OFF THE CLOCK Won a RITA for Best Erotic Romance of the Year!

I know it's been a little while since I've blogged, but I've just returned from a week in Florida at the Romance Writers of America conference. I had the best time and...I won a RITA! I'm thrilled and flattered and all the happy words to announce that OFF THE CLOCK won for Best Erotic Romance of the Year! 

Me, RITA, and my writer buddies Genivieve Lynne and Dawn Alexander.

This year I managed not to ugly cry on stage...but just barely. You can watch all of the awards on the replay video (my award is at the one hour and 22 minute mark if you're interested. But I look WAY more calm than I felt, lol.) Also, you may have to fast forward a little to get the video started.

And if you'd like to see ALL the winners in all the categories, check out the list here and go add to your TBR pile! : )

Thanks to RWA and the judges and congrats to all the winners!

Holy S#!t! I Won a RITA!!!!! (oh, and I have a book out tomorrow)

*insert all the curse words* I did it y'all!

This past week was the Romance Writers of America conference, and the big event that wraps up the conference is our version of of the Oscars--The RITAs. I was nominated for two this year, which was a huge honor in and of itself. But then this happened...

Okay, so I thought *maybe* I had a chance at the erotic category (where BREAK ME DOWN was nominated) because it only had five nominees and the odds were better. But the Best Novella category was first of the evening and had like ten nominees from all different genres. I was not prepared to say the least. The first words out my mouth as I heard the word "Nice" and my table erupted in screams were, "Oh SHIT!" Lol. Always so eloquent, right? Then I was shaking all over and in some weird out of body state as I walked up to the stage.

I had a speech prepared. I couldn't read it. I choked up on stage and announced that I was going to cry. I forgot to thank everybody I meant to except my husband, mom, editor, and agent. But despite me completely having a breakdown in front of a giant ballroom of people and the live stream on internet, it was the BEST THING EVER. I can't even tell you how amazing it is to bring one of these home. I don't do this for awards, but man, they sure are nice. :)

And so since I forgot to thank you, my readers, I'm saying it now. Thank you, thank you, thank you. For reading my books, for your enthusiasm, and for all the kind words you send me. I couldn't do this job if it weren't for you. So I share the lovely RITA with you. ;)

*hugs* (Oh, and if you want to watch the RITAs and see my complete freak out, I think they're going to upload it to YouTube at some point and will share the link.)

In other news, WANDERLUST will be out tomorrow! And it's only $3.99. So if you haven't already, go grab you a sexy rockstar. ;)

About the book:

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Loving on the Edge series and Off the Clock, a story of sex, love, rock & roll, and a reporter who’s about to learn a new meaning for staying on top of her assignment... 

Restaurant critic Aubrey Bordelon is never at a loss for words to describe her meals in the fancy restaurants of New Orleans. But after her magazine’s high-profile music reporter falls ill, she finds herself out of her element and in a sea of screaming fans awaiting Wanderlust’s lead singer, Lex Logan. The sound of his voice gives her goosebumps, and the stage presence of the hard-bodied rock star takes her breath away. So when he pulls her onstage for a sexy stunt, she knows she’s in real trouble.

Lex doesn’t want to pretend that the sparks on stage between him and Aubrey never happened, but it certainly makes the fact that she’s writing a story on his band all the more dangerous. The last thing he needs is some nosy reporter revealing their problems to the world. But the sexy Southern belle doesn’t give up easily, and soon he’s wondering if the best way to chase her off the story is to coax her into his bed… 

PRE-ORDER THE BOOK: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks | Google Play 

READ CHAPTER ONE

That's all I've got for you today! Hope you have a great week!

Books in my Mailbox & Fun Stuff Happening Next Week

My heart is heavy today with all that's happening in the country and what happened in my own town last night, so this is going to be a brief post. But I wanted to share the books I've picked up this week and also give you a heads up about the RWA conference.

I won't be blogging next week because I'll be heading to San Diego for the Romance Writers of America conference. If you're around the San Diego area, there's a giant charity book signing that will be happening Wednesday night. I'll be there along with hundreds of other romance authors. Stop by and see me. :)

There will also be our fancy romance writer awards (The RITAs) on Saturday night, which will be broadcast live online on RWA's website. I have two books nominated. BREAK ME DOWN is nominated for Best Erotic Romance and NICE GIRLS DON'T RIDE is up for Best Novella. So if I'm lucky, I'll get to test out if I can actually walk and not fall in the high heels I bought. o.0 I'm having outfit angst because me and dresses don't get along. But I promise I won't show up to the ceremony in jeans.

All right, on to the book haul for the week. Though I like ebooks and have read about half and half on ebook vs. print over the last five years, lately I've been on a print kick. And oddly enough, on a hardback kick, which is new. But anyway, here's what I've got in my stack:

The Bourbon Thief by Tiffany Reisz - Full disclosure, Tiffany and I share an agent and are friends, but she's an autobuy for me because of her writing. This one is Literary Fiction and not romance, but when I like an author, I trust them enough to follow them to different genres.

The Sun In Your Eyes by Deborah Shapiro - Also Lit Fic, which isn't my usual thing, but I've been in the mood to read some lately. I'm not sure where I saw this book featured originally, but the blurb captured my attention. It has rock 'n' roll, a road trip, intense female friendship in college, and then what happens when these two women meet again later in life. They pretty much had me at the road trip, rock 'n' roll thing. Plus, I find best friend female friendships fascinating and not unlike romance in their intensity, especially when we're young.

Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage by Jennifer Ashley - If you saw my blog post on the first book in this series, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie, earlier this week, this won't be a surprise. I loved book one, so of course I had to buy the next. :) Steamy, smart historical romance.

Also, a quick reminder that WANDERLUST is only a week and a half away! If you' haven't pre-ordered your copy yet, grab one for only $3.99! This is a full length novel (Harlequin length) and stands alone from my other series, though you may get a wee glance of Pike pre-CALL ON ME. ;) 

Get your copy:

 Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iBooks | Google Play 

READ CHAPTER ONE here

All right, that's all I've got for y'all today. I hope you all have a good weekend. 

I'm a Double RITA Award Finalist!!!!!

So I totally had another post planned today and I was going to tell you about this great book I just read, BUT my brain cells are now only operating at half-capacity because I got the call today that I'm a double nominee for a RITA® Award (the romance writer's version of the Oscars)!!!!

BREAK ME DOWN is nominated in the erotic romance category!

and

NICE GIRLS DON'T RIDE is nominated in the novella category!

I'm over the moon excited. My morning has mostly consisted of this: 

The Carlton Dance - snap you fingas!! in #happy

and this...

GIF in #excited

Here's the list of all the nominees if you want to go on a book buying binge. I know I'm going to be doing that, lol.

Now I have to go shop for a fancy dress for the San Diego conference. :D

Have a great holiday weekend, y'all! 

Contemporary Romance Reader Chat with the RITA Finalists tonight - Join me!

So for those of you who didn't see my announcement, MELT INTO YOU is up for a RITA award for Best Contemporary Romance! (I'm still squeeing.)

And tonight, RWA is hosting a free reader event to chat with the finalists in my category. I'd love it if y'all joined me.  (Hey, you'll get to see me looking awkward on a web cam - I mean that's worth DVR-ing American Idol and visiting with us instead, right?)

Here are the details from RWA:

Chat with 2013 RITA^® Finalists: the RITA Reader Series

Romance Writers of America® (RWA) is launching an 11-week series of interactive video chat events highlighting 2013 RITA Award finalist authors. Fans will have the unique opportunity to meet one another and ask their favorite authors questions face-to-face in an intimate online environment at Shindig.com.

The series kicks off Thursday, April 11, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT with RITA finalists in the Contemporary Single Title Romance category. RSVP today to chat with Barbara Freethy, Barbara Hannay, Ruthie Knox, Kim Law, Roni Loren, Jill Shalvis, and Roxanne St. Claire—all from the comfort of your PC or Mac. One lucky participant will win a copy of each of the 2013 RITA Contemporary Single Title Romance finalist books. 

The events are free to the public, and only 1,000 spots are available at each of the weekly events.

Visit http://www.rwa.org/RITAchat to view the schedule of upcoming events, and RSVP for the Contemporary Single Title finalists chat at http://shindig.com/event/rwacontemporarysingle.

Don't forget to tell your friends who love contemporary romance about the event! 

Follow RWA on Twitter @romancewriters (#RITAchat hashtag) during the chats. 

And here are the finalists' books:

I kind of love how out of place my cover looks amongst the others. Yay for an erotic finally making it in! Especially with such esteemed company.

Hope to see y'all there! : )