Goddess Fish Party Pavilion: Sharla Lovelace

Showing posts with label Sharla Lovelace. Show all posts

Sunday, May 4, 2014

DON'T LET GO and a Giveaway!!

Wow, is the day over already? Oh…this is Sharla again one more time!

I’ve had a blast hanging with all of you today and giving away stuff! And I want to invite you all to come hang with me on Facebook if you are a Facebook-er! I am on there every day, talking to my readers and sharing things about my books and sometimes (a lot of times) just sharing funny things I’ve seen on the internet. I love humor and snark, and it draws me like a magnet. If you will go “Like” my author fan page at www.facebook.com/sharlalovelace, (and click on Receive Notifications) then we can stay connected and you will get the scoop on all my events and new releases and my coffee addiction, too.

Yeah, I’ve got it bad. :)

So, one last time, my latest novel is DON’T LET GO, and here’s a humorous moment to share with you…

Morning? Really? I opened my mouth to say something back, but nothing came out, so I licked my lips and fidgeted with my robe like a crazy woman.
“Too early?” he asked, as if that were a normal thing to say to me as well.
A laugh-scoff-snort thing fell out of my mouth, which I chalked up to rounding out the perfect start to the day. I coughed and cleared my throat.
“No, I’m—just getting ready for work.” I stepped back so he could come in, and held onto the door for dear life as I glared at Harley for just sitting there on the couch like a diva. Some guard dog. She should have had his leg chewed off by now. “Come in. There’s still coffee if you want some.” Oh, what the living hell was I babbling about?
Noah stepped in hesitantly, as if maybe he hadn’t thought things out that far. Maybe he expected me to slam the door or not be home or God only knows what. He gave me a sideways glance as he passed me, and I caught a subtle whiff of soap and shaving cream. I stared at the door as I closed it, as if it had betrayed me too, and then I turned on my heel and put myself in motion.
I walked straight past him to the open kitchen, trying not to really look at him. I knew he’d follow. He knew the way around my mother’s house. My house.
Harley’s curiosity finally got the better of her and she followed on his heels, making him turn around to check out the beast stalking him.
“Hey there, killer,” he said, holding out a hand for her to smell him, and then scratching her ears. “Are you nice?”
“That’s Harley,” I said. “I’m afraid growing up with two women has made her a big wuss.” I took a deep breath. “Coffee?” I asked again, opening a cabinet.
When he didn’t answer, I turned around, and felt my heart slam against my chest. He was standing on the other side of the big island from me, where I’d seen him so many times before. Except he was a man now. With something in his eyes that resembled lost.
“What?” I asked, though not much of the word came out.
Noah shook his head, and his expression cleared a little. “Just weird being back here, I guess. In this kitchen.” He gestured with a small hand flick. “Seeing you here.”
“I know the feeling,” I said softly, turning back to grab a mug whether he wanted one or not.
“Linny told me you were living here again,” he said. “Sorry to hear about your mom.”
My hands shook as I poured the hot black liquid and turned to set his mug on the counter.
“Thanks,” I managed to push out. “Sugar and creamer are right there,” I said with a gesture.
“Black’s fine,” he said.
I nodded and headed into the living room for my cup. Shit, Jules, breathe. I planned to come back, but he followed me. Shit. The kitchen felt more stable. We could stand up in there. Have the island between us. The living room was cozy and please-sit-and-stay-a-while. Granted, I did have to go to work—in an hour and a half. Shit.
I licked my lips again, and sat back down where I was earlier. Feet curled beneath me. Two pillows on my lap for security. I felt every centimeter of my nakedness under the robe, and wished for more clothing, but it was big enough for him not to know that. I just thanked God for giving me the wisdom to get ready early and not be sitting here with wet hair or raccoon eyes. And then I mentally kicked myself for caring. He didn’t. I wondered if his woman knew he was paying me a visit. Or if she even knew who I was.

Thank you all for visiting with me today, and I’m giving away a $5 e-gift card for Amazon, to a random commenter who just says anything. :) Ask me a question, just say bye. Say bye in another language…lol. You choose! Loved it guys!!! Have a great night!

Sharla Lovelace is the bestselling, award-winning author of small-town love stories. Being a Texas girl through and through, she’s proud to say she lives in Southeast Texas with her retired husband, a golf cart, a crazy mutt, and an aviary full of cockatiels. She is the author of The Reason Is You, Before and Ever Since, Just One Day, and the forthcoming Stay with Me, coming in summer 2014. For more about Sharla’s books, visit www.sharlalovelace.com. Sharla can also be easily found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sharlalovelace, and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/sharlalovelace.

First love and second chances with DON'T LET GO...Giveaway!

Hey everyone! It’s Sharla back again!

My latest novel, DON’T LET GO, is Jules and Noah’s story, about learning to step outside your own rules and rise above the secrets that eat away at you. It’s about first love and forgiveness. It’s about second chances.

Here’s a little snippet from DON’T LET GO…

One of his hands went to my face as if on autopilot, and I shut my eyes tight as the warmth of his hand against my cheek and hair nearly broke me. I could smell him, feel him, and I didn’t dare open my eyes to look at him. He’d see it.
“Noah, don’t,” I whispered through broken breaths. I reached up to pull his hand away, but then the other side of my head was cradled as well, and all my strength melted away. My grip on his hand stayed where it was, and I could feel the slight tremble. Or was that me?
I didn’t open my eyes until I felt his thumbs move across my cheeks, wiping away tears, and it hit me in the chest like a wrecking ball. He looked like someone had beaten the crap out of him from the inside. His eyelids were heavy, like a man who hadn’t slept in days. The turmoil radiating off of him was palpable.
That, plus the feel of his hands in my hair, the closeness of his body, so close I could feel him breathe, it was almost too much. His eyes went to my mouth, and for a second it was like ropes were pulling us together. I could nearly taste him.

Yum, huh? LOL!

For this giveaway, tell me the name of your first love. Just a first name, that’s all. You know you remember it, we all do. :) Random commenter will be picked to win a $5 e-gift card to Bath & Body! Great for you or a mother in your life!

See you back here one more time tonight before it ends at 9pm EST.

DON'T LET GO, teenagers, and a Giveaway!!

Hey readers! (Sharla here again!) Are you having fun in here today?

You know, Mother’s Day is steadily approaching. And it makes me think of all the parental themes I’ve had in my books. I always have strong mother-child relationship themes in my stories, that’s just a place I always go. It’s right on up there with the love story. And it’s funny, because my first book, THE REASON IS YOU, had a mother of a 16 year old. Which strongly mirrored my daughter and I at that time. In BEFORE AND EVER SINCE, the daughter was 21…which was my son’s age at the time. Now, my daughter is 19 and out on her own, and last year we went through the whole senior year of high school thing.

Have you done that? Because I want to high five you and hug you because that was more brutal than the terrible twos. Seriously. My son was easy. My daughter made me gray.

In DON’T LET GO, the relationship between Jules and her 17 year old high senior daughter Becca isn’t rosy, and it all came honestly, I promise you. LOL.

Here’s a little scene that highlights that…

The cheeseburger only made me want more crap, so I figured that nachos would be a good follow up for dinner that night. And the look on Becca’s face when she came in was nearly worth the empty calories we were about to consume. She looked almost as excited as Harley, who was sitting at my feet looking up at me like I was God.
“Are you dying?” she asked. “Am I?”
“Ha ha,” I said, chopping up the lettuce. “Check those beans in the microwave. See if they’re ready.”
She dropped her backpack where she stood and headed that way. “Is there a reason for the madness?”
“Is there a reason for your backpack on the floor?”
She waved a hand as she grabbed a spoon to stir the beans. “I’ll get it in a second.”
“And if you’d just put it on a chair to begin with, you wouldn’t have to get it, and we wouldn’t—”
“Be having this conversation?” she finished for me with a sarcastic expression. “Oh yes we would. You’d find a way.”
I sighed, already tired. “Becca.”
“Hi Mom,” she said, turning. “Can we just do that? Do we have to fight?” Her gaze landed on my jeans. “Did you go to work today?”
I closed my eyes and sucked my readied comment back in. “Yes I did. Hi, Bec. How was your day?”
“I passed my Government test.”
I stared at her. “There was really a test? Wonderful!” I said, grabbing the shredded cheese. “Sounds like a good day.”
“Yeah, well, until Jill Bartlett decided to be a douche,” she said, her shoulders slouching a little.
I glanced up. “And why is that?”
Becca shrugged and did the scrunch-up thing with her face that said the subject was about to be done. “Nothing. It was stupid.”
“So tell me.”
“I did tell you,” she said, widening her eyes without meeting mine. She grabbed a plate from the cabinet and started building her nachos. “It was nothing.”
“Nothing enough to mess up your day?” I asked, attempting another angle.
“Whatever, Mom, can we just eat?” she said, clearly done. And irritated.
“Yeah, whatever.” I blew out a breath. “You bring it up and then get mad at me for it.” I pulled the sour cream container from the fridge. “I swear, baby, you make me want to bang my head on the wall sometimes.”
“Ditto,” she muttered.
Well, so much for the relaxing girls’ night at home.

LOL, did that seem familiar to any of you? Because I’m pretty sure I lived that day once or twice.

I posted purchase links for DON’T LET GO in my previous post, but here is the Amazon link again in case you’d like it.

http://www.amazon.com/Sharla-Lovelace/e/B005AXCNC0/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Now for another little giveaway, why don’t you tell me a funny snippet about your kids, or something you did as a kid, or even just tell me I’m not alone and commiserate with me! LOL! A random commenter will be picked to win a $5 e-gift card to eBay!

See you soon!

All about the couples...who's your favorite? Giveaway!

Hi! I’m back again! When we last met, I told you a little bit about my latest novel, DON’T LET GO.

And we were talking about great hot couples, and on that note, I’d like to introduce a few of mine. J First up—because they were first up—was Dani and Alex from THE REASON IS YOU. There was a new guy thrown in the mix, too—Jason. But Dani and Alex had a history and a connection that went beyond…well, let’s just say “the norm”. I so had the hots for Alex. J

And then there was Ben and Emily. Sigh… from BEFORE AND EVER SINCE. You know, I love all my couples, and I would like to say I love them equally, but there was just something about Ben and Emily. The magnetism, the snark between them, the heat of their history, and the reactions every time they saw each other after 20 years apart… And I say all that like I had nothing to do with it, but honestly I didn’t. I never do. My characters come to me, and all I do is blurt out their story. I even had a button made up for Ben…because he’s a hot HOT carpenter/tool guy, and I just couldn’t get enough of him.

Annnnnnd then there was Andie and Jesse in JUST ONE DAY. A big nasty storm and a hot, hot chemistry while trapped in a Texas diner alone together. Nothing like a little stress to throw two people in the right circumstances, you know? This was my first novella to write, and it was so much fun.

In DON’T LET GO, my latest couple is Noah and Jules. This book is about first love and second chances.

Here’s the DON’T LET GO back cover blurb for you:

Noah Ryan and Jules Doucette spent every moment together, first as best friends and later as young lovers. The two had planned a life together—until one unspeakable decision tore them apart for good.

Twenty-six years later, Jules is still carefully living the life her mother planned out for her. She’s running her mother’s store, living in her mother’s house, following her mother’s rules, and keeping the secrets her mother made her bury.

Then Noah comes home and any sense of an ordered life flies out the window. Noah’s return does more than just stir up old memories—it forces Jules to see her life in a whole new way and uncovers secrets even she didn’t know were buried. Secrets that could easily destroy her world once more.

All my books can be found on my Goodreads page www.goodreads.com/sharlalovelace, on my Amazon page http://www.amazon.com/Sharla-Lovelace/e/B005AXCNC0/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1, on my website www.sharlalovelace.com.

Did y’all enjoy the last giveaway? Well, I have another one. How about a $5 e-gift card to Bed, Bath and Beyond? I love that place. Why don’t you tell me what story themes you seek out the most…what most draws you to a book? Random commenter chosen before next post! :)

Sharla Lovelace here! Introducing DON'T LET GO & a giveaway!

Hi y’all!! I’m Sharla Lovelace, and I’m SO excited to come hang out here today! It’s Sunday, and kind of mellow. We have a local carnival in town and have spent the last three days going out there for dinner. Yeah….not quite healthy and so I’m a lump today. :)

But I’ve had this….

Chocolate dipped cheesecake! So all is good. :)

There will be several of us coming out to visit today, and I’ll be here off and on all day. I’ll start by telling you a little bit about me… Official resume says this: Bestselling and Award winning author of THE REASON IS YOU, BEFORE AND EVER SINCE, JUST ONE DAY, and DON’T LET GO. Unofficially, I’m married, I live in Southeast Texas, have two grown children, one living across the state and the other living across the country serving in the Navy.

So I write in the evenings, am highly addicted to coffee and my DVR, I have an ongoing spreadsheet on what shows are what days (you can test me!), and I have a 6-month old mutt puppy named Gracie that sometimes resembles Cujo when she gets wound up.

All my stories are based in fictional Texas towns. And I do not write about cowboys. Don’t throw things, you cowboy lovers, I know Texas equals cowboys to many people but I’m not in that same truck. I love looking at photos of hot cowboys, most definitely, but I can’t write about them. See, where I grew up and live, the only cowboys you see are the ones who dress up that way to go to a country bar. And those are usually the ones who shouldn’t. Yanno? They don’t call women ‘darlin’ and they don’t look like those hot photos. I would love to find the place where THOSE guys live. LOL. If you know where they are, please tell me!

So the Texas guys I write about are a little more unorthodox. Ordinary heroes, I call them. Real men with real lives, falling for real women. I’ve had a bait shop owner, a diner owner, a carpenter, and a ghost J.

In my latest book, DON’T LET GO, my hero is a retired Navy Seal. (Yum) And I have a super soft spot for old flames. There is something so sexy about running into an old love. Sparks are already there, you get all shaky and wiggly inside, and you can see everything in a look. I LOVE that. In DON’T LET GO, the chemistry is there the very second they lay eyes on each other again.

Here’s a little snippet of that scene:

I raised the roll to my lips and the remaining chuckle froze in my throat as the door opened and in walked a couple. The small brunette woman was all in red and beautiful enough to make anyone notice, but it was the man.
A man I’d last seen as a seventeen year old boy. Unless you counted last night’s dream. My skin went cold and tingly, and my head felt like I’d been sucking helium. I felt the roll leave my fingers.
“Mom?” I heard Becca say. “Mom, what’s the matter?”
“Jules?” Hayden’s voice said in my ear.
But it was the eyes that travelled the room, looking nostalgic but wary as they took in every detail until they landed on me and stuck. I felt their weight. And went back to the last time we’d locked eyes.

“Noah.”

You like? :) Hot couples rock a good story. So tell me about your favorite couples. Books, TV, or movies… I love ‘em all! Like Johnny and Baby in Dirty Dancing! Luke and Lorelai in Gilmore Girls!

Tell you what. Comment below with your favorite couple, and I’ll pick a random commenter at my next post to win a $5 Starbucks e-gift card! Great for you, and also good to throw in a Mother’s Day basket!

DON’T LET GO is available at all e-tailer links, and below I’ve included the Amazon one. Yanno…in case you’re looking. :)

http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Let-Go-Sharla-Lovelace-ebook/dp/B00JMKD6YQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397324467&sr=8-1&keywords=don%27t+let+go+sharla+lovelace

Author Bio: