So...who wants Romance Trading Cards?

I went ahead and got Romance Trading Cards done for my first three books. They're a fun thing to have at conferences and just to hand out to people. Although a lot of authors do bookmarks, I can't help think that most people probably have no use for them anymore. You know, future generations probably won't even be able to relate to them at all! The trading cards were also really great fun to have made. I got to pick and choose the content and I loved coming up with the line of dialogue on each of them. Warning: one of them has a bad word, a very bad word LOL. I posted pictures of these (front and back) on a prior post and have them up on my albums on Facebook if you'd like to take a book, but I have one for each of Picture This, Pay Up and Play Me.

If you'd like one (or all), just send me an email letting me know at kaily at kailyhart dot com with your address and I'll send them out to you. Oh and indicate whether you'd like them signed or not :).

My First Print Book. Sigh...

It's funny. I'm an ebook pundit all the way, but when I heard Ellora's Cave were combining my first three ebooks (PICTURE THIS, PAY UP and PLAY ME) with them into a print anthology? Well, I went all giddy and mushy at the knees :). Seriously. There's just something about holding a book, something about that tangible proof that screams I did indeed write a book. Actually, it's a lot more than that one book now, but the physical manifestation of all that work will be so cool to actually see, hold.

When they asked me to come up with a title for it, I drew a blank for awhile. The stories are all quite different, the characters diverse, but there was a common thread. The heroes and heroines of the three stories all found love when it was the last thing they expected, but the thing they all needed the most. It wasn't hard after that and Perfectly Unexpected just seemed so fitting. I haven't seen it physically myself yet, but it's started to hit some of the outlets. It's already up at Barnes & Noble and the other book sellers will follow suite soon enough. I'll probably do some giveaways when I get some copies in my hot hands! And I'm digging the cover. How about you?

RT Book Reviews gives PLAY ME 4 stars!!!

Wow. Just wow. What a wonderful, awesome surprise today. PLAY ME received a 4 star review from RT Book Reviews!! This is in the August edition, which will be given out at the RWA National conference in NY next week so I'm super psyched. Happy dancing and finding it difficult to concentrate today :). You can read the full review here if you're an online subscriber!!

Best Book of the Week?

WOW. PLAY ME is up for best book of the week over at Whipped Cream Reviews!! There are some fantastic books up there. I know because I've read some of them. Voting is now open so, you know...if you're so inclined :).

http://www.longandshortreviews.com/WC/index.htm

BDSM? Fetish? REALLY?

I got a wonderful review the other day from Whipped Cream for PLAY ME. Anemone says...

With white hot chemistry between Lily and Gabe, the sex scenes were explosive.

and

With yet another sinfully hot book, this author has become an instant buy for me. I highly recommend it.

The review was great and I loved the comments, but...the way it was classified made me raise my eyebrows a little. BDSM? Fetish? Voyeurism? Toys? Okay, the toys part was obvious and I can see the voyeurism angle (although it was all fantasy) but I had no idea the book had BSDM or fetish elements or that anyone would perceive it this way. Who knew LOL? Thank you, Anemone for a wonderful review!

You can check out the full review here.

Inspiration. It's a funny thing.

Writers get asked all the time where their ideas come from. At least I do. I've blogged about this a couple of times here and elsewhere, but I thought it would be fun to break down a book and share some specifics of just how ideas and some of the elements end up in books. Let's take my latest, PLAY ME.

The name Gabe - this has been in my 'names I like and would love to use in a book some day' file for a long time. It's one of those names that get mentally tagged when I hear or see it and know it would make a great character. Of course it helps that I think it's just plain masculine and hot for a guy!

Setting - PLAY ME is set in LA. It's not described in detail because it's not really critical to the story, but the beach area and Lily's house is one I used to walk, ride or drive past regularly. I loved living in LA. Of course, I could get to/from work and do all the activities I enjoyed by staying in my neighborhood and off the freeways. Also, living in LA you're constantly aware of the dangers of the city and those 'do not go under any circumstances' areas. It was always a fear of mine that I would take a wrong turn and end up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Again, I could have described everything about the setting in minute detail in the book, but it's not important to Gabe and Lily's story. It is important for me though when I write to be able to clearly picture the setting so this is why I often set my books in places I've lived. Luckily, I've lived in many wonderful, interesting and varied places and traveled to many, many more!

Ironing scene - I hate ironing. Actually I don't iron. I'd do anything to avoid it. I'll even not buy an item of clothing if it really does need to be ironed LOL. I have this wrinkle releaser product I use and try and fold everything directly from the dryer. That's how I 'iron'. I get a kick out of a guy ironing. Sorry :). Just me having some fun while I was writing.

Panties Gabe wants Lily to wear - Shhh, don't tell anyone but I have these pair myself LOL.

The 'declaration' scene - I had written this scene, but it just didn't 'feel' right to me. I tweaked it. It still didn't sing. I polished it some more. It was missing something. I was browsing a Victoria's Secret catalogue and BAM I had the element I was looking for for that all important scene. For those who don't know, Victoria's Secret is a large lingerie chain very widespread here in the US. I can't really give any more detail than that about what it was that I saw and used because it's kind of a spoiler, but I had my ending when I finished browsing that catalogue!!

And for the rest? I'm not really sure. Somewhere in the deep recesses of my imagination, I guess. I just hope where ever or however it comes, it doesn't stop anytime soon :)!

PLAY ME received a reviewers 'TOP PICK"!

I've gotten great reviews at Night Owl Reviews (NOR) before, but PLAY ME received a TOP PICK from them! It's not just because of the 'score' or even the Top Pick designation, I loved what Chris had to say:

"Guilty Pleasure Alert! This pushed a lot of my happy buttons as a romance goes. Damaged hero, innocent yet seductive heroine. Danger, deception and desperation. Yum."

You can see the complete review here.

I get such a kick out of reading comments about my books, gaining an understanding of how a reader interpreted things, what they took away from it, how the characters or the story made them feel. I could get addicted to that feeling. So...how should I celebrate? I vote for finishing the next one!

Know what I did last night?

I posted a little while ago that one of my books was selected by a small, local book club and that they had invited me to attend their meeting. Well, it was last night and OMG I had the best fun! I think there's something about the prospect of discussing a hot and steamy read that has inhibitions and tongues loosening LOL. At least for these ladies, unless they're like that all the time :). Of course, it could have also been the alcohol!

They had a theme for the food, which was aphrodisiacs. How appropriate. I can't tell you how elaborate and awesome the food was. I was simply blown away. Not the mention...cucumber martinis and...champagne. Champagne! I think I seriously need to get out more LOL.

Firstly, I wasn't sure which particular book had been selected for them all to read because most of them had read more than one! Yay!! One woman was happy to let me know she'd read PAY UP twice, just to make sure she didn't miss anything the first time :)!! Yay her!

I do think some might have thought that just because I write hot that made me an expert on sex and that I must watch porn. So not true LOL. I got some great comments and questions though and I thought I'd share a sample of my favorites:

• "You don't look anything like I expected you to look."
• "Is your husband good looking?"
• "Are your books your own fantasies?"
• "How do you do your research?"
• "How do you start writing?"
• "How do you come up with that stuff?"
• "Oh, there's a plot in the book?"
• "I was surprised that there was a happy ending in a book like this."
• "Do you think your books will be turned into movies one day?"

I had to stay on my toes to respond to and answer those and others. Overall, it was great to have the opportunity to talk to readers directly and in person, especially readers who might not have read in this genre otherwise. I hope I managed to change perceptions and squash myths, at least in a small way about erotic romance. Ladies, thank you so much for such a fun and interesting evening and the food was simply DIVINE!!

Last Day for my Giveway!

If you haven't heard about my giveaway (and how could that have happened?), today is the last day! It's easy to enter and you can enter multiple times to maximize your chances. All the details are here but if you comment on any of my posts on my blog or on Facebook , that's an entry. If you friend (Facebook) or follow (Twitter) me (if you don't already), that's an entry. If you sign-up to follow my blog (if you don't already), that's an entry. Giveaway closes at midnight Eastern tonight! I have 5 Jimmy Thomas calendars I can't wait to give away, 2 signed by Jimmy himself. For one of the autographed ones, just guess which month has my favorite picture of Jimmy and you could win that one! Technically, it's possible therefore to win 2 calendars. I'll announce the winners sometime tomorrow March 28!! Good luck!!

Oh, and PLAY ME just went live on Amazon. Love that!!

Comments about PLAY ME

I still feel kinda weird doing this, but it's part of being a writer and I know I need to get with the program in that respect. Right? I haven't received any 'official' reviews yet from review sites (it's still early days) but I've received a lot of great comments directly and from readers online about PLAY ME. Really, these mean a lot more to me than those official ones, although I'll take them too! I know it takes a lot for a reader to reach out to an author or post something on line and I really, really appreciate it. So...I thought I'd share my favs:

Thanks again.... keep writing.... I love your voice.... I love your men!!!! - Rita

SEXY
HOT
SWEET
and my FAVORITE kind of Hero---a little grouchy, a little edgy, and a whole lot of marshmallow when it comes to that RIGHT woman.  - Taryn

This is my third book for Kaily and I can't wait for more! They keep getting better and better! - Jennifer

Interesting people, funny dialog, and hot sex. I thought it was great. - Leslie

There was plenty of well written dialogue as well as perfectly delivered lines throughout to keep the reader entertained. There’s also plenty of hot, steamy sex. - Dreama

Thanks so much, you guys!!! It's very touching and makes me want to write just that much faster :).

Giveaway Time!

To celebrate the release of PLAY ME tomorrow (March 11), I wanna have some fun! I have 5 calendars to give away. Yes, 5!!! The calendars feature the fabulous Jimmy Thomas. Jimmy has been on over 1,000 romance novel covers (and counting) and epitomizes the romantic hero, regardless of genre. His pictures are also smokin' hot and trust me...not a hardship to look at. Who wouldn't want a new image of Jimmy to drool over appreciate every month? Just don't blame me if you end up leaving one month showing way past it's end date :). On top of all that, Jimmy seems like a really nice guy and he loves animals. BTW, 2 of the calendars I'm giving away are autographed by Jimmy himself!

So...here's how the contest will work for 4 of the calendars:

• It starts now and runs through March 24 at midnight (eastern).
• I'm extending the end date to Sunday, March 27 at midnight because I'll be on a school field trip to the Miami-Dade fair all day Friday. I'll post winners on Monday March 28!! More chances to win, right?
• Comment here on my blog or on Facebook on any of my posts during the giveaway period to earn 1 entry.
• If you follow my blog (or already do), you get an additional entry.
• If you friend me on Facebook (or we're already friends), you get an additional entry.
• All the entries will be put into a jar (or a barrel, depending) and 4 will be drawn randomly. One of these will get the autographed calendar. Obviously, the more entries you have, the more chance you have of winning.  
• I'll announce the winners on my blog on March 25 (once I figure out how to track all this LOL).
• I'll ship anywhere :). This is not just limited to US/Canadian residents!

So, what about calendar number 5?? I'm doing something special/different for the final autographed calendar. To be in the drawing for this one, simply check out Jimmy's calendar site here and let me know which of the calendar months (January through January) has my favorite picture of Jimmy. Easy, right? If there is more than 1 correct answer, I'll draw a winner at random from the correct entries. Same time frames as the giveaway above and winner will be announced on March 25 as well.

Clear as mud, right? Thought so :). Have fun!

Finally...it's here

Well, it will be March 11!  PLAY ME went up on the Coming Soon page at Ellora's Cave today. I still can't really describe the feelings I experience when I see it out there in the world. Something I've created, labored over and yeah agonized for, out there for everyone to see and read. I'm really excited for this book. Gabe is my kind of hero--harsh and tortured--and whether he knows it or not, just waiting for the right woman to come along.

BLURB
Lily Hamilton had her quiet, predictable life all mapped out, including a hot-shot attorney for a fiancé. That is until she catches him screwing around and takes off in his prized Mercedes, for once not giving a damn where she’s headed. How clichéd is that?

Gabriel Jackson is raw and disillusioned. Driving a tow truck is a far cry from the dangerous career he turned his back on, but when he finds the classy blonde in a dangerous part of LA, he’s immediately back in the role of protector.

Lily is hot and sweet and so out of his league it’s not funny, yet Gabe can’t deny the sizzling heat between them. He thinks he wants hard, fast and rough—until he gets his hands on her. He knows he should stay the hell away, but Lily makes him feel, really feel for the first time in two years. Is she just slumming or can she see beyond the harsh, broken façade to the man beneath? A man who dreams of making her his?

EXCERPT
Copyright © KAILY HART, 2011
All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.

Warning: the below excerpt isn't exactly PG. Enjoy!!

Of the many kisses she’d experienced, of the few lovers she’d had, of the year and a half she’d been with Ian—no, wasted on Ian—Lily had never experienced anything like the sensations she’d gotten during those minutes of his mouth on hers, his body pressing into her. Or had it been only seconds?

She licked lips that felt swollen. He tasted like coffee, or maybe that came from her. She thought she’d been ready that second time, but when he’d taken control… She was still tingling from it. She took a deep breath and looked up.

God, his eyes.

They were dark, like everything else about him, but it was a deep-blue rimmed with a border of navy or black that made his gaze that much more intense. It was a look that saw everything in an instant and she shivered under his piercing stare, not from fear or even from the cold, but from something she didn’t have a name for.

Where she’d gotten the courage to kiss him like that, she’d never know. She’d never done anything remotely like that before. She should have been scared, cautious at the very least, yet somehow knew she’d be safe with him. He’d done something extraordinary for her, knowingly risked himself for her, and it was weird, but she felt connected to him on some elemental level she couldn’t even begin to understand. She was thankful, of course she was, but gratitude didn’t have her heart racing, her stomach flip-flopping, her body singing. Did it? Jeez, who was she kidding? She ached in places that usually only came alive after long and intense stimulation of the solo kind.

All she knew was that she hadn’t been able to just let him walk away. Not yet.

“C-Come inside,” she whispered.

Yeah, and she so totally sucked at stuff like this.

When his gaze slid down to the juncture of her thighs, heat bloomed in her cheeks, low in her belly, between her legs.

“With me. I meant come inside with me. Although…” She took a deep breath and rushed on before she chickened out. “You can come inside me too. Well, we’ll have to use protection, of course, but—”

“Lily.” Gabe closed his eyes briefly and groaned.

“It’s okay. You know, if you don’t want to, I mean.”

“God…”

His gaze slid over her in a hot caress resting on nipples she could feel hard and erect against the thin silk of her dress. Her stomach clenched. It wasn’t exactly a “no”.

She swallowed. She should probably give him fair warning. “You know.” She licked her lips. “I-I’ve never done anything like this.”

“Adrenaline,” he dismissed. “It’s just the adrenaline.”

She shook her head. “No. I don’t think so. I just…” She looked at him, tried to ignore the tremor in her limbs and went for it. “I’ve never wanted like this before. Never so quickly, but never, ever,” she glanced away, “like this.”

God, she probably sounded as if she had a screw loose or something. What happened to all that girl talk that assured a woman could get laid whenever she wanted, at the snap of her fingers? All of her friends had had one-night stands. Okay, they might not have been proud of them exactly, but they’d all expounded on the benefits of no-strings sex. After having the evidence that the relationship route hadn’t exactly been working for her, didn’t she deserve some uncomplicated pleasure herself? She was entitled, wasn’t she?

His jaw flexed and his gaze bore into hers. He took a couple deep breaths. He seemed to be weighing his options. Jeez, she didn’t want to have to twist his arm.

“I—”

“Why the fuck not?” he finally muttered.

The bottom dropped right out of Lily’s stomach. Okay, not exactly the resounding response she’d been hoping for, but she could run with it, couldn’t she? If she could get her nerves under control and didn’t make a complete fool of herself, of course.

She frowned when he opened the passenger door and leaned in. His gaze was direct on hers when he straightened, a small square packet held unapologetically in his hand as if he wanted to be certain she saw it.

“Are you sure?” he rasped.

Her heart thundered, her throat was dry and the damn trembling was back. Especially when it registered he was holding more than one.

God, she hadn’t been exaggerating when she said she’d never done anything like this before and she couldn’t say why she was now exactly. Sex had always been a natural progression in the relationships she’d had. After a reasonable time, after getting to know someone, after feeling a connection that came with spending time together, but this… This was a driving, aching need, a want so powerful it drove her to seize the moment, to not let him just walk away and to hell with the fact she didn’t know a thing about him. She just wanted to learn every inch of him, run her hands over the hard body she’d felt pressed against her, feel him on her, in her. She was drawn to him, her body attuned to his, every nerve ending tingling alive for him. And after knowing she’d wasted a year and a half of her life on a one-sided relationship, a farce, well, she was done with that.

She’d never gone for the bad-boy type before either. There was definitely something savage and untamed about him, something held tightly under control. He’d come tearing in, literally guns blazing and saved her from a fate that just might have been worse than death. It was hot and arousing. He was hot with this rough and rugged appearance, there was no doubt, but there was something almost vulnerable about him as well, something that reached out to her, as if he needed someone to keep him safe too. It was ridiculous. She knew it was. He was probably the last person who’d be in need of protection. He clearly didn’t need it, wouldn’t want it and probably wouldn’t appreciate it.

Mouth dry, she nodded.

I'm in love...

...WITH MY NEW COVER for PLAY ME! I was speechless when I saw it. It fits the story perfectly and it's "me" if that makes any sense. It not only represents the characters and the feel of the story so well, it appeals to me from a style perspective as well. Gosh, it's so perfect I still get chills (of the good kind) when I look at it. Hope to have a release day soon and for it to be soon :). In the meantime, I'll just keep staring at it...or I could work on my WIP. Sigh...

WOOT!

My editor loves my book, my editor loves my book *sing-song voice*. Heard from my editor today and she loved PLAY ME! I'm in the process of taking care of the administrative side of things on this and will hopefully be able to share details of a release date soon. I poured a lot of emotion into this book and it took awhile to wrestle it to the ground. Gabe is the damaged, tortured hero and I have a soft spot for that type! I hope everyone likes it. It'll be great to get another book out!! More details to follow soon....

Ah...January? Where are you?

Did you blink and miss it? I must have. January just flew by for me. Perhaps it was because I took a spur of the moment vacation and the hope that I could settle into a routine again after the madness of the holidays just flew out the window. Anyway, it's a brand new month, I have no trips planned (that I know of yet :)) and I'm ready to sink my teeth into something new. I turned in my latest book yesterday. Sigh and yay!! It required me to lock myself in my writing cave to wrap it up. The waiting and nail biting begins, but what to work on now? There are so many characters vying for my attention. I could pick up Cole's story from PAY UP. When I started to write that book, I hadn't intended to leave an opening for another story, but Cole just became so real. And I have just the woman for him :)! I could go back to an idea I had in January. It did distract me from my book at the time and it's nicely laid out. It's got a hot military guy :). I could browse my ever bulging "ideas" file. There's some great stuff in there. OR I could run with a shiny, new, exciting idea that struck me this morning. Decisions, decisions... So much to write, so little time!

Almost finished another one...

I'm polishing my latest WIP to turn into my editor. Actually, I've been doing that for ::cough:: quite some time. Really, I should have been done with it by now. Really. I know I'm a perfectionist when it comes to certain things--things that really matter. And my books and stories really matter. I like to tweak until I'm wringing just the right amount of emotion out at a particular point, until I'm satisfied I've represented the hero and heroines feelings well enough, until I have the thread of passion and tension just right. I know all that, but it's more than just trying to make the story as good as it can be. I have an idea about the 'feel' of a book when I start. It's hard to describe, but I'm aiming to create that certain 'tone' I have inside my head and it's quite different for each story. Sometimes it takes awhile to get that just right. I have a hard time letting go of my characters and their stories as well. I write heroes I could fall in love with and  heroines I can relate to, that I can cheer for. I do extensive character maps on them and they become three dimensional. I yearn to give them their happy ever after. I need to be able to turn in a story that can do justice to them, you know? Sometimes it's an effort to say "I'm done", leave their world and move onto the next story hammering away in my brain.  LOL Yeah probably sounds like I need therapy, right? Anyway, PLAY ME is almost done :). Gabe and Lily are an unlikely couple (on the surface), but oh so right for each other. I can't wait to share them with you!

I'm up on Amazon and...a teaser excerpt from my WIP

I noticed over the weekend my latest book, PAY UP was up on Amazon! WOW. For me, it's the closest thing I can imagine it would be like to see my physical book sitting on a shelf at a book store (or at Target, whatever - I'm not fussy :)). I'm not exactly sure why I get so excited seeing my books out on these sites. Perhaps it's because they're sharing virtual shelf space with best selling authors, authors and books I read. Perhaps because I know it means it's that much more accessible to readers. Perhaps because it's just another form of validation on this path to becoming a successful author. Regardless of the specifics...it's just way cool! I'm on Amazon!

In between looking at my covers on 3rd party book sellers ;), I thought I'd provide an update on my WIP. PLAY ME is coming along nicely and should be finished any day now. I'm really pleased with how it's turned out. Gabe is an hot alpha hero, enough to make any society princess take notice, but things aren't always what they seem. It's a story about chance and what can happen when two people on completely different paths find themselves thrust together. Will they continue on as before or...just go for it? I thought I would share a snippet from the page I'm currently working on:

    “Show me your vibrator.”
    “What?”
    Lily was pretty sure she’d passed the point of being able to pretend any kind of worldly sophistication, but she thought she’d give it one more shot just the same.
    “Um…what makes you think I even have one?”
    He smiled. It was wicked and full of knowledge.
    Yeah, that was probably a fail.