Dear Author » Save the Contemporary

UPDATED with WINNERS STC: Yours to Keep by Shannon Stacey & Giveaway

Jane — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 09:00:15 +0000

UPDATED WITH WINNERS:

You tweeted, you emailed, you tweeted some more, and some of you won copies of the book – and you helped us spread the word.

Really, that’s what this campaign is about: helping us promote a contemporary romance we thought was truly, truly awesome. Thank you for helping us out with that goal.

And now, we have a winner! One person who tweeted, emailed, or helped us promote the Save the Contemporary webpage will win her choice of a nook Touch, a Kobo Touch, or a Kindle with Special Offers (I call it the “Friends with benefits Kindle”) – and that winner is: Brenda Leon!!

Congratulations, Brenda, and thank you for helping us spread the word about excellent contemporary romance!

FOR THE BOOKS (and you have all been emailed)

1) LisaCharlotte
2) brendaC
3) TrishJ
4) ruth
5) kathybaug

*****

It’s been awhile, but our multi-blog campaign to Save the Contemporary is back. If you’re not familiar with it, don’t worry – it has been a very long time since we’ve run one. If a contemporary romance that both Sarah and I enjoy enough to recommend or as Sarah says “to pimp the ever lovin’ holy moses out of a book.” This time it’s Yours to Keep by Shannon Stacey. We ask for help spreading the word about a contemporary romance that rocked our worlds, and we award prizes during a week of pimping mayhem.

As I wrote over at the Save the Contemporary website (conveniently enabled for contest-entry-worthy pimpage) that To say that our tastes don’t exactly align is an understatement so it is a rare and wondrous thing when we both like a book and we both loved Shannon Stacey’s Yours to Keep. It’s funny, heartwarming, sexy and moving. A straight up contemp that focuses just on the characters. And there’s a how to element in it too. How to use Scrabble to defeat and embarrass others. You’ll want to read that section a few times so that you can employ it against your own fake fiance.

Sarah points out that In addition, you will think of new and creative ways to use sticky notes, too. Better than flowers, let me tell you.

So here’s how you enter: email, blog or tweet the Save the Contemporary page or enter the #StC campaign on Twitter, and we will enter you to win an eReader of your choice (options include Nook touch, Kobo Touch, or a Kindle 3G with special offers). If you blog about the book, email us the URL at sbjcontestsATgmailDOTcom so we make double-sure we’ve got your entry. That’s it.

You can also visit the Save the Contemporary Facebook page if you are so inclined for more information about the campaign this week, though the Facebook Police would like me to tell you that doing so does not constitute an entry in the contest nor does it guarantee minty-fresh breath.

Contest ends Friday at 12 noon Central Daylight Time. We are not being compensated for this contest. Void where prohibited. Your mileage may vary. Objects in mirror may be closer than they appear. Step up to the bar, put the girl down. Drink brass monkey then pass it around.

But wait, there’s more. We’ll also be giving away copies of the book on Twitter all this week, so follow the #stc hashtag, where Jane (@jane_L) and I (@Smartbitches) will be creating additional mayhem and shenanigans.

Why are we doing this? Because we loved this book. Plain and simple. We both read advanced copies and were filled with Good Book Feeling when we were doing. The Good Book Noise was made. Noise and funk were brought in. Seriously, we loved this book, and we hope you love it, too. Game on!

I’ll have a review later today or you can just buy the book and just for yourself. OR leave a comment and you can be entered to win one of five copies gifted from Kindle, Kobo, or AllRomanceEbooks sponsored by Dear Author. I view this as putting our money where our mouth is. We are willing to give out copies of this book because we really believe you will enjoy it.

Save the Contemporary, One Book at a Time

Jane — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 14:15:33 +0000

Did you know that straight contemps are still a hard sell? It’s true. And while contemporary sales are up, we aren’t backing down from our support. Sarah and I are back to celebrate the contemporary romance with a recommendation and a contest for you readers. We don’t pick a book every month so that when we launch the STC you know that you are getting a recommendation for a book that we both really loved.

Erin McCarthy is one of our favorite contemporary authors. She brings the funny, the great dialogue, the steamy sex, and, of course, the great romance. In Hot Finish, readers are treated to the reunited lovers story about a woman who never believed she was good enough and a man determined to show her that she has always been the best thing that happened to him.

Share your love for the contemporary by spreading the good word about this book either by writing about this campaign on your blog*, Facebook*, Twitter (use #stc hashtag), or by going to SavetheContemporary.com and emailing the Hot Finish post to a friend.

You can steal the code for this graphic here:

Spread the good word, save the contemporary, and you’ll be entered to win an iPod Touch, 8 GB.

*If you blog this or post on Facebook, send the link to sbjcontestsATgmail.com

Save the Contemporary Closes But Coupon Still Good

Jane — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 04:10:40 +0000

Thanks to Harlequin, we have extended coupon shopping opportunity!

Now until 31 August 2009 use Coupon Code BLOGSPECIAL for an additional 15% off. It’s not just for Save the Contemporary – it’s all month long.

Thanks Harlequin! It’s shopping time!

*****

Time to announce the Save the Contemporary winners!

Our blog/email winner, who will receive a LUSH Bath bomb, a Harlequin bag, and a set of both books, is Mari, who emailed about the books – thanks Mari!

And our Twitter winner is: Joanne Levy!

And our Grand Prize Winner is…

*drumroll please*

Winning a Harlequin vintage art tote bag, both of the Save the Contemporary books, and the big honking awesome box of True Romance from LUSH: Jen Amber Autumn. Yay! (Jen! Email sarahATsmartbitchestrashybooksDOTcom with your mailing address!)

And for the next hour or two, you can still shop for ebooks at eHarlequin.com, for a total of 25% off the digital list price. The coupon code is BLOGSPECIAL, and you can use it at checkout for purchases storewide at eHarlequin.com. The coupon will expire in a few hours so shop wisely! And, like, now!

Thank you to Harlequin for sponsoring such great prizes and offering a coupon for everyone to win a discount on their favorite books. And thank you to… well, you, for spreading the word about contemporary romance. If you have any ideas for upcoming romances that are contemporary and also incredibly awesome, please let us know. Happy reading!

Last Call: Save the Contemporary

Jane — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:38:45 +0000

Only a few more hours until our Save the Contemporary campaign ends for this month.

First up, with this promotion, thanks to Harlequin EVERYONE wins a hoppin’ big discount!

For the duration of the Save the Contemporary campaign this week only, Harlequin’s digital team is offering an additional 15% off the eBooks at eHarlequin.com, for a total of 25% off the digital list price. The coupon code is BLOGSPECIAL, and you can use it at checkout for purchases storewide at eHarlequin.com.

For more prizes, you can enter to win our daily giveaway, and the grand prize, too.

Visit SavetheContemporary.com and tweet or email the link to someone, and you’re entered to win. Or, you can email us at {encode=”sbj.contests@gmail.com” title=”sbj.contests@gmail.com”} with a link to your blog entry about Save the Contemporary. The more times you forward the details of this giveaway, the greater chance you have of winning. If you Tweet, please use hashtag #stc so we can find yours.

Tonight at 9pm EST we’ll announce our two daily winners, one from the #stc stream and one from the email/blog entries.

Daily winners take home a vintage art totebag from Harlequin, copies of BOTH Save the Contemporary books, and a Lush Bath Bomb for use while reading the books.

But wait, there’s more! Also at 9pm, we’ll announce our Grand Prize winner, who takes home the bag, the books, and a the LUSH True Romance gift set, which includes massage bar, bath bombs and other treats.

Thank to Harlequin for hooking us up like whoa and boy howdy, and to Lush for having bath products that are lust-worthy. Going shopping for the bath prizes is just going to be miserable, really. Not at all.

Save the Contemporary Daily Winner

Jane — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 01:46:27 +0000

Our daily winner for Part 2:

Christine Flynna via Twitter
Caffey via email/blog (she sent many an email recommending the post and contest)

Tomorrow on Friday at 9pm EST, we’ll pick our grand prize winner from all who entered, and the grand prize winner will receive a Harlequin cover art bag, a copy of each book, and the LUSH True Romance gift set, which includes massage bar, bath bombs and other treats. Keep tweeting and emailing the contest.

PLUS, for the duration of the Save the Contemporary campaign this week only, Harlequin’s digital team is offering an additional 15% off the eBooks at eHarlequin, for a total of 25% off the digital list price. The coupon code is BLOGSPECIAL, and you can use it at checkout for purchases storewide at eHarlequin.com.

Special huge thanks to Harlequin for the books and the bags and the coupon-y goodness!

Save the Contemporary Daily Winner

Jane — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 01:20:54 +0000

Our daily winner for Part 2:

Janoda via Twitter
Moth via email/blog (she sent many an email recommending the post and contest)

Part two of our Save the Contemporary contest keeps on chugging though and YOU CAN STILL WIN: Every day this week at 9pm EST, two winners a day will be chosen from those who Twitter about the Save the Contemporary campaign (#stc) and from those who blog about or email the contest entry. To email, simply forward the details to a friend using the "Email This Page" link at Save the Contemporary.com , or or email us at sbj.contests@gmail.com with a link to your blog entry. The more times you forward the details of this giveaway, the greater chance you have of winning. For the Tweet campaign, use the "Share This" button and twitter the contest link, along with whatever you want to say about contemporary category romances — but don’t forget the #stc tag!

WHAT THE ABOUT THE PRIZES

We’ll pick one winner a day at 9pm EST/8pm CST from those who blog/email, and one from that day’s #stc tweets. Each daily winner will receive:

a Harlequin vintage cover art bag with a copy of each book
a bath bomb from LUSH for use while reading the books

Finally, on Friday at 9pm EST, we’ll pick our grand prize winner from all who entered, and the grand prize winner will receive a Harlequin cover art bag, a copy of each book, and the LUSH True Romance gift set, which includes massage bar, bath bombs and other treats.

Jane and Sarah are all about the True Romance, after all.

Special huge thanks to Harlequin for the books and the bags and the coupon-y goodness!

Save the Contemporary, Category Style WINNERS

Jane — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 01:46:16 +0000

Part one of our Save the Contemporary contest is completed. The following winners will receive a copy of each of the winning books, Hot Under Pressure by Kathleen O’Reilly (review by SB Sarah) and The Magnate’s Make Believe Mistress by Bronwyn Jameson (review by Jane):

Kat
Camilla
Sally
SandyW
Ros
Jenny
Kim
Keira
Meghan B
Kate
Carin

Our daily winner for Part 2:

HockeyVampiress via Twitter
Melonie J via email/blog

WHAT THE ABOUT THE PRIZES

We’ll pick one winner a day at 9pm EST/8pm CST from those who blog/email, and one from that day’s #stc tweets. Each daily winner will receive:

a Harlequin vintage cover art bag with a copy of each book
a bath bomb from LUSH for use while reading the books

Jane and Sarah are all about the True Romance, after all.

Special huge thanks to Harlequin for the books and the bags and the coupon-y goodness!

Save the Contemporary, Category Style

Jane — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 10:00:04 +0000

It’s time for another Save the Contemporary campaign, with Dear Author, Smart Bitches, and prizes from Harlequin!

This time, we’re featuring two books – yes, two. Some of the great contemporary stories are found in category romance, so we’ve picked two books that we both really loved.

Hot Under Pressure by Kathleen O’Reilly (review by SB Sarah)
The Magnate’s Make Believe Mistress by Bronwyn Jameson (review by Jane)

Our contest takes its inspiration from Kathleen O’Reilly, who was explaining to Sarah what made category romance so great:

…a category novel will exactly fit the time it takes for me to run a hot tub of water until the water turns too cold to stand, which is the exact amount of peace I have until my family figures out where I’m hiding.

To encourage total indulgence, relaxation, and contemporary romance reading, Jane and Sarah have put together a multi-part contest with daily prizes this week only, plus a grand prize at the end.

HOW TO ENTER

First: at 9pm EST, 8pm CST, today (4 August) Jane and Sarah will select 10 winners from the comments to this entry on each of their sites. Those lucky winners will receive a copy of both Hot Under Pressure by Kathleen O’Reilly and The Magnate’s Make Believe Mistress by Bronwyn Jameson.

Second: every day this week at 9pm EST, two winners a day will be chosen from those who Twitter about the Save the Contemporary campaign (#stc) and from those who blog about or email the contest entry. To email, simply forward the details to a friend using the "Email This Page" link at Save the Contemporary.com , or or email us at sbj.contests@gmail.com with a link to your blog entry. The more times you forward the details of this giveaway, the greater chance you have of winning. For the Tweet campaign, use the "Share This" button and twitter the contest link, along with whatever you want to say about contemporary category romances — but don’t forget the #stc tag!

To sum up, leave a comment to win a copy of the books. Make the contest viral by either going to “savethecontemporary.com” to use the Email This Page / Share This or twittering the contest using #stc. Virality = more prizes!

WHAT THE ABOUT THE PRIZES

We’ll pick one winner a day at 9pm EST/8pm CST from those who blog/email, and one from that day’s #stc tweets. Each daily winner will receive:

a Harlequin vintage cover art bag with a copy of each book
a bath bomb from LUSH for use while reading the books

Jane and Sarah are all about the True Romance, after all.

Special huge thanks to Harlequin for the books and the bags and the coupon-y goodness!

Head over to SaveTheContemporary.com for the details, and help us spread the word about great romance by helping us save the contemporary.

Winners of Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas

Jane — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:20:00 +0000

We love the contemporary like Damn and Whoa (tm SmartBitch Sarah) so we’ve created a special little online place for them at http://savethecontemporary.com and we’ve run a kind of monthly campaign highlighting a different book.

This month’s book was Lisa Kleypas’ Smooth Talking Stranger which Jane described as a Snoopy book (Happiness is a warm puppy) and Sarah described as the book as having suds that stays with you. Which, in real person terms means we both loved the book and wanted an effective way of telling others we loved it to.

From now until April 6, 2009, Borders is offering30% off all pre-orders, so if you’re thinking of buying it, you’ve got 30% more (or less) incentive to do so.

If you are a reader, author, or ameoba, you can use the “savethecontemporary.com” site to recommend your favorite contemporary reads too. Take a look. In the meantime, the following folks won a copy of Smooth Talking Stranger. Please send your snailmail to jane at dearauthor.com.

Lorigreen
janajhanson
Bonnie_Ferguson
Stephanie Makowski
Kim C
cammY
Elizabeth Lester
Alissa Davis
Kwana
Kym
junedaisy
Lou_bookpusher
Keira S
Mollie M
Christina Tu
Cheryl C
Sarah Louise G
Pam P
rebjy
Rebecca S

Save the Contemporary: Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas

Jane — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 11:21:41 +0000

We’re starting a new pile of awesome. We’ve created a new site just for the Save the Contemporary campaign. We’ll be announcing future contests both at SmartBitches and here and steering interested folks who like free books and awesome prizes over to the new site.

This month? Smooth Talking Stranger, by Lisa Kleypas. Sarah and I both really enjoyed this book. Sarah finished reading it and literally had to go lie down and sniffle. Her eyes were stinging, her smile was wobbly, and she had Good Book Sniffles. I wrote about it earlier today in my ode to the comfort read. It’s Snoopy. The book, that is.

As usual, we want to spread the word about this book, and about contemporary romance. Head on over to the Save the Contemporary site, and forward the announcement of the Lisa Kleypas book using the “Email this Page” link at the top, or spread the word via Twitter using the hashtag #stc – making sure to alert either jane (@jane_l) or me (@smartbitches). Or, you can write about the campaign, link to the site, and email us a link at sbjcontests@gmail.com.

Every time you forward, email, tweet or blog about it and notify us that you’ve done so, you’re entered for a chance to win one of 20 copies of the book, courtesy of St. Martin’s. We’ll announce the winners in 24 hours of those 20 copies.

But don’t stop emailing, tweeting or blogging about it because, a week from now, we’ll pick one random entry and give away a grand prize package of 20 books from St. Martin’s backlist.

We’ve also set up a recommendation page, so if you’ve read a contemporary romance you adored, please let us know.

And, last but not least, from now until the book’s release on 31 March, Borders is offering30% off all pre-orders, so if you’re thinking of buying it, you’ve got 30% more (or less) incentive to do so.

Happy reading, and spread the word: Save the Contemporary!

10 Winners of the Instant Attraction by Jill Shalvis Giveaway

Jane — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:58:24 +0000

The following commenters are the random winners to the Save the Contemporary Campaign featuring the late January release of Instant Attraction by Jill Shalvis.

The winners are:

Peggy P
Victoria W
rd2129
Lori S.
Bonnie L
Brandy W
Jessica
Darby Lohrding
El
Edith

I’ve sent an email to the winners requesting a snail mail address so we can ship the books out right away. For those who did not win, but want to help spread the word and be entered to win the Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder, don’t forget about our “Save the Contemporary” Campaign widget and gif.

The Spread the Word winner will be announced in 1 week, so tune in on Monday 26 January to see who wins a book and a really kickass video camera in our quest to Save the Contemporary.

Why? Because if there’s one thing that makes us sad, it’s the idea of contemporary romance dying out. So spread the word, buy a contemporary, and save the world.

Save the Contemporary, Part 3: Instant Attraction by Jill Shalvis

Jane — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:00:08 +0000

UPDATE: The comments are closed but the good news is that Kensington is upping its copies for giveaway to 20! SB Sarah and I each have 10 books, instead of the original 5. We’ll announce the winners later today. Thank you so much commenters and thank you so much Kensington.

***

Here’s the deal: we dig this book. We dig this book like damn and whoa, and we think you will too. And yet, so many people say the contemporary romance is a dying breed. So, in order to spread the word and the opportunity to read it we’re doing a multi-level giveaway in tandem with our reviews of Instant Attraction.

Part the First: free books! Leave a comment and you’re automatically entered to win a copy. We each have 5 paper copies of the book give away, so drop a word here and at Dear Author and double your chances. Comments will be open for 24 hours starting now.

Second: Spread the Word! Below is a Sprout widget about our campaign, and a simpler animated graphic. Right-click-and-save the graphic, or grab the Sprout for yourself, and put it on your site. Let us know that you’ve done so via email (sbj.contest@gmail.com), and you’ll be entered to win a copy of the book, plus a Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder.

Spread the word, let us know, and you’re entered to win. That’s it.

The Spread the Word winner will be announced in 1 week, so tune in on Monday 26 January to see who wins a book and a really kickass video camera in our quest to Save the Contemporary.

Why? Because if there’s one thing that makes us sad, it’s the idea of contemporary romance dying out. So spread the word, buy a contemporary, and save the world.

REVIEW: Instant Attraction by Jill Shalvis

Jane — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 10:00:15 +0000

Dear Ms. Shalvis:

I’ve read and enjoyed Blaze books written by you and I’ve purchased your full length books in the past but it wasn’t until I got a prod from SB Sarah that I actually read one of your full length novels. I’m so glad I did.

Katie Kramer survives a near fatal tragedy and determines that she must live big else her survival would have been wasted. This newfound enthusiasm for adventure leads her to take a job with Wilder Adventures. Wilder Adventures is an extreme winter resort in the Sierra Madre mountains run by the Wilder brothers. It is also the home of Cam Wilder, a champion snowboarder, whose long and glorious career ended during a race the previous year.

Cam was world weary and heart sore and all the traveling around the globe didn’t help him find the answer to how to live with the loss of his skill, his fame, and his relationship with his long time girlfriend, Serena. He was a thrill seeker to the nth degree with no mountain to great a challenge for his board and body. His zest for life seemed to be crushed with the career ending injury to his knee.

Cam returns home after a year of wandering the world to find Katie in his bed. Too tired to deal with the confusion, Cam collapses on a chair next to the bed and proceeds to fall asleep despite Katie’s questioning whether he is an ax-murderer. The two have an immediate attraction which Katie embraces and Cam runs from. Katie sees Cam as part of her big adventure and Cam senses that Katie poses a big risk for him. Neither are ready for any long term relationship. To presume that Katie is the more courageous only skims the surface of the story because Cam and Katie are a study in how we hide our weaknesses by pretending they are our strengths.

Katie lived her life with precision and carefulness until that one fateful day. She then endeavored to essentially live with Cam’s outlook on life (not knowing Cam, of course). She wanted to become that thrill seeker. Cam lives pursuing challenges, each one greater than the last, but only in the physical sense. He’s not a good risk himself because when it comes to people, the first hint of difficulty sees Cam leaving. Katie, while living with her heart on the outside of her body, uses her openness as shield to hide from people, from hurt, and from fear and guilt of living.

So in some sense, Katie and Cam’s search for adventure is all about masking the real hollowness inside. Katie has to stop hiding from the real effects of her trauma and Cam has to stop running and address the challenge of living inside his own skin.

I admit that I initially had a problem with snowboarder Cam because he simply was a snowboarder. He just didn’t fit my idea of a hero because snowboarding seems so . . . youthful, but you really won me over. And as much as I liked Cam whose vulnerability ran just beneath surface, it is Katie who carries this book. There is a real sense of joy in her character, despite her loss. While neither Cam nor Kate are full of much real courage in the beginning, they both grow by asborbing the others’ strengths. Katie becomes less fearful and Cam becomes more open and together the discover that their connection to each other makes them stronger inside where all the external thrills could not begin to compensate.

My complaints are fairly weak. There is a certain homogenity to the narration of the Wilder brothers. I didn’t feel that they had distinct personalities. Sometimes the sibling interaction seemed cliched, as if there was an obvious effort to make all of the Wilder boys irresistible to seed the future books in the series.

There is a delightful secondary romance as the Wilder aunt, Annie, and her longtime husband, salveage the marriage that has gone stale. There was a lot of nuance in this story that came as an unexpected surprise. I mentioned to Sarah that this was Cruise-like in its tone with the smart dialog, the engaging characters, and the slightly ensemble cast. Can’t wait for more Wilder stories. B

Best regards

Jane

This book can be purchased in trade paperback from Amazon or ebook format from the Sony Store and other etailers on January 27, 2009. We’ll be giving away copies of the book later today so stay tuned.

SBJ’s Save The Contemporary Giveaway: Victoria Dahl’s Talk Me Down

Jane — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:00:55 +0000

And Now: Buy a Contemporary, Save the World

Here’s the deal: SB & J dig this book. We dig this book like damn and whoa, and we think you will too. And yet, so many people say the contemporary romance is a dying breed. So, in order to spread the word and the opportunity to read it we’re doing a multi-level giveaway in tandem with our reviews of Talk Me Down.

In conjunction with the great giveaway below, Borders is offering a $1.00 coupon on any order of Talk Me Down to help “save the contemporary” but mostly to help debut contemporary writer Victoria Dahl and her book Talk Me Down. Visit Borders.com between December 15, 2008, and January 15, 2009, and you can save $1 on Talk Me Down. Simply enter promotion code HAR1222D during checkout.

Now, onto the giveaway:

Part the First: free books! Leave a comment with the preferred format (i.e., paper/ebook), and you’re automatically entered to win a copy. We each have 5 paper copies of the book plus 2 ebooks to give away, so drop a word here and at Dear Author and double your chances. Comments will be open for 48 hours starting now.

Second: Spread the Word! Below is a Sprout widget about our campaign, and a simpler animated graphic. Right-click-and-save the graphic, or grab the Sprout for yourself, and put it on your site. Let us know that you’ve done so via email, and you’ll be entered to win a copy of the book, plus a 1GB iPod shuffle, and a $75 gift certificate to iTunes.

Spread the word, let us know, and you’re entered to win. That’s it.

or download this gif:

The Spread the Word winner will be announced in 1 week, so tune in on Monday 22 December to see who wins a book, an iPod, and some righteous tunage in our quest to Save the Contemporary.

Why? Because if there’s one thing that makes us sad, it’s the idea of contemporary romance dying out. So spread the word, buy a contemporary (with the coupon code at Borders for a $1.00 (HAR1222D), and save the world.

Save the Contemporary Winner

Jane — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:30:35 +0000

And the random integer generator has spoken. Over 80 people spread the word, and many a person mentioned their hope that the contemporary romance will not die but flourish happily. We certainly hope so.

Without further ado, or any ado at all, the winner is:

Margay! at http://www.myspace.com/margay1122

Congrats – please email Sarah or Jane or both, and we’ll make arrangements for a massive Amazon gift certificate to the tune of $100 to be delivered unto the inbox of your choice. Thanks for spreading the word, and stay tuned for more from Dear Author and Smart Bitches as we try to Save the Contemporary.

REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: Flat Out Sexy by Erin McCarthy

Jane — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 09:00:04 +0000

I’ve mentioned before that the contemporary romances that doesn’t feature vampires, campy vampires, werewolves, immortal peril, mortal peril, suspense out the wahoo, or extraordinary extraterrestrial extraneous circumstances seem to be fewer and far between. Every now and again I hear declarations that the contemporary romance is a dying subgenre and it’s harder and harder to find, and that if you’re not an established name, you’ll never get anywhere, because fewer people want to read contemporary romance.

So when Sarah and I read Flat Out Sexy by Erin McCarthy, we were both blathering to each other about how awesome it was and how refreshing to have actual conflict between people caused by realistic tension stemming from ordinary life experiences between two marvelous characters. Contemporary romance done right? More please! So, following this review, read more about a multi-level contest sponsored by Dear Author, Smart Bitches, Berkeley and Erin McCarthy, a contest we hope will be a semi-regular feature here and at Smart Bitches where we try to Save the Contemporary.

***

Dear Ms. McCarthy:

I have a confession to make and it might not be one you want to hear. I know that when you first started out, you wrote funny sexy contemporaries, then you branched out a bit and wrote funny sexy contemporaries featuring vampires. Then you branched out even more and wrote serious contemporaries featuring various immortal beings and those books, well, they just didn’t appeal to me as much as your light hearted contemporaries. So I admit that it was with some glee that I received Flat Out Sexy. I recall reading this book and thinking it was a lot of fun. I hadn’t thought about it again.

Then SB Sarah emailed me about the book with an “Ohmigod, this is great”, it began an exchange of “and wasn’t this a great scene when she wondered if she was a cougar?” and wasn’t it funny when Ryder told the two of them that he was running out of properties for them to have sex on? I ended up reading the book a second time and enjoyed it just as much as the first. Straight contemporaries seem to be a dying breed and I’m always glad to through my support behind a good one.

Tamara Briggs is a thirty-two year old widow with two small kids. Her deceased husband of a famous stock car driver who died in a crash. She’s still, reluctantly part of the racing scene, because her in-laws but if she remarries, it will be to a “man with a regular nine-to-five job, who came home for dinner, and who cut the grass on the weekend. A man who didn’t drive around the track at one hundred and eighty-five miles an hour every weekend, tempting fate.”

Of course, who would rev up her engine but young driver, Elec Monroe. Elec is younger than Tamara, and is the son of a racing legend, Elliott Monroe. He had been part of the racing scene since a youth. Initially, I think Elec is drawn to Tamara because of an aura that he thinks she exudes. He uses descriptions such as “classy, elegant, sophisticated.” I wondered if this was an early signal to readers to prepare them that Elec was going to be emotionally ready for Tamara because the reader has to overcome the suspension of disbelief that a young man who is living a fast and glamorous life would want to settle down with a woman six years his senior. It wasn’t hard to believe that Elec had fallen hard for Tamara. She was a great mother, a good friend, and a caring daughter. Plus, Elec was clearly over the moon in lust with Tamara. I appreciated that Elec was written with a youthful touch, that there wasn’t an attempt to make him sound older or more mature and that he still acted impulsively at times. It made their relationship more genuine and believable.

I know very little about Nascar other than having watched that bad Will Farrell movie, Talledega Nights and some special on RVs on the HGTV network which included a segment about souped up RVs for famous Nascar folks. There were enough details in the story to make it sound authentic to me but a Nascar fan might disagree. While the book doesn’t mention “Nascar”, I just inserted it automatically since it was about pro stock car racing.

It was great fun to watch the older Tamara run like hell after their one night stand and have to bluster about it not being a one night stand when called on it by Elec. In a nice role reversal, Tamara really does want to just have sex with Elec only he doesn’t want that and once he gets an inkling that is all she’s interested in, he takes the opportunity to set her straight.

I appreciated that Tamara’s former husband wasn’t demonized. He fit the stereotypical athlete but not in terms of womanizing. He was more addicted to the thrill and the fame and less addicted to his family. One element that wasn’t explored a great deal was why Elec was different; what was it about his personality or his upbringing or his past (which actually seemed very similar to the deceased husband) that made him less interested in the trappings of a successful race car driver.

Another element that didn’t seem to get adequate attention was the Hatfield/McCoy storyline that was raised between Elec’s family and Tamara’s inlaws, both racing powerhouses. The “secret” of the feud was never revealed. It was unclear why it wasn’t revealed either.

Probably the greatest strength of this book besides the sexiness (and yes, it is super sexy) is the humor, so I’ll end the review with a couple of excerpts. This is a scene from the morning after the one night stand:

She flushed, feeling the heat rise up her neck and into her cheeks. “It’s not what it looks like,” she said to Ryder, which was perhaps the stupidest thing she had ever said in her entire life.

That ridiculous lie in the face of the obvious seemed to break through Ryder’s shock. He burst out with a laugh. “Oh, I think it’s exactly what it looks like.” He grinned. “Guess Elec saw you home safely. Knew I could count on him.”

Ryder moved through the room to his closet, still grinning. “I hate to be the voice of reason-’I mean, when does that ever happen? But it’s damn near noon. I have to grab my uniform and head to the pre-race meetings with my team. I would imagine you have to do the same, rookie.”

…

Oh my God.

It was Elec. “I know you,” she said, struck dumb. “You were at a barbeque at the Briggses a long time ago. You got drunk on pilfered beer and took your daddy’s car and did doughnuts on the front lawn.”

Elec rubbed his chin and gave a sheepish smile. “Guilty as charged. But they shouldn’t have left the beer keg unattended. It was too much a temptation for a teenage boy.”

Tamara started to think she just might faint. Dear God in heaven, she had slept with a teenager. She was a molester. She scooted back on the mattress, trying to get off the same pillow as him, put some space, any space, between them. “You were like twelve then! How old are you now? My Lord, Elec, I’m old enough to be your mother!”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said, not looking at all concerned that she had just done a Mrs. Robinson on him. He reached for her, touching her hip, hauling her back a little toward him. “That was more than ten years ago, I imagine. And if you’re old enough to have a twenty-six-year-old child, I’ll eat my car, part by part.”

“You’re twenty-six?” Tamara’s heart rate slowed a little. That didn’t sound quite as bad. She’d been thinking early twenties, but at least he was heading toward thirty.

“Well, almost. In a couple of months.”

“Oh, my God!” She panicked and ducked under the sheet.

The morning after scene is one of my favorites in the book even though the dinner with Elec, Tamara, her friend, Suzanne, Suzanne’s ex, Ty and his bimbo du jour is another priceless piece of entertainment and if a reader is interested in knowing what that scene reads like, well, she’ll have to read the book. B+

Best regards,

Jane

This book can be purchased in trade paperback from Amazon or Powells on November 4, 2008. Ebook format forthcoming.

***

And Now: Buy a Contemporary, Save the World

Here’s the deal: we dig this book. We dig this book like damn and whoa, and we think you will too. So, in order to spread the word and the opportunity to read it we’re doing a multi-level giveaway in tandem with our reviews of Flat Out Sexy. Sarah and I are putting money where our mouth is by offering up a 1/3 of the prize money each. We coerced Ms. McCarthy to throw in some cash to the kitty and Berkley is adding 20 copies of the book.

Part the First: free books! Leave a comment, and you’re automatically entered to win a copy. We each have 10 copies of the book to give away, so drop a word Smart Bitches and here and double your chances. Comments will be open for 24 hours starting now.

Second: Spread the Word! Below is a Sprout widget about our campaign, and a simpler animated graphic. Right-click-and-save the graphic, or grab the Sprout for yourself (graphic at the top of the page), and put it on your site. Let us know that you’ve done so via email (sarah at smartbitchestrashybooks.com OR jane at dearauthor.com), and you’ll be entered to win a $100 gift certificate to Amazon.com, where you can buy this book, or many, many other books may suit your fancy. Spread the word, let us know, and you’re entered to win. That’s it.

The Spread the Word winner will be announced in 1 week, so tune in on Monday 27 October to see who wins a fierce Benjamin in our quest to Save the Contemporary.

Why? Because if there’s one thing that makes us sad, it’s the idea of contemporary romance dying out. So spread the word, buy a contemporary, and save the world.