Jamie's Birthday Bash Giveaway

Woot! It's Jamie Lynn's birthday today. She's the blogger behind For the Love of Romance. So in her honor, I have compiled a bunch of pictures of very good looking men.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMIE LYNN!!

Margaritas on me the next time I see youuu!

Author Jade Lee being a semi-creeper behind us. lol

AND NOW ON TO THE GIVEAWAY:

Also, in honor of Jamie's birthday, I will be giving away a copy of one of our favorite books of all time:

Jenn LeBlanc's THE RAKE AND THE RECLUSE

Winner receives an e-book copy of Jenn's book either for Kindle or Nook. Winners choice. Winner has 48 hours to respond to email or a new winner will be chosen.


Check out the book trailer:

If you didn't win a copy of it from my last giveaway, you'll get another chance this time. Just remember to leave a comment wishing Jamie Lynn a happy birthday or a comment about how YOU celebrate yours. You can also wish her a happy birthday on Twitter, FB or her blog (she's got a giveaway that ends 8/31)

Don't forget to fill out that rafflecopter thingy. The only mandatory thing is to leave a comment. (When leaving a comment, do it ninja style: yourname at gmail dot com.) The others just earn you an extra entry and are optional. Giveaway ends 9/7 at midnight. Or if you want to get technical, 9/8 at 12:01am. Please read all the rules at the end of the rafflecopter widget before entering. Giveaway is international but make sure the book is available for your country. Thanks!

I do not own any of these pictures. If you are the owner of said picture and would like them taken down, please contact me. But would you do that to a girl on her birthday?

Five Friday Favorites

Oh sweet Pete! I haven't done my Five Friday Favorites in a while. Um, I've got quite a few. Perhaps I should just categorize it? Oh the agony! Decisions, decisions. RomCon11 was the bomb dot com. Seriously. It rocked. Hardcore. Red dildo included. I have a new appreciation for law men and highlanders. My love for certain authors have skyrocketed. I actually got some reading done the past few days. My bookshelf is groaning from all the new books I got from RomCon. I was famous for a hot minute and I apparently am a mauler of all things hot and in kilts. I'm slightly obsessed with my aviators and is it next June yet? I met Jamie Lynn and Rita in person. Neat-O! And what is up with this marine layer crap going on?! Drove up to Santa Monica Pier and cruised the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway)-- thanks Veronica Mars!

So after much deliberation, I give you my Five Friday Faves:

Derek "Highly Inappropriate" Hutchins. Besides being good looking, he's a pretty funny guy. And he's got some pretty inspiration worthy friends or rather friend, named Will. He was such a good sport during RomCon letting us tag along. Remember his name, he'll be famous one day. He was already stopping traffic on the street and random women were taking pictures and sending it to their daughters.
[Photo courtesy of Jamie Lynn. Thanks friend!]

Jamie "I'm here for business" Lynn. FINALLY met her in person at the Denver Airport before rocking hard at RomCon. Hilariously funny. She's the blogger behind For The Love of Romance. She brought a riding crop, won some handcuffs and red rope. I was tied and handcuffed and cropped. I might have liked it. She also sends me stories in my inbox. They are amazing.
[Photo courtesy of Book Reading Gals FB album]

Jenn "Always Professional" LeBlanc. The awesomest host/chauffeur/tour guide/photographer/writer/model sharer EVER! She's just all sorts of amazeballs. She has THE best job ever. No joke. Have you seen my sidebar. Yes, that's her book. Yes, that's Derek. Yes, it's an amazing read. Yes, there are pictures throughout the book. Yes, go and buy it now cause you're missing out.
[Photo taken by Jamie Lynn on my camera]


Highlanders. So right now I'm reading In Bed with a Highlander by Maya Banks and am almost done. There's just something sexy and primal about a man willing to protect his clan, his keep and his woman. Oh yeah, can't forget the kilts. Er, trews. I've been on a highlander kick thanks to Heather of Book Reading Gals. The hero of Build A Hero at our table was a highlander, there were models in kilts at RomCon, there was highlander panel with Kimberly Killion, Margaret Mallory and Melissa Mayhue, and quite a few books picked up at RomCon featuring highlanders.


Denver, CO. What is there to say? The weather is lovely, the scenery is so flipping green, there's a creepy blue horse with glowing red eyes by the airport, Denver International is HUGE, downtown is all sorts of fun, the Tilted Kilt (I kept calling it the Kilted Tilt) was hopping, Cricket burgers are fabu and oh yeah, this thing called RomCon is held there.

(source)

So what are you loving this week? What made your Top 5? A new book? Author? Place? Movie? Song? Artist? New friend? Random how stranger? Remember, sharing is caring...

RomCon11 Recap

Oh dear heavens, where do I begin? Back in May, Ashley March bribed us with the promise of Blue Bell Ice Cream and Jenn LeBlanc bribed Jamie (For the Love of Romance), Rita (Not Another Romance Blog) and I with this:

Not fair right?! How can a girl say no to that?

RECAP:

THURSDAY:
I arrived at DEN 10-ish, went to go find my bags and on the way there, I found Jamie sitting at some chairs with luggage in hand. (I may or may not have mauled her) Turns out, Rita had missed her flight so we wouldn't get to see her until the afternoon. Boo! The ultra fabulous Jenn LeBlanc came to pick us up. There was so much equipment in her borrowed SUV, we had to squeeze in. (Poor Ashley March had double pink eye.) Meeting Jenn was a total squee worthy moment!!! I'm taking a raincheck Ashley March!

We headed to the hotel to check in and there was a bit of a mix up with Jenn's room (the story can be found on her blog). After dropping off all of Jenn's equipment, we went up to ours. We got a little hungry so we ended up at Applebees, right down the street from the hotel, and the inappropriateness began. Jenn was commenting about how Applebees was a "family restaurant", so for the next half hour, the manager kept trying to convince us that it was more than that (the bar, jello shots, Applebees after dark).

After lunch, we met up with Brandy (B Renae Reads), Tiffany James, Heather and Melanie Sands (Book Reading Gals) and a few other ladies (sorry ladies, I'm not good with names). We registered and got a bag of awesome goodies (books, swag and a thing that looked like a butt plug--which ended up being a computer cleaner instead).

We picked up Rita around 4-ish and ended up doing dinner with some super fabulous authors. At my end of the table were Jamie, Rita, Robyn Carr, Tiffany James and a few other ladies (once again, sorry ladies I'm not good with names). And then... Delilah Marvelle walked up looking all cute and tiny and I nearly peed my pants. I have been a HUGE fan since MISTRESS OF PLEASURE.

Then... after waiting FOREVER, we went on a midnight run to the airport to pick up Derek Hutchins (our bribe) and to Wal-Mart to get a few forgotten things.

FRIDAY:
Woke up early to run on the treadmill in the workout room, went down to breakfast after a nice hot shower and waited FOREVER to get served. Jamie and I were eating and missed out on the Welcome to RomCon Event but Rita made it. Thank goodness!

Build A Hero was HA-LARIOUS! Jamie and I sat at the Time Travel/Historical table along with Heather (Book Reading Gals), Jenn, Ann Lethbridge and a few other ladies (once again, I apologize). We had to come up with a hero, fill out a worksheet of sorts, put it on a poster board and present it to the rest of the tables. Each table had a different sub-genre (erotic, historical, suspense, contemporary) and had to come up with a hero. Our table's hero was a highlander named Ewan MacGregor who had this amazing backstory (Heather, I need a draft of it in my inbox within the next month or so. Thanks!). Between brainstorming and lot of giggles, Jamie and I had the brilliant idea of bringing in Derek (who was already dressed up in a kilt since he was shooting with Kimberly Killion) as our visual. Of course we were called cheaters since our table had real live man flesh but hey! there were no rules as to how to win.

Kimberly Killion, Melissa Mayhue and Margaret Mallory held a historical panel featuring everyone's favorite: HIGHLANDERS! Well, at least one highlander: Brooks Johnson. There was little bit of trivia which resulted in quite a few books given away, a lot of giggles and many pictures taken. Each author talked about their latest releases and may have shared a few secrets along the way.

The Historical Tea featured authors: Delilah Marvelle, Mary Wine, Julia London, Eileen Dreyer, Isobel Carr, Jenn LeBlanc, Jade Lee, Robyn DeHart, Melissa Mayhue and Pamela Nowak. There were stacks of books at each place setting from the authors (old and new releases). We learned fun facts about each of the authors and had to guess which fact belonged to which author. There were delicious yummy looking cookies, cheesecake, brownies and an array of hot tea.

Melissa Schroeder's Luau was loads of fun. There was yummy food, more swag (A Little Harmless Sex related items), lei's, a Nook giveaway and a very good looking man in a sarong.

The Wild West Dinner was FUN! There was country music, a mechanical bull (I wore a skirt so that was a no-go), a dance floor, yummy food (pulled pork sandwiches, corn, chili, ribs, salad, beans...), some good looking cowboys and a place in the corner to dress up and take pictures. Did I mention there was a bar?!

Chocolate Mangasm totally got out of hand. It was such a closely guarded secret that I'm not sure I should reveal what happened behind closed doors. So here's an overview: sex games, dividing all attendees into SLUTS and VIXENS, a red dildo, word scramble, chocolate covered food, an auction and I brought a riding crop along.

Those are all the pictures I can show you without getting arrested. lol

SATURDAY:
I may or may not have had one drink too many the night before. Woke up at 3AM and worked out for 3 hours in the workout room (had a lot of pent up energy to burn).

The Victorian Fashion Show was absolutely stunning. The following authors dressed up in different Victorian clothes: Delilah Marvelle, DeeAnne Gist, Jade Lee, Mary Wine, Melissa Mayhue, Kimberly Killion, Beth Williamson, Ann Lethbridge and Amanda McCabe. We also got a demonstration on how a lady dressed for her day. Phew! That's a lot of clothing and who ever writes in their books that it was easy access when getting down and dirty may be taking some creative liberties. Seriously. Trying to wade through 20 pounds of clothing is NOT sexy.

The Historical Mixer was fun! We played the Who Am I game. As we walked in, we received a sticker on our back with a name and we had to go around the room, asking questions and figure out who we were. Then we had to find our other half. There were fun prizes that were given away and also won. We also got to interact with authors. A sort of author speed dating kind of thing where each one moved from table to table. Can I just say that I have a girl crush on Delilah Marvelle?

Strip A Hero was just, no words could describe it. Jade Lee, Jennifer Ashley/Allyson James and Kim Killion had written fun, giggle worthy stories and Brooks Johnson, Derek Hutchins and Christina LaFon acted them out.  I'm pretty sure this one was everyone's favorite. Let me clarify the whole Strip A Hero thing: no models were fully naked for the enjoyment of the audience, just shirtless.

After that, I finally hit The Wall and had to rest. I ended up resting for the rest of the day. Oopsie! I totally missed out on the Summer Sensation presented by Avon, the Blogger/Reviewer Party and the Pajama Jam. Who knew that it took only 2 days for me to be super exhausted?? Next year, I'll be fully prepared. Maybe stock up on those 5 hour energy drinks.

SUNDAY:
Yay for sleeping in! Made it in time for the Readers' Crown Awards Brunch. You could get your very own personalized omelet or even crepes, or just go on down the line and fill your plate up with fruit, granola, eggs, bacon and breakfast items.

Congrats to Olivia Cunning for winning Best First Book & Best Long Erotic Romance! (Both for Backstage Pass)
Congrats to Julie James for winning Best Long Contemporary Romance! (Something About You)
Congrats to Melissa Mayhue for winning Best Long Paranormal Romance! (A Highlander's Destiny)
Congrats to Abby Gaines for winning Best Romantic Novella! (One In A Million)
Congrats to Monica McCarty for winning Best Long Historical Romance! (The Chief)
Congrats to Cindy Gerard for winning Best Long Romantic Suspense (Risk No Secrets) and also to Brenda Novak (White Heat)! It was a tie!!!
Congrats to C.J Barry for winning Best Sci-Fi, Futuristic, Time Travel! (Body Master)
Congrats to Susan Crandall for winning Best Mainstream Women's Fiction! (Sleep No More)
Congrats to Holly Jacobs for winning Best Short Contemporary Romance! (One of A Kind Family)
Congrats to Aubrey Ross for winning Best Short Erotic Romance! (Winter)
Congrats to Kate Moore for winning Best Short Historical Romance! (To Tempt A Saint)
Congrats to Helen Brenna for winning Best Short Romantic Suspense! (Along Came A Husband)

After brunch came the RomCon Rumble. This was a free-for-all. Authors were signing official RomCon trading cards featuring one of their latest book covers, books that you brought to have signed, books that were provided by their publisher and had extras of. It was sort of an author speed dating thing. Olivia Cunning shared some super secret fun news regarding the Sinners series (which I can't divulge here but thought I'd tease... neener, neener), Delilah Marvelle invented gay people (according to all those haters out there--You go Delilah! Get down with your bad self =)! ), Jenn LeBlanc brought her Muse who signed some limited edition posters, Robyn Carr remembered Jamie's name and I couldn't get the nerve to walk up to Julie James and say hi (I'm a total blathering idiot and didn't need a repeat of what happened with Pamela Clare).

So, who's going to RomCon12? I'll see you there! Mark your calendars for June 22-24. Seriously, you don't want to miss out!

Five Friday Favorites

Oopsie! I didn't do a post for last Friday. Sorry friends. I've been debating on whether it should be 10 to make up for last week or 5. 5 won out. I heart Fridays because it's when movies usually come out. And this Friday marks the end of my childhood. For real. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow Part 2 comes out today (or for you Potterheads, last night at midnight) and the journey will be complete. The battle for Hogwarts will end in a bloodbath, not some sparkly showdown. It's been a productive week for me. Lots of work done writing random stuff and trying to piece it together. Spent a lot of time sunning at the beach, getting inspired and rocking out to Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert, Mandy Moore and Miley.

So without further ado, I give you this weeks Five Friday Favorites (in no particular order):

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. I can't say much more or it would ruin it for those of you who haven't seen it. Just wow!

Cowboys! Yeah, those 10 gallon wearing, bronc riding, tight jean donning, horse cutting cowboys. Not that football team. Geez! I think I'm getting myself pumped for RomCon's Wild West Dinner Event. Cookout, cowboys and cowboy boots. 3 freaking weeks from now, I'll be in Denver!!!!! Oh man. Yeah, I'm also excited about Cowboys and Aliens. What of it?? (Just an excuse to post some Daniel Craig ass.)

Sushi. Why? Because it's yummy. That is all.

Red High Heels. Both the song by Kellie Pickler and the ones that I bought last week. I'm loving them.

Jamie Lynn. The girl behind For the Love of Romance. She has saved my romance book reading life. I would still be clueless as to how funny and wonderful a Julia Quinn or Lisa Kleypas book could be or never discovering BDB. Don't gasp. I'm going to start on the first book next week. Promise. She's a Henry loving, romance book reading, laugh out loud, totally awesome person. For those of you going to RomCon, be on the lookout for her. She'll probably be wearing a tiara the whole time. Because that's how she rolls. If she were a boy, I'd totally date her. Just saying.

So... what are you loving this week? New books? New movies? New men? New foods? Share!

Five Friday Favorites

It's another edition of my Five Friday Favorites in which I pick five things that I really, really, really liked this week. It could be a movie, a book, a song, an alcoholic drink, a new piece of man candy, a new friend or even a new blog site. This week, I have had my writing pants on. Like seriously. This WIP is starting to shape up into something. It started off as a joke of sorts but it blossomed into something that might one day be worth publishing. But that's a long ways away. RWA happened this week in the NYC. I've been a tad jealous reading all the tweets and looking at pictures from some of the wonderful authors and bloggers I follow. Next year, it'll be in my backyard, sort of. If I had a backyard an hour and a half away. LOL. The third Transformer's movie comes out today. Oh Josh Duhamel. *sigh*
So here is what I'm loving this week:

Jenn LeBlanc. Yup. She's my man candy dealer. And she is an amazing author and photographer. She's got quite a few projects going. A story for an anthology, Perry's book (if you haven't read THE RAKE AND THE RECLUSE, get yourself to Amazon or B&N.com and BUY IT. There's picture in it. Hot, wet, half nekkid pictures.), casting for Perry (since the original decided to be a do-gooder and teach English to kids in Korea), something super fabulous at RomCon (involving kilts and a Muse) AND a photo shoot happening today. (Helloooo Daniel. Who's Daniel you ask? Oh man. Read Tiffany Reisz's SEVEN DAY LOAN. It's an erotica so proceed with caution.)


These guys. I'm not even going to write anything about them because I know you won't read any of this. Thanks Jenn for the inspiration. They've made the WIP as Muses.

Deeper Than Midnight by Lara Adrian. I have been waiting for this book forever. Okay, maybe not forever ever. But it sure feels like it. I may have dropped everything (aka review books) to indulge in this one. This is Hunter's book. The Gen One who was born and bred by Dragos to be a killing machine until a little girl's vision saves him. He now fights on the side of the Order. He has been conditioned not to feel any type of emotion and to detach himself from everything, until Corinne Bishop comes along. Be on the lookout for my review of this book.

This girl. You may know her as JamieLynn831 on Twitter or For the Love of Romance on Facebook or just Jamie when you talk to her. She is all sorts of AWESOME!! And I heart her. A lot. She has been super generous enough to get me some swag from RWA when she went for the signing. I can't wait to see her in August (35 days from now) for RomCon. We are going to rock out and fan girl squee over our favorite authors and be absolutely well behaved. (Maybe). Yay for internet BFF's or something like that.

'The Story of Us'- Taylor Swift. I have been listening to this song over and over and over again. It's at the top of my playlist for the WIP. Ah-mazing. Actually, most of the playlist consists of Taylor Swift songs. Don't judge me. She just has really awesome lyrics and catchy choruses. 

Sooo... what are you loving this week? A new book? A new movie? A new song? If you've got Man Candy to share, please do! Remember: Sharing is Caring. =)

Five Friday Favorites

Something super exciting has happened this past week. We So Excited! So you may be hearing about it a lot within the next few months. Or something related to it. It's been slow going this week. Again. I spent a week on ONE BOOK, which will forever be known as THE BOOK. This is a first for me. I normally read 2-3 or more books a week. But enough fluff. Time to get down to the nitty gritty.

So here is what I'm loving this week:

THE BOOK. Yes, I've got it plastered all over this frikkin blog. Deal with it! I finally finished it and was left wanting. Is it January yet? Confession: I bought the paperback copy of this book. Not that I'm obsessed or anything. I just wanted to get Jenn (yes, I'm on a first name basis with the author) and a certain Muse and even Lady Francine to sign it.

This girl. Yes, she was featured last week. We are going to be roomies at RomCon!!!! I can't wait to meet her in person. I've been on the fence about going and if I did go, would I know anyone? After Mr. Kati gave the green light to go, I tweeted about it. And bam! Jamie and I registered, and she booked our room. All that's left is to book our plane tickets and get a certain Rita Jett to finish the trifecta.

RomCon 11. Wow, wow, wow! This is all sorts of amazeballs! It deserved a Richard Henry Hugh Purejoy Hutchins Dance Party™. I cannot stop smiling. My cheeks are hurting. This is my chance to meet some of my favorite authors and people I've met through the romance blogosphere. I may have been swayed with the lure of Blue Bell by the Naughty Author #1 Ashley March and meeting Naughty Author #2 Jenn LeBlanc's Muse. But really, I'm just in it for books and swag. (I am lying through my teeth.)

Bridesmaids. This movie was all sorts of AMAZING!!! I couldn't stop laughing. Not only was it funny, it had its serious moments. And can I just say that Melissa McCarthy totally stole the movie?

Maybelline:The Falsies Volum' Express Mascara. I am obsessed with long eyelashes. Mr. Kati can tell you that. I have eyelash envy. It's a sickness. This mascara is waterproof and my eyelashes are sky high. The only makeup I wear on a daily basis is mascara. And this is my all time favorite.





So dear readers, what are you loving this week? A new book I should check out? A new movie? A new musician? A beauty product? Feel free to share.

RomCon11 or Bust!

So after a Twitter storm this past weekend, it has been made official: The Pervy Trinity are going to RomCon in Denver in August. Yes, a certain Jenn LeBlanc, author of The Rake and the Recluse, may or may not have bribed us with a certain Muse. And Ashley March is bringing Blue Bell (which I dearly miss. Blue Bell and Texas go hand in hand, but somehow, it's made its way to Colorado.)
I will finally get to meet Jamie from For the Love of Romance and Rita from Not Another Romance Blog (ok, she's not official yet) IN PERSON! And also, Naughty Authors 1&2: Ashley March and Jenn LeBlanc.
I've registered for RomCon (hello, Chocolate Mangasm™), Jamie has booked our room, this week I'll book my flight and now, it's time get off my ass and run. Run like a bat out of hell (I can't fly), run like a horse hell bent for leather. This girl has got to look good. First impressions and all. 


As the blogosphere is my witness, I give you a Exhibits A, B and C stating that Rita Jett is most definitely, absolutely not backing out, GOING  to RomCon (even if Jamie has to stuff her in a suitcase- sorry Daddy Jett).


Exhibit A: NotAnotherRBlog Rita Jett 

@ 

@JKLeBlanc mmmmm *licks screen* .. I would so move heaven and earth to go if a certain sexgod-overlord tweeted that I should go ;) #Wink

Exhibit B: derekhutchins Derek Hutchins 

Looking forward to #RomCon11 and meeting @NotAnotherRblog @RomancingRakes @JamieLynn831 and @RomConInc - hi ladies ;)

Exhibit C: NotAnotherRBlog Rita Jett 

It's decided... Heaven and Earth have been moved and one way or another- I am going to RomCon

So there you have it. Splashed across the Twitterverse for all to see. Do you hear me in Jersey Rita Jett?

YOU ARE COMING TO ROMCON!!!

I said, you're going to RomCon Rita Jett!

That's right, I went there. 


Is it August yet?