T-A-M-E-D

Okay. I don’t even know where to begin. My brain is a pool of randomness that is going to spill all over this blog so I’m warning you now. This is your chance to walk away before the dam breaks or the wave crashes…

You have been warned. 

Splash!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So a couple weeks ago I saw that some bloggers were tweeting pics of his/her ARC of Tamed. At first, this was me:

This was me because I love Emma Chase. Emma gave me Drew!!!!! So while my initial reaction was my scrunched up nose face, I soon rationalized that Tamed wasn’t Drew’s story so it was okay. Tamed tells the story of Matthew and Delores after all. It would be totally fine. I could wait. You see, rationalizing things helps me sleep at night and keeps my friends from going completely mental as a result of my crazy. Rationalization is my friend.

Soooooo I rationalized that Tamed was out there in the hands of few but I could wait. But then! THEN something wonderful happened. I received a kickass surprise! You see, Steph attended the Belles on Wheels tour and met Emma! I repeat: She met Emma! She even face timed me!!! Oh…picture this…I saw a face time was coming through from Steph—I didn’t think twice about not having any makeup on (still in pain from a sunburn I got the day before!) or being in a car full of people. Steph has seen me without makeup. So I hit accept. Can you imagine my surprise when Emma’s face popped up on my screen?!?!? I almost died right there! I screamed so loud I earned a collective, ‘shuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut up!!!!’ from everyone in the car. I was confined in the car when all I wanted to do was jump up and down!

Right…so yes…Steph met Emma! A couple days later I received a package in the mail from Steph. You guessed it…it was Tamed!!!!!! See ya later rationalization, how did I ever live without this book!?!? Look…isn’t it pretty?!?!?

Yes…all that orange you see? Yes…those are all of my notes!!! I cannot wait to get it in my kindle to highlight properly! Until then, old school post-its it is! As you can see by my post its, I’ve clearly finished it. And you know what?!?!? Complete and total disclosure. Are you ready?!?! I loved every bit of it! This is not a review. I repeat: This is NOT a review! I will post my review closer to release of Tamed  but I need to take a minute to talk about this book.

Don’t for one moment think that you don’t need this book because it’s not Drew’s story. Don’t make that mistake. Here’s why: Nobody loves Drew more than me. I will fight a girl for Drew. He is loooooooooooooooooooved by me!!!! But here’s the thing—here’s what Emma does so brilliantly in Tamed. She makes you love Matthew and Dee too! She makes you want to know more about their story. As a reader I wasn’t sitting around waiting for a Drew and Kate cameo. I was all in. I wanted to know how this was all going to go down with Matthew and Dee. That is HUGE for me because I’m a Drew girl!!!

So while this is huge for me—Emma did something else in Tamed. She gave us insight into Drew and The Bitch from Matthew’s eyes. I was not expecting this. At all. We now know why Drew is so proficient in taking the Lord’s name in vain and why he feels the way he does about Catholicism as a general rule. We also get the most incredible insight into The Bitch and her relationship with the men in her life—Steven, Drew, and Matthew. I love her. I need more of her. Too soon to put in a request for a book centered around Alexandra? :)

Like I said…this is NOT a review…this is just me, finishing a book I looooooved and telling you that you must add this to your TBR list. Pre-order now so you don’t forget! Here’s the link:

http://www.amazon.com/Tamed-Tangled-Emma-Chase-ebook/dp/B00EB9ZA7O/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1400443907&sr=1-1&keywords=tamed+by+emma+chase 

As I was reading Tamed, I thought to myself numerous times: Holy crap. Is Emma like this in real life? Is she really this funny? This clever? God, I love her. Think she wants to be my friend? Holy crap. This is good! *REPEATED OVER AND OVER AND OVER*

Okay…that’s my story…I’m now going to start sorting through all my post-its so I can write a review that will do this incredible book justice! Love, love, loooooooooooooooooooooove it!!! 

J’adore ce livre!!!!!

It’s here! It’s here! It’s here! It’s here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do you hear me!?!?!? It. Is. Here.

3 words: Sweet Filthy Boy

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!!!!! I love this book. A lot.

Do you know what else I love? I love these authors. They don’t let me down. Ever. Every time they write a new book I get a little (read: a lot!) antsy because they are writing a book about characters I don’t yet know. But every time they make me love the new character more than the last. Every. Time. How do they do that?

I don’t know how they do it but I do know that I have never been disappointed by one-clicking any book from Christina Lauren. They are on my list of go-to authors I know will not disappoint me. They are also on the short list of authors I will offer up an internal organ for an ARC.

So here’s the deal…Ansel is finally here!!!! One-click Sweet Filthy Boy and spend the rest of your day in your happy place.

One-click Sweet Filthy Boy HERE!!!!

Oh…and to help you out…go ahead and pre-order Dirty Rowdy Thing HERE!!!! 

You go fall in love with this sweet, sweet, yet filthy boy and then let’s talk! J’adore ce livre!!!!!! ßHa! Look! Those six years of French were good for something:)

xoxo

Sweet Filthy Boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I offered Enn a kidney for an ARC of Sweet Filthy Boy. True story. I wanted Sweet Filthy Boy in my hands THAT bad! She didn’t take me up on my kidney but she did send me an ARC and holy crap!!!!!! I knew it would be worth a kidney!!!! As soon as I finished Sweet Filthy Boy I took to my blog and wrote this:

http://smuttastic.blogspot.com/2014/03/this-is-not-review-i-repeat-this-is-not.html

Geeeeeeeeeesh! I had a lot to say when I finished Sweet Filthy Boy! That’s what C and Lo do to me every time they write a book. Every. Single. Time. Do you know what else this duo does to me every time they write a book? They make me fall in love with new characters even though I am blissfully happy with the characters they have already given me. Every. Single. Time. It’s fascinating really. I’m waiting for the time when they write a book and I can say, “Ha! They should have stuck with Bennett or Max or Will or Ansel…” Yeah…that hasn’t happened yet. They just keep getting better and better.

I love Sweet Filthy Boy. I think it may be my favorite Christina Lauren book in the history of ever (Shhhhhh! Don’t tell Will!).I never knew I wanted a French boy in my life. Ask anyone who knows me—I’m partial to British rugby players.  But this! This book makes me want to dust off my French and take a trip to the city of lights to find my own Ansel. I think that Ansel is everything I never knew I wanted. Sure, he’s filthy but the sweetness that is Ansel makes him a keeper. Can I have him? Can I? Can I? Can I!?!?!?!?!?

I don’t want to spoil a moment of this story but I will tell you this. You will looooooooooooove both Ansel and Mia! This is huge for me because I am often hard on my heroines. I know, it’s me and my ‘I would be so much better for him!!!’ mindset that I have when I find book boyfriends worth swooning over.

Do you know what else you will love about this book? You will love the way Christina Lauren makes you feel like you are there. They make this world so clear and so alive that you feel like you are not sitting in your jammies devouring a great book. Rather, you feel like you are in the car on that desert road to Vegas, in the crowded Vegas club and exploring the streets of Paris. It’s fascinating! The details in this book alone are my happy place. 

Sweet Filthy Boy is the first book in Christina Lauren’s Wild Seasons series and holy mother of God! If Sweet Filthy Boy is any indication as to what is to come in the Wild Seasons series, I may love this series even more than the Beautiful series!!! How is that even possible?!?

You can one-click Sweet Filthy Boy here!!!!

Go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sweet Filthy Boy is officially on my “We can’t be friends if you don’t read and love this book” list. It’s that serious. Now quick! One-click this little piece of heaven and then let’s chat! I can’t wait for everyone to fall in love with the perfection that is Sweet Filthy Boy! Now go! Stop reading this and go!!!! The book boyfriend of your dreams is waiting for you! 

Simon gives good nook...have YOU been Wallbanged!?!?

I originally planned this post to be about the actual signing at the Chicago Author Event but I must take a moment…you know, interrupting regularly scheduled programming and all…to talk about this…

What the whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?!?!?!?!?!?! How could one of my dearest tweeps have not read Wallbanger? How is that even possible!?!? I would ask, ‘Does she not know me at all?!?!’ but she knows me…she so knows me:) And so does everyone else included on that tweet. I believe the responses ranged from ‘somebody is in trouble’ to most likely silent, in their heads, ‘oh for the love of God, we are never going to hear the end of this.’

Three words people: Alice Fucking Clayton

One more word: Wallbanger!!!!

Seventeen more words: If you don’t read and love Wallbanger, we can’t be book friends. Simon is a hard limit.

If you haven’t read Wallbanger yet, don’t tell me. I don’t think my heart can take it. If you haven’t read Wallbanger yet, I’ll make it easy for you…one click the perfection that is Simon HERE !!! After you have one-clicked, then we can talk!

When I first read Wallbanger, I tweeted Alice begging for a sequel. She told me to take a hike. Well, not really…it was more like, “Sorry. It’s a standalone.” *insert crying and flailing* On the outside I was all: 

On the inside I was all: 

Dear Christ. I NEEDED more Simon!!! You know when a book is just so good a standalone just won’t do? THAT is what happened when I finished Wallbanger! Apparently there were lots of other crazies just like me needing more…so…guess what!?!?!?! Oh yeah…Alice is back with more Simon in Rusty Nailed out June 24^th!!!!!! Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! I can’t even wait! Pre-order that baby right HERE!!!!!!

Okay…there…I feel a little bit better now that I got that out! As you can see, Wallbanger has a spot firmly on my “we can’t be book friends if you don’t read and love this book” list. It is that good. Again, if you haven’t read it yet, don’t tell me. Rather, one-click, sit back, and prepare to get Wallbanged, kittens!!!

xoxo 

Meeting my holy trinity…Part 3!!!!

It’s taken me quite some time to sit down and write this one. I knew that meeting Katy Evans would be emotional for me. I thought I had prepared myself for what it would be like the first time I hugged her. I thought wrong.

Preface: I love Katy. I have loved Katy ever since I read the very first page of REAL over a year ago. You may see me professing my love for all things Katy on Twitter—REAL, MINE, REMY, Remy himself!, ROGUE, RIPPED. I am a HUGE Katy fan! HUGE!!! I love her a scary lot.

What you don’t see on Twitter is me emailing with Katy almost daily. As sweet as she is via Twitter and Facebook and all the other ways readers communicate with Katy, she is even more incredible one on one. I consider her a dear, dear friend. A soul sister ever. I love her. So can you imagine how incredibly anxious I was to finally meet her for the first time? I knew there would be tears but I thought I would be able to control the how and when of meeting her for the first time so I thought I’d be able to keep it under control. Yeah…about that…

On Friday night we had finished a late dinner, took a cab back to the hotel, freshened up in our room, and were on our way down to the bar for drinks. On the cab ride over to the hotel I received an email from Katy telling me that she was just arriving and was going to rest and that she’d see me in the morning! Crikey!!! Katy was in town and I was going to see her in the morning! Finally!!! The morning couldn’t come fast enough!

As Steph, Kel and I got down to the lobby of the hotel—out of nowhere Steph takes off running and bum rushes someone. What in the world is she doing!?!? There’s lots of hair and hugging and I couldn’t quite see who it was or what was happening until they stepped away from each other. Then it happened. I burst into spontaneous, uncontrollable tears. It was her. It was my Katy!!!!

My nose is getting all tingly as I’m retelling this specific story. It was Katy!!!! Katy who has the most beautiful spirit I have ever ‘met.’ I feel like I have known her a lifetime but this was my very first time ever meeting her in person and I couldn’t control the tears. Katy standing right in front of me and then hugging me!!!! I can’t even take it. It was a moment in time I will cherish forever. The moment I met one of my very favorite people in the whole world. Wow. Nothing compares really. We chatted for a little bit and then Katy headed up to her room to rest while we headed to the bar.

At the bar I was still a blubbering mess! I for real had just hugged Katy for the very first time!!!! At the bar, Steph kept saying, “That’s exactly how I wanted you to meet Katy! We were planning a surprise meeting for you two in the morning but this is even better—a real surprise!” I’m pretty sure that planned or not planned that tears would have been inevitable. I messaged Kat immediately. I may have even left her a vm crying like a baby as I explained what had just happened. Katy in the flesh is magic. Pure magic.

And! I got to spend the entirety of the next day with her…and guess what? She really does get better and better!!! Full post re: the actual signing day to follow. Holy holy trinity!!!! It happened! I met my holy trinity all in one day. It doesn’t get any better than that! What are the chances that my holy trinity is even more incredible in person than I could have ever imagined? True story! I can’t wait to share some of the fun deets of the actual signing. So much goodness!!! More to come…soonish…

xoxo 

Meeting my holy trinity…Part 2!!!!!

3 words: Alice Fucking Clayton.

Nothing else really needs to be said but I am going to say it anyway. I met Alice!!!! Did you hear me? Did you? Did you? Did you!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! As I’m typing this, I still can’t believe it. It happened. There is photographic evidence. I promise!!!

So I happened to know that Alice would be having dinner at the same place we were going for dinner. I didn’t know if I would actually see her but my Alice radar was on high alert. If she was there, I would find her. Or…Steph would find her on my behalf. Either way.

We were early for our reservations so we were heading upstairs to wait at the bar. Before we get to the stairs, this happens:

Steph: There they are!

Me: Here are the stairs, let’s go.

Steph: *Stops. Turns around. Points.* There they are!

Me: *in my defense, it was loud and I really had no idea what she was talking about because my brain was consumed with finding Alice. My Alice radar was on high alert, remember?* Okay, want me to go up first? *still talking about the stairs of course.*

Steph: *Sighing. Hands on her hips* What part of Alice is right over there are you not understanding?

Me: What?!?!?!?! Alice!!!! Where?!?!?!?!?!? *I then follow the direction Steph was pointing at for the last couple of minutes and my eyes land on the most beautiful blonde hair I have ever seen. Holy fuck. It’s Alice Fucking Clayton!!!!!*

At this point….it’s kind of a blur and things deteriorated rapidly. Alice was sitting at her table with Enn and C and Lo and I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t move!!! Alice, Enn, C and Lo were right there!!!!!!!! 2/3 of my holy trinity sitting at one flipping table!!!! Like I said, I couldn’t move. I think Steph started walking toward her table and I think Kelly may have pushed me from behind so I would start moving. It was all a complete and total blur at this point.

I am not quite sure what was happening but there was no way for Alice to make a break for it at that point. She wasn’t nearly close enough to the door. All I remember is making eye contact with Alice and Alice pointing at me and asking, “Are you Dana?” Holy hell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The fact that I didn’t melt into a puddle on the floor—at her feet—at that very moment—is a miracle. A miracle, I say!!!! I can’t even tell you the amount of verbal vomit that probably came out of my mouth at that time—I think my brain intentionally has repressed all the embarrassing, incoherent ramblings that came out of my mouth. Well, except for when Alice got up to hug me…I said, “Oh my God. You are Alice Fucking Clayton.” Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Yes! That happened!!!!

She is everything you expect her to be. She is Alice Fucking Clayton after all!!!! We let them eat and we were soon seated at a table next to them. It was almost a full-blown freakout!!! They were right there!!!!! As they were finishing up, Enn came over and sat down. Can I take a moment to talk about Enn? She is stunning. Absolutely stunning!!!! From her flawless skin to her fantastic hair to her beautiful smile, Enn is absolute perfection. Stunning, I say!!! AND! As kind as Enn always is to me via twitter or email she is just as exceptionally kind in person. How is that possible?!?!?!? I just want to take her home with me and keep her forever and ever. I love her. Looooooooooooooooooove her!!!!

So as Enn was sitting there, someone came up behind me and started petting my hair. All the girls at my table turned and looked at me with the ‘holy hell. Dana is going to freak the fuck out when she sees who is touching her hair’ face. I looked and it was Alice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Alice Fucking Clayton was touching my hair!!!! Dude. THAT happened. I can’t even. I babbled some more. We talked about my highlights and I asked her to take a picture with my Flat Kat and I may or may not (read: may!!!!) have asked her to sit on my lap. She declined my invitation to sit on my lap but there’s always Vegas:)

Alice and Enn and C and Lo were getting ready to leave and I got to hug them all again. Knowing that I would see them again at the signing the very next day, I left them leave:) My fangirl meter was off the charts at this time. This was unbelievable!!!! Alice and Enn and C and Lo all at one table and each and every one of them as wonderful as I thought they would be? Yep, that happened!!! At this point I am even more in love with Alice, Enn, C and Lo. True story!!!! 

So that's the story of me very first encounter with Alice and her taco. Now that I think about it, I don't know why Alice calls Enn her taco....hmmmmm...do you think it's because tacos are pretty much the best food ever created and Enn is most likely the best bestie ever created? I need to investigate the origin of said nickname but until then, I'll go with that because Enn is pretty freaking fantastic!!!! 

So 2/3 of my holy trinity down...1/3 to go. Stay tuned....

xoxo 

The Holy Trinity...Part One!!!!!!!

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooomg.

Holy crap. Is it Monday already? How did that happen?!?! So…I did a little (read: HUGE!!!) something this weekend…you know, I met my holy trinity and all. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!!!!!!

I have a million things I want to say but this would turn into the blog post that never ends so I’m thinking I’ll post a little something every day so you don’t die a slow death reading the re-telling of my weekend. I think I will start with my very first encounter with 1/3 of my holy trinity. Are you guys ready? Here we go…

We left to go downtown early Friday morning and as I was driving into the city, Lo was tweeting from the hotel!!!!! Holy keysmash!!!!! I was heading to the exact same hotel! She was going to be sooooooooooooo close!!!! Lo!!!!!!!!!! I was literally bouncing up and down en route to the city. I swear I couldn’t even take the excitement!

I tried to keep it together. I swear. I tried! But then! But then Lo sent me a message that she was in the lobby in red boots and a white coat and to come say hello. By ‘hello,’ I assume she meant, ‘come throw yourself at my feet’ because that is exactly what I did. Seriously. This is on video. Yeah, apparently I was in complete fangirl mode and didn’t notice my friends rolling the video as I was on Mission: Holy crap, I’m gonna meet Lo!!!!! I won’t show you the video because it’s embarrassing but here’s how it went down…

As I walked into the lobby area where Lo was sitting, I saw her…white coat and red boots but let’s be honest: I would have known her beautiful face if she had a bag over her head! She is even more beautiful in person!!!! But it wasn’t just Lo! She was sitting across from C!!!!!!! Holy. Crap. My brain couldn’t process the excitement so of course I did what any highly functioning fangirl would do…I walked up to them and threw myself at their feet. True story.

Lo and C were sitting across from each other with a table in between them. I seriously walked over, dropped to my knees and started verbally vomiting all over them. They probably thought I was a stranger who had lost her damn mind but then I started screaming, “Oh my God!!!!” Lo picked up on my crazy and asked if I was Dana and then I got the world’s biggest hugs from Lo and C! Fangirl down!!!! Literally. I was still on my knees.     

I was a hot mess—my face turned a million shades of red and I thought I may pass out. I had to keep fanning myself. Yep, pretty sure I looked like a complete creeper. I just couldn’t believe that 1/3 of my holy trinity was now sitting right next to me and across from me. Holy crap. It was so unbelievably surreal. I am pretty sure I couldn’t form coherent sentences and I should probably hang my head in shame but here I am…embarrassing myself all over again as I re-tell this story but I have to tell this story…do you know why?

I have to tell this story because I need you to understand that C and Lo are the most incredible people you could ever hope to meet. You think that they write books that knock your socks off? Yes! Yes, they do that but they are also amazing people who don’t run and hide from the crazies who love them (me!). They were so warm and so kind and just the absolute best!!!!!

Oh! And you know how C and Lo have the funniest banter on twitter? They do this in person and are even funnier! It’s priceless!!!! I don’t even know. I can’t put into words how much I adore C and Lo. They are the most genuinely gracious people you could ever hope to meet. I know that their time together is precious since they are very rarely together face to face so the fact that they invited us to sit and chat with them for over an hour? Whoa. It doesn’t get any better than that! I love them. I love them. I looooooooooooooooooooove them!!!! They are just as wonderful as I knew they would be. I am so very thankful that they didn’t run from my crazy!

So there ya go…C and Lo are even better in person! How is that possible?!?! I know. It doesn’t sound possible but it is. It so is. If you haven’t read and loved every single one of C and Lo’s books, we can’t be friends. One-click every single one of those babies right now!!!!

Fact: Meeting the first 1/3 of my holy trinity was even better than I could have dreamed. I looooooooooooooooooooove them!!!! I now need a nap from all the excitement…I’ll report back on the meeting of the remainder of my trinity soonish…ya know, after I nap:)

To C and Lo…if you are reading this, thank you for being a reader’s writer. I adore you because you are freakishly talented and constantly surprising me by making me love each story more than the last. Oh…and you get bonus points for not running and screaming in the opposite direction when you saw my crazy coming. This fangirl is unbelievably grateful for both of you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! ILY!!!!!