Cover Reveal – "The Reality O" (viewer discretion is advised!)

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE . . . .

Title: The Reality O

Author: Candy Sloane/Lisa Burstein
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Comedy/Erotic Romance

Add The Reality O on GoodReads
About a year ago, a book titled “Sneaking Candy” (which is FREE right now!) was released. It was about a creative writing graduate student (Candice Salinas) and her erotic romance author alter-ego (Candy Sloane). Readers, like me, fell in love with Candy and so did author Lisa Burstein. Lisa fell so much in love SHE WROTE A BOOK as Candy Sloane.”The Reality O” is Candy Sloane’s first standalone debut erotic romance novel, but it may not be her last…
 
Fifteen Contestants, Twelve Episodes & One Chance to Rock Her World

When my best friend Allie posted about my need for an inaugural O on a prominent dating website it was meant to be a joke.

A joke she was supposed to delete.


But her post started an internet and media frenzy and, when I was offered fifty thousand dollars to star in my own reality competition show, I had no choice but to say yes.


The show was supposed to help me meet a carnal companion who could finally bring me to climax.
Unfortunately, the one person I want to win the undying allegiance of my, well, you know, can’t be in the running at all.


Now in an L.A. mansion with fifteen very persuasive contestants vying for my attention and one undeniably sexy Production Assistant secretly getting it all the word ACTION has a whole new meaning…

Author’s Note: This book is about sex. There are men kissing women, women kissing women, and men kissing lady parts. It is not meant for readers under eighteen, or my mother.

You certainly don’t have to read “Sneaking Candy” before you read “The Reality O,” but if you would like to it’s FREE right now on all e-book platforms!
 Find more information about Sneaking Candy here!
Excerpt
Behind the Scenes
Make me come for the very first time.
Twenty-five-year-old busty, blond, green-eyed, straitlaced librarian,
looking for a guy to be able to do what no one before him has. 
Above you’ll find the joke “Casual Encounters” post my best friend Allie put on Craigslist without my knowledge.
On the bright side, she’d referred to me as busty. On the not so bright side, her bawdy prank started a chain of crazier than crazy events that neither of us could have predicted.
Her post was true. I’d never had an orgasm during sex, or anything else I’d done with someone else. Yes, even with tongues, fingers, and things stuck in places my mother and your mother would not want to hear about things being stuck.
My lack of orgasm without my trusty vibrator wasn’t something I bragged about, but I also didn’t think it was that weird.
I mean, Allie told me it was, but it was like rule number one of being friends with her to never believe anything she said. Her self-described sex life rivaled the tips in Cosmo magazine—the good parts that revealed confidences you were pretty sure no human had ever actually experienced, not the embarrassing anonymous stories that made you feel better about your own boring sex life.
Or at least, they’d made me feel better about mine.
I received the first response to Allie’s post while I was at work shelving books in the miniscule poetry section of the Bangor Public Library. I was using my recently awarded Masters of Library Science degree to its fullest for sure.
My phone buzzed in my back pocket. I picked it up with one hand and squeezed it between my ear and shoulder, balancing a huge volume by E.E. Cummings in my other hand.
At the time I didn’t notice, but now, yes, I see the irony.
“Hello,” I whispered, glancing around to make sure I was alone among the shelves. We weren’t supposed to take calls in the library, and that day I wished I would have followed the rule I continually got reprimanded for breaking.
“I want to make you come,” a breathy voice oozed from the receiver, “I’m going to suck on your sweet, throbbing clit until…”
“Excuse me!?!” I screamed. Well, as loudly as you can in the middle of a library. My heart was pounding so chaotically the people using the free internet could probably hear it anyway.
“I’ll start by licking you nice and slow, all around your honey pot, till you’re begging for it, desperate for more. Then I’ll—”
I hung up. My throat ached. My face dimpled with sweat.
Honey pot?I was too freaked out to even appreciate the humor in a guy trying to talk dirty while using Winnie the Pooh as his muse.  
Yes, freaked out. I was not turned on. I was terrified. I studied the phone number in my recent call list. It was local.
I tried to gather myself, smoothing my tight ponytail as I went back to shelving, but I couldn’t get his voice out of my head. I kept hearing him. The men I went out with never talked to me that way. No onehad ever talked to me that way. I certainly didn’t like it, but I also couldn’t deny the adrenaline shooting and pinging through each limb like my body was a pinball machine.
I picked up a slim Anne Sexton paperback—yet another irony in hindsight—and squatted down. His voice still echoed. My thighs burned as I glided my fingers along the back spines on the bottom shelf looking for its space.
My phone vibrated again.
I glanced at the number before I answered, not the breathy-voiced sicko, another local call. I should have just let it go to voicemail. I should have, but I didn’t.
“Hello,” I answered, hesitantly, rubbing one finger along the frame of my glasses—chunky and bright red, a perfect contrast to my olive green eyes and the one style decision that always made people wonder about me.
“Hey baby,” a growl slithered over the line, “I hear you need a real man.”
“Who is this?” I whispered.
“Your daddy.”
I held out the phone and stared at it like it had come to life. I could still hear his voice thrusting through the receiver.
“You want it, don’t you? I’m going to bend you over a table and shove my twelve-inch-cock into your dripping wet pussy again and again, my finger right—”
I clicked end and threw my phone on the ground. My pulse was pounding so feverishly against my neck it was choking me. What the hell was going on?
Also, who in this world had a twelve-inch-cock? How did he walk with that thing unless he used it as a cane?
My phone came to life again, buzzing and lighting up from where it lay on the floor, like a horror movie where you thought the monster was dead, but really he was invincible.
I picked it up with the tips of two fingers and looked at it, yet another local number I didn’t recognize. I clicked for the call to go to voicemail.
It was 11:00 a.m., too early to take lunch, but I didn’t care. My phone vibrated in my hand as yet another call lit up the screen. I forced it to voicemail and texted Allie to drop everything and meet me at The Sundown.
If it was too early to take lunch, it was definitely too early to have a drink, but I needed one. It had to be five o’clock somewhere considering it was sex o’clock on my phone.
Preorder The Reality O
 
About the Author
Candy Sloane is an erotic romance author and the fictional creation of Lisa Burstein from the New Adult Novel Sneaking Candy. The Reality O is her debut novel.
Lisa Burstein is the author of the Young Adult Novels: Pretty Amy and Dear Cassie, and the New Adult Novels & Novellas: Sneaking Candy, The Next Forever, The Possibility of Us, and Again. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her very patient husband, a neurotic dog and two cats. 

Cover Reveal – "The Reality O" (viewer discretion is advised!)

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE . . . .

Title: The Reality O

Author: Candy Sloane/Lisa Burstein
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Comedy/Erotic Romance

Add The Reality O on GoodReads
About a year ago, a book titled “Sneaking Candy” (which is FREE right now!) was released. It was about a creative writing graduate student (Candice Salinas) and her erotic romance author alter-ego (Candy Sloane). Readers, like me, fell in love with Candy and so did author Lisa Burstein. Lisa fell so much in love SHE WROTE A BOOK as Candy Sloane.”The Reality O” is Candy Sloane’s first standalone debut erotic romance novel, but it may not be her last…
 
Fifteen Contestants, Twelve Episodes & One Chance to Rock Her World

When my best friend Allie posted about my need for an inaugural O on a prominent dating website it was meant to be a joke.

A joke she was supposed to delete.


But her post started an internet and media frenzy and, when I was offered fifty thousand dollars to star in my own reality competition show, I had no choice but to say yes.


The show was supposed to help me meet a carnal companion who could finally bring me to climax.
Unfortunately, the one person I want to win the undying allegiance of my, well, you know, can’t be in the running at all.


Now in an L.A. mansion with fifteen very persuasive contestants vying for my attention and one undeniably sexy Production Assistant secretly getting it all the word ACTION has a whole new meaning…

Author’s Note: This book is about sex. There are men kissing women, women kissing women, and men kissing lady parts. It is not meant for readers under eighteen, or my mother.

You certainly don’t have to read “Sneaking Candy” before you read “The Reality O,” but if you would like to it’s FREE right now on all e-book platforms!
 Find more information about Sneaking Candy here!
Excerpt
Behind the Scenes
Make me come for the very first time.
Twenty-five-year-old busty, blond, green-eyed, straitlaced librarian,
looking for a guy to be able to do what no one before him has. 
Above you’ll find the joke “Casual Encounters” post my best friend Allie put on Craigslist without my knowledge.
On the bright side, she’d referred to me as busty. On the not so bright side, her bawdy prank started a chain of crazier than crazy events that neither of us could have predicted.
Her post was true. I’d never had an orgasm during sex, or anything else I’d done with someone else. Yes, even with tongues, fingers, and things stuck in places my mother and your mother would not want to hear about things being stuck.
My lack of orgasm without my trusty vibrator wasn’t something I bragged about, but I also didn’t think it was that weird.
I mean, Allie told me it was, but it was like rule number one of being friends with her to never believe anything she said. Her self-described sex life rivaled the tips in Cosmo magazine—the good parts that revealed confidences you were pretty sure no human had ever actually experienced, not the embarrassing anonymous stories that made you feel better about your own boring sex life.
Or at least, they’d made me feel better about mine.
I received the first response to Allie’s post while I was at work shelving books in the miniscule poetry section of the Bangor Public Library. I was using my recently awarded Masters of Library Science degree to its fullest for sure.
My phone buzzed in my back pocket. I picked it up with one hand and squeezed it between my ear and shoulder, balancing a huge volume by E.E. Cummings in my other hand.
At the time I didn’t notice, but now, yes, I see the irony.
“Hello,” I whispered, glancing around to make sure I was alone among the shelves. We weren’t supposed to take calls in the library, and that day I wished I would have followed the rule I continually got reprimanded for breaking.
“I want to make you come,” a breathy voice oozed from the receiver, “I’m going to suck on your sweet, throbbing clit until…”
“Excuse me!?!” I screamed. Well, as loudly as you can in the middle of a library. My heart was pounding so chaotically the people using the free internet could probably hear it anyway.
“I’ll start by licking you nice and slow, all around your honey pot, till you’re begging for it, desperate for more. Then I’ll—”
I hung up. My throat ached. My face dimpled with sweat.
Honey pot?I was too freaked out to even appreciate the humor in a guy trying to talk dirty while using Winnie the Pooh as his muse.  
Yes, freaked out. I was not turned on. I was terrified. I studied the phone number in my recent call list. It was local.
I tried to gather myself, smoothing my tight ponytail as I went back to shelving, but I couldn’t get his voice out of my head. I kept hearing him. The men I went out with never talked to me that way. No onehad ever talked to me that way. I certainly didn’t like it, but I also couldn’t deny the adrenaline shooting and pinging through each limb like my body was a pinball machine.
I picked up a slim Anne Sexton paperback—yet another irony in hindsight—and squatted down. His voice still echoed. My thighs burned as I glided my fingers along the back spines on the bottom shelf looking for its space.
My phone vibrated again.
I glanced at the number before I answered, not the breathy-voiced sicko, another local call. I should have just let it go to voicemail. I should have, but I didn’t.
“Hello,” I answered, hesitantly, rubbing one finger along the frame of my glasses—chunky and bright red, a perfect contrast to my olive green eyes and the one style decision that always made people wonder about me.
“Hey baby,” a growl slithered over the line, “I hear you need a real man.”
“Who is this?” I whispered.
“Your daddy.”
I held out the phone and stared at it like it had come to life. I could still hear his voice thrusting through the receiver.
“You want it, don’t you? I’m going to bend you over a table and shove my twelve-inch-cock into your dripping wet pussy again and again, my finger right—”
I clicked end and threw my phone on the ground. My pulse was pounding so feverishly against my neck it was choking me. What the hell was going on?
Also, who in this world had a twelve-inch-cock? How did he walk with that thing unless he used it as a cane?
My phone came to life again, buzzing and lighting up from where it lay on the floor, like a horror movie where you thought the monster was dead, but really he was invincible.
I picked it up with the tips of two fingers and looked at it, yet another local number I didn’t recognize. I clicked for the call to go to voicemail.
It was 11:00 a.m., too early to take lunch, but I didn’t care. My phone vibrated in my hand as yet another call lit up the screen. I forced it to voicemail and texted Allie to drop everything and meet me at The Sundown.
If it was too early to take lunch, it was definitely too early to have a drink, but I needed one. It had to be five o’clock somewhere considering it was sex o’clock on my phone.
Preorder The Reality O
 
About the Author
Candy Sloane is an erotic romance author and the fictional creation of Lisa Burstein from the New Adult Novel Sneaking Candy. The Reality O is her debut novel.
Lisa Burstein is the author of the Young Adult Novels: Pretty Amy and Dear Cassie, and the New Adult Novels & Novellas: Sneaking Candy, The Next Forever, The Possibility of Us, and Again. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her very patient husband, a neurotic dog and two cats. 

cover reveal – AGAIN

I’m are so excited to be sharing the gorgeous cover for my girl Lisa Burstein’s shiny new adult novel, AGAIN.

 

Title: AGAIN
Author: Lisa Burstein
Age Group: NA/Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: September 22, 2014

GoodReads

How far would you go for a second chance?

Eleven years after flunking out of college, Kate has finally hit rock-bottom. Losing her job and boyfriend in one drunken night, she’s determined to fix her life by going back to the moment when she let partying and sex take over and do things right. At twenty-nine, she heads back to freshman year of college, with a catch.
Pretending she’s nineteen with a new roommate and full class schedule is easy. When she meets her shy, sexy and seven-years-younger RA Carter, following her self-imposed sobriety and celibacy rules is proving to be anything but.
A senior enduring years of regret, Carter is more than ready to graduate. He’s anxious to move on from the party his freshman year where he witnessed his frat brothers about to commit a sexual assault. Instead of doing the right thing and stepping in, he looked the other way and left. His guilt has made for a lonely four years.
When he meets the new freshman on his floor, spunky and confident Kate, he wonders if his time as an outcast has finally come to an end.
Kate and Carter’s growing friendship and undeniable attraction make it harder to hide the demons from their respective pasts. But when their secrets are finally revealed, will their chance at starting over together still be there?


About the fabulous Lisa Burstein

Lisa Burstein is the author of the Young Adult Novels: Pretty Amy and Dear Cassie, and the New Adult Novels & Novellas: Sneaking Candy, The Next Forever & The Possibility of Us. She is also a contributor to the essay collection, Break These Rules: 35 Young Adult Authors On Speaking Up, Standing Out, and Being Yourself. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her very patient husband, a neurotic dog and two cats. Again is her self-publishing debut.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | GoodReads

Excerpt
Chapter One
Kate
  College-take-two started with me hiding in the dorm lobby men’s bathroom. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice the urinals until after I ran inside.
  I stood with my back tight against the wall gasping air like it was Riesling and I was at an all you can drink happy hour.
  How the hell did I think I’d ever pull this off? Pretend to be a nineteen-year-old freshman at twenty-nine-years old?
   Going back to college might not have been one of my best ideas—but it was the only one that might finally change my life. I wanted to change my life. I neededto. It was just hard to convince myself of that once I was actually on campus with tons of real freshman all around me.
  I guess it’s a lot easier to fantasize about living your life over again than to actually go through with it. 
 
  “Are you lost?”
 
  I turned and found a built, blonde-haired hottie washing his hands. He dried them quickly, crossed his arms over his broad chest and leaned against the sink.
  That was the moment I realized I was in the men’s bathroom. The moment my breathing went from gulping Riesling at an all you can drink happy hour to puking it up into the disgusting toilet at the back of the bar when drinks went back to full price.
  My knees went wobbly. My mouth was dry; my head seemingly floating on top of my neck. I couldn’t tell if I was suddenly unbalanced because of how handsome he was, or the realization I clearly was lost.
  Minus a penis lost.
  “Shit,” I reached for the door handle with sweaty palms. At least I was making the kind of a stupid mistake a real freshman would.
  My wide, wild eyes probably made me look as confused by my surroundings as any other student arriving, but honestly I was terrified and not because I’d almost caught this guy with his pants down, because this whole idea was insane.
  “It’s okay,” he said, walking toward me, waving his large hands to calm me. “This is definitely not the worst thing I’ve seen someone do the first day back.” He smiled showing teeth that reminded me of toothpaste commercials. It brought out the sweetest dimple the size of an M&M on his chin.
  Fuck me. I smiled back.
  He paused; eyeing me up and down, perhaps noticing the tight body I was showing off in a desperate attempt to appear nineteen.
  “What makes you an expert?” I asked hoping to change his focus, Maybe he wasn’t regarding me for the reason I thought; tight body or no, I was not nineteen. I was twenty-nine. Why the hell would anyone believe any different?
  He pointed to his red polo shirt.
  Turns out he was doing his job.
  The area above his right pectoral muscle read Resident Advisor, Hudson University. There was something I couldn’t identify in his sea-glass blue eyes; almost like he was holding back, putting up a good front.
  I knew his look well. It was one I’d mastered. When it got too hard to wear my own everything-is-fine-mask I doused it in alcohol and sex and bad choices, but that wasn’t a solution anymore.
  And clearly, everything wasn’t fine.
  “I need to get out of here,” I grasped for the door latch again, trying to put out the fire blazing in my neck and face.
  He reached from behind me and also went for the door. His hand brushed against mine blistering enough to brand my skin.
  My pulse popped like the last minute of popcorn in a microwave. I needed to get away from him. I would have usually chastised myself for even glancing in his direction. Not that I had much choice considering I’d been the one who put us in such close and uncomfortable quarters.
  Twenty-nine-year-olds didn’t spontaneously combust from a college kid’s accidental touch. But damn, this guy was fine. My RA back in college-take-one was nothing like this. If he had been I might have made it past the first semester.
  I might have passed my actual college-take-one classes.
  Of course, I also might have spent it studying what was under his khakis.
  “Let me help you,” he said, pushing on the latch as I continued to pull. His voice was a deep vibrato, as deep as his blue eyes seemed.
  “I can open a door,” I said, pulling as hard as I could. Nothing happened.
  Apparently I couldn’t.
  He lifted his arms I-surrender-style and stood back stifling a laugh. “It’s a push.”
  “I knew that,” I looked down as I finally pushed the door open and we exited the bathroom. Not because I was embarrassed, though who was I kidding?
  I kept my eyes away from his. I didn’t want to show him my face. Have him laugh and say, what the hell are you doing here old lady? Or even worse, are you here helping your daughter or son move in?
  It was one thing to be told you had a baby-face your entire life. It was another to put it to the test next to actual babies!
  That was why I’d run into the bathroom. Too bad my early-onset cataracts had obscured the mammoth M and stick figure dude.
  We stood in front of the door, the dorm lobby brimming with students and their parents. I should have just walked away, but I liked the way he was checking me out, his gaze sliding from my just purchased Uggs to my just purchased white winter hat with cat-ears smashed over my recently highlighted blonde hair. I had been doing my best to look student-like.
  But I was pretty sure I looked like Hannah Montana.
  It had been easy to Photoshop my high school transcript so it seemed like I graduated a year ago. Simple to change my one semester of F’s to A’s, to take the SATs again, to get a fake ID, to dress like any other nineteen-year-old. It took an hour to sublet my rent-controlled New York City apartment.
  Being here and acting like a college freshman would clearly be a lot harder.
 Be sure to add Again on GoodReads!

cover reveal – AGAIN

I’m are so excited to be sharing the gorgeous cover for my girl Lisa Burstein’s shiny new adult novel, AGAIN.

 

Title: AGAIN
Author: Lisa Burstein
Age Group: NA/Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: September 22, 2014

GoodReads

How far would you go for a second chance?

Eleven years after flunking out of college, Kate has finally hit rock-bottom. Losing her job and boyfriend in one drunken night, she’s determined to fix her life by going back to the moment when she let partying and sex take over and do things right. At twenty-nine, she heads back to freshman year of college, with a catch.
Pretending she’s nineteen with a new roommate and full class schedule is easy. When she meets her shy, sexy and seven-years-younger RA Carter, following her self-imposed sobriety and celibacy rules is proving to be anything but.
A senior enduring years of regret, Carter is more than ready to graduate. He’s anxious to move on from the party his freshman year where he witnessed his frat brothers about to commit a sexual assault. Instead of doing the right thing and stepping in, he looked the other way and left. His guilt has made for a lonely four years.
When he meets the new freshman on his floor, spunky and confident Kate, he wonders if his time as an outcast has finally come to an end.
Kate and Carter’s growing friendship and undeniable attraction make it harder to hide the demons from their respective pasts. But when their secrets are finally revealed, will their chance at starting over together still be there?


About the fabulous Lisa Burstein

Lisa Burstein is the author of the Young Adult Novels: Pretty Amy and Dear Cassie, and the New Adult Novels & Novellas: Sneaking Candy, The Next Forever & The Possibility of Us. She is also a contributor to the essay collection, Break These Rules: 35 Young Adult Authors On Speaking Up, Standing Out, and Being Yourself. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her very patient husband, a neurotic dog and two cats. Again is her self-publishing debut.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | GoodReads

Excerpt
Chapter One
Kate
  College-take-two started with me hiding in the dorm lobby men’s bathroom. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice the urinals until after I ran inside.
  I stood with my back tight against the wall gasping air like it was Riesling and I was at an all you can drink happy hour.
  How the hell did I think I’d ever pull this off? Pretend to be a nineteen-year-old freshman at twenty-nine-years old?
   Going back to college might not have been one of my best ideas—but it was the only one that might finally change my life. I wanted to change my life. I neededto. It was just hard to convince myself of that once I was actually on campus with tons of real freshman all around me.
  I guess it’s a lot easier to fantasize about living your life over again than to actually go through with it. 
 
  “Are you lost?”
 
  I turned and found a built, blonde-haired hottie washing his hands. He dried them quickly, crossed his arms over his broad chest and leaned against the sink.
  That was the moment I realized I was in the men’s bathroom. The moment my breathing went from gulping Riesling at an all you can drink happy hour to puking it up into the disgusting toilet at the back of the bar when drinks went back to full price.
  My knees went wobbly. My mouth was dry; my head seemingly floating on top of my neck. I couldn’t tell if I was suddenly unbalanced because of how handsome he was, or the realization I clearly was lost.
  Minus a penis lost.
  “Shit,” I reached for the door handle with sweaty palms. At least I was making the kind of a stupid mistake a real freshman would.
  My wide, wild eyes probably made me look as confused by my surroundings as any other student arriving, but honestly I was terrified and not because I’d almost caught this guy with his pants down, because this whole idea was insane.
  “It’s okay,” he said, walking toward me, waving his large hands to calm me. “This is definitely not the worst thing I’ve seen someone do the first day back.” He smiled showing teeth that reminded me of toothpaste commercials. It brought out the sweetest dimple the size of an M&M on his chin.
  Fuck me. I smiled back.
  He paused; eyeing me up and down, perhaps noticing the tight body I was showing off in a desperate attempt to appear nineteen.
  “What makes you an expert?” I asked hoping to change his focus, Maybe he wasn’t regarding me for the reason I thought; tight body or no, I was not nineteen. I was twenty-nine. Why the hell would anyone believe any different?
  He pointed to his red polo shirt.
  Turns out he was doing his job.
  The area above his right pectoral muscle read Resident Advisor, Hudson University. There was something I couldn’t identify in his sea-glass blue eyes; almost like he was holding back, putting up a good front.
  I knew his look well. It was one I’d mastered. When it got too hard to wear my own everything-is-fine-mask I doused it in alcohol and sex and bad choices, but that wasn’t a solution anymore.
  And clearly, everything wasn’t fine.
  “I need to get out of here,” I grasped for the door latch again, trying to put out the fire blazing in my neck and face.
  He reached from behind me and also went for the door. His hand brushed against mine blistering enough to brand my skin.
  My pulse popped like the last minute of popcorn in a microwave. I needed to get away from him. I would have usually chastised myself for even glancing in his direction. Not that I had much choice considering I’d been the one who put us in such close and uncomfortable quarters.
  Twenty-nine-year-olds didn’t spontaneously combust from a college kid’s accidental touch. But damn, this guy was fine. My RA back in college-take-one was nothing like this. If he had been I might have made it past the first semester.
  I might have passed my actual college-take-one classes.
  Of course, I also might have spent it studying what was under his khakis.
  “Let me help you,” he said, pushing on the latch as I continued to pull. His voice was a deep vibrato, as deep as his blue eyes seemed.
  “I can open a door,” I said, pulling as hard as I could. Nothing happened.
  Apparently I couldn’t.
  He lifted his arms I-surrender-style and stood back stifling a laugh. “It’s a push.”
  “I knew that,” I looked down as I finally pushed the door open and we exited the bathroom. Not because I was embarrassed, though who was I kidding?
  I kept my eyes away from his. I didn’t want to show him my face. Have him laugh and say, what the hell are you doing here old lady? Or even worse, are you here helping your daughter or son move in?
  It was one thing to be told you had a baby-face your entire life. It was another to put it to the test next to actual babies!
  That was why I’d run into the bathroom. Too bad my early-onset cataracts had obscured the mammoth M and stick figure dude.
  We stood in front of the door, the dorm lobby brimming with students and their parents. I should have just walked away, but I liked the way he was checking me out, his gaze sliding from my just purchased Uggs to my just purchased white winter hat with cat-ears smashed over my recently highlighted blonde hair. I had been doing my best to look student-like.
  But I was pretty sure I looked like Hannah Montana.
  It had been easy to Photoshop my high school transcript so it seemed like I graduated a year ago. Simple to change my one semester of F’s to A’s, to take the SATs again, to get a fake ID, to dress like any other nineteen-year-old. It took an hour to sublet my rent-controlled New York City apartment.
  Being here and acting like a college freshman would clearly be a lot harder.
 Be sure to add Again on GoodReads!

cover reveal – "My Not So Super Sweet Life"

Hey gang! I’m so excited to be participating in another cover reveal from the fabulous Rachel Harris. This book sounds amazing and I’m totally in love with the cover. Aren’t the colors just amazing? Check it…

BLURB:
Cat Crawford just wants to be normal—or at least as normal as a daughter of Hollywood royalty can be. And it looks like fate is granting her wish: she’s got an amazing boyfriend, Lucas; her fabulous cousin, Alessandra, living with her; and her dad planning his second marriage to a great future stepmom. That is, until her prodigal mother reveals on national television that she has something important to tell her daughter…causing a media frenzy.

Lucas Capelli knows his fate is to be with Cat, and he’s worked hard to win her over once and for all. Unfortunately, Lucas has his own issues to deal with, including a scandal that could take him away from the first place he’s truly belonged.

As secrets are revealed, rumors explode, and the world watches, Cat and Lucas discover it’s not fate they have to fight if they want to stay together…this time, it’s their own insecurities.

Well, and the stalkerazzi.


PUB DATE: April 21st, 2014

LINKS:



(Instead of her official author photo, I decided to sneak in a pic of *ME* with Rachel. Heehee!)


Author Bio:
Rachel Harris writes humorous love stories about sassy girls-next-door and the hot guys that make them swoon. Emotion, vibrant settings, and strong families are a staple in each of her books…and kissing. Lots of kissing.

A Cajun cowgirl now living in Houston, she firmly believes life’s problems can be solved with a hot, sugar-coated beignet or a thick slice of king cake, and that screaming at strangers for cheap, plastic beads is acceptable behavior in certain situations. She homeschools her two beautiful girls and watches way too much Food Network with her amazing husband.

An admitted Diet Mountain Dew addict, she gets through each day by laughing at herself, hugging her kids, and losing herself in story. She writes young adult, new adult, and adult romances, and LOVES talking with readers!

Website: http://www.rachelharriswrites.com/

cover reveal – "My Not So Super Sweet Life"

Hey gang! I’m so excited to be participating in another cover reveal from the fabulous Rachel Harris. This book sounds amazing and I’m totally in love with the cover. Aren’t the colors just amazing? Check it…

BLURB:
Cat Crawford just wants to be normal—or at least as normal as a daughter of Hollywood royalty can be. And it looks like fate is granting her wish: she’s got an amazing boyfriend, Lucas; her fabulous cousin, Alessandra, living with her; and her dad planning his second marriage to a great future stepmom. That is, until her prodigal mother reveals on national television that she has something important to tell her daughter…causing a media frenzy.

Lucas Capelli knows his fate is to be with Cat, and he’s worked hard to win her over once and for all. Unfortunately, Lucas has his own issues to deal with, including a scandal that could take him away from the first place he’s truly belonged.

As secrets are revealed, rumors explode, and the world watches, Cat and Lucas discover it’s not fate they have to fight if they want to stay together…this time, it’s their own insecurities.

Well, and the stalkerazzi.


PUB DATE: April 21st, 2014

LINKS:



(Instead of her official author photo, I decided to sneak in a pic of *ME* with Rachel. Heehee!)


Author Bio:
Rachel Harris writes humorous love stories about sassy girls-next-door and the hot guys that make them swoon. Emotion, vibrant settings, and strong families are a staple in each of her books…and kissing. Lots of kissing.

A Cajun cowgirl now living in Houston, she firmly believes life’s problems can be solved with a hot, sugar-coated beignet or a thick slice of king cake, and that screaming at strangers for cheap, plastic beads is acceptable behavior in certain situations. She homeschools her two beautiful girls and watches way too much Food Network with her amazing husband.

An admitted Diet Mountain Dew addict, she gets through each day by laughing at herself, hugging her kids, and losing herself in story. She writes young adult, new adult, and adult romances, and LOVES talking with readers!

Website: http://www.rachelharriswrites.com/

cover reveal – PEICES OF IT ALL

I was so excited when my #ChickLitChat pal asked me to be a part of her cover reveal. It looks so great, guys. Can’t wait to get my hands on it. Here’s the 4-1-1:
 
PIECES OF IT ALL by Tracy Krimmer
Publication Date: May 2014
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance / Women’s Fiction
Book Blurb:
An alcoholic. A scarred man. A thief.

Harvey, a twenty-two-year-old high school drop-out arrives home, a brief stint in rehab behind him and ready to start his life again. Then he meets Beth and her innocence and her desire to have it all capture him completely.

A girl on the cusp of womanhood. Determined. A bright future.

Beth, a recent high school graduate among the top in her class, can’t wait to get to college and fulfill her dreams. Then she meets Harvey and with his mysterious past, he stirs feelings in her she can’t ignore.

The chemistry between them is unmistakable but Harvey doesn’t trust easily and refuses to divulge his past to Beth though she wants to be a part of his future.

The pieces of their lives lie broken all around them, but can Harvey put his life back together and win Beth over before she begins her new life without him? And can Beth find the strength to become the woman she wants to be without sacrificing her integrity?
 
Book links
Coming soon to Amazon – MAY 2014

Author Information
Books have always been a part of Tracy Krimmer’s life. When she was a child, her Book It! pin was filled with stars and she won many personal pan pizzas from Pizza Hut. Her writing passion began young, around fourth grade, when her class made a notebook of short stories. She still has that notebook to this day. She published her first book, The Jealousy Game, in 2012. Her second book, Pieces of it All will be published in May 2014. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, napping, or eating popcorn.
PS: My other pal, Stephanie Pajonas designed the fabulous cover. Check out her stuff: http://www.spajonas.com/

cover reveal – PEICES OF IT ALL

I was so excited when my #ChickLitChat pal asked me to be a part of her cover reveal. It looks so great, guys. Can’t wait to get my hands on it. Here’s the 4-1-1:
 
PIECES OF IT ALL by Tracy Krimmer
Publication Date: May 2014
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance / Women’s Fiction
Book Blurb:
An alcoholic. A scarred man. A thief.

Harvey, a twenty-two-year-old high school drop-out arrives home, a brief stint in rehab behind him and ready to start his life again. Then he meets Beth and her innocence and her desire to have it all capture him completely.

A girl on the cusp of womanhood. Determined. A bright future.

Beth, a recent high school graduate among the top in her class, can’t wait to get to college and fulfill her dreams. Then she meets Harvey and with his mysterious past, he stirs feelings in her she can’t ignore.

The chemistry between them is unmistakable but Harvey doesn’t trust easily and refuses to divulge his past to Beth though she wants to be a part of his future.

The pieces of their lives lie broken all around them, but can Harvey put his life back together and win Beth over before she begins her new life without him? And can Beth find the strength to become the woman she wants to be without sacrificing her integrity?
 
Book links
Coming soon to Amazon – MAY 2014

Author Information
Books have always been a part of Tracy Krimmer’s life. When she was a child, her Book It! pin was filled with stars and she won many personal pan pizzas from Pizza Hut. Her writing passion began young, around fourth grade, when her class made a notebook of short stories. She still has that notebook to this day. She published her first book, The Jealousy Game, in 2012. Her second book, Pieces of it All will be published in May 2014. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, napping, or eating popcorn.
PS: My other pal, Stephanie Pajonas designed the fabulous cover. Check out her stuff: http://www.spajonas.com/

Cover reveal & givaway – Face Time

Hey guys. I’m so excited to have been asked to help a fellow chick author out with her cover reveal. And it’s a beaut!
 
Face Time (Love in the Digital Age #1)
By S. J. Pajonas
Contemporary Adult Romance, coming April 25, 2014


Check out the awesome blurb:
After the best first date ever, Lee thought Laura was funny, intelligent, and impulsive; a whirlwind of bright laughter and happiness. Laura loved Lee’s sweet smile and the way he expertly filled in every awkward pause. He held her hand and then pulled her in for the most perfect kiss she’s had in years. What could possibly be wrong? Just the 7000 miles that separates them the next day.
Even though Lee has gone home to Seoul, Laura can’t stop thinking about him. What starts as an innocent text thanking him for their dinner date becomes something much more: someone either of them can’t live without. But Laura’s got a live-in mother going through a midlife crisis, and Lee’s stressful traveling schedule means they’ll be apart for some time. Life, family, and a complicated past also get in the way, and they’re both going to need actual face time to figure it out.
Told from both Lee and Laura’s point of view, FACE TIME is a funny, romantic, modern-day story about two people who connect across the world.

About the Author:
S. J. Pajonas loves all things Asian and has been in love with Japan for as long as she can remember. Writing about Asia and Japan came naturally after studying the culture and language for over fifteen years. She studied film and screenwriting first and eventually segued into fiction once she was no longer working a full-time job.
Released is S. J. Pajonas’s second work, book two of four in the Nogiku Series. The first book in the series, Removed, is described as “a wonderful story” with “engaging characters, seamless world building, and an action packed plot.” It’s an “up-til-3am-because-I-read-it-in-one-sitting book.” She also writes contemporary romance and her upcoming first book in the Love in the Digital Age series will be published in 2014.
S. J. lives with her husband and two children just outside of New York City. She loves reading, writing, film, J- and K-dramas, knitting, and astrology. Her favorite author is Haruki Murakami and favorite book is The Wind-up Bird Chronicle.
Find the lovely S. J. here:
***Giveaway time! Enter to win:
– 10$ amazon gift card
– e-copies of both Removed (Nogiku #1) and Released (Nogiku #2) –mobi or epub file
– e-ARC of Face Time (available March 2014) – mobi or epub file

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Cover reveal & givaway – Face Time

Hey guys. I’m so excited to have been asked to help a fellow chick author out with her cover reveal. And it’s a beaut!
 
Face Time (Love in the Digital Age #1)
By S. J. Pajonas
Contemporary Adult Romance, coming April 25, 2014


Check out the awesome blurb:
After the best first date ever, Lee thought Laura was funny, intelligent, and impulsive; a whirlwind of bright laughter and happiness. Laura loved Lee’s sweet smile and the way he expertly filled in every awkward pause. He held her hand and then pulled her in for the most perfect kiss she’s had in years. What could possibly be wrong? Just the 7000 miles that separates them the next day.
Even though Lee has gone home to Seoul, Laura can’t stop thinking about him. What starts as an innocent text thanking him for their dinner date becomes something much more: someone either of them can’t live without. But Laura’s got a live-in mother going through a midlife crisis, and Lee’s stressful traveling schedule means they’ll be apart for some time. Life, family, and a complicated past also get in the way, and they’re both going to need actual face time to figure it out.
Told from both Lee and Laura’s point of view, FACE TIME is a funny, romantic, modern-day story about two people who connect across the world.

About the Author:
S. J. Pajonas loves all things Asian and has been in love with Japan for as long as she can remember. Writing about Asia and Japan came naturally after studying the culture and language for over fifteen years. She studied film and screenwriting first and eventually segued into fiction once she was no longer working a full-time job.
Released is S. J. Pajonas’s second work, book two of four in the Nogiku Series. The first book in the series, Removed, is described as “a wonderful story” with “engaging characters, seamless world building, and an action packed plot.” It’s an “up-til-3am-because-I-read-it-in-one-sitting book.” She also writes contemporary romance and her upcoming first book in the Love in the Digital Age series will be published in 2014.
S. J. lives with her husband and two children just outside of New York City. She loves reading, writing, film, J- and K-dramas, knitting, and astrology. Her favorite author is Haruki Murakami and favorite book is The Wind-up Bird Chronicle.
Find the lovely S. J. here:
***Giveaway time! Enter to win:
– 10$ amazon gift card
– e-copies of both Removed (Nogiku #1) and Released (Nogiku #2) –mobi or epub file
– e-ARC of Face Time (available March 2014) – mobi or epub file

a Rafflecopter giveaway