Evernight’s Valentine Snippets Blog Hop Is Here!

Evernight Valentine Snippets

My giveaway is Open Internationally with instructions following the Snippet ♥ Enjoy ♥

♥Sidewalk Flower Snippet:

     Her two insistent hands pressed against the back of his neck like she was forcing him to do this.  It was cute.  Yeah, she was dead wrong.  He’d wanted to kiss her since he’d first seen her, hopping down out of that girly silver Jeep.  But he knew better.  Earning something you wanted took more than a few hours.  And if he’d gathered anything from her hot and cold responses so far, it was that Jaxon’s vague but deliberate warning that he take good care of her hadn’t been just puffed up, ego talk.

     This girl was in trouble.

     He should have stepped away for both their sakes.  He knew he didn’t deserve this kind of kiss, not yet.  But California was glued to him on full speed and didn’t appear to have a pause, let alone a rewind button.  On second thought, he’d let her get this out of her system and then they’d start over.

     Her hand had to be killing her, so he managed to pull it down and keep it tucked at her side.  But the other one was petting those hairs at the back of his neck, leaving him seconds away from coming undone.  If he clenched his jaw any tighter, those painful yet ticklish sensations shooting throughout his upper body would without a doubt get him into trouble down below.  Heck, if he squeezed her in his arms like he wanted to, she’d feel how aroused he’d let himself get.  He worked his jaw to ease away from the pain, wishing he could let go entirely and enjoy her touch. Yep, their fresh start was gonna have to wait until she was done proving her point.  Cute girl though.

* * *

              His lips were soft and salty like he’d worked up a sweat at some point during the day.  Crap, again she cursed his damn tempting bloodline.  This would only complicate their pending trip even more.  So naturally, when he smartly pulled her one hand away, she found a sweet spot of baby hairs with the other and went for more.  Her rules—that was the only way to play with the boys and stay safe.

     Lucky’s hands eventually cupped the sides of her face, which was fine because she had made her point.

     “Are we okay?” he asked.

     Well, hell if she knew.  “Yes,” she said.  They could figure the truth out later.  There would be an endless amount of open road ahead of them come Sunday to think.  Tonight was desperate Friday.  “We’re good.”  But she hesitated because he looked for a moment like he may have regretted things. When he coughed and cleared his throat, she was sure of it.

     “Come on, Miss ‘We’re Good’,” he said, as he urged her the rest of the way to the back door.  “I’d like to keep that promise I made Jaxon.  You could go a little easier on me from here on out.”

     The inside of her mouth remained warm from their kiss as she swallowed a cool breath of air.  The contrasting temperatures left her with a chill and a memory—the taste of the last kiss she’d had.  Cigarettes and beer.  No hand holding.  No talking.  No first, second or third date.  As badly as her sour heart warned her to throw Lucky in with that lot, she just couldn’t do it.  He’d already taken more care of her than any other guy she’d known.

     “You shouldn’t take things so personally.”  At his wince, she splintered and added, “I know you didn’t sign up for this; I’ll try to be…better.”  No promises though.

     “Okay.”  He hesitated, and shifted on the steps.  “Ready to go inside?”

     “No, you should go in though.  I need to be alone.”  A tingle traveled around her wounded hand and she made the mistake of squeezing it into a fist.

     Lucky dipped his head then and ran his hand up along the back of his neck, rubbing it in his obvious confusion.  “Trista. I’m kind of at a loss here.  You’re obviously in pain.  Just come inside and let me help you.”

     She tried to warn him, hoping he’d listen.  “Lucky, you’re a nice guy.  Okay, I get it.  You want to help, but I didn’t ask for that and you have no idea what you’d be signing up for anyway.  Assholes can barely handle my world; a good guy like you doesn’t stand a chance.  Jaxon had no right doing this.”

     “Hmmm.”  He scratched at his sideburn.  “You don’t know what I can and can’t handle.”  He looked down but she had caught his every word.Sidewalk-Flower cover

The ♥Hop Question:

Day 1, 2/10: What does Lucky call Trista as he’s urging her the rest of the way to her back door?

Day 2 & 3, 2/11 & 2/12: What two words does Trista use to describe Lucky’s lips?

Day 4, 2/13: What does Lucky think of Trista’s silver Jeep? It’s manly, pretty, girly or bangin’

Day 5, 2/14: Hey y’all.  Ladies.  So Carlene asked me to come up with today’s question and I knew right away what I was gonna ask.  It’s really nothing for a guy to want to kiss a girl the second he sees her. But I always tried to be better than that for Tris.  So my question for y’all is, how long should it take to earn something you really want?  For me, it’s gotta be more than just a few hours.  Happy Valentine’s Day to you and yours.  Take care y’all.

♥To enter my drawing for the $10 Lush gift card and $10 Evernight Publishing gift card, all you have to do is answer The Day’s Hop Question correctly. Leave your answer, your name, and your email in the comment section of this post. On the14th at midnight ET, I will put all the names in a hat and draw one.  Check back then to see if you got Lucky ♥  Don’t forget to “Like” the Evernight Facebook PageI like it a lot ;) And check out the rest of the fabulous Evernight Authors’ Blogs & their prizes participating in this Hop!

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Click here to view the full list of authors in this blog hop…

Good luck to all…Happy Hopping ♥

Always love,

Carlene Love

FABULOUS FRIDAY GIVEAWAY OVER AT THE MERMAID POND!

Happy Friday, Friends!

I’m swimming with my Waterworld Mermaid fishy sisters today and telling the tale of how Sherrilyn Kenyon, author of the Dark-Hunter paranormal romance series, literally led me to becoming a writer!  To celebrate, I’m giving away a wrapped, 5-book set of her Dark-Hunter novels that I won in a raffle basket she donated to my local writing group.  It’s a fun story and a fabulous giveaway, what better way to spend a Friday!  Swim on over, I’d love to see you there!

Sherrily and Carlene

Sherrilyn and I at the April 2011 Book Signing just before my first WRW Retreat

Fishy Kisses at RWA 2011

 

Hope to see you there.  You have until this Sunday night, 1/27/2013, to enter.  Just leave a comment in the comment section of the post at this link: http://waterworldmermaids.com/2013/01/i-heart-sherrilyn-kenyon-super-fabulous-dark-hunter-giveaway/

Always love,

Carlene Love

On Tour!

Sidewalk-Flower cover

Road Tripping to a Blog near you in the month of January!  Here’s the remaining Sidewalk Flower blog tour schedule.  There are a few giveaway days including the one at Sorensen Shorts that’s open for entries until tonight (1/16) at 11pm ET.  Check it out.  Hope to see you out on the virtual highway of love!

1/15                    Interview & Giveaway by Laurie Sorensen at Sorensen Shorts Blog

1/16                    Interview by Erin M. Leaf at Wicked Wednesdays

1/17                    Featured by London Saint James at London’s Scribbles

1/18                    Interview by Alethea Kontis at Waterworld Mermaids

1/22                   Featured by R. Brennan at Bex Book Nook

1/23                   Featured by Michaela Rhua at Michaela Rhua

1/24                   Interview & Giveaway by Shannan Albright at Romance you can sink your fangs into

1/25                   Interview by Angelina Rain at Angelina Rain

1/27                   Guest Post & Giveaway at The Rockville 8

1/28                   Guest Post at Evernight Publishing Blog

1/29                   Featured by Marie Medina at Shadows of the Night

Always love,

Carlene Love

Sidewalk Flower Released Today!

It’s official, Sidewalk Flower is now available!  I’m a little speechless so I think I’ll leave it at this…Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible and to everyone who gives it a read.

Sidewalk-Flower cover

Always love,

Carlene Love

Now available at Evernight Publishing, click here to purchase.

At Amazon for Kindle, here.

 

 

A NOTE FROM LUCKY, TRISTA & CARLENE LOVE

So in one week from today, we (Trista, Lucky & I) will officially be published!  That is just so crazy and pretty darn cool.  Evernight Publishing–we are grateful for the opportunity you have given us.  I, for one, am proud of this accomplishment but honestly, I’m just so honored to be sharing Trista & Lucky’s story with you all.

Sidewalk-Flower cover

Today I was reading through some of my favorite authors’ “For Readers & Writers” sections on their websites and I always enjoy hearing their thoughts on characters.  Where do they come from and how do they write them so that they feel real?  I try asking myself those same questions and what I come up with is that in some form, the characters already exist.  They are real.  I’m just the fortunate girl who gets to spend time with them until I know them well enough to share their story.  It’s really a pretty awesome thing and everyday from here on out, for the rest of my life, I’ll be the proud mama of this first book.  Lucky, Trista and I are holding hands and sitting on the edges of our seats that you all will enjoy their love story, with all its ups and downs, twists and turns.  We can’t believe the day is nearly here.

See you all January 11 for many fun events celebrating Sidewalk Flower’s release including:

Please check the Events tab for specifics and where to catch us on our month long blog tour.

Always love,

Trista, Lucky & Carlene Love