Monday, October 31, 2011

Recommend Monday and Happy Halloween!

Good Monday All!

Did you have a fun-filled weekend? Go to any Halloween parties? I haven't been to a Halloween party in years but that used to be a tradition for hubby and me. It would usually take me about ten minutes to get ready; hubby could take hours. I always went for comfort and he liked to go for the squeals and chills. Tonight we're expecting all sorts of little ghouls and cute goblins to come by. Now, our Halloween tradition is for me to corral the fur kids and keep them occupied while hubby doles out the candy. Do you have any fun Halloween traditions or stories?

No new recommendations from me this week. I spent most of last week writing but I'm getting the yen to do some major reading and rereading. Here's what I have planned: Ain't She Sweet by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Snapped by Laura Griffin, After the Night by Linda Howard, Open Season by Linda Howard, If You Hear Her by Shiloh Walker, Hide From Evil by Jamie Alden and...(This is your cue to make a recommendation!)

So what should I read along with these fabulous books? And what other great books are you recommending this week?

Hope everyone has a marvelous Monday and if you or your kiddies are out and about tonight, have fun and stay safe!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Welcome Carla Swafford!


Why I Like To Write Romances Especially Hot Ones?

You probably can’t believe this but there are people out there who hate romance books. And to make it worse, a lot of those people are women. Yeah. Weird, isn’t it? I have a hard time understanding it too.

Considering women are naturally emotional creatures (duh!), and the best romances are filled to the brim with all kinds of feelings, you would think all of us would love them.

To me, romances have so much going for them along with all the mushy stuff. First and foremost, they guarantee you a happy ending. Then they offer numerous genres such as general contemporary, historical, suspense, paranormal, fantasy, science fiction, young adult (aww! puppy love) and the newest, horror. Yep. You read it right. The slasher, chill ‘em, thrill ‘em with blood and gore type. Hey, I don’t write it. I merely report it.

Now when it comes to my preferred reading material, I want them to be hot. It can be one of the first six above, but they need to be scorching with no bedroom door shut. I do read some young adult, but please leave the sex out. Even though they have the word adult in their genre description, most of the characters are younger than eighteen. The heavy kissing and petting can get a little steamy and that’s okay. Normal teenager stuff.

So when it came to writing my own book, it made sense I would write hot. I love reading a book where the hero and heroine have a hard time keeping their hands to themselves. I love how they have a problem thinking about anything but each other. When they finally get together, it’s so explosive, that the pages become singed by their lovemaking. Though they may call it having sex or by some other provocative word, we know what’s going to happen. It will be making love by the end of the book.

That’s what happens to Collin in the beginning of Circle of Desire. He has to pat down Olivia, check her for a locator beneath her skin. And for him to do that, she must be naked. He finds he can’t control his hands, and her enthusiastic reaction is a big turn on for him. Before he knows it, he … wait! You have to read the book. I will say that he’s a gentleman and keeps his clothes on. I do love to torment others with little teasing tidbits.

What I like best about that scene is that later you find out Collin is all about controlling his emotions. And every time Olivia is nearby, he’s so turned on, he’s nearly helpless. So he tries to twist the attraction into a means to manipulate her. But as time goes by, you can’t help but wonder if it didn’t backfire.

So to answer the question in the title of this post, I like them hot because it heightens not only the passionate love scenes, but all the emotions between the hero and heroine throughout the book.

So what are some of your favorite hot books?

Comment for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card or one of three $10 Barnes and Noble gift cards that Carla is giving away during her blog tour this week. Winner will be announced tonight at 8:00 PM (CST).

Monday, October 24, 2011

Recommend Monday!

Good Monday Everyone!

Did you have a wonderful weekend? Do anything fun and exciting? Read anything fabulous? If so, this is the place to be. Share with us!

Last week was a good one for me. Finally got a good grasp on my new characters, managing to finish a synopsis and a chapter. I know I've been teasing you all with this but until details are ironed out, I can't tell you very much about it. However, I can share that though it is quite different from the Last Chance Rescue series, the books are definitely romantic suspense involving strong, resilient characters, evil, devious villains and sigh-worthy heroes. In fact, I've already fallen in love with my hero! (:

Thanks to all those who have emailed me or sent me messages on Facebook and Twitter about the SWEET books. I'm thrilled to know that so many of you have enjoyed SWEET JUSTICE and SWEET REVENGE. And I'm just as thrilled that you're looking forward to SWEET REWARD. I'll be sharing an excerpt with you soon, so stay tuned for that!

Today, Mr. Reece and I are celebrating our 24th wedding anniversary! It's a gorgeous fall day here--perfect for going outside and having fun. And you know when I celebrate, I love to have a giveaway, so one of today's commenters will win a signed copy of SWEET REVENGE! I'll announce the winner tomorrow morning.

I'm in the process of reading Carla Swafford's Circle of Desire. Wow! Really enjoying it. Dark, gritty and very sexy. In fact, Carla will be here tomorrow talking about her book and why she loves writing steamy. Be sure to drop by and chat with her. She's a wonderfully warm person with a great sense of humor. Oh, and there's a giveaway, too!

Okay, I'm headed out for a day of fun and celebration. Looking forward to reading your recommendations. There have been lots of fabulous releases over the last few weeks and several tomorrow, so there's definitely a bookstore visit in my future!

Hope everyone has a marvelous Monday. And see you back here tomorrow for a visit with Carla Swafford!

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Quickie Saturday

Hey All!

Hope your weekend has started off on a good note! Just wanted to let you know that I'm over at RomCon today chatting about SWEET REVENGE. There's an excerpt and a giveaway! Come on over and comment for a chance to win a signed copy of SWEET REVENGE.


Have a great weekend!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Recommend Monday!

Good Monday All!

Did you have a great weekend? Do anything special and fun? Read anything fabulous? If so, this is your place to share!

Thanks so much to those who stopped by and celebrated SWEETest day with me by naming your favorite LCR heroine. I loved learning your favorite and why you love her. Looks like Eden St. Claire, from RESCUE ME, won the top spot, but Honor Stone, from SWEET JUSTICE, was a close second. Samara, from RETURN TO ME, McKenna from LAST CHANCE and Jamie, from SWEET REVENGE, tied for third place. I love all of my heroines equally and I'm so glad I didn't have to pick just one! (:

Congrats to Crystal Fulcher for winning the SWEETest Day prize of a signed copy of SWEET JUSTICE and SWEET REVENGE and a $10 Barnes and Noble gift card. Crystal, please email me at christy@christyreece.com with your mailing information.

My weekend was extra SWEET! I had the honor of signing books alongside the fabulous Jennifer Echols who writes wonderful young adult romances. We had a great turnout at Books-A-Million. For those of you who were able to come, thank you!

Last week I spent hours and hours agonizing over a synopsis. When talking to an author, if you wait long enough, you'll probably hear at some point how much most of us hate synopses. Limiting a 100,000-word manuscript to a few pages of description can be incredibly painful. Writers often angst over a word choices for an entire book but I think it must be a thousand times worse for a synopsis since there's so little space to work with. When it comes to writing the book, a synopsis has often been my best friend. However, it's painful until I can get it right. This week, I will continue with it and hope to write a chapter too. Big plans! Wish me luck!

No new recommends for me this week. Haven't had a lot of time for reading but am looking forward to seeing what you all are recommending. There's always room on my TBR list for your recommends.

I'll jump back on later on in the week and chat a while. For now, I'm headed back to my writing cave. It's time for me to kick this synopsis' butt!

Have a spectacular Monday!




Saturday, October 15, 2011

SWEETest Day!

Happy SWEETest Day! (For some reason, I feel the need to add Y'all to that greeting)

What is SWEETest Day? Good question. I’ve never observed it before. Have you?

Here’s what I copied from Wikepedia:

Sweetest Day is an observance celebrated primarily in the Great Lakes region, and parts of the Northeast United States, on the third Saturday in October.[1] It is described by Retail Confectioners International as an "occasion which offers all of us an opportunity to remember husbands, boyfriends,the sick, aged and orphaned, but also friends, relatives and associates whose helpfulness and kindness we have enjoyed."[2] Sweetest Day has also been referred to as a "concocted promotion" created by the candy industry solely to increase sales of sweets.[3]

I kind of believe the second definition/explanation, but really like the first one. So either way, it’s SWEETest Day!

Today, I’m using it to celebrate the SWEET trilogy! And when I celebrate, I always want to give something away. So there’s the deal, for a chance to win a signed copy of both SWEET JUSTICE and SWEET REVENGE and a $10 Barnes and Noble gift card, name your favorite LCR heroine and why you love her.

I’ll collect comments all weekend and will announce the winner on Recommend Monday.

Have a great SWEETest day, everyone!