was amazing, better than I could have hoped for, and I was definitely feeling adorable in my knit headband and stylish jacket.
Then disaster struck. The Argo dipped into a ditch, but instead of coming out on the other side, the tracks spun uselessly in midair. A chunk of ice jammed against the center and hung up the machine. In a word, we were going nowhere fast. The obvious solution was to get out and push. When we stepped out of the Argo our feet plunged into calf-deep, icy water. The frigid liquid flowed over the tops of my boots, soaking my feet and instantly chilling me. So not good. Undaunted, we slopped through the water and pushed, feeling we’d be all right if we could get unstuck and drive back to town.
Unfortunately, no amount of pushing was going to get that machine off the ice. We also attempted to MacGyver it with planks of wood we found. After breaking them into chunks, we plunged our hands into the chilling water, shoving the wood under the tracks for lift and traction. Here’s the problem with wood—it floats. Keeping the pieces under the tracks was like trying to herd frogs. After several valiant, and frankly praiseworthy, attempts we abandoned the Argo and headed toward town. Let me remind you that I was wet up to the elbows and drenched to the calves? Thankfully, temperatures were above freezing and I was wearing real mutton, which held in the heat even though I was wet.
Before starting out, my husband slung a large gun across his back. Unnerving, but not unexpected. But as we walked, I noticed his gaze constantly scanned the area. When I asked what he was looking for, he calmly replied, “Polar bears.” I think I might have peed myself a little bit at that point.
About that time the weather turned on us. A thin, icy mist blanketed everything, including me. The hairstyle I’d spent considerable time on drooped down my forehead and slicked to the sides of my face. How I wished I had a stocking cap when tiny chills began racing through my head and down my neck.
Five hours we walked, scanning for predators, my body temperature plummeting, and the visibility dropping to a mere few yards in front of us. I didn’t even know if we were headed in the right direction. It wouldn’t have been surprising if we had walked in a hug circle or wandered even farther onto the tundra.
About a mile out of town we were able to catch a ride from a couple in a pick-up. Of course we had to ride in the back, but anything was better than walking the rest of the way.
Nearly six hours later we arrived home. Not once during our arduous trek back did I complain. Not a peep. Not a negative barb. That very fact is talked about in hushed tones of awe even today. It was an amazing feat I probably couldn’t repeat today, but for that excruciatingly long and chilling trek across the tundra I was the perfect date. Little did I know it wouldn’t be the last time he tried to kill me on an outing, but I married him anyway.
ABOUT BOONE:
As a bestselling author, Boone Brux’s books range from high fantasy to humorous paranormal.
Boone has lived all over the world, finally settling in the icy region of Alaska, where she writes full time. Always looking for the next adventure, it’s not unusual to find her traversing the remotest parts of the Alaskan bush. No person or escapade is off limits when it comes to weaving real life experiences into her books.
LATEST RELEASE:
Bridesmaid Blues:
Maid-of-Honor Dani Brown can handle anything that comes her way when it comes to her best friend’s wedding. That is, until the bride asks for a huge favor-D
ani needs to distract the best man, who happens to be Dani’s ex. The ex she has fantasized dismembering for a year now. The ex she’ll have to suck it up and play nice with if this wedding is to go off without a hitch.
Businessman Jamie Kingsland is back in Seattle for a wedding. There’s just one problem – the maid of honor wants him dead. Except she doesn’t. Even though he knows he broke her heart last year when things got too serious and he panicked and left, she’s being way too nice about it now. And it scares him.
Something is up with his favorite bridesmaid, and he’s determined to find out what…
June 25, 2015
Living with a Romance Author: An Informal Chat with My Real-Life Hero
Hi all! I’m Charly, Rebecca’s assistant. We thought it’d be fun to do a ‘Romance: The Good, the Bad, and the Disastrous’ theme with guest bloggers throughout the summer months. Every Monday and Thursday, we’ll have a guest blogger talk about fun stuff like horrible dates, good dates, etc. Some bloggers will have a contest, and some won’t – it’s totally up to them. If there is a contest, I’ll randomly draw a winner from the post comments, send the winner’s email address to the guest blogger, and they’ll take it from there. Rebecca will jump in and blog when she can. For now, enjoy as we play!
Romance readers are often treated to character interviews featuring our favorite book boyfriends. And while I love chatting with my characters, I thought it might be fun to quiz my real-life hero—my husband.
I wondered what life with a romance writer was like from his perspective. So I sent him a list of questions. And to all of my romance writer friends out there—yes, you can send this list to your significant other and see what he/she says. Oh, and please share
your answers 
SJS: What is your favorite thing about be married to a romance writer?
Mr. Stone: You are a ball of creative passion every day and it’s exciting to be around that, connected to it and experiencing the world through it.
SJS: What is your least favorite thing about be married to a romance writer?
Mr. Stone: A unique and rare affliction known as “creative-crazy-desk-o-titis” that seems to have fully infected you.
SJS: You’re right. My desk is a disaster area. Now, moving on. Do you read my books?
Mr. Stone: I haven’t kept up fully with your prolific production but I’m working on catching up.
SJS: What do you think of when you hear the word “deadline”?
Mr. Stone: I think my wife is astoundingly good at being a disciplined writer so the deadlines aren’t an actual problem in my opinion. But your stress level does mount as they approach and I wish there were a little more time break between those periods occasionally. But, I’m proud of your drive to tell your stories and keep feeding your readership.
SJS: Wow. Great answer. I was expecting “I break in hives envisioning all the dirty dishes I’ll have to tackle while you write.” Now for my last question: What is the most interesting thing you’ve learned from being married to a romance writer?
Mr. Stone: I think few people have had the opportunity to discuss romantic plots, or debate the logistics for crazy hot sex in the various industries such as timber, search and rescue, trucking, and goat herding over. And most evenings, I have the opportunity to discuss these topics with my beautiful wife over a beer. The interesting things that have come out of those conversations are far too many and too racy to enumerate here.
SJS: Excellent answer Mr. Stone! Thanks for chatting with me. I
owe you a beer (or whiskey) while we discuss SEALs in Vegas 
ABOUT SARA JANE:
After several years on the other side of the publishing industry, Sara Jane Stone bid goodbye to her sales career to pursue her dream-writing romance novels. Sara Jane currently resides in Brooklyn, New York with her very supportive real-life hero, two lively young children and a lazy Burmese cat. Visit her online at www.sarajanestone.com or find her on Facebook.
FAVORITE QUOTE:
He’d give her an orgasm that would follow her around like her new best friend, daring anyone to look at her and see anything but a sensual knockout. ~Excerpt from TO TEMP A SEAL
LATEST RELEASE:
TO TEMPT A SEAL:
He can resist everything…except her.
For the first time in her life, art therapist Lucia Lewis is ready to live. And the masquerade ball in Las Vegas is just the place to find a ridiculously hot guy to complete her wicked to-do list. The only rule? Her elegant Venetian mask-which conceals the scars that have always held her back from the life she deserves-stays on.
Navy SEAL Cade Daniels heads to Vegas on a mission to keep his best friend’s little sister out of trouble. Except the woman he’s sent to find is all heat and flame…and perfectly capable of handling herself. And him. But the moment Lucia’s mask slips, the need to heal her, body and soul, is complete and absolute temptation.
But revealing himself could cost him the one thing he isn’t willing to risk…his heart.
GIVEAWAY!
Leave a comment for a chance to win an ebook copy of a title from Sara Jane Stone’s backlist. Winner chooses the book and format. (US Only.)
