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Top 5 Reasons Emma and Julian Need To Be Together

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  1. They have a secret language.They trace letters on each other’s skin and can actually communicate. Have you ever tried that in real life? When I was a kid, my friends and I would try to write messages on each other’s backs and, let me tell you, it is

    H
    I or wait is it an A

    H
    A
    P actually make than an R

    H
    A
    R
    D.
  2. They’re already parabatai.

    The Clave’s got it all wrong here that the fact they’re already bound together as parabatai is a curse. (Even though the reason why romantic love between parabatai is forbidden is still a secret at the time of this post so I really don’t know what I’m talking about.)

    Of course, parabatai should be together. They know they can make a serious commitment to each other, because they’ve already done it.

    Somebody make me a member of the Clave, already. I need some voting power. *Bangs gavel* 
  3. They already know that they would be good parents. At this point, Julian is less of an older brother and more of a father figure to his siblings. Emma already fits into Julian’s family perfectly. Bringing someone else into the mix would just be weird. 
  4. Their names sound nice together. (Is anyone else really hung up on names? Let me know in the comments!)
  5. Because of quotes like these:

    LOS_banner“We are bound together, Emma, bound together—I breathe when you breathe, I bleed when you bleed, I’m yours and you’re mine, you’ve always been mine, and I have always, always belonged to you!”

    “You’ll fix me, because we’re parabatai. We’re forever.”

    “How long have you been drawing me?”
    He sighed. A moment later his hand came to rest in her hair. His fingers twined in the strands. “My whole life.”
Guest Post

Getting to Know Oneself as a Contemporary YA Romance Writer by Lizzy Charles

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I have a confession to make: I’m that author who is writing outside of the genre she originally intended to dominate. Some may call me a quitter, but I prefer to think I’m quick to know myself.

Before writing, my reading tastes gravitate toward fantasy and dystopian novels. Just let me escape this world, you know? So when I decided to write my first book, obviously it’d be a bout a troll, a pirate, and a cursed princess (yes the story was as horrible as it sounds). It’s funny how you think you are made for something but then when you really sit down and give it a go, you realize you were so wrong. Pretty sure I only made it through four or five paragraphs before I realized I’d die of boredom from my own world building before I’d ever type “the end.”

So I scratched that approach and revisited an old, favorite novel of mine, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and found exactly what I was looking for. The conversations she wrote drove the story. I opened my laptop and plopped myself in the middle of a conversation between two kids and it felt like I was a wild horse running along the coast. I was made to write conversation driven contemporary romance!

The more I learned while writing contemporary romance, the more addicted I became to the genre. Rainbow Rowell’s novel Eleanor and Park became my cornerstone for the genre and the ultimate level I hope to aspire to.  That woman knows how to write like no one else I know! Anytime I’m feeling stuck or discourage, I’ll open her book up and breathe in the authenticity of her characters and their relationship. It’s that exact authenticity I knew I had to capture while writing my newest novel, It had to be You.

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Exclusive Excerpt

EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT: Gone with the Ghost by Erin McCarthy

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 Two things I was obsessed with as a kid- ghosts and murder mysteries. Yes, I was a weird child. Yes, my mother debated therapy for me at one point given my active imagination and macabre hobbies, but she decided to trust her gut and let it play out. Now she’s happy to know I’m not a psychopath, I’m just a writer. Starting a new series and branching into mystery from romance was an easy leap for me. I always loved adding an element of mystery to my romance novels and I’ve been a mystery reader since childhood.

When my daughter was a baby and I had zero money, I went to the library three or four times a week and eventually checked out every Agatha Christie book they had (close to 60, I would guess) and then worked my way through all their cozy mysteries. If it had a kitten or a cupcake on the cover, I was all over it! So when the opportunity came along to create a mystery series, my heroine Bailey popped into my head immediately. An amateur sleuth with a love for fashion and HGTV yet who grows intrigued by mayhem and murder? Very close to my heart. While I’ve always been fascinated by ghost stories, I honestly am not even sure where the idea for the ghostly sidekick came from. Suddenly Ryan was there talking and the first book just about wrote itself.

If your best friend came back as a ghost, what would be the first thing you would do with them?

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Guest Post

GIVEAWAY: One Little Kiss by Maggie Kelley

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READ UNTIL END FOR GIVEAWAY DETAILS 

One Little Kiss. Sometimes that’s all it takes. A good kiss can turn a first date into a perfect date or a perfect date into love. As a die-hard fan of romantic stories and movies, I’m thrilled when a sexy, inspired kiss kicks off the action or wraps up the story with a happily ever after. I’m a sucker for that kind of thing. So here’s my list of amazing movie kisses, a half-dozen fantastic, fall-for-me lip locks that made me believe that sometimes a kiss really does say it all.

  1. Crazy, Stupid, Love. Such a sweet, funny movie about the not-so-smart choices we make for love, and while Steve Carrell and Julianne Moore are adorable together, it’s the moment when a rain-soaked Emma Stone walks into a bar, grabs Ryan Gosling and pulls him into a kiss that says, ‘Now or never, gorgeous’, that knocks the movie out of the park for me. Out of the park.
  1. An Officer & a Gentleman. So you’ve heard the adage, ‘there’s nothing like a man in uniform’. Well, if that man is the damaged and determined Richard Gere striding through a factory to lift a gob-smacked Debra Winger into his arms and carry her away to what can only be an afternoon of delight, well, that adage makes a helluva lotta sense. Perhaps the most romantic movie ending of all time. Definitely top three.

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Exclusive Excerpt

Confessions of a Former Puck Bunny by Cindi Madsen

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Confession #1: I used to be a puck bunny, but after a hockey player broke my heart, I gave up all things hockey. Now I’m just focused on finding a way to pass my math class so I can graduate college.

Confession #2: Ryder “Ox” Maddox’s deep, sexy voice sends fuzzy tingles through my entire body, and I’m powerless to stop it. Which is a big problem since the hot, surprisingly funny hockey player is my new math tutor. 

Confession #3: I can’t stop thinking about how ripped Ryder is from all his hockey training, and how fun it’d be to cross lines with him. 

Confession #4: I kissed a hockey player and I liked it. 

Confession #5: If I’m not careful, I might relapse and fall for Ryder, and then I’ll be totally pucked.

Check out an exclusive excerpt below! 

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Exclusive Excerpt

EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT: Alone With You by Amanda Adams

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Ready for the second book in the WALKER BROTHER SERIES? 

Claire Miller fell in love with Jake in the third grade. One hot night of reckless passion changed things between them forever. Jake rocked her world, but Claire had plans for her life. Knowing she could never be what he needed, she let him go and has missed him every day since.

Jake Walker knew the first time he saw Claire, when he was nine years old, that he wanted to marry her. At seventeen, he let her go. But seven years later, the sight of her hit him like a punch to the gut. Every cell in his body demanded that she was ‘The One’. But can he convince Claire? 

Check out an exclusive excerpt below! 

Need to hide a dead body? He’d call Derek. Hell, they all would. Derek took care of their messes no matter how dirty the shit got. Jake had kept his nose pretty clean, but Mitchell and Chance had their share of wild days stealing cars, smoking dope, and generally acting like assholes when they were younger. If not for Derek, Jake figured the lot of them probably would have ended up in jail.

Derek turned around to watch their brother, Chance, laugh and slap the groom none of them knew on the back. “He’s so fucking happy I can’t stand to talk to him.”

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Exclusive Excerpt

EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT: SCOTUS by Selena Laurence

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We have an exclusive excerpt of the newest book in the Powerplay Series by Selena Laurence. SCOTUS is a second chance romance set in the political intrigue of Washington DC. Check out the excerpt below!

She holds his darkest secrets…He is her deepest regret.

Teague Roberts is a Supreme Court nominee on the fast track to the nation’s highest legal job. As the best friend of the President’s husband, he’s a favored son in Washington, and a man used to getting everything he wants. But Teague also hides a secret, and it could explode his nomination, as well as the image he’s spent years crafting.

Deanna Forbes is Washington’s hottest new investigative reporter, and Teague’s ex-fiancee. Her history with the only man she’s ever loved is complicated and filled with remorse. When she’s assigned to report on his nomination, Teague knows things won’t end well. Deanna could topple his house of cards.

As the confirmation hearings heat up, and sparks fly between the former lovers, they must both decide what matters more–the job or the person, ambition or heart. And when a delicate dance toward reconciliation begins, more secrets will be revealed, old betrayals will be unearthed, and two fractured souls will have one last chance at forever. In the city where deception burns bright, will Teague and Deanna rekindle their love, or flame out once and for all?

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Q&A

Q&A with Anna Brooks | Love, Me

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In honor of her new release of Love, Me, we’ve brought Anna Brooks onto the blog and asked her the tough questions. Like, you can only read one book for the rest of your life so what will it be? Those tough questions.

R O M A N C E 

What was the first romance you ever read?

I don’t remember the name of it, but it was one my mom was reading by candle light. I leaned over to try to get a sneak peek of the words on the page and my hair caught on fire. My mom and I ran around screaming as she hit me on the head with the paperback until the fire went out.

 

What’s a book you could read a million times and never get tired of?

Knight or At Peace by Kristen Ashley. They’re my go-to rereads.

 

Who are your favorite film and television couples and why?

Favorite television couple is Dan and Roseanne Conner from Roseanne because they’re so real. Favorite film couple is Quincy and Monica from Love & Basketball because their second chance love story was the first one that hooked me. I tend to be a sucker for those… hence why a lot of my books are second chance.

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Guest Post

Falling For The Billionaire Wolf and His Baby by Sasha Summers

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Hello, my name is Sasha Summers and I am a romance novel addict.

Seriously. I totally am.

I fell in love with some viscount or duke or lord when I was eleven-ish, thanks to Barbara Cartland. He was beautiful and crabby but I adored him anyway. And when he whisked in to save the heroine, which I totally know he would, I swooned. (Actually, I didn’t. I have never swooned in my life – does this make me less of a lady?)

I could not wait for my first kiss. The earth would stand still. The heavens would part. My heart would pound in my ears and my lungs would ache with the need to breathe. And it would be perfection.

It wasn’t.

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Guest Post

Zara Cox’s Top 5 TV Couples

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1. Derek & Meredith (Grey’s Anatomy) because they were never perfect. Their flaws made them human and relatable.

  1. Denny & Izzie (Grey’s Anatomy) because even though it was doomed, their love was strong and heartbreakingly beautiful.

  2. Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds (The Proposal) because they’re totally unsuitable for each other and yet end up falling in love.

  3. Claire and Jamie (Outlander). They’re the definition of star-crossed lovers and yet continue to defy the odds. What more can I say?

  4. Carrie and Mr. Big (Sex In The City). Because…Mr. Big!

Zara Cox has been writing since she was thirteen years old, but it wasn’t until seven years ago that she decided to share her love of writing sexy, gritty stories with anyone besides her close family (the over 18s anyway!). Her best-selling Indigo Lounge Series is Zara’s first step in her erotic romance-writing journey. In 2017, she hopes to bring her readers even more sizzling-hot stories featuring panty-melting alpha heroes and the women who rock their world. Visit her on Twitter, Facebook, or her website.