15 Mar Is It Hot In Here or Is It Just These Books??
That’s right, my newest author Lauren Blakely writes AWESOME romance.
You’re going to be seeing a lot more from Lauren soon, and I’m really psyched to tell you about it, but that’s not what I’m doing today.
Sorry.
Oh wait, I’m not sorry.
Because you have a chance to WIN one of Lauren’s current books!!!
What? I don’t know why you haven’t bought one yet.
But no, that bit of ridiculousness doesn’t disqualify you from the contest. In fact, it kind of makes you perfect for it.
But don’t take this to mean that you shouldn’t buy my authors’ books the second they come out in the future because you totally should.
So that aside, here’s your chance to win Caught Up in Us AND Pretending He’s Mine by the incredibly lovely and talented, not to mention NYT and USA Today bestselling, Lauren Blakely.
So Caught Up In Us is all about first love–but in Kat’s case, a second chance at a really hot first love, and Pretending He’s Mine is so freaking steamy it burned up the last bit of pages and ended up as a novella instead of a book, something I still haven’t forgiven Lauren for.
But back to Kat and her first love, in order to win this awesome set of books, tell me how long your first love lasted.
Feel free to use a little creativity as long as there’s a nugget of truth, like the guy on this blog who loved me when he thought that maybe I was is babysitter who had read The Hobbit to him when he was a boy, until something I said made him realize I was probably younger than him (I mean, holy hell how old did he think I was?? And do I really seem like I’d read The Hobbit?? Out loud??? Sorry again, man).
Or you could be more like my in-laws who met when they were 15 and are about to celebrate their 44th anniversary.
And while that of course inspires a big awww, you never know what kind of mood I’ll be in when I judge, and in case you’re new to my blog (where the hell have you been all this time??), I like to judge. So don’t just give me a bunch of sappy love stories. Especially if they’re not true. Make ’em good. And you might win!!
Contest winner will be announced sometime next week. I know, that’s vague. But the point is, don’t wait to get your answer in.
As always, I’m the sole judge of this contest. I didn’t consult with anyone nor do I have to justify my pick for winner.
This just in: Winner will receive a copy of BOTH books in the format of your choice! Because that’s how awesome we are. By we, I mean Lauren, since this will really test the limits of my technological capabilities (and here I thought blogging was doing that). So wait, I guess in that case, I actually mean that’s how awesome I am.
Fine, fine, we’re both awesome. Oh crap, actually, the books are awesome. So enter the contest and maybe you can win!
And don’t forget, today (3/15) is the last day you can vote for the SCBWI Crystal Kite Awards. So go vote!
Hannah
Posted at 11:02h, 15 MarchHere’s the sad reality: I have never been in love. I’m 30 years old and I have never been in love. Maybe because I have a hard time opening up, maybe because I genuinely have no interest in being in a relationship (I can barely summon the energy to clean my car, let alone clean up after a guy), or maybe because I just don’t think there is anyone out there as awesome as me – which there isn’t IMO.
Maybe I should pull a Sue Sylvester and marry myself….
If you want a great romance story, though, I have one that is somewhat related to me: My parents. My parents grew up in the same town, my mom’s dad was my father’s basketball coach in middle school. They knew each other. But my mom was quiet and shy and my dad was Mr. Popular.
Anyway, when they were in high school, my mom had this prank she would pull. She would stand at the wall of pay phones (remember those?) and call the one the farthest away. When someone picked up, she would chat them up and freak them out because she would tell them what they were doing, what they were wearing, etc. So one day my dad picks up the phone.
After a few minutes of chatting he totally figured out my mom’s game and called her on it. Amused, he said he would call her that night because he liked her. My mom, Nellie Nobody, asumed he was just being polite or a playah so she went out that evening with friends only to find when she came home that my dad had in fact called her. When he caught up to her in school the next day, he asked why she had gone out and after some chatting he said he would call her that night again.
She stayed home, he called, and thus began their two year dating relationship that evolved into a 42 year marriage. They’re still adorably in love.
When I tell people I’ve never been in love, they almost always assume that it’s because I’ve seen too many failed relationships (divorced parents, marital infidelity, etc.), but the truth is, I have had an example of the BEST love story for the past 30 years. I just haven’t met that person.
So, I should win if for no other reason than since I have never been in love, all I have are books with romance to ease the romantic lurking in my heart. 🙂
Corrina Thurston
Posted at 14:39h, 15 MarchMy relationship started sophomore year of high school, I just didn’t know it. I was busy playing sports and striving for straight A’s and didn’t realize that Liam was watching my every move, listening to my conversations, and trying to strike up the nerve to ask me out.
It took him a year.
Junior year, I told him that I would go to his football game and he was psyched, pupils dilating, lips pinching as he tried to hold back his smile. But then I had to work last minute and could not go.
He was pissed.
What you need to realize is that Liam was super shy and didn’t talk very much at school. So when he came up to me the next day, accusing me of blowing him off, I was a little taken aback. Even after telling him that I had to work didn’t douse his fiery mood, so I tried to lighten up the conversation.
“So…if I’d been there, you think you would have won?” I said, thinking ‘Haha, I’m funny. Why isn’t he laughing?’ I could usually talk my way out of anything, just ask my teachers, but he wasn’t having any of it.
“Well,” he said. “I thought you were, so I tried pretty damn hard.” And then he stormed away.
Whoa, what? Did this quiet, timid kid just say that? Where did that come from?
And of course, after showing me the first glimpse of his real personality, one that I found intriguing, he disappeared for another year. He stopped coming to TA, avoided me in the halls, and didn’t speak to me. So I let him and started dating other people.
Senior year we had a class together and were forced to sit next to one another. I think his anger was finally settling, and I gently prodded him to try and find that hidden reservoir of passion that I had glimpsed the year before. It took a few months, and some internet communication, where he was more confident, for him to ask me out.
I said yes, and he unexpectedly swept me off my feet. Outside of school he was a completely different person. He was confident, controlled, passionate. The nervous introvert disappeared, and was replaced by this funny, quirky, exciting man.
We’ve been together for the last 5.5 years, through extremely difficult times, long distance, and the worst luck you’ve ever seen. But we’ve made it so far, and I’m very thankful for him. We’re good together, which makes no sense because we are so very different from each other. But maybe that’s part of why it works. All I know is that it’s been a blast so far, and I’m looking forward to the future. 🙂
Desiree
Posted at 16:37h, 15 MarchMy first love lasted about six months. I was dating a guy who came from a a very conservative background (I am anything but conservative). He was not nearly as uptight as his parents, but much more uptight than me. At about the six month mark, he decided that it was time for me to meet his parents. I was less than thrilled with this prospect but gave in after only a few times of me begging me to get it over with. We made plans to go to their house for dinner. When we arrived, I looked at this HUGE and beautiful house before me and took some deep breaths to calm my nerves. As we walked in, his parents greeted us with huge smiles, and I thought “maybe this won’t be so bad.” I could not have been more wrong! His dad gave us me the house tour while his mom trailed behind. I “oohed” and “ahhed” at all the right moments and was doing quite well at impressing them. I was proud of myself for doing so well. Eventually we made our way to the back yard where there was a perfect pool surrounded by lush scenery. I KNEW that this was a place where I could and eventually would, so I hoped, spend much of my time. As I smiled and let my eyes go wide with wonder at this gorgeous pool, I told his dad how amazing it was. His dad told me that the temperature was also perfect and to give it a feel. What was I to do but bend down in my small skirt and give the water a little splash? When I went to feel it, I fell head first in that perfect pool with my mini skirt clad legs flailing in the air. As I came up sputtering, with mascara running down my face and his parents making a huge fuss over me, I thought that it couldn’t get any worse. Once again I was wrong. All of a sudden, I heard his mother let out an audible gasp. I looked around to see that the naked man playing cards that I kept in my purse were floating to the surface of the pool from the depths of the pool where my purse had sunk. I floating in a sea of fantastically nude men while my boyfriends uber conservative parents looked on in horror. I was asked to leave. Not more than a few days later, my boyfriend broke up with me, saying that he could never be with someone that his mother detested as much as she did me.
semisanebeth
Posted at 17:39h, 15 MarchMy first real love began in college and is still going strong. I don’t remember the day or even which year it began, really. But I do remember the feeling: the rush of excitement, the tummy butterflies, the tension of waiting for that next encounter. I can’t help but smile when I think about how it all began. It was at a Starbucks. I just looked around, and sitting nearby was my future. Hot, sweet, dark and rich. Coffee and I have been together ever since. My husband isn’t entirely comfortable with the arrangement (specifically, how much time I spend with coffee) but since he loves me, he allows it.
Wolfson Literary
Posted at 20:31h, 15 MarchOh, this is totally winning so far. Although I love Hannah’s story above about her parents.
Raychelle Smith
Posted at 17:48h, 15 MarchI met my first love soon after starting my first job at a movie theater (where he already worked). We didn’t see each other much at first because I was in high school and he was in college so we worked different hours. After a couple months we started seeing more of each other which led to flirting and a first date complete with dinner and a movie. He was the perfect gentleman the entire time and is still. It’s over six years later and we are getting ready to get married. Of course we still learn new things about each other every day and I’ve never been more grateful to have him in my life. =)
Aurelia Blue
Posted at 11:48h, 18 MarchI met my first love in Sophomore Latin class. He was the perfect boyfriend. If the school was selling roses at one for a dollar on Valentine’s day, I got a dozen in seventh period. All from him! He was chivalrous. He called me, Darling. We were the IT couple for two years. We’d planned the future right down to I’d raise the seven kids in his faith and he’d be a professor at an Ivy leaugue school. I was smitten beyond belief. All those “if you dream it, you can do it” platitudes were coming true. I was astounded at how easy and beautiful life could be and really thought bad things only happened to other people. Then, on the last day of Junior year, I gave him a little silver filigree ring my grandparents had given me. He hugged me and told me he’d give me a call next week. Next week turned into Never. First day of Senior year, I see him holding hands with a really HAAWT perky little Freshman. To make matters worse, she was awesome, friends with all our mutual friends and perfect in every other way. And he avoided speaking to me at all costs.
I was heartbroken. I moved on of course. I found a more lasting, less story book and more reality show based love with my boyLovey, AxlBlue. But I lived the next full decade full of self doubt and hatred toward myself as a human being based on that betrayal. First love really sticks with you, I guess. Mine did. Axl and I built a very good life, but I could never trust his true feelings for me and I let my insecurities wreak a lot of havoc in our relationship.
Finally, at our tenth class reunion, I was unwillingly shoved into the same atmosphere as the former flame. He threw his arms around me and we both sobbed. Yes, right there in front of everybody. It was a hot mess.
After talking for hours around the bonfire, he and I made peace with the past. I met his “husband,” who was lovely. I could finally let go of all the hurt, realizing that it hadn’t been personal. He also gave me back the little silver ring. This meant the world to me because my grandfather had died recently.
Axl put the ring on my finger next to my wedding bands as a reminder that things aren’t always as they seem, and real love, in all forms, prevails. And in that moment, I met my first REAL love.
Love Is In The Air | Wolfson Literary Agency
Posted at 23:35h, 18 March[…] getting all sniffly thinking about first loves and great loves and the awesome answers to the contest to win one of Lauren Blakely’s […]