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MICHELLE SHARP

 

Hi everyone. My name is Michelle Sharp and I’m the author of the new Dream Seeker Series. I’ve thought long and hard about this worst pick-up line thing. Time and again, I keep coming back to one infamous night. Not because it was terribly exciting or anything, but because me and my best friend still laugh about it today.

 

So first off, let me set the scene. I’m an eighties girl. Big hair. Z-Cavaricci Jeans. (Wow, I loved those jeans.) The flash dance off the shoulder shirts. I would post a picture but it doesn’t reflect well on me. LOL. Come on…I’m not the only eighties girl here, am I? Man, I feel old.

So I’m in college, out with my friends and its girl’s night—no guys tonight. And of course there’s… “that guy.” You know, the one who is not nearly as hot as he thinks he is. Not quite as funny as he’d like to be. And just a little too sweaty. His specialty is capturing random, unsuspecting women on the dance floor if they are unfortunate enough to accidently turn in his direction. Yes, that would be me and my friend, who is still my BFF today.

 

So, in order to not be rude, we kind of dance… well, sort of next to the guy, not really WITH him, but not wanting to totally dis his Michael Jackson moves either. When the song ends, we make a hasty retreat to the bathroom. But when we finish and exit, he’s waiting for us. Apparently he mistook our “dance” as an invitation to a threesome. He puts his arms up to trap us in the small hallway we’re in. In his most stud-like voice he says, “Stop. It’s Hammer time.” My friend and I of course look at each other and without missing a beat, push him hard in the chest and reply in unison, “Can’t touch this.”

 

Okay, so I told you, not that great of a story. But Cindy and I still say to each other, “Hey, remember the MC Hammer dude?” And I got to say, I quite miss the eighties. So I’m going to post some pictures of things I loved most about the eighties. And if I can figure out how to scan, I will post some totally hideous pictures of myself in the eighties.

 

Now, whoever posts the funniest eighties picture, (the one that makes me spew coffee on my keyboard) I will send an autographed copy of Dream Huntress. Come on eighties girls…I know you’re out there. And by the way, to get you in the mood, go here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otCpCn0l4Wo -I dare you to watch that and not smile 😉

Tamed by the Outlaw Blurb

 

Author Jessie Jameson is the Bad Girl of romance, making a huge name for herself writing love stories with sizzling hot sex scenes. No one needs to know that her real-life inspiration is sexy publishing exec Grayson Reynolds. Or that after the hottest sex of her life, Grayson walked out on her.

 

Grayson’s finally taken the reins of his family’s publishing business, and he’s determined to sell off the romance division. But Jessie Jameson’s contract is complicating things. It’s like she’s been trying to ruin him ever since the mind-blowing night they shared—the night she walked out on him.

 

Now the sparks are flying. Heated, sexy sparks. It’s a Wild West showdown between Jessie and Grayson. But when Romance ends up in bed with Business, only one can walk away…

About Michelle Sharp

 

Award-winning author, Michelle Sharp, has been nominated for a 2014 National Readers Choice Award for Best Romantic Suspense and Best First Book. In addition, her debut novel Dream Huntress has been selected as a finalist in the 2015 Daphne Du Maurier award for Excellence in Mystery and Suspense.  

Although she has a degree in Journalism from Southern Illinois University, she finds weaving tales of danger, deception, and love much preferable to reporting the cold, hard facts. Her goal in life? To team resilient, kickass heroines with the sexy Alpha’s who love them.

 

As most authors probably are, she is an avid reader. Her family may even call it obsessive. Growing up in St. Louis has made her a die-hard Cardinals fan, and having a child with Down Syndrome has made her passionate about any issue regarding special needs kiddos. She’s also a fairly big sucker when it comes to anything with fur or feathers.

 

Michelle is a proud member of Romance Writers of America and Missouri Romance Writers. You can learn more about her at michelleshapbooks.com, where you will also find links to her social media.

 

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KRISTINE BRIA

 

You know the beginning of the movie Grease where Sandy and Danny are having their beautiful romantic innocent fling? The brief relationship that was so beautiful, they each wrote a song about it? Mine wasn’t like that.

 

We didn’t have a moment where we locked eyes across a crowded room. We didn’t see each other standing on the beach. He wasn’t a millionaire trying to woo me with a bottle of champagne. None of those were even close.

 

I was at the beach with my sister and some friends. Being hot, young, single girls, we went to one of those “meat market” clubs that exist for the sole purpose of encouraging sunburned college students to party. A friend of a friend knew the owner and took us to the second floor of the club to visit with him in his office. We enjoyed it, mostly because he was a fun guy. I guess you would have to be to run a joint like that. On the way back down the spiral staircase, I was the last in line.

 

I would never describe myself as particularly coordinated. That night was not an exception. Narrow spiral staircases are tedious even for the graceful, at least that’s what I tell myself. These steps were a beautiful black cast iron with scrollwork that was all but imprinted on my backside as I slipped and nailed the last three with my rear.

 

My sister isn’t mean; she just has a wicked sense of humor. Nevermind that this type thing doesn’t ever happen to her. She had an image to uphold so she kept walking and didn’t look back. I sat there on the floor of the club in my pale pink mini-skirt stunned, embarrassed, and alone. While I wondered if 1) I was hurt, and 2) if it was possible to regain my dignity, the crowd parted for a muscular, tan guy with brown hair and green eyes who leaned down and gently asked, “Are you okay?”

 

The consummate gentleman, he helped me off the floor then asked, “Will you dance with me?”

 

Beautiful, right?

 

Not when he’s the guy that you and your sister had spent the evening evading because he had that certain something…that you don’t want in a guy. He wasn’t ugly or impolite. He was just plain uncool. We didn’t want to be seen with him let alone be with him. And I had no graceful way out.

 

Sure, I could’ve blown him off, but I couldn’t have done it with a clean conscience. The guy had done nothing to deserve any disrespect from me. He had linked himself with the club’s token klutz. I had no room to judge. So I danced.

 

Not Quite Home Blurb

Adam’s life is headed south—to the hometown he swore he’d never see again. Adam’s plan is to head home to settle a pending lawsuit and then get out fast. The last thing he counted on was falling for sexy Kate Braswell. The slow burn that starts when they meet soon begins to sizzle, but Kate is putting down roots in the last place he wants to be … how can they build a future? Newcomer Kristine Bria is pleased to present Not Quite Home, Book 1 of her new contemporary romance series, Moss Point.

 

Architect Adam Moultrie’s bad-boy past is catching up with him and his blossoming career. Inheriting the Moss Point plantation he never wanted, he can’t get rid of it fast enough. Even though he paid someone to board it up, a local teenager breaks in and gets hurt. Her mom, Adam’s ex from high school, seizes the opportunity to get revenge on the guy who abandoned her at the plantation on prom night fifteen years earlier. With a professional partnership in Portland slipping through his fingers, he heads to his hometown on the Georgia coast to resolve the lawsuit as quickly as possible.

 

Kate Braswell gave up everything to open Local Flavor, her coffeehouse showcasing art, but her builder shatters his leg—and possibly her dreams. Facing bankruptcy and failure, Adam is the only one who can save her and her shop. He becomes her unlikely hero, but the last thing he needs is a sexy woman in pink lip-gloss. Kate doesn’t want a man, even smoldering Adam, regardless of what her hormones say. Still, he can’t keep his hands off the conservative Kate, using all his bad-boy moves to show her what she’s been missing.

 

Adam and Kate’s sexual attraction eclipses their attempts to dodge an affair that neither wants. She adopts Moss Point while he longs for Portland. His exile is her home, and both must decide if either can survive a compromise.

 

Amazon | LsBooks.com

 

About Kristine Bria

 

Kristine Bria was the annoying teacher’s pet who always made straight As. Sure, she used to ride to and from school with the principal–it wasn’t her fault they lived next door to each other. Carpooling made sense. She shared her toys and played well with others. In short, she was a good girl.

When you have been a good girl, people around you have high expectations of you. Kristine knows all about how stressful it can be when friends, family, and bosses want different things at the same time. What do you do? How do you decide? What happens when you don’t (because you can’t) make everyone happy? There are fabulous stories all around us, and she loves to tell them.

Kristine also likes to write about who we are in public versus who we are in private. With whom do we reveal our true selves? Why does someone get to see the real us inside?

Hint: It must be love.

P.S. Kristine is good…but not too good. It turns out she has a bit of a wild streak that likes to come out and play as Kristi Hancock. Kristi writes erotic novellas where good girls are very, very bad and bad boys are very, very good.

 

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REBECCA THOMAS

 

My name is Rebecca Thomas. I’m the author of two historical romance novellas with Entangled Publishing and I’m about to launch my Alaskan Hero contemporary romance series. So excited about this! I’ve lived in Alaska my entire life. My husband bugged me for years to write an Alaska story. Finally I did, and now I have an entire series planned. The first book in the series is Her Alaskan Hero and it will release on August 25th. I also have a novella entitled Sweet Home Alaska, as part of this series that is available now in a boxed set entitled Small Town Summer.

 

I recently attended a writer’s conference at a very nice, very large hotel. Hundreds of women roamed every floor and hallway of this hotel. It was about eight o’clock at night when I tried to check into my room. However, my room wasn’t ready and my roommate hadn’t arrived yet, so even though this was annoying, I wasn’t about to let these circumstances bring down my happy mood. I was at a writer’s conference and I was on vacation.

 

So I waited in the lobby with a book in hand and almost immediately I was approached by a man who asked if I was here for the writer’s conference. I said, yes. He introduced himself by saying, “I’m Anthony, I’m an attorney and I’m from the Bahamas.” And then almost as an afterthought he asked, “What’s your name?”

 

I gave him my name, then he immediately asked, “Do you have a roommate?”

 

So there is nothing so horrible about this conversation except clearly he was trying to impress me with his profession and/or place of residence. And who knows if he was actually trying to pick me up, but of course I told him I had a roommate and I expected her to arrive at any moment. So Anthony went along his way and left me in the lobby.

 

As I watched him leave, my romance writer’s imagination took over. I envisioned myself saying. “No, I don’t have a roommate.”

 

As a side note, in my head he was much more attractive and gorgeous and sexy too. Next thing I know he invites me for a ride in his private jet where he takes me to his mansion in the Bahamas. And you know the rest of the story—we lived happily ever after of course.

But back to reality, I mean, really, what did he expect me to say? And if I did say, no, I don’t have a roommate. What would he have said? I guess I will never know, I can only imagine.

Was there ever a time you wish you’d said something else in a similar situation? So the story would have ended differently?  

 

Her Alaskan Hero Blurb

 

After being left at the altar, California girl Sabrina Tate needs to make a fast getaway. With her famous overbearing parents and the paparazzi hot on her heels, where else is a jilted bride to go to lick her wounds but Alaska? With only her tropical honeymoon clothes in tow, she makes her escape. For two weeks, she’ll live on her own and prove to herself—and her family—that she can make it without a husband.

Zak Forrester is a man on a mission. He’s turned his rugged yet luxurious Alaskan lodge into a hotspot for hunters, all in the hope to make up for a painful event in his past. But when Sabrina—one of the rare women to enter his rugged realm—stumbles into his world, he can’t get rid of her fast enough. He has no time for her yoga, vegetarian meal requests, or Scrabble.

Soon, neither can resist the other, and two hearts collide. With time ticking away, they have to decide where they belong. Is a life in a different world better than being a world apart?

 

Amazon | Kobo

About Rebecca Thomas

 

Rebecca Thomas enjoys a love-hate relationship with Alaska. She lives there with her bush pilot husband and two teenaged sons. When she isn’t reading, writing, or playing board games, she is cheering for her sons at their hockey games and tennis matches.

 

A reluctant reader as a child, she didn’t become interested in books until her teen years when she discovered historical romance. Now she loves all sub-genres of romance and can’t decide which one is her favorite.

 

Rebecca earned a bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Alaska and was employed in the airline industry for several years before working in her current position as a program manager in a higher education.

 

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HEATHER LONG

 

Did it hurt? Did what hurt? When you fell from heaven, did it hurt?

 

Welcome to the Love Boat. I’ll be your Captain.

 

Nice shoes, want to fuck?

 

Pick up lines are a dime a dozen, but some are funny, some are just sad, and others make you pause to blink—but what they all do, is get your attention. One of the lines above actually appeared in one of my books. I won’t tell you which one, because the whole conversation had to do with pick up lines—oh you know, why not? The “nice shoes” line appeared in The Two and the Proud. The debate between them was a lot of fun.

 

The best lines are the ones, which capture your attention and make you laugh. Even if the laughter is punctuated by a groan. Life has long since taught me the true power of laughter when it comes to making a memorable impression. Now, that said, the worst lines are skeevy or beyond inappropriate. The nice shoes line, for example, teeters on the edge.

 

While it could come across as playful depending on the delivery, you better be certain of your audience. Not all pick up lines happen in a bar, they can happen when you ask someone out to a meal—when you deliberately arrange the situation so you can spend time getting to know them better.

 

In my upcoming release, River Wolf, Pad Thai played a key role in an invitation to dinner and pick up for the possibility something more…

 

River Wolf Blurb

 

Brett Dalton, Alpha of Hudson River, isolated himself from his pack mates after one betrayed him. The once, easygoing Alpha has become taciturn, remote and unforgiving. His pack worries for him, but they too have suffered a devastating blow. When several members leave to join Three Rivers, the pack faces the threat of dissolution until Brett’s best friend and Lone Wolf, Luc Danes returns to Hudson River accompanied by a beautiful young human—or is she? Something about the woman consumes Brett. Has Luc come home to help or to take the pack from Brett?

 

Colby Jenson wrapped up thousands of hours of community service working at the hospital in Maine when an injured Luc Danes rolled through the door. The impossible patient drove the nurses crazy, but when Danes offered her money no strings attached to drive him to New York, she agreed. The last thing she expected was to arrive in the small Westchester County town and to meet the craziest collection of residents—especially the devastatingly sexy Brett Dalton. Part of her wants to hit the road, the rest wants to make him smile and he keeps making excuses for her to stay.

 

Then she sees the wolves…and is exposed to a world she can barely imagine. When Brett discovers a secret about her, nothing will be the same again. Now she will find herself torn between a world she isn’t sure she can understand and the man who has taken her heart hostage…

 

Find out more at: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks | ARe

 

About Heather Long

 

National bestselling author, Heather Long, likes long walks in the park, science fiction, superheroes, Marines, and men who aren’t douche bags. Her books are filled with heroes and heroines tangled in romance as hot as Texas summertime. From paranormal historical westerns to contemporary military romance, Heather might switch genres, but one thing is true in all of her stories—her characters drive the books. When she’s not wrangling her menagerie of animals, she devotes her time to family and friends she considers family. She believes if you like your heroes so real you could lick the grit off their chest, and your heroines so likable, you’re sure you’ve been friends with women just like them, you’ll enjoy her worlds as much as she does.

 

Connect with Heather: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon

 

LINDA BOND

 

Hi everyone, I’m Linda Bond, TV news reporter by day, author of romantic suspense and romantic thrillers by night.  For my worst pick-up line experience I reached out to my readers and asked if they’d share theirs with me. So, here’s a list of possibly the cheesiest, most horrible pick up lines for your enjoyment, followed by a scene from one of my books that left my main character speechless. Enjoy!

 

Just plain cheese, please:

 

Are you from Tennessee ‘cause you’re the only ten I see?

 

Are your legs tired, because you’ve been running around my head all day?

 

Do you take karate ‘cause your body’s kickin’?

 

Is your name summer cause you’re hot?

 

You look a lot like my future ex wife.

 

Are you trash ‘cause I want to take you out?

 

I’m not drunk. I’m just intoxicated by you.

 

Nerdy pick-up lines:

 

Are you made of Barium and Beryllium because you are a BaBe?

 

You look like 89 degrees because if you were an angle you’d be acute, and if you were a temperature you’d be hot.

 

Naughty pick up lines. Read at your own risk:

 

Are you Latin ‘cause you look like you’ve got a little Cuban in you?

 

Are you a pinky toe because I want to bang you on every piece of furniture in my house?

 

Cuba Undercover Blurb

 

His revenge will change her life forever…

 

Cuban-American TV reporter Rebecca Menendez’s success comes from playing by the rules. When she’s kidnapped by a fierce and intensely handsome man who needs her help, however, all of those rules seem pointless. Nothing could have prepared her for being taken hostage…or the irresistible reward if she complies: information about her long-thought dead father.

 

Antonio Vega has spent almost every day of his adult life dreaming of revenging his father’s death. With his sister’s life and freedom in jeopardy, Antonio isn’t taking any chances. But once Rebecca and Antonio are in Cuba, they’re immersed in a world of corruption, deceit, and betrayal. It’s a deadly game…and there are no rules.

 

Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo

 

About Linda Bond

Linda Bond is an Emmy award-winning journalist by day and an author of romantic adventures by night.  She’s also the mother of five, four athletes and an adopted son from Cuba. She has a passion for world travel, classic movies, and alpha males. Linda currently lives in Florida, where the sun always shines and the day begins with endless possibilities.  You can become a Bond girl and share in her continuing adventures at http://www.lindabond.com.

 

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ALYSSA RICHARDS

 

Tommy rode up on his sky blue bike, he was all sandy—haired, sun—kissed and a full twenty minutes late from the agreed—upon meeting time. It was a semi—blind date arranged by Cara, a mutual friend who was insistent we would hit it off.

I was none too wild about blind dates — because something always went wrong. But Cara pointed him out to me from across a restaurant one night, he was cute, and she said he was nice, so I agreed to meet him for a walk at the lake.

“You’ll love him!” she squealed.

But now he was late and would have missed our meeting spot altogether if I hadn’t flagged him down.

“Tommy!” I yelled and waved my arm.

Only one wave, though, I didn’t want to appear anxious.

That, and I wondered if he had decided to ride by first to see what I looked like. I would have been mortified if he’d looked at me and driven the other way.

But he rode over when he heard me call out his name. He was even more handsome than I remembered.

“Hi,” he said and rode a circle around me. The tick, tick, tick of his wheels slowed to a stop.

“Hi,” I said. “I thought maybe you’d forgotten. Or decided you disliked blind dates more than I do.”

“Oh,” he said.

Cicadas sang their song into the Southern stillness and I wiped a bead of sweat from the back of my neck.

“I must have had the time wrong,” he said. “My mistake.”  

He smiled his sweet surfer—boy smile and I decided to forgive him. He did seem contrite.

“Well, that’s okay. Shall we?” I said and gestured to the path.

“Sure,” he said.  

We talked nonstop as we trekked the three mile lakeside trail.

And though I’d once considered Cara to be one of my most beloved but flakiest of friends, today I regarded her as pure genius.

Tommy was the quintessential triple threat — intelligent, handsome and funny. He loved the outdoors as much as I did, was slated to take over his father’s successful restaurant business and had nothing but positive things to say about his mother.

“I’d love to see you again,” he said when we returned to our original meeting place.

“I’d like that as well, Tommy,” I said.

I was so smitten I may have blushed.

“There’s just one thing…”

Oh-oh.

“My name is…Donnie. And I don’t know who Tommy is, but he’s an idiot for standing you up today.”

My mouth slipped open, and stayed there as an eternal summer moment slugged by.

“When you called out, I thought you yelled my name. When I figured out that you had the wrong guy, I chose not to bring it up. I hope you don’t mind that I took his place today,” he said. “I really would like to see you again.”

“I … would like that, too,” I finally said.

 

* * *

I have no idea what happened to Tommy. But Donnie and I dated till summer’s end, when he moved to take over his father’s restaurants. He was the perfect gentleman and I’d have to say this was the best pickup experience!

 

The Fine Art of Deception: Undoing Time Blurb

 

Art appraiser Adeline Montgomery just wants a normal life. One where she can ignore the ghosts who follow her, where she’s free from her “gift” of touching an object and seeing the owner’s deepest secrets, and where she can fall in love without all of the above getting in the way. But when tall, dark, and dangerous gallery owner Blake Greenwood enters her life, normal is the last thing she gets.

 

Amazon | Smashwords

  

The Fine Art of Deception book 2 is available for Pre-Order: Kobo | Smashwords | iBooks

 

 

 

About Alyssa Richards

Alyssa Richards writes romance and mystery books with a paranormal twist. She lives in the South with her husband and two boys and recently published her first paranormal romance mystery called The Fine Art of Deception: Undoing Time. The sequel, Somewhere in Time is due out in October. Alyssa loves magnolias and gardenias, nurturing her herb and rose garden and holds the world record for taking two dogs from homeless to pampered.

 

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Veronica Forand

People rarely try to pick me up. Perhaps it’s my sarcasm, or my really loud voice, or the wedding band on my finger.  In truth, I had to make the first move to grab my now husband’s attention.

We’d been friends in high school and had spent a summer before college hanging around each other every single day. It was obvious we liked each other, but the friendship was so strong I didn’t want to screw it up but pushing for anything more. I’m sure he felt the same way…maybe?

Anyway, it was now August and as much as friendship is great, I wanted a bit more. I’m sure he did too, but was bashful.  So to make a long rambling story shorter and less rambling, I asked him for some Chapstick after he’d put some on (he was a hunky lifeguard and needed to protect his skin). Instead of taking it from his hands, I took it from his lips with my own lips. Things progressed very well after that!

Taking his own sweet time in everything he does, we married seven years later and will be together over twenty years on our anniversary.

Simmering Ice Blurb

Her newest release co-written with Susan Scott Shelley is Simmering Ice.

When the gloves come off, she’s worth the penalty…

Physical therapist Annie Davidson is great at her job but unlucky when it comes to love. She’s just out of a bad relationship. A really bad relationship. All she can do is focus on work…that is until she runs into professional hockey player Alec O’Meara. She’s a touch insecure and doesn’t understand why he’s interested in her.

Despite being one of the biggest players on the team, right wing Alec O’Meara prefers finesse over force. After the tragic death of his wife, he likes to keep things loose on and off the ice. But the red-headed Annie challenges his beliefs and makes him think about taking their relationship to the net.

The passion and fun they share is addicting and makes them long for more. But her insecurities that she’s not good enough, and his anxiety over a long-term commitment will keep them apart, unless they can find a way to break through the defenses they’ve built around their hearts.

 

 

Buy links for all major book outlets and free look at Chapter One are at http://www.entangledpublishing.com/simmering-ice/.

About Veronica Forand

Veronica Forand is an attorney and an award-winning writer of romantic suspense. She’s lived in Boston, London, Paris, Geneva, and Washington, DC and currently resides near Philadelphia. An avid traveler, she loves to roam across continents with her husband and kids in pursuit of skiing, scuba diving, and finding the perfect piece of chocolate.

FIND THE AUTHOR HERE:   

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Samantha Ann King

Thanks for hosting me today and for participating in the Summer eReader Giveaway. I’m looking forward to chatting with everyone about the best and worst pickup lines they’ve heard…or used! Especially since I don’t have much experience with them. It’s true. I can only remember one from all my years of dating. I don’t know what that says about me. That I led a sheltered life? That no one wanted to pick me up? That my memory sucks?

My heroes don’t use pickup lines, either. They tend to have a friendship with the heroines before they fall in love, or they’re thrown together by circumstance.

But back to my one and only experience with the pickup line.

Imagine a bar. It’s in a college town, so it’s crowded with students. Dancing. Drinking. Shouting above the pulsing, pounding bass of the sound system.

I’m standing at a table, taking a break from the dance floor with my drink of choice, a G&T. Don’t ask what kind of gin. I wasn’t particular back then, couldn’t afford to be. Probably couldn’t afford to be drinking. But it was Saturday night.

A guy—dark curly hair, dark eyes, a little older—asks me to dance with him. And since that’s why I’m there…

When we return to the table, he raises his voice above the music. “I wrote a song about you.”

I laugh. “Yeah. Right.”

“I’m a musician. I’m in a band. Used to play with (insert your favorite rock musician here, because for the life of me I can’t remember the artist.).”

“Sing it for me,” I say.

“Too loud.”

We talk. Dance a little more. He walks me to my car.

“Sing it for me.”

“Not now. Let’s go to dinner tomorrow. I’ll bring my guitar.”

I say, “Okay.” (In my defense, I was young and naïve. Besides, I really wanted to believe he’d written a song about me. I mean, how cool would that be?!)

At dinner we talk. He and the waiter compare notes on how to cook baked potatoes. (I know. Weird, right?)

When he takes me home, I say, “Sing me the song.”

“I forgot my guitar. Next weekend.” (I wasn’t that naïve or that desperate for a song of my own!)

Unfortunately, I can’t come up with an excuse quickly enough. I’ve never been fast on my feet, literally or figuratively. We make another date. A messy cold causes me to cancel the day of. (The only time I’ve been thankful for a cold.)

I’m sprawled on the nubby plaid couch in my apartment. Red, runny nose. A box of tissues clamped in one hand and an overflowing trash can within reach of the other.

There’s a knock on the door. My roommate answers.

It’s him. “You really are sick.”

“Uh, yeah.”

“I thought you were lying.”

Such a charmer. I never heard from him again, and I never got to hear “my” song. I wasn’t crushed.

Sooo, “I wrote a song about you.” Memorable? Yes. It’s the only line I remember a guy using on me. (Probably because it was the only line a guy ever used on me.) Best or worst? I’ll let you decide.

I’d love to hear your best or worst pickup line. Share it here, and you could win one of four Kindles. In the meantime, if you’d like to see how a real man picks up a woman, check out Sharing Hailey, the first book in my Lovers and Friends series. No pickup line needed.

Sharing Hailey Blurb

Hailey Anderson’s deep, dark secret? She’s been madly in lust with her overprotective brother’s two best friends for years. Gorgeous woodworking artist Mark Allen and sexy doctor Tony Adamo have no idea they star in her fantasies every night.

After a nasty breakup with her abusive boyfriend, Hailey’s looking for a little distance. Headed for a two-week Hawaiian vacation with her brother and his hot friends, Hailey can’t wait to feast her eyes on Mark’s and Tony’s rock-hard, ocean-slick bodies. Even if she can’t touch.

But instead of treating her like their little sister, Mark and Tony have a surprising proposition: a monogamous ménage à trois. The three of them—and no one else. Both men want Hailey and have agreed to share her. The red-hot reality is even better than the forbidden fantasy. Until Hailey’s ex threatens their newfound happiness…

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About Samantha Ann King

USA Today bestselling author Samantha Ann King was born and raised in Houston, Texas. After receiving her BBA in Finance from Texas A&M University and marrying her high school crush (notice she didn’t say sweetheart), Samantha relinquished her “native Texan” status and moved to Baton Rouge. She has called Albuquerque, New Mexico home since 1985. The mother of three has volunteered in the community as an advocate for children’s issues ranging from education to healthcare. In 2010, as her nest started to empty, she began writing erotic romance. Thanks to her win in Passionate Ink’s Stroke of Midnight Contest, Samantha signed her first publishing contract in 2011. Her first book was nominated for RT’s 2012 Reviewers’ Choice Award.

 

Learn more about Samantha at her Website, on Facebook, or on Twitter.

 

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CAROLINE LEE

I was a nerd in High School. I attended a math-and-science boarding school in SC, and was surrounded (finally!) by a bunch of other nerds (the story of how I ended up a historian is long and boring, so I’ll skip it).

Now, an author claiming to be a nerd is almost expected, what with geek-chic being a legit style choice these days. But I think I can back up my assertion with some examples.

For instance, we had a student-led pep-band for our basketball games, and one of our favorite chants went:

Sine, Cosine, Tangent, Sine,

Three-point-one-four-one-five-nine!

I had a suitemate who took the SATs nine times because she kept getting a 1590 out of 1600, and that was unacceptable. We had a cheerleading squad—also student-run—that we called the Proactive Synergy Coordinating Squad (PASCs), because we were far too full of ourselves to be mere “cheerleaders.” We souped-up our TI-81 calculators. We started our own cheese appreciation club for crying out loud.

So you’ll have to grant that we were nerdier than most.

Imagine a bunch of seventeen-year-old nerds, living among like-minded individuals for the first time in their lives. Romantic relationships were suddenly a glorious possibility, and we reveled in the chance to (*looks around furtively, giggles, pushes glasses further up her nose*) date. Most of these dating arrangements were made awkwardly (of course) and with great ceremony (of course), which resulted in some of the nerdiest pick-up lines ever.

I present to you the pick-up lines a bunch of teenaged math-and-science nerds come up with when they live together in a closed environment:

Chemistry: “Are you an exothermic reaction, honey? Because you’re making me hot.”

Calculus: “I think you must be the square root of two, ‘cause I’m getting irrational around you.”

CompSci: “You’ve turned my software into hardware.”

Biology: “Skin might be your largest sensory organ, but I’ve got something even bigger.”

Physics: “It’s not the length of the vector, it’s how you apply the force.”

But the winner, the true winner of the “worst pick-up line ever” contest, goes to the Math version:

*Clears throat*

“Hey baby, wanna come back to my place and study some mathematics? We’ll add a bed, subtract your clothes, divide your legs, and I’ll multiply.”

*snort*

I can’t even write that with a straight face. I mean, honestly. It’s horrible.

And no, it didn’t work. None of them worked. We talked a big game, but we were still nerds, and too busy laughing at ourselves.

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Smuggling gave him the revenge he needed….

To no one’s surprise, McKee Baird never fought in the War Between the States. His fiercely independent nature made it impossible for him to take orders, and his close friendship with a black man stopped him from fighting for his father’s South. But he’s found his own way to rebel against the new government the United States has imposed on him… and right now, the only thing standing in the way of his smuggling business is the intriguingly uninhibited Becks Middleton.

Their chance meeting gave her the excitement she’d been craving…

Becks has a life of freedom away from Charleston society’s rules. So of course she can’t help but be drawn to the stimulating renegade her mother invites to visit Beckett Plantation, even if she doesn’t approve of his profession. When the opportunity to seduce Mac arises, Becks takes that chance, planning on one night of passion before the dangerous smuggler leaves. But when she accidentally becomes part of his schemes, she can’t reveal the truth without risking his freedom. Joining him on his ship, Becks will face not just her growing love for Mac but a confrontation with authorities that will threaten their very lives.

Can the two of them reconcile their differences before their future is stolen away?

Caroline grew up in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, and her love of the land is completely reflected in her upcoming book, The Brothers of Baird’s Cove: Renegade. Set on a SC sea island at the end of Reconstruction, Renegade addresses the tough issues many Southern historical romances skim over, like the true meanings of freedom and race, and exactly how many crabs it takes to make a batch of she-crab soup. There are zero pick-up lines in the book, nerdy or otherwise, because Mac doesn’t so much “pick-up” Becks as he does “catch her.” Repeatedly (she’s a bit clumsy). But that doesn’t stop them from enjoying everything the Lowcountry can offer them, and then some…

Contact Caroline: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon  

ROBIN COVINGTON

 

The best pick-up line I ever experienced was in college (so many years ago!). I was at a party and I knew the guy who was throwing the party pretty well since we’d been flirting back and forth for several weeks. He invited me to it and I just “knew” that this was the night when we would move beyond the friendship stage. The party was great and it stretched into the wee hours of the morning and as people left, I stayed behind but the guy didn’t approach me or make a move. He  was pretty shy and quiet but I figured I’d read his signals wrong and I got ready to leave but his loudmouth roommate got me to stay as more and more people left.

I finally got fed up and I made my move to leave when the “shy guy” chased me out into the hallway and asked if I had enjoyed the party. I was a little irritated and I let him know that I didn’t understand why he’d invited me to a party and then practically ignored me all night. He stepped forward and grabbed my hand, his cheeks red from his blush as he told me that he’d thrown the party just for me, the sole purpose was to get up the nerve to kiss me goodnight.

He leaned over and laid a kiss on me that made my toes curl. It was fabulous and we dated for a while after that.

 

Crown Prince Nicholas Lytton was never supposed to be ruler of Callanos. He was the “spare to the heir,” pursuing a decadent life of the rich and royal—extreme sports, physical pleasures, and glorious irresponsibility. Until his brother died. Now Nick is to be coronated king, and no one believes he’s ready.

The best way to secure his crown is to do the unthinkable…find a queen.

While Isabel Reynolds works in the palace gardens, she has no desire to draw the attention of the way-too-flirty, would-be king. For she’s not the woman everyone thinks she is. Even if she wanted—or was tempted by—the promise of love, it would only end in disaster. Because while Isabel may be able to catch a king, her secrets would only destroy him…

Buy Links: Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play

 

Robin Covington loves to explore the theme of fooling around and falling in love in her sexy, bestselling books. When she’s not writing sexy, sizzling romance she’s collecting tasty man candy pics, hoarding red nail polish, indulging in a little comic book geek love, and obsessing over Dean Winchester. Don’t send chocolate . . . send eye candy!

Robin’s bestselling books have finaled in the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice, the Book Seller’s Best and the National Reader’s Choice Awards.

She lives in Maryland with her handsome husband, her two brilliant children (they get it from her, of course!), and her beloved furbabies.

Drop her a line at robin@robincovingtonromance.com – she always writes back.

 

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More than 20 authors will be sharing their best and worst pick-up lines during this EPIC eReader Giveaway! Win dozens of prizes, including swag packs, print or eBooks, gift cards, tote, posters, themed prizes, etc…and of course, a grand prize of four (4) eReaders!

Win one of four (4) eReaders including:

Two 7” Kindle Fire Tablets

One Kindle Paperwhite

One Kindle Touchscreen

+ tons of runner-up prizes

Participating Authors:

7/27   Patty Blount

          Shelly Bell

           Sarah Castille

7/28   Lia Davis

          Lisa Nicholas

7/29   Jodi Linton

          Michelle Madow

7/30   Shelly Bell

          Jane Peden

          Kristi Hancock

7/31  Robin Covington

         Caroline Lee

8/3    Veronica Forand

         Samantha Ann King

8/4    Kerry Adrienne

         Lizzy Ford

8/5    Suzie T. Roos

         Sharon Hamilton

8/6    Linda Bond

         Heather Long

         Alyssa Richards

8/7    Michelle Sharp

         Kristine Bria

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Are you ready to enter-to-win? Follow the giveaway stops for your chance to win one of these amazing prizes here: Summertime eReader Giveaway!

SHELLY BELL

Twelve years ago, I gave up the search for Mr. Right. After countless dates with frogs who never turned into my prince, I’d decided I’d rather be single than endure another night of listening to a man complain about his three ex-wives or brag about how much money he made. Of course, that’s when I got the email that would change my life. Here’s a snippet:

Hi Shelly,

My name is Jason and I live in Milford. I hadn’t looked at the Speed Dating site in a long time, and then I received an e-mail that the site was shutting down. So I decided to take a last look and found you there. I guess my profile on the site is fairly accurate, but I never submitted a picture or completed any essays. Just from your profile, you sound like someone I would like to meet. So to fill in the gaps from the profile (and convince you that I’m not some crazy stalker) let me tell you a little more about myself. I also enjoy camping and hiking as well as traveling, mostly the US by car, but someday a bit more. I am a civil engineer and work in Ann Arbor.

Boris the dog and I have a house in Milford, walking distance to downtown. We usually get a bunch of exercise walking all over town, but this cold makes it a little more challenging. He likes the cold much more than me. Or maybe the fur coat makes him not care…I’ll see if I can get a photo of myself to send to you…

We spent the rest of the day emailing back and forth. He didn’t get a photo of himself, but he did send me one of his dog, Boris and it was love at first site! Jason and I set up a phone call for the following day, and it was in that conversation, I learned his last name was Bell. My mother had told me that when she .met my father, she’d heard “bells” and I would too. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but I had a feeling he was “the one.”

A day later, we met in person. As soon as I saw him, it was as if a piece of me recognized him as my soul mate. We talked for hours and only ended our date because I had a prior event. Rather than wait, he called me that night and we spoke another few hours on the phone.

Five months later, we were engaged and six months after that, we were married.

Then Boris…became my dog too.

BIO

A sucker for a happy ending, Shelly Bell writes sensual romance often with a bit of kink and action-filled erotic thrillers with high-emotional stakes for her alpha heroes and kick-ass heroines.

She began writing upon the insistence of her husband who dragged her to the store and bought her a laptop. When she’s not working her day job, taking care of her family, or writing, you’ll find her reading the latest smutty romance.

She currently writes for Avon Red Impulse.

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Red Handed (A Benediction Novel)

An exhibitionist who’s waited her whole life to be seen …

After her stepmother is abducted, Danielle Walker has no choice but to follow the kidnapper’s cryptic instructions. Under the guise of a sex slave trainee, she must infiltrate Cole DeMarco’s BDSM club and find evidence of his offshore bank account … or she’ll never see her stepmother alive again. But Master Cole is no stranger, and despite the dark past they share, Danielle cannot resist his magnetic pull.

The voyeur who’s always been watching …

As Danielle begins uncovering Cole’s secrets, the artistic voyeur arouses her deepest desires, and she surrenders to a fiery passion she never expected. But with time running out to save her stepmother, Danielle and Cole will face off against an evil growing more ruthless by the day … and discover a twisted web of lies, betrayal, and murder that neither saw coming.

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JANE PEDEN

The stupidest pick-up attempt I ever heard was when I was in my early 20’s working for a nonprofit disaster relief agency on an out-of-town job in Pittsburgh raising funds to help flood victims.  After work a group of us from various cities made plans to go out to dinner together.  Everyone agreed to go back to our rooms and change out of business clothes and meet up in the hotel lobby in half an hour.

There was a particularly annoying guy named Bob from the Cincinnati office who had been bossing me around all day because he had been on many of these fundraising assignments before, and this was my first.  (Rule #1: If you are thinking about trying to pick someone up later, it’s not a good idea to be condescending to them earlier in the day.)

So, he knew what room I was in and as I was getting ready to go down to the lobby he knocks at my door.  When I open it Bob says, I thought we could walk down to the lobby together.  Ok, that’s a little lame, but fine.

Then he stares down at his hand as if he’s just discovered he is holding his briefcase, and pastes this surprised, sheepish look on his face.  Oh, wow, says Bob, whose own room is about five doors down the hall, I don’t want to drag this thing along to dinner.  Can I just leave it here in your room and pick it up after? (Rule #2: If you think leaving your briefcase in a woman’s hotel room is your only chance you’ll  be invited in, you’re probably right.)

Needless to say, Bob never had a chance with me (See Rule #1), and I told him I’d be happy to wait right there in the hallway while he took his briefcase back to his own room.  I’ll admit, though, that I flirted with him a bit later in cab on the way back from dinner, just so I could shut him down when we got to the hotel.  He deserved it.

Bob could take a few lessons from Sam, the hero in my contemporary romance, THE MILLIONAIRE’S UNEXPECTED PROPOSAL.  When millionaire Miami lawyer Sam finds himself alone in Las Vegas  – and spots an elegant blonde also alone in the hotel lounge – he knows he’d much rather the two of them spend the evening together.  But Camilla is as unapproachable as she is beautiful.

Will Sam have better luck with Camilla than lame-o Bob had with me?  Well, he couldn’t do any worse . . .

BLURB:

One night together will change his life forever…

Camilla Winthrop is about to do something she’s never done in her life—she’s about to ask a man to marry her. Not just any man. She hasn’t seen Sam Flanagan in almost five years, after he coldly walked away from a passionate and intense two-week affair. Now Camilla is widowed and desperate…and marrying Sam is the only way she can protect their son.

The son he never knew about.

A hugely successful attorney in Miami, Sam certainly never expected to see the stunning Camilla come through his door again. Nor can he ignore the desire heating his blood. But after she tells him her situation, Sam is furious. He’ll marry her, but under his terms. And he’ll take everything, including Camilla in his bed…unless she can find a way to thaw the millionaire’s icy heart once more.

BIO:

Jane Peden is the pen name of a Florida trial attorney who writes sexy contemporary category romances set in the exciting South Florida city of Miami, where millionaire lawyers live extravagant lifestyles and find love when they least expect it. When Jane is not in court, you can find her at the beach with her laptop, dreaming up stories about successful, confident men who know what they want and how to get it, and smart, sexy women who demand love on their own terms. Her books promise sizzling chemistry in the face of insurmountable obstacles. And just when things could not get any worse, an emotional payoff that makes it all worthwhile. Jane grew up in the mountains of western Pennsylvania, but decided early on that the only thing better than escaping the cold for a two-week vacation at the beach was to live there all year around, so she traded her snow boots for a jet ski and has never looked back. Jane lives on the sunny Gulf Coast of Florida with her husband, two kids, two dogs, and a fish.

You can reach Jane here: @JanePeden | Facebook | Website | Goodreads

Her debut  book,THE MILLIONAIRE’S UNEXPTECTED PROPOSAL is available here:

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KRISTI HANCOCK

At first I thought, what in the world am I going to write about? I’ve been married for what seems like forever, and I dated my husband exclusively for almost four years before that. So I decided to cheat. My sister is divorced and just experienced the worst pick-up attempt of her life. I’m going to share her nightmare then I’ll tell you the simple thing my husband did to hook me then reel me in.

Sis, who isn’t currently “on the hunt” has an old friend from high school who plays acoustic covers at different bars near where she lives. She likes to go see him with some of her girl and guy friends from high school to indulge in some no-pressure nostalgia. The singer–we’ll call him Mike–knows their little tribe comes just to see and support him, so he visits with them between sets.

Approaching one of Mike’s breaks on a Saturday, an older gentleman sidled up to my sister and started hitting on her. Whatever his come-ons were, they had zero impact on Sis who kept finding more creative and aggressive ways to say “no” while simultaneously flagging Mike down to come save her.

My sister is gorgeous and always has been. I’ve spent my life watching men fall all over themselves to grovel at her feet, leaving me to wonder, What am I? Chopped liver? The point being that I can imagine exactly how this man did whatever he could to garner her attention. He worked hard at it. Before Mike could finish his song and come to Sis’s rescue, the man knocked his drink over. On my sister. On purpose. He then proceeded to wipe it off her exposed legs as she fought off his octopus-like moves.

Then he said, “I’m as bad as my grandchildren.”

Sis isn’t looking for someone at all right now and has only dated guys her own age. Nothing against AARP members, but she isn’t interested in pursuing them or anyone else. Regardless, she’s just not into more experienced men, let alone seeking them out on Match.com. I can only imagine her trying to clean herself up while simultaneously fending him off–while holding down her mini-skirt and sitting on a barstool at a hightop table. Imagine anyone trying to do that without falling off the seat.

Talk about what not to do.

Which begs the question, What in the world did my husband do to land a wild child like me?

He didn’t say a word. Mr. H. is a major introvert and barely spoke with anyone in our group of friends. He came to visit his brother in our college town right after I left for a two-month internship, so he had bonded with our group while I was away. One of us graduated shortly after I returned, and our small circle of friends met up in a fast food parking lot before heading to the ceremony.

I said, “I’m thirsty.”

He passed me his Mountain Dew.

We spent the rest of the day together, talking all through her party and into the night.

In the morning, he kissed me when the sun came up. Sigh.

Every time I share that story I fall in love with him all over again. We’re living the dream: happily ever after.

Rock His World Blurb

Sasha Ford lives life her way. Tattooed, pierced, and professionally satisfied, the Seattle music-lover has found her groove. She’s living her dream as a free-spirited graphic artist, but the fearless vixen has grown bored with her booty-calls and is on the prowl for a new conquest. Her trademark black eyeliner and scarlet lips serve as both invitation and warning to any man she pursues.

Seven years of college transformed small-town bad boy Avery Kingston into a super-geek. New to the city with his shiny PhD, he struggles to find his social identity by connecting with his tough guy roots. Attempting to merge his past with his present in the counter-culture, he finds himself in over his head—especially when sexy Sasha drags him into her world of mosh-pits and after-parties.

Sasha only expects a one night stand, but their searing chemistry leads them in a direction she’s less than comfortable with. Confronted with the female version of who Avery thought he could be, Sasha’s sexual advances bring out a carnal need to give as good as he gets. Sasha believes she can’t maintain her own identity if she’s in a serious relationship, but Avery wants more than sex from his hot rebel. He must convince her of his love and respect for her fierce independent streak or say goodbye to her forever. Is Avery strong enough to make Sasha break her own rules?

Pre-order Links: Liquid Silver Books | Amazon

About Kristi Hancock

After years as a slave to corporate America riding in Learjets and limos, Kristi Hancock dropped out of the business world to teach English and reading at an inner city school. A voracious romance reader since her teens, she was thrilled to discover she could write something more than technical manuals and business proposals. She lives with her husband, a tabby cat, a Maltese, and dozens of colorful fish. She loves being a passenger on her man’s motorcycle as they carve up winding mountain roads and speed across the local lake in their boat. With a Buddha statue on her desk, a teddy bear dressed like Shakespeare on her shelf, and a drawing of a skull with a Mohawk on her wall, she lets her imagination run wild as her characters tell her their naughty stories for all the world to read.

Connect with Kristi: Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter

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