Well, would ya look at that. It’s Monday and I’m here again for another edition of Make Mondays Suck Less. I don’t know if it’s working, but free books always put me in a happy place.

Last week’s winner of the signed hardcover of Pushing the Limits was Amanda! Wahoo! 

I have been doing everything and, yet, it feels like nothing. Still working on my upcoming new adult CAPTIVE, and I’m trucking along after fleshing out a different ending. Deadline on that is fast approaching, so I have a feeling I’m going to be burning the midnight oil a few days.

When I haven’t been doing that, I’ve been knee deep in planning a trip to Disney World. Yessssssss! Not the first time I’ve gone, but the last time I went, I was seven months pregnant. And it was August. So, looking forward to the trip not sucking this time. I’ve been hopping around all over Pinterest, reading everything I can about dining, packing, tips and tricks, etc, etc, to make sure we make the most out of the trip. We’re also taking a little detour to Universal Studios because my little bookworm would be bereft if we didn’t make it to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. 

If you have any tips or tricks to pass along, I would love you forever and sprinkle you with fairy dust and give you a million internet points. So.

I’ve also been e-mailing back and forth with my web designer and we are getting closer and closer to a design for my brand spankin’ new site. I’m so excited for it; I can’t wait to share!

Now for free stuff. This week’s giveaway is an ARC of Boy Nobody by Allen Zadoff. 

Boy Nobody is the perennial new kid in school, the one few notice and nobody thinks much about. He shows up in a new high school, in a new town, under a new name, makes few friends and doesn’t stay long. Just long enough for someone in his new friend’s family to die — of “natural causes.” Mission accomplished, Boy Nobody disappears, and moves on to the next target.

When his own parents died of not-so-natural causes at the age of eleven, Boy Nobody found himself under the control of The Program, a shadowy government organization that uses brainwashed kids as counter-espionage operatives. But somewhere, deep inside Boy Nobody, is somebody: the boy he once was, the boy who wants normal things (like a real home, his parents back), a boy who wants out. And he just might want those things badly enough to sabotage The Program’s next mission.

You know what to do! See you next week.

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!

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.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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.

 

I can’t believe how late it is! Your Monday is almost over, and hopefully it didn’t suck too bad. Mine was a complete cluster, one thing after another after another that needed tending and I’m just now–just now–sitting down for the first time today.

So what’s new in Brighton Land? This week I’ve been working on getting promo stuff ready for my upcoming release of SEASON OF SECOND CHANCES. I suppose I should start teasing you all with snippets of my favorite Hot Single Dad. Alas, it’s late and I’m so tired, I’d probably post something that made zero sense. So, sooooooon, my pretties.

When I’m not in prepping-for-promo-madness, I’ve also been working on the revisions for my new adult contemporary. Everything is polished and shiny-pretty and I sent that off to my agent yesterday. Now I get to throw together a single paragraph pitch for book 2 in that series, which I plan to write during NaNo this year.

Whoa. That was a lot of pressure in that one tiny paragraph.

But enough about me! Let’s talk about books! Last week’s winner, Traci, gets a copy of THE MARRIAGE MERGER, so her Monday certainly doesn’t suck. Now, who wants to win a copy of THESE BROKEN STARS?

It’s a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone.

Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.

Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever?

Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it.

—

A timeless love story, THESE BROKEN STARS sets into motion a sweeping science fiction series of companion novels. The Starbound Trilogy: Three worlds. Three love stories. One enemy.

See you next week!

I’ve been having one of those days where I have so much to do that I just sort of sit around, staring at stuff and not doing anything because I’m so overwhelmed. Ever have a day like that? What I need to do is whip out my trusty Sharpie and write myself a to-do list just for the satisfaction of checking something off. 

Last week, I worked on and finished the edits from my current WIP. Now comes the polishing part…making sure all those changes/additions/subtractions I made still make sense. Once that’s done, I’ll be able to dive into the details of book 2, as the characters have already started speaking to me. (I love this part).

Since I’m drowning in a to-do list a mile long, this post is gonna be short and sweet. Last week’s lucky winner is none other than Christine! Random.org likes her, I guess. 

This week’s giveaway is book 4 in the Marriage to a Billionaire series by Jennifer Probst.

Her sisters have found wedded bliss with their wealthy,wonderful dream men, but not Julietta Conte. She’s stayed on terra firma as top executive of the family’s corporation, La Dolce Famiglia bakery. Work is her passion, and her trendy Milan apartment her sanctuary . . . until Sawyer Wells, a masculine masterpiece in a suit, lures her out of hiding with an irresistible offer: an exclusive partnership with his international chain of boutique hotels.

Julietta’s been burned before—and trusting her brother-in-law’s friend, whose powerful gaze alone has her rethinking the best use of a conference room, is the riskiest proposition. But with a once-in-a-career chance to take the bakery global, will she mix stone-cold business with red-hot seduction?

Enter below… I’ll see you next week!