I was invited by one of the Bad Girlz to join in the Meet My Character Blog Tour. Since CAGED IN WINTER comes out in less than two months (eep!), I figured it was a good time to get to know Winter. Many thanks to Frances Fowlkes for the invitation!

After viewing her all-time favorite love story, “Anne of Green Gables”, at the impressionable age of ten, Frances Fowlkes has been obsessed with affable boy-next door heroes, red-heads, and romance stories with lots of “highfaluting mumbo jumbo” written within their pages. It only seems natural then that she married the boy who used to pull on her curls in her high school English class, had not one, but THREE red-headed boys, and penned multiple love stories with bits of flowery prose. 

Her first book, “The Duke’s Obsession”  came out May 2014 with the Scandalous Imprint of Entangled Publishing.

Meet My Character…

ABOUT MY CHARACTER:
Winter Jacobson is a college student, exactly seventy-six days from graduation, with dreams of leaving behind the crappy hand she was dealt and starting over with a new life.

THE BACKDROP FOR THE STORY:
Present day Michigan.

WHAT DRIVES WINTER TO AVOID LOVE:
Basically everything she’s ever known. She’s saddled with an enormous amount of emotional baggage, and she doesn’t want her choices to be reflective of the mother she hates.

WHAT THWARTS HER PLAN:
A too-big guy who pushes his way in, attempting to crack her walls while threatening to give her everything she never thought she wanted.

Meet the authors who will be sharing their characters next week!

Jennifer Blackwood

Jennifer Blackwood is an English teacher and New Adult author. She lives in Oregon with her husband, son, and poorly behaved black lab puppy. Her debut novel, UNETHICAL, comes out in October with Entangled Embrace.

Website: www.jenniferblackwood.com
Twitter: @jen_blackwood
Facebook: AuthorJenniferBlackwood

It has been a long, looooooong time since I’ve done a Monday giveaway, and after seeing my good friend Stacee doing them left and right, I figured I’d better get back over here and continue with the awesomeness. I mean, these piles of books aren’t gonna giveaway themselves.

Prior to the cover reveal on Friday, the last time I was on here was before Christmas. (!!!) But, in my defense, I have been a busy little bee. I’ve been working diligently on finishing up CAPTIVE, the new adult St. Martin’s Press acquired a few months ago. I’m nearly done with it (can you hear the angels singing??), and then I’ll be diving right into book two for CAGED IN WINTER, a companion book featuring other characters. 

I’ve also been working on getting a new site up and running. There have been some (okay, a lot) bumps in the road, but I think I’m finally on my way to new shiny pretty. I hope to see design concepts later this week, and I’m so excited I could scream. And I might later, because it’s Monday and sometimes I like to get wild on Mondays.

You know what else I like to do on Mondays? GIVE SHIT AWAY! Since I’ve been gone for so long, I thought I’d come back with a bang. Who likes Katie McGarry? Who likes signed books? Well have I got a treat for you. This week’s giveaway is a hardcover, signed copy of PUSHING THE LIMITS.

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with “freaky” scars on her arms. Even Echo can’t remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.

But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo’s world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she’ll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

Since it’s been for-freakin-ever since I did a giveaway, lemme run down the rules for ya real quick: Not an international giveaway (sorry, non-U.S. readers!). Must be 16 years or older. Play in the rafflecopter and watch your e-mail for notification!

Let’s see if I can get back to my weekly posting, huh? See you (hopefully) next week!

The cover! It is here! *jumpy claps and squees*

I am thrilled with the final cover for my New Adult coming out this fall, CAGED IN WINTER. I love the gritty feel of the font, the closed off expression on the cover model (who just so happens to be a near perfect match to Winter), the winter reflection in her sunglasses… Pretty much everything.

So you tell me…what do you think?

And, hey, lookit there–this baby’s on Goodreads!  Annnnnnd you can also pre-order the paperback via Amazon or pre-order for Amazon Kindle! 

I have been sitting on this news for too long, my friends. And by too long, I mean approximately a week. But it was the longest week of my life.

            

*SQUEEEEEEEEEE*

I am so thrilled to be working with Berkley (Penguin) on CAGED IN WINTER, and its sequel (Current title: BOOK 2. I’m so original). I can’t wait to share Cade and Winter and their story with you!

This has been such a fast journey that so much of it honestly hasn’t even sunk in yet. I mean, in June, I was like, oh, hey…I think I’ll write a book. And then:

AGENTS! OFFERS! CONTRACTS! PUBLICATION!

I got the confirmation e-mail from Mandy that the deal had been finalized yesterday as I was making dinner.

And then I became a vibrating mess of excitement. It’s a wonder my children got fed, to be perfectly honest.

To celebrate, I plan to stuff my face with cupcakes and maybe a cocktail (and then let Jillian Michaels kick my ass) on Sunday with some very dear friends. Because what’s better than cupcakes and cocktails? Except, maybe…well, you know. *wink wink nudge nudge*

And I promise, I’ll be back to doing the Make Mondays Suck Less Giveaways just as soon as NaNo is done. I’ve set a high goal again (70k), so I’ve been basically doing nothing but writing and/or plotting and/or planning for the last three weeks. 

And, and…I’m also going to be doing a cover reveal for SEASON OF SECOND CHANCES very, very soon, so stay posted for that!