Jen Doyle's Blog, page 4
August 29, 2016
IT’S RELEASE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, today is CALLED UP’s release day! Thank you for sharing it with me!
This is also the beginning of my two week blog tour. Thank you to Tasty Book Tours for organizing ten days’ worth of posts, reviews, and excerpts. TBT is amazing!
And here’s the list of blogs I’ll be appearing on today. Please be sure to check out Ctrl, Alt, Books! because I’ll be doing a guest post there on the top five reasons women love baseball players. Thank you to all of the bloggers for hosting me, and a humongous extra thank you to those who did a review. I, of course, hope everyone loves the book, but even for those who don’t, I very much appreciate your including CALLED UP in what I know is a huge TBR pile and for taking the time to do a review. You are all amazing!
* NOTE: Stops in bold indicate there will be a review.
AUGUST 29, 2016:
(Stop 2) – Ellesea Loves Reading
(Stop 5) – A Sky Filled with Sparkling Stars
(Stop 7) – Southern Yankee Book Reviews
(Stop 9) – Diana’s Book Reviews
(Stop 10) – Hines and Bigham’s Literary Tryst
Want to see the rest of the blog tour schedule? Click here.
August 28, 2016
Last Day for CALLED UP Preorder Giveaway Entries
CALLED UP releases TOMORROW! And to celebrate some really great ARC reviews, I’ve been doing a preorder giveaway for the last couple of weeks.
I’ll be giving away a $25 AMAZON GIFT CERTIFICATE to a lucky winner (along with a couple of other prizes).
So head on over to one of the following e-retailers:
Amazon: http://bit.ly/CalledUpAZ
B&N: http://bit.ly/CalledUpBN
iBooks: http://bit.ly/CalledUpIB
Kobo: href=”http://bit.ly/CalledUpKobo
And once you’ve done that, fill out the form at http://bit.ly/2b2nMW1 and tell me all about it. PLUS, there are additional ways to enter on that page. The giveaway ends TONIGHT (Sunday, August 28, 2016) at 11:59 p.m. Good luck!
August 27, 2016
FB Party: The Lineup
Have you RSVP’d yet for Monday night’s Sweet & Sexy Release Day Facebook Party that Rachel Lacey, Lisa Marie Perry and I are hosting in celebration of our books coming out this week? If not, join in now at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1614567405521101/
There will be great prizes, including the grand prize of a $75 Amazon gift card. And the lineup is incredible. Check it out:
7:00pm – Welcome (Rachel, Lisa and myself)
7:10pm – Debbie Mason
7:30pm – Rachel Lacey
7:50pm – Shannon Stacey
8:10pm – Maisey Yates
8:30pm – Nicole Helm
8:50pm – Me!
9:10pm – Molly O’Keefe
9:30pm – Elizabeth Hayley
9:50pm – Jessica Linden
10:10pm – Lisa Marie Perry
There’s also an “Invite a Guest” pre-party giveaway on the Discussion tab (direct link here: http://bit.ly/2aqNwyP) where we have three $5 gift cards up for grabs.
Need that RSVP link again? Here you go: https://www.facebook.com/events/1614567405521101/
August 26, 2016
14 Free Books!
I’m so happy to be part of a group giveaway beginning today over at Instafreebie. LAST CALL, a short story that introduces readers to Inspiration, Iowa, is part of the “14 Free Steamy Romances” giveaway running through Thursday, 9/1. (LAST CALL itself isn’t steamy, I’m sorry to say, but the series it intros is! 
August 25, 2016
Release Day is Just Around the Corner!
That’s right! Except for that whole pesky deadline thing, August 29 has seemed reeeeaaaalllllyyyy far away. Until, um, just now. Because CALLED UP releases on Monday!!!!!
So, to build a little excitement:
ONE day from now… You’ll begin to see announcements for an incredible group giveaway I’m part of through Instafreebie. There will be fourteen awesome FREE short stories/novellas/books available, including LAST CALL, my short story intro to Inspiration, Iowa. (Hint: Deke makes a cameo appearance.) So if you haven’t had a chance to get a copy of that yet, now you will.
TWO days from now… Well, okay, two days from now I’ll be taking a breather in anticipation of a fantastic upcoming couple of weeks and will therefore be hanging out with the fam at the beach. I’ll post pictures.
August 18, 2016
On Becoming A Writer — Another Throwback Thursday Blog Post
This post originally appeared on Everafter Romance on Feb. 12, 2016.
I became a writer on November 6, 2001 at approximately 8:45 p.m.
Although I’m a rabid Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, I didn’t begin watching it until it went into syndication in September 2001. By the time the musical came along I was hooked. So there I was, along with all the other Buffy fans in the world watching it air (because, of course, back then everyone actually watched when the shows were on), and I realized that one of my favorite characters wasn’t there. Having become a shipper before knowing the definition of the term, I realized with dismay that my man was gone.
So out I went onto the Interwebs, trying to find out what had happened. And, apparently, he had gone and gotten himself addicted to vampires. Not the future I had in mind.
Completely unable to grasp this new reality, I kept on searching and I came across this thing called—What? Fan fiction?
Like as in fans writing their own stories? Did they not have anything better to do?
But, you know, some of it was good. Some of it was actually amazing. And in some of it, my favorite character (okay, okay—if you know Buffy at all you know by now that, yes, I am one of the 342 people in the world who define themselves as a Buffy/Riley shipper; bear with me, however) had a much better ending than the one on the show. Still not the ending I wanted; much better, however.
And yet, as November turned into December, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I found myself inspired. I’d found my muse, it appeared, although I had no idea at the time that that’s what it was called.
A story came alive in my head.
I’d never written before. Not fiction, at least. Not that wasn’t required in Freshman English, that is. Yet the words poured out of me. They flowed from my head to my hands.
It wasn’t perfect. In fact, it kind of sucked. But it was there.
On January 17, 2002, I put it out into the world. It was one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever done. Never had I done something so instinctually. I was a perfectionist, a planner. (That was back before I had three kids.) I liked to be behind the scenes, not out in front. And here was a universe that I’d barely begun to uncover, not to mention a discipline the rules of which I didn’t know.
On January 23rd, however, I got my first review:
A new WIP to salivate and obsess over. The first four chapters…have me in an absolute lather to see the rest.
Shazaam. A writer was born.
My path may have been different from that of other authors—though, also, likely the same as some. Thirteen years later, I am proud to say that my debut book was published by Carina Press in April 2016. And I’m so happy to be sharing this ride with you.
August 12, 2016
CALLED UP named TRR Top Pick!
OhWowOhWowOhWOW!!!! I just got the news today that CALLED UP was named a TRR (The Romance Reviews) Top Pick!
From Delta’s 5 STAR review:
I just love Ms. Doyle’s lighthearted yet delicious voice, her fabulous blend of humor and heat that of a much more seasoned author (did I mention this was only her second book?). She has earned a spot on my auto-buy list, and I’m super excited for the next story in this über excellent series!
Bottom Line: CALLED UP gets a big YAAAAAAASSSS from this reviewer! If you dig well written, sweet, funny and erotic romance with a firm HEA, do yourself a favor and pick this series up!
I won’t lie. Book Two was a tough one to write. I can’t even begin to say what this means to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you, to Delta and The Romance Reviews!
August 8, 2016
Reviews of CALLING IT
I feel so very honored to have received so many awesome reviews for CALLING IT, my debut book with Carina Press. I thought I’d collect some of the best ones here so they’d be in one place. Check them out below. (And if you’re interested in taking a chance on a new author, you can buy CALLING IT at Amazon and other e-retailers.) Thank you!
“Calling It grabbed my heart from the start and didn’t let go. I enjoyed every crazy, funny, emotional, heart-warming minute of it and I can’t wait to read the next one in this series!” ~ 4.5 stars ~ Guilty Pleasures ~ Read full review
“Ms. Doyle’s fresh writing just lit a fuse that I didn’t want to end. I’m in awe that CALLING IT is her first novel. She absolutely killed it!” ~ The Romance Reviews ~ Read full review
“I am STUNNED that this is a debut book for this author. She honestly couldn’t have written it any better. I cannot wait for the next one. This author just became an auto-buy for me. I can’t wait for more, but in the meantime…YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK!!” ~ A+ ~ Smitten with Reading ~ Read full review
“Sweet, hot and easy reading – I am hoping that Ms. Doyle will be revisiting their friends and giving us their happily ever afters too.” ~ 4.5 “awesome” stars ~ Wicked Reads ~ Read full review
“Author Jen Doyle definitely hits a home run in her first at-bat with her debut, Calling It. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun 
August 4, 2016
My Love Affair With Baseball
TBT of another kind…
As I gear up for the release date of CALLED UP (25 days away, but who’s counting?), I thought I’d share this post that I wrote back in April for the Carina Press blog. Here goes:
There’s something about baseball that has always appealed to me. The crisp green grass, the crack of the bat, the way those baseball pants fit so well…
Baseball pants aside, some of my most vivid memories revolve around baseball, starting when the Red Sox and Yankees played the AL East tie-breaker in 1978, my parents and their friends cheering as they crowded around our tiny little TV.
Baseball was always a part of our life growing up. My mom came from a Brooklyn Dodgers family—the family legend is that her uncle moved to L.A. specifically to express his displeasure from the stands of Dodger Stadium. My dad, on the other hand, was a Yankees fan through and through, raising his three daughters to be the same.
Ron Guidry and Bucky Dent were my first celebrity crushes (just barely inching out Mark Harmon in his 240-Robert days), but it was Thurman Munson who I truly fell in love with. Despite the awards he racked up—Rookie of the Year, three-time Gold Glove Award, and seven-time All-Star, just to name a few—his being the first Team Captain since Lou Gehrig was what truly hooked me. The respect of teammates and management alike spoke to me not just of his talent, but of his humility and love for the game and for his team.
Despite this history, in real life, I managed to fall in love with a Red Sox fan. Although his allegiances weren’t unexpected—my husband grew up in Boston, after all—it came as a blow to my family. And I had no intention of converting.
Sure, we moved to Boston. Sure, we went to Fenway Park regularly. But me, a Sox fan? No way.
Flash forward to 2003. On that fateful October night, as I watched Aaron Boone hit his walk-off home-run and felt that bone-crushing disappointment, I realized I’d succumbed. Because I, like the rest of Red Sox Nation, had believed that maybe this time they would win.
They didn’t; not that night. But the Red Sox of 2004 were an entirely different ballgame. (Yes, I went there.) Damon, Lowe, Ortiz… Although the list goes on, it wasn’t any one individual—it was the team. It was everything baseball should be.
And on that October night when the Red Sox beat the Yankees in their historic win—when my dad called my husband and their conversation was the very definition of sportsmanship—I realized I’ve been blessed to have these men I love up close and the men I love from afar. And that writing CALLING IT gave me the chance to put my love affair into words.
How about you? Is it the crack of the bat that gets your heart racing? The pants? Do tell…
(See the original post at: http://carinapress.com/blog/2016/04/my-love-affair-with-baseball/)
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August 1, 2016
August Release Blitz & Giveaway
I’m so happy to be in the great company of some amazing authors who all have new books coming out in August. Rachel Lacey, Jessica Linden, and Lisa Marie Perry are all beginning new series, while Bronwen Evans, Codi Gary, Annie Rains and myself have new installments in currently running series.
And in honor of this release blitz, we’re giving away a $50 gift certificate to the e-retailer of your choice. All you need to do is head on over to Rafflecopter to enter. Good luck, and happy reading!
August 2:
Rock With You, by Rachel Lacey
Amazon | B&N | More info and links…
Welcoming the Bad Boy, by Annie Rains
Amazon | B&N | Google Play | iBooks | Kobo
August 16:
Hero of Mine, by Codi Gary
Amazon
A Taste of Seduction, by Bronwen Evans
Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon Ca | Amazon Aust | Nook | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play
August 29:
Called Up, by Jen Doyle
Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo
August 30:
Fight for Me, by Jessica Linden
Amazon | B&N | Kobo
Meant to be Mine, by Lisa Marie Perry
Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo
Run to You, by Rachel Lacey
Amazon | B&N | More info & links…
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