Love Me Not

Late Night Encounters #MWTease #BadBoysGoneGood

August 20, 2014 by ReeseRyan

Welcome back to the Mid Week Tease hosted by the lovely Sandra Bunino!

For the past several weeks, my hero Miles Copeland has slowly gotten to know the pretty, prickly and passionate bartender, Jamie Charles. They’ve grown closer and he can sense her attraction to him, but she has flatly rejected his request to get to know her outside of her work. An unexpected turn of events in the early morning hours just might give Miles the opening he’s been awaiting.

<===EXCERPT FROM LOVE ME NOT (BAD BOYS GONE GOOD BOOK #2)===>

Jamie uncapped the safety on her mace and locked up the bar. She climbed into the truck and turned the key. Nothing. She turned it again. Still nothing.

“Damn you, Byron! Not tonight. C’mon!” She tried a few more times but still got nothing. The last thing she wanted to do was wake Ellie in the middle of the night and admit that she’d let her stupid auto club membership lapse two months earlier. She’d rather call a cab now and deal with telling Ellie she’d screwed up again later.

Jamie pulled out her phone, a basic call-and-text device. She’d insisted she didn’t need a smartphone. Sitting in a dark parking lot in the middle of the night, needing to pull up a list of cab companies, her decision suddenly seemed pretty dumb.

“Everything okay?” A shadowy figure crossed the dark parking lot.

Jamie reached into her pocket and pulled out her key chain, ready to discharge the mace the second she knew something wasn’t right. The figure stepped into the light.

“Miles? What the hell are you doing out here at this time of night?” Jamie realized her heart was beating double-time. She drew in a deep breath then let it out in a huff. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“Sorry.” He held up both his hands, halting a few feet away from her. “My window faces the parking lot. I couldn’t sleep, thinking about this proposal I’ve been working on. I looked out the window and saw you get out of the truck and raise your hood. Is everything okay?”

“No. This fucking piece of shit picks tonight to not start. Not cool, Byron.” She directed her angry words at the temperamental truck.

“Do you mind?” He gestured toward it.

“You’re not going to find anything. I didn’t. I’m not a helpless little girl, you know.” She was surprised by how angry she sounded. After all, she was glad not to be alone in a dark parking lot.

“I know you aren’t. But you never know. Let me try?” He wriggled his fingers, and she reluctantly placed the keys in his palm. He climbed inside the truck and tried to start it without success. Finally he hopped down. “Okay, so we’ve definitely got to get it to a mechanic. But there’s no reason it has to be this very moment. Why don’t you let me take you home? My car’s in the garage across the street.”

Jamie bit her lip, not making eye contact. She didn’t want Miles taking her home, but what were the alternatives? “I was gonna call a cab, but I don’t have the number,” she said finally. “If you could look the number up in that fancy phone of yours, that’s really all I need. It’s late, and I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

“It’s not an inconvenience—”

“You just said you were doing work stuff. Which, by the way, you shouldn’t be at this time of night.” She pointed an accusatory finger in his direction. “I don’t want you driving halfway across town for me.”

“Jamie…” He placed a hand on her shoulder. Even through the fabric of her shirt, her skin felt tingly underneath his touch. “Let me do this for you. You’d do the same for me, wouldn’t you?”

She surveyed his face for a moment. Spending the next half an hour together alone—without the security of the bar between them—was a tempting, yet potentially disastrous prospect. Still, it was the only one she had. “Okay, thanks. I’d appreciate a ride home.”

Miles waited as Jamie locked her truck and followed him across the street. He swiped his hotel key card and they entered the garage.

“This isn’t some lame attempt to get me to your room, is it?” She followed him up a flight of stairs.

He laughed. “Is it working?”

“No!” Her answer was emphatic.

“Then no.” He shrugged, smirking at her over one shoulder. When she narrowed those lovely green eyes at him and crossed her arms, his eyes drifted to her breasts. He quickly focused on her face and those pouty, bloodred lips again. “Just kidding. You know that, right?”

Jamie nodded then followed him again. Finally they arrived at Miles’s black BMW. A self-satisfied smirk lifted the corners of her mouth as she raised her eyes to his.

“Enough with the gloating,” he said. “You were right about the car. Let’s just leave it at that.”

Jamie slipped inside the passenger seat and looked around. The car still had that new-leather smell and it was as clean as it had been the day he rode it off the lot. “Didn’t say a word. I’m thankful for the ride.”

“So, where’re we going?”

“Coventry, near Cleveland Heights. I can direct you there.”

He smiled at her. “Why don’t you drive us there?”

“Drive this? You’ve gotta be kidding me,” she said.

“I trust you.” He stretched his hand out toward her, the key in his palm.

“I don’t think that’s such a great idea. My driving is more suitable for a racetrack than the city streets.”

“So you’re an aggressive driver. Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

Jamie narrowed her eyes at him, but let his smart-ass comment ride. “I’d love to take this machine for a ride and show her what a real driver can do, but I don’t think it’d be a good idea.”

“Let’s see what you’ve got.” He pressed the key into her palm and got out of the car. He went around to the passenger side and opened her door. “You’re not going chickenshit on me now, are you, Charles?” He grinned.

Her eyes sparked, like an ignited torch. He’d struck a nerve. It shouldn’t have surprised him. He doubted this girl had ever backed down from a challenge.

Jamie eased the BMW 535i out of its parking space and down the parking garage ramp, carefully taking the curves and getting a feel for the handle of the car. The engine purred like a mighty panther, ready to pounce. He could swear there was something in her eyes that lit up like a kid waking up on Christmas. This was going to be fun, if they survived.

<===END OF EXCERPT===>

Miles has got his hands full with Jamie, hasn’t he? I guess neither of them can walk away from a challenge. Now, get your engines revved up and get off to the race. Take a tour through some of the fun, sexy teases that await at the links below.

The Green-Eyed Beauty Behind the Bar #MWTease #BadBoysGoneGood

August 13, 2014 by ReeseRyan

After more than a week of feeling miserable, it’s good to be out among the living. This week I’ve been playing catch up, so it’s been crazy busy. Thankfully, it’s Mid Week Tease time. There’s nothing like a few Mid Week Teases to take the edge off an intense week.

For the past two weeks we’ve been in Jamie and Miles’s meet cute, from her point of view. This week, we step into his point of view to see what he’s thinking about the wicked vixen behind the bar who is more than a little determined to keep him at arm’s length.

<==EXCERPT FROM LOVE ME NOT==>

Miles stared at the large, heavy backlit menu. Quite an expense for a bar menu. Tahlia’s had gone all out to impress its high-end customer base.

He looked around the place. It was filled with people presumably like him. People with pockets deep enough that they wouldn’t flinch at paying twenty bucks for a fancy salad or a plate of calamari in downtown Cleveland, Ohio.

The concierge at his hotel had highly recommended the place. He reviewed the menu. It all sounded delicious and he’d been starving when he’d walked through those doors fifteen minutes ago. But honestly there wasn’t anything on the menu half as interesting as the green-eyed beauty behind the bar.

The woman was mysterious, yet familiar—bearing a faint resemblance to someone he’d once known. Someone he’d once cared for. He sipped his water slowly, stealing a glance at her. About five foot eight. Lean, athletic body punctuated by sensual curves that made him fully aware of a need to adjust his trousers. Without turning his head, he watched as she sashayed behind the bar, hips swaying, her black pants clinging to her curves in all the right places. Suddenly she threw her head back and laughed, exposing her creamy neck. Her shiny black hair, loosely twisted low at the back of her head, shifted and for a moment he had the visceral sensation of tangling his fingers in it. She laughed again, more quietly this time. Pete was a regular funny guy. With him she seemed comfortable, relaxed.

Returning the glass to the bar, he picked up the menu again. She was apparently immune to his particular brand of charm. He hadn’t been able to solicit so much as a smile from her, let alone any genuine interest.

But then, maybe it was too soon to say.

Jamie stood in front of him, her arms folded tightly across a very impressive rack. Not that he was staring. It was just hard not to notice the strain of her breasts against the tight rayon shirt. The top buttons were open, revealing ample cleavage, a black camisole underneath and glimpses of a colorful tattoo. “Ready to order?”

Was he ever, but what he wanted tonight wasn’t on Tahlia’s menu. “Everything looks delicious.” Miles made sure he’d returned his gaze to the menu before he said it. After all, he didn’t want to come off like a complete sleaze bucket, even if all he could think about was how amazing those breasts probably looked beneath that snug shirt. “It’s impossible to choose. Maybe you can recommend something.”

She studied him for a moment then put down her iPad. She held her hand out, waiting expectantly, and he handed her the menu. Her eyes roamed over the menu quickly before returning it. “You’re not a vegetarian or anything, are you?”

“No.” He smiled. “I’m definitely a carnivore. In fact, the more meat, the better.”

She pursed her lips then returned her gaze to the menu. He responded with an inward grin, reasonably certain she was trying her damnedest not to smile. It gave him hope. Maybe Jamie the Bartender wasn’t a lost cause after all.

“My hands-down favorite meal off the bar menu is the blue-cheese-crusted filet mignon with port wine sauce. It’s seriously a stroke of genius. Like an orgasm for your mouth.” She stared at him for a moment, seemed to enjoy watching him squirm on the bar stool.

He picked up his glass of water and almost missed his own mouth as he attempted to take a quick gulp. Setting the glass back down, he wiped the water from his beard with the back of his hand. “Yeah,” he said, barely able to raise his eyes to hers. “I’ll take that.”

“Perfect.” A full grin crept across her pretty mouth.

Yep. She was definitely fucking with him. And she enjoyed it. This girl was more than he bargained for. Yet there was something about her that made him want to barrel straight through the Danger: Keep the Fuck Out sign she was clearly projecting.

“So, how do you want your potatoes?”

“Potatoes?”

“You know, the brown things that grow out of the ground? We serve them here. Six different ways.”

“Oh yeah, umm…garlic mashed potatoes, please.”

She nodded. “Good choice. Side salad, Caesar salad, broccoli or the vegetable of the day?”

“What’s the vegetable of the day?”

She glanced behind her to look at the chalkboard with the special, soup and vegetable of the day written neatly in white, red and blue chalk. “Brussels sprouts in a white wine reduction.”

“Yeah, I’ll take that.” He folded the heavy menu closed, then handed it to her.

A wicked smile was perched on her dark lips. Did she have the slightest clue how incredibly enticing that smile was? “Great. Will that be all?”

He peered deeply into those bewitching green eyes framed by dark, smoky, cat-eyed makeup. “For now.”

Now it was her turn to squirm a little under his stare. She put the menu back behind the bar and turned to walk away.

Miles tapped his finger lightly on the bar. Maybe his prospects with this girl weren’t looking so bad after all.

<==END OF EXCERPT==>

Thanks for taking the time to visit. Don’t forget to visit the other stops on the list below.

Turning the Tables #MWTease #BadBoysGoneGood

August 6, 2014 by ReeseRyan

It’s time for the Mid Week Tease ( #MWTease ) hosted by the lovely and talented Sandra Bunino. I’ve enjoyed sampling stories from a variety of genres through this fun weekly event, including Sandra’s book, The Colors of Us, which will be available this month. Last week, Jamie met Miles at the restaurant where she works. Miles is intrigued by the beautiful, bad ass bartender. She finds him attractive, but doesn’t believe he’s her type.

Jamie’s dark past has taught her few people can be trusted. She can be a bit gruff, but Miles doesn’t scare that easily.

<==EXCERPT FROM LOVE ME NOT==>

The guy might be goofy and slightly aggravating, but he had the potential to be a good tipper. No matter how irritated she was, she knew better than to fuck that up. Jamie took a deep breath and gave him a dead-eyed smile that skirted civility without encouraging further interaction. “Maybe you’ll feel better if you tell me about it,” she said. “After all, isn’t that why you came here?”

“Hmm…I’ll bet you get that all the time. Rich bozos sitting here whining about their wives, mistresses and tennis elbow.”

She choked back the laugh rising in her chest before it could escape her lips. Covering her mouth, she cleared her throat and managed a straight face. “My customers are not bozos.”

“How politically correct of you to say so.” He tapped the bar lightly with his index finger. “But I have an idea. How about we turn the tables tonight? Tonight, why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you?”

This guy was really beginning to bug her. Since when did a complete stranger give a damn about what was bothering her? Where was this guy from anyway, Mayberry?

A regular came in and sat at the bar. She was glad for the distraction. “I’ll be right with you, Pete,” she told him before turning back to the man who’d managed to get under her skin. “Excuse me—”

“Miles.”

“I’m sorry…?”

“You called him Pete, right? Well, I’m Miles. Miles Copeland. It’s nice to meet you.”

She cleared her throat, her jaw tight. “I’ll be back to check on your order in a few…Miles.”

<==END OF EXCERPT==>

Thanks for stopping by this week. This week I kept it short and sweet. But next week we get inside Miles’s head and see what he is thinking and feeling. Now, grab a cup of coffee or your favorite adult beverage and visit some of the other authors on the list below.

PS: Get yourself a fan. You’ll need it at a few of these stops. 😉

Rough Night #MWTease #BadBoysGoneGood

July 30, 2014 by ReeseRyan

Happy Wednesday, gang! You survived the roughest part of the week. Things should get easier from here. Just in case you could use a little something extra to get you through the day (sorry I can’t refill the liquor flask you keep in your purse), we’ve got just the thing: the Mid Week Tease, hosted by the fabulous Sandra Bunino.

The Mid Week Tease is a fun, multi-author event that gives you, dear reader, the opportunity to sample a morsel of our novels and novellas. My tease this week is from Love Me Not. In this scene my heroine, Jamie Charles, first meets the delectable Miles Copeland. Only Jamie isn’t quite as taken with Miles as he is with her…

<==EXCERPT FROM LOVE ME NOT==>

“Rough night, huh?”

Jamie looked at the man who’d taken a seat at the bar. He wasn’t one of the usuals. She’d never seen him before. But he was the type. Tahlia’s wasn’t a dive bar, like the ones she’d worked at in the past. It was an upscale bar and grille that catered to affluent tastemakers. In fact, the only reason they’d given her a shot, with her jet-black hair, penchant for black leather, tattooed arms and nose piercing was because Tahlia Vega was a friend of a friend of Ellie’s. She’d landed the job because she was good.

The man flashing his brilliant white teeth at her definitely fit the bill. Ridiculously gorgeous—like every line of his face had been precisely chiseled from stone by Michelangelo himself. A nose befitting a Greek god. A faint moustache was perched above his upper lip and a barely there beard crawled its way along a jawline with just enough of a pleasing curve to prevent it from being described as square. His hair—a sandy brown just a shade or two shy of venturing into blondiewood—was slicked down on the sides, with the top longer in a fairly conservative faux hawk. But those eyes…they were the color of pristine Caribbean waters. So blue they made a girl want to get naked and go for a swim in them. He was wearing a navy linen blazer with a crisp white shirt beneath it. The large face of the stainless steel TAG Heuer on his wrist nearly matched the color of those eyes.

Rich, gorgeous and probably spoiled. The only thing missing was the rail-thin model-type hanging on his arm. He was definitely the Tahlia’s type. He just wasn’t hers.

“Everything’s great,” she said to him. “I was just thinking about…I was making sure we had enough lemons, that’s all. Can I get you something?”

“You take your citrus inventory very seriously, I see.” An animated smile spread across his handsome face, and his eyes flickered with amusement as they followed her movement. “Well, I for one appreciate your dedication.”

She bit her lip and wiped the counter with a rag. If she’d still been working at Chuck’s Biker Bar, she’d have told this guy to go fuck himself. But at Tahlia’s, the customers were far more delicate. They didn’t appreciate being cursed out by the help. “If I can get you anything, let me know.” She turned to walk away.

“Wait. Actually, I would like something. I’d love a Satan’s Whiskers. It’s—”

“One ounce gin, one ounce orange juice, half an ounce of dry vermouth, sweet vermouth and Grand Marnier, a dash of bitters and a twist of orange peel. Or would you prefer it curled rather than straight?” Teeth clenched, she pressed her lips into a hard smile. Maybe she didn’t look like the dainty little bartenders he was used to, but she knew her shit.

“I apologize.” He ran his hands through his spiked crown, giving his hair a tousled, just-tumbled-out-of-bed-and-I-wasn’t-alone look. “I didn’t mean to imply that—”

“Forget it. Anything else?”

“You guys serve food, too, right?”

“Absolutely, would you care for a table? I can—”

“Actually, I’d like to eat right here at the bar, if that’s okay—” he leaned in closer and squinted at her name tag, “—Jamie. I think I’d prefer your company to eating alone.”

Don’t do me any favors, buddy. She surveyed the man, struck by how his blue eyes danced when he smiled at her. Her knees wobbled slightly. She was glad he couldn’t see them.

“If that’s what you’d like.” She reached behind her and handed him a bar menu. “Just let me know when you’re ready. Would you like your drink now or with your meal?”

“With my meal, please. Until then, how about a glass of water? I’ll take it with one of those lemons.” His devilish smile widened.

Was he making fun of her, or just trying to piss her off? If it was the latter, it was working. “Coming right up.” She forced the words through a smile so fake it’d give Barbie a run for her money. She grabbed a glass, dumped in a scoop of ice, filled it with water then put a lemon on the side. “Here you go. Just call me when you’re ready.”

“Sure thing.” He pulled out his phone. “But I’ll need your number first.”

The overwhelming desire to punch the dude in the face subsided the moment she saw that big, stupid grin. He was a harmless flirt. She could deal with that, no problem. “Ha-ha.” Her face remained expressionless as she tucked the rag into her apron.

He laughed. “Okay, that was pretty corny. I apologize. I’m usually far more clever than this, but today…I got nothing.”

“Rough day, huh?” She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

“Touché. And yes, it has been a challenging day.” Lifting his chin slightly, he stroked his beard, regarding her with amusement. “But things are beginning to look up.”

<==END OF EXCERPT==>

Thanks for reading this week’s tease and allowing me to introduce you to Jamie and Miles. Want to take a peek at more steamy stories? Check out teases being offered by the fabulous authors listed below:

Getting Down and Dirty with Your Characters via the Character Sketch

June 25, 2014 by ReeseRyan

As a writer I both love and loathe the character sketch.

Creating a character sketch can be fun. The exercise nets the kind of knowledge one uncovers during happy hour with the straight-laced co-worker who has a secret life you never imagined. It allows a writer to get elbow-deep in a character’s mind and discover her motivations. A character sketch can unlock a chest of unexpected treasures which will bring the character to life and make the story more vibrant. Even when that information is never told directly to the reader, it informs the writer’s knowledge and can have a powerful impact on the story.

I use a detailed character sketch to propel my relationship with my characters from that of casual acquaintances to close friends and confidantes. This enables me to understand my characters in ways that even they have yet to discover.

So why do I also loathe the character sketch?

Because excavating your character’s life and brain in this manner feels like digging up a quarter acre lot with a 5-inch archaeology trowel, as opposed to a shovel. It’s hard, gut-wrenching work.

Perhaps that’s what makes it so much sweeter when, sweaty, dirty and on the verge of giving up, you discover a tiny treasure of unspeakable value. Like a lost wedding ring the owner never thought she’d see again.

In those moments, it all becomes worth it. Every blister, every cut, every broken finger nail. Even if you aren’t the ultimate benefactor of the intense treasure hunt.

The primary beneficiary of the character sketch is the reader. Not because we should proceed to dump every obscure bit of the character’s backstory in the reader’s lap. But because the character rings truer and comes alive on the page.

Character sketches written after the release of a book can be both fun and functional for readers. It can be fun for past readers to understand more about the character. On the other hand, it gives prospective readers a peek into the character’s psyche to see if it’s worth investing their valuable time into getting to know this character better.

Today I’m over at the Romance Lives Forever Blog doing a character sketch of the volatile and complicated Jamie Charles, the heroine in my most recent release, Love Me Not. Here is a brief excerpt:

What is your character’s family like?

Jamie comes from a broken home and had a very difficult childhood. Her father left home when she was about ten. Her mother was an alcoholic and drug addict. Jamie had planned to run away from home at thirteen, but her best friend’s family took her in and became her legal guardians. She loves them and is fiercely loyal to them. Yet, she trusts few other people.

Is she close to family?

Jamie is very close to her adopted family. However, she hasn’t seen her biological father since she was ten and hasn’t seen her biological mother in more than fifteen years.

If someone from your character’s past showed up, who would she NOT want it to be, and why?

The last person in the world that Jamie would want to see is her biological mother, Josephine Charles. Yet, near the outset of the story, that is exactly what happens. Josephine is trying to get her life together and wants to make amends with Jamie. This sets off a series of events in which Jamie is forced to deal with extremely painful secrets from her past that neither she nor Josephine are truly prepared to face.

Read the entire character sketch here.

As a writer, do you use character sketches? If so, what do you like or hate about them? As a reader, have you ever purchased a book based on a character sketch?

Dirty Girl 2013 by Shawn Perez. Some rights reserved.
Archaeology trowel photo courtesy of Michael Homan. All rights reserved.

Deleted scene from Love Me Not, Reader Events and VIP List #Giveaway

April 11, 2014 by ReeseRyan

Last week I invited you to join my VIP list (just click the pink bar on the left, or go here) because I have lots of news and goodies for readers in April and May. Here’s a little of what’s in store:

Upcoming Reader Events in Morrisville, North Carolina

April 30th: Lady Jane’s Salon RDU — Lady Jane’s Salons are fabulous events where romance authors and readers get together to celebrate the genre while also championing important causes. At each salon, three romance authors read from their work. Admission is a gently used romance novel or $5. The proceeds benefit the fight against cervical cancer and a local shelter for battered women. I’ll be reading scenes from Love Me Not at the event held at Another Broken Egg Cafe at 7PM. If you’re not too far from the Triangle, I’d love to see you there!

September 13th: Fly Hat Society Luncheon — The authors behind the blog Hot M.A.M.A. (Multicultural Authors of the Mid Atlantic) Land will be hosting their annual Fly Hat Society Luncheon. This catered event will give readers and authors the opportunity to hang out, enjoy delicious food and talk about sizzling romance novels. Fly hat required. ;-)I snagged my ticket and I’m excited to meet the Hot M.A.M.A. authors I don’t already know and to chat with readers. Now, if only I could find the right hat! We’d love to see you at the luncheon which runs from 11:30AM to 4:30PM. You can register for it here.

Today on Sulia I shared a snippet of a deleted scene from my latest release, Love Me Not. However, members of the VIP list will be able to read the scene in its entirety.

Last, but not least, I’m doing a giveaway from now through May 10th exclusively for readers on my mailing list. To enter:

Join the Reese Ryan VIP (Newsletter) list.
Spread the news and contest link on either Facebook or Twitter.

It’s that simple! You’ll get more chances to win every time you share the love on Facebook or Twitter. Just use the rafflecopter widget below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Until next time!

Enter the Love Me Not Blog Tour Grand Prize #Giveaway

January 9, 2014 by ReeseRyan

The Love Me Not Blog Tour has been great fun these past two weeks. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being part of this wonderful journey! All of your tweets, comments and shares are greatly appreciated!

Since I can’t give you all a big hug (and I totally would, I’m a notorious hugger), I’m giving away a bundle of goodies to one lucky person. If you haven’t entered to win the tour grand prize, outlined below, you still have a few hours today and then all of tomorrow to enter to contest. If you have already entered, remember, you can enter each day by tweeting about the giveaway or commenting on a blog post.

GIVEAWAY

$25 Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes Gift Card
$10 Starbucks e-Gift Card
Digital copy of Love Me Not by Reese Ryan
Digital copy of Making the First Move by Reese Ryan

Visit any of the tour stops listed below to get in your last-minute entries. Not sure which stop to visit? If you’d like to know more about the story behind Love Me Not, visit:

Just Contemporary Romance to discover why Love Me Not deals with some serious dysfunctional family drama.
Carina Press Blog to find out why I’m slightly obsessed with characters keeping secrets.
Dr. Pepper Diva where I talk about the perils of writing about not-so-perfect heroines.
The Pen & Muse to learn why secondary characters always play an important role in my contemporary romances.
The Brunette Librarian to find out what happens when a secondary character decides she has a story to tell.
Kwana Writes to discover why my characters tend to be a bit…complicated.

Wanna see what reviewers are saying about Love Me Not? Visit:

Want to get to know a little more about me? Grab a cup of coffee and let’s get acquainted. Visit author interviews at Characters Behaving Badly & The Pen & Muse.

See book highlights and excerpts at these blogs:

If you haven’t already, consider joining my mailing list (the form is to the right, at the top of the sidebar) to stay tuned for future giveaways and sneak peeks. I love hearing from readers, so if you have a question or comment about a character or an element of the story, feel free to contact me here.

Good luck on your entry and best wishes for a happy new year!

***The Love Me Not tour is being coordinated by Irresistible Reads Tours.***

Love Me Not Release Day

December 30, 2013 by ReeseRyan

I honestly can’t believe it’s finally here. The day I get to say that I’m a multi-published novelist. I’ve been grinning so hard that I think I strained a jaw muscle and I’m pretty sure I twisted an ankle breaking out my tragically-awesome Snoopy dance. (Picture Snoopy with a busted ankle and a lot more hips.) Today is release day for my second novel, which also happens to be the second book in my Bad Boys Gone Good series published by Carina Press.

When it comes to fiction-writing, I’m a bit of a rule-breaker. (Which is odd, because I cling fanatically to rules in other areas of life. But, c’est la vie. ) So in this series you won’t find syrupy-sweet heroines clinging to perfection with nary a broken fingernail. My heroines don’t always follow expectations, and in the case of Jamie Charles, the heroine of Love Me Not, they sometimes give established rules the finger. But these women are very human, deal with very real issues and find a way to be happy despite them. As P!nk would say, they’re wrong in all the right ways.

To celebrate the release, I’m doing the Love Me Not Blog Tour from December 30th – January 10th which includes a fun giveaway. Get details on the giveaway below. Check out the full tour schedule here. Then visit other stops for more chances to enter the contest.

Thank you to all of the wonderful readers and authors who have supported my journey as an author. Lots of love and Happy New Year to you!

About Love Me Not

Tortured artist, Jamie Charles’ life is a careful balance between flashes of brilliance and self-loathing. Her art is as dark and dramatic as her painful past. Her resentment of the biological parents—who were too preoccupied with their addictions to bother with her—fuels her ambition to succeed as an artist, but also takes a heavy, personal toll.

Miles Copeland climbed to the top of his advertising agency because he isn’t afraid of taking risks and because he has something to prove to the father who betrayed his family. But when he falls for a moody, Gothic beauty with zero interest in anything but a purely physical relationship, he finds himself in dangerous territory.

Jamie prefers living hard and fast without the complications of love, but finds it impossible to resist the stunningly handsome, yet incredibly sweet man who is determined to have every piece of her–including her heart. Miles shows Jamie the beauty of being loved madly and deeply, but is it enough to make her finally learn to love herself, and open her heart to him?

Love Me Not Excerpt

“You’re not the only person who can read people, mister.” She crossed her arms and stared at him.

“Okay, so maybe I can afford pricey shoes and—”

“A black BMW.”

His mouth gaped open. “How’d you—?”

“It’s a gift,” she said proudly, leaning in a little closer. “I could tell you were a BMW guy two minutes after we met. Took me another fifteen minutes to figure out you’d probably go for classic black, probably a high-end five series…maybe the six series. Definitely not the seven, ’cause that’d just be flaunting it.”

He let out a low whistle and ran his fingers through his hair. “No way. The valet must be acting as your secret informant.”

“Nope. I told you, it’s a gift.” She rested her elbows on the bar and leaned even closer to him. Her voice was a husky whisper. “Don’t look now, but the older guy coming in the door with the chick in the tiny sequin skirt who’s young enough to be his granddaughter…bet he drives a wee little Corvette in some wildly inappropriate color like lemon yellow.” She backed away from him and headed to the other end of the bar to refresh another customer’s drink. When she was done she returned to Miles and whispered, “So whadya think? You think I’m right?”

He had that ridiculously sexy grin plastered on his face again, the wattage decidedly turned up a notch. “That guy is staying at my hotel. You’re only half right, though. He drives a nineteen sixty-five Corvette Stingray, but it isn’t yellow, it’s Incredible Hulk green.”

Jamie shuddered. “Even worse. And the guy should be taken behind a woodshed and beaten for mutilating an American classic like that. Not to mention the fact that he’s corrupting a minor.”

“Agreed.”

They giggled like naughty schoolchildren making fun of the substitute teacher’s ten-buck toupee, and something about it felt good. Familiar. Like having an inside joke with an old friend.

“You’re a bad influence on me.” She swiped underneath her eye with the heel of her hand, careful not to ruin her makeup. “I shouldn’t be making fun of the customers.”

“You’re telling me you wouldn’t have slammed that guy’s superhero-inspired midlife crisis on wheels if I wasn’t here?” He smiled at her. “Then I’m really glad I came. Face it, you might not want to talk about it, but you needed a good laugh tonight.”

About the Bad Boys Gone Good Series

Love Me Not explores the story of Jamie Charles and Miles Copeland. When these characters were introduced in Book #1–Making the First Move–they were already a couple, and Jamie had undergone a transformation. In that book we were given glimpses of what led to that change. Love Me Not steps backward, to tell the story of how Jamie met Miles.

If you haven’t already read Making the First Move…don’t. Read Love Me Not first.

Comment on this post, follow this blog, or choose one of the other available options to enter the Love Me Not blog tour contest below for your chance to win a $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble Gift Card, a $10 Starbucks e-Card and both books in the Bad Boys Gone Good series to date–Love Me Not & Making the First Move.

Bio:

Reese Ryan writes sexy, contemporary fiction filled with colorful characters and sinfully-sweet romance. She secretly enjoys torturing her heroines with family and career drama, reformed bad boys, revealed secrets, and the occasional identity crisis, but always rewards them with a happily ever after.

Born and raised in the Midwest, she now resides in Central North Carolina where she has happily declared herself a Bohemian Southern Belle. Visit Reese online at ReeseRyan.com. Follow her on Twitter @ReeseRyanWrites. Connect with her on Facebook or Goodreads.

Love Me Not Blog Tour Grand Prize

$25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble Gift Card
$10 Starbucks e-Card
Digital copy of Love Me Not by Reese Ryan
Digital copy of Making the First Move by Reese Ryan

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I Heart Bad Boys Gone Good

November 5, 2013 by ReeseRyan

Love Me Not by Reese Ryan — Available for pre-order on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Today I’m over at the Contemporary Romance Café talking about my love of bad boys in film and literature. James Bond, Raylan Givens and Jonny Miller’s Sherlock Holmes, anyone?

I’m also talking a little about the romantic notion that the love of a good woman can change an inherently bad boy into the perfect prince. (Doesn’t work when you kiss frogs in real life either!)

Lastly, I’m pulling back a few layers and revealing secrets about three of the bad boy heroes in my ongoing Bad Boys Gone Good series. Grab a cup of coffee and your favorite pastry then join us over at the Café and tell us who your favorite bad boys are in books, television and film.

If you’d like to sample the first two chapter of Love Me Not–the next installment in my Bad Boys Gone Good series–be sure to join my mailing list below. You’ll get immediate access to your two free chapters once you confirm your subscription to the email list. For other goodies, be sure to visit my new Reader page.