When Jaime asked me if I’d be interested in participating in her and Swoony Boys Podcast’s 14 Days of Fictional Swoon, I said hell yes! Especially when I get to talk about book boyfriends I love. (For details on the blog hop and how to participate in the giveaway(s), check out the link above.)

I’ll admit I’m not a book boyfriend collector like some, but there are a few I’d fight my BFF for. And when I was thinking of who I’d write about in this post, I’ll admit it was hard to narrow it down to just one. There are so many great fictional boys out there. Some of my all time favorites are Etienne from Anna and the French Kiss, Brady from Animal Magnetism, Russell from Make Me, and newly added Jack from The Anatomical Shape of a Heart. But there is one guy who trumps allllll of these others. Strength, loyalty, and being a total sexy beast is what my favorite book boyfriends are made of, and Sean Reilly from Midnight Captive has it all. He is alpha to the core. But not one of those alphaholes I hate. Oh, no, Sean just knows what he wants and isn’t afraid to go after it. And what he wants? Is Bailey Jones. He goes after her with a single minded determination that I found incredibly sexy. He’s not a creep or a stalker, but he makes his interest well known to Bailey. Another thing I loved? He wasn’t afraid to show her just how gone he was over her. An alpha not afraid to show weakness? THE HELL YOU SAY. But this man, you guys. THIS MAN.

The perfect one-liner…

“…I wanted you from the moment I saw you.”

And then we have this little beauty (possession and honesty and vulnerability are, apparently, my kryptonite):

“Mine,” he muttered. “You’re mine, Bailey.” 
She broke the kiss, anger blazing in her eyes. “I don’t belong to anyone.”
“You do tonight.” When she tried to back away from him, he touched her face, gently curling his hand under her chin. “It goes both ways, luv. Because tonight I belong to you.“
Surprise flitted through her expression, deepening when he took her hand and placed it directly over his heart so she could feel its irregular pounding. “Feel that, Bailey?”
She nodded wordlessly.
“That’s how badly I want you.” He swallowed, oddly nervous now. “That’s how terrified I am that you might change your mind and walk out the door.”

And then…

“You’re scared of me, Bailey.”
Her gaze flew to his. “I’m not scared of you.”
“Yeah, you’re right. You’re not scared—your bloody terrified. You’re terrified of how good I make you feel. You think it gives me power over you.”
She sucked in a shaky breath.
“But for a smart woman, you’re pretty fucking dense sometimes.” His hand dropped from her neck. “Don’t you know by now that you have just as much power over me?”

I mean. I can. Not.

So, yes, for Sean Reilly I would jump into a pool of Jell-O and wrestle my BFF just to claim him as my book boyfriend. And you can’t judge me for it.

Thanks for stopping by, and don’t forget to check out the rest of the blogs participating in the 14 Days of Fictional Swoon Blog Hop! But first, enter below to win a copy of newly released Paige in Progress! Jaime herself called Adam your next book boyfriend, and I don’t think she’d lie to you.

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14 Days of Fictional Swooning Schedule

February 1st– Fiction Fare

February 1st– Swoony Boys Podcast

February 2nd– WhoRU blog

February 3rd– Brighton Walsh

February 4th– Lost in Literature

February 5th– Gone with the Words

February 6th– Alexa Loves Books

February 7th– Andi’s ABCs

February 8th– Huntley Fitzpatrick (hosted on Fiction Fare and Swoony Boys Podcast)

February 9th– No BS Book Reviews

February 10th– Ashley Herring Blake

February 11th– We So Nerdy

February 12th- Roshani Chokshi

February 13th– The Irish Banana Review

February 14th– Kristen Simmons

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I could’ve said The Epic Birthday Giveaway, but I just really like the word extravaganza, and since it’s my birthday, I can do what I want.

And, apparently, what I want is to give you gifts. I’ve had a stack of books that I’ve been slowly sticking away with the intention to do a giveaway…soon. Well, “soon” turned out to be, um, not so soon. The good news for you is that small stack turned into an epic pile.

Ohhhh…pretty, right? Some are ARCs, some are finished paperbacks, some are hardcovers, and I can’t be sure (and I’m too lazy to check all 50 books), but I belieeeeeeeve, some are even signed. This is going to be easy, because it’s my birthday and I get to be lazy today. Five winners, choice of 3 books each, preference in order of winners drawn (i.e. first person drawn gets first pick, second gets second, etc). US only, because I got a lot of cool things for my birthday but a money tree was not one. Enter via the Rafflecopter below.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m very busy wearing my tiara and eating cupcakes.

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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!

2013 has been awesome. I mean…really, truly awesome. Finishing CAGED IN WINTER in June–the goal I’d set for myself. Going to RWA and hanging out with amazing people. I danced next to Nora Roberts, for crying out loud. Getting an agent. Getting my first print deal. Having another novella, SEASON OF SECOND CHANCES, come out (which dropped last week, btw…that’s how CRAZY BUSY it’s been because I didn’t even post about it). 

See what I mean? Awesome. So much so that I’m thinking, it can’t possibly get better, can it? Surely I’ve reached my awesome quota for the year.

NOT SO, MY FRIENDS. NOT SO.

I am so, so thrilled to be working on this project with Rose at St. Martin’s. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever done before, and I’m so excited to share it with you!

What’s this mean? Well, it means 2014 is gonna be a busy year. Like…I really hope I remember to, you know, shower and stuff. So I’ll apologize ahead of time for my scarce blog posts.

Because I’m so super excited, I’m giving away some books! Five winners will receive both PLUS ONE and my latest release SEASON OF SECOND CHANCES. And another five will get a copy of the holiday anthology SoSC was in, ALL I’M ASKING FOR. That’s ten winners, baby! You know what to do…

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Helllllooooooo! How was everyone’s November? Mine was cahrayzay. So crazy I couldn’t even spell it the correct way. Between writing and release promo and proposals and, oh yeah, Thanksgiving, I’m basically a zombie. I don’t feel at all caught up, and it’s only going to get worse. You know why? Christmas is 23 days away. 

You’re welcome.

Before you flit off to take advantage of the Cyber Monday sales to knock some of those Christmas things off your list, pull up a chair! Get comfy. Maybe grab a coffee (or hot chocolate, if you prefer). Let’s chat.

For the first part of November, I was banging away on the follow-up to Caged in Winter. I got 25k words into it before I had to break away and focus on a different project for a bit. One I, unfortunately, can’t tell you about yet, but I hope to be able to very soon! So what’s that mean? That means I failed NaNo. *sad violins playing* But you know what else? I wrote 50k words in November–they just weren’t all one project. So, to this I say: I WIN! 

For anyone out there who attempted NaNo, whether you “won” or didn’t, congratulations! You committed to writing and (hopefully) wrote at least a word. Stick with it. Just because you didn’t complete doesn’t mean to toss it away. I’m not scrapping that 25k I wrote. I’m diving right back in. But I’ll be smart about it and do it in January when I don’t have the weight of the entire world bearing down on my shoulders. For those of you who did NaNo and completed it? YAY YOU! Congratulations! Stick with it to finish, or polish that sucker up in edits.

For the rest of November, I was a writing machine, but in different avenues. I wrote several thousand words on a new project, then I wrote a bunch of guest blog posts and had some fun with some author Q&As for the blog tour happening RIGHT NOW! Yep, ’tis the time for blog tours because you know what? SEASON OF SECOND CHANCES (as well as ALL I’M ASKING FOR) comes out on Thursday! If you’re interested in following the tour, getting insight into my crazy mind or reading some excerpts, Closed the Cover, our tour coordinators, have a page listing all the stops! I also have a few extra stops along the way that I’ll be tweeting about.

Let’s get to the fun stuff! Since this week is super exciting for me, I wanted to make this giveaway super exciting for you! Instead of one book, I’m giving away five–that’s right, FIVE!–to one lucky winner. Unfortunately, because I haven’t found that money tree yet, this is not open to international readers. But stay tuned! I’ll have something for you later…

In this giveaway pack, we have The Best Man by Kristan Higgins, Fatal Justice by Marie Force, Things I Can’t Forget by Miranda Kenneally, Relic by Heather Terrell, and Covet by Tracy Garvis-Graves.

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That’s it for this week. I hope to be back next week with another giveaway. That is, if I haven’t lost my head between now and then.