TRUTH & TEMPTATION is here! PLUS a giveaway!

Truth & Temptation is OUT, y'all! I'm so freaking excited, I could dance.

This book.

This book was the hardest thing I've written to date.

This book owns my heart.

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She's a liar. He knows the truth. 

Teagan Walker gets around. Ask anyone—hell, ask her. She'll own it with a smile. But beneath that smile is a girl whose parents didn't want her. Whose grandparents raised her without affection. Whose struggle with a burning anger threatens to consume her, though she'd rather punch someone in the face than talk about it. With a new job looming, she's determined to work her way into a better life. When she meets the sexiest guy she's ever seen, she decides to kick it off with a bang. And she makes her move. 

But he's got moves of his own, and before the night is out, he strips her of way more than she means to reveal—without removing of a single piece of clothing. That comes, too, of course. He's gotten under her skin like nobody before him, and what's the harm in one night with a sexy stranger? Exposed or not, she never has to see him again. 

Except she does. 

On Monday morning, they come face-to-face. He's the son of her new CEO—and he threatens to bring her entire world crashing down, making her face every lie she's ever told.

Buy it now!! <3

(Amazon | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Kobo)

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I've got a celebratory giveaway running for the next month. Lots of ways to participate. Fun things to win! Enter below and feel free to spread the word! (Hell, it'll get you extra entries!) xo

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Did you know...?

1. Truth & Temptation comes out in TEN DAYS??? And you can preorder it at Amazon, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo??

2. If you preorder it, I'll mail you a signed bookmark?! AND you can enter my preorder giveaway to win a $50 Amazon gift card (and other swag)? 

3. You can sign up to help me promote the release on 7/23 through Good Choice Reading??

Ready. Set. Write! 2015 {Update 3}

Here we gooooo:

1. How I did on last week's goals:

Get up at 5:30 every weekday to work for a couple hours before the peanut wakes up. 
Um, nope. Elodie tried AGAIN to get me up. But, again, I sucked. Here's a sample of what our text messages looked like all week:

Elodie's fucking awesome. I'm the worst texter-backer in the history of the world. (Also hop hop hop is a thing my daughter says/does.)

Continue researching for--and add 1k to--RS. 
Not a single word in the WIP this week--but I am cutting myself slack because I added 4-5k in my final revision, which took up all of my spare time.

Marketing setup for Truth & Temptation.
Yes! Made lots of headway here. Set up a few things, like my preorder giveaway, and started a numbered outline of what I have left to do. OH, and I revealed the cover! Isn't she pretty??

Revise Truth & Temptation and send it to my final round of betas.
DONE. And I have notes back from all but one. I'll finish the final revision this week and then it's off to copy edits! (Side note: my betas are the fucking best ever. I'd seriously be lost without them.)

Take my daughter someplace fun!
We went to a toy store we'd never been to before--and it was awesome! Plus, more fun in the backyard with water-type toys :) Then my niece spent the night on Saturday night, so they had a ton of fun playing together!

 

2. My goals for this week:
A. Get up at 5:30 M-W to work for a couple hours before the peanut wakes up.
B. Continue researching for--and add 1k to--RS.
C. Send Truth & Temptation to my copy editor.
D. Take my daughter someplace fun!
E. GET A TAN. (We've got a shit ton of fun things coming up, including a beach trip! Unfortunately it's to the Outer Banks where there've been, like, SIX shark attacks in the last two weeks. So much for tossing my daughter in the waves.)
F. Keep up with my shakeology goals & working out.
G. Beta read if needed.

3. A favorite line from my story: This is from a new scene added to Truth & Temptation. My heroine's about to face the disapproval of her company's CEO—who also happens to be the father of the guy she's falling in love with.

I start to slide a finger beneath the high neck of my dress—because it's suddenly itching, and I need a bit more room to breathe—but I stop myself because, no. Fuck that. It's rare that I'm grateful for how much practice I have being a bitch, but in this moment, I've never been happier to have the spine I created.

4. Biggest challenge I faced this week:

I had a lot of revision to do. A lot. So my sole focus was on Truth & Temptation instead of my romantic suspense. I miss the RS—and the next two weeks are going to make it hard to focus on it as well. Sigh.

5. Something I love about my WIP
I can't remember, it's been so long since I've looked at it, ha. But at least I love Truth & Temptation more than ever after these rounds of revision. The story was a hard one for me to write, because my heroine's head is not an easy one to be in, but I think I've done her justice—and the notes I've received from betas have been so, so helpful to push it as far as possible.

Ready. Set. Write! is a summer writing intensive that encourages goal-setting and accountability, and provides an opportunity for us to cheer each other on wherever we’re at with our writing projects—planning, drafting, revising, or polishing. ~RSW hosts,
 Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, Jaime Morrow, Erin Funk, & Elodie Nowodazki

Ready. Set. Write! 2015 {Week 2}

It's officially summer, yay! Time for update numero dos.

1. How I did on last week's goals:

Get up at 5:30 every weekday to work for a couple hours before the peanut wakes up. 
Um, nope. Elodie tried to get me up, she really did. But... I sucked.

Continue researching for--and add 3-5k to--RS. 
FAIL WHALE. I wrote a whopping 398 words the entire week. #wompwomp

Marketing setup for Truth & Temptation.
Okay, well, this was actually a win. (Phew.) My newsletter will go out today, giving subscribers a sneak peek of the cover--and my official cover reveal is tomorrow. I've got a pre-order giveaway set up, and I've arranged for release week advertisements (a few anyway, more needed).

Finish betaing for Elodie!
Done and done! And SO good. No surprise there, though.

Take my daughter someplace fun!
Kind of cheating again, but she got to spend Friday and much of Saturday with her (three-days-older) cousin--and my sister/BIL. They took her to the pool, so you know she had a blast! Hubs was out of town most of the week, and I left Friday for a bachelorette weekend, so it's awesome having family close by to help out.


2. My goals for this week:
Get up at 5:30 every weekday to work for a couple hours before the peanut wakes up.
Continue researching for--and add 1k to--RS.
Revise Truth & Temptation and send it to my second round of betas! (omg I'm running out of time!)
Take my daughter someplace fun!

3. A favorite line from my story: Um, sorry for all the f-bombs. (Well, not really...)

"This. This is why I ended it with Noah," she said, her green eyes bright, hot. "This is what I want. Not you, don't worry, pretty Vaughn," she amended, a slip of a smile twisting across her lips. "But, God. Find me a man who takes what he wants the way you do and I'll be a happy fucking woman." She paused, then laughed. "Pun unintended—but true."

"Noah?" Jealousy was a disgusting quality, one Vaughn had never possessed until that very moment. The though of another man doing the things to Lulu that his body was begging him to do? "I kiss you and your first thought is of your fucking ex?"

4. Biggest challenge I faced this week:
Yeah. Hubs was gone all week, which meant parenting responsibilities added up. Plus I had to pack for my trip. And then I spent the weekend looking at some pretty things.

Like this:

And, especially, this:

So time was a factor. So was my inability to get up early. And all the work I had to do for T&T. This week I've got way smaller goals for the WIP, because I have so much revising to do for T&T first...

5. Something I love about my WIP
That I still love it this week, too. And my long driving time up to Jersey and back gave me lots of space to think about things to add--and for future books in the series :)

Ready. Set. Write! is a summer writing intensive that encourages goal-setting and accountability, and provides an opportunity for us to cheer each other on wherever we’re at with our writing projects—planning, drafting, revising, or polishing. ~RSW hosts,
 Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, Jaime Morrow, Erin Funk, & Elodie Nowodazki

Ready. Set. Write! 2015 {Week 1}

Hey lovers. Just gonna dive right in here:

1. How I did on last week's goals:

Get up at 5:30 every weekday to work for a couple hours before the peanut wakes up. 
Um, I think I did this most days? I can't remember. I need to be better at keeping track of this--and I can say for certain Elodie texting me in the am was SUPER helpful.

Continue researching for--and add 5-10k to--RS. 
I did a *lot* of research, but came just shy of 5000 new words. Sigh. I'd hoped my goal was aiming low. Especially as this week will be low again because I'll be out of town this weekend...

Beta for Elodie!
I started reading this novella--and it is good, y'all. Like be jealous I'm reading it before you good. :)

Take my daughter someplace fun!
Went to a winery which was fun for both of us, hehe. Also, we set up some fun water toys in our back yard and she had a freaking blast. Maybe it's cheating because it's not going someplace new, but I'm counting it anyway because it's so fun for her.

2. My goals for this week:
Get up at 5:30 every weekday to work for a couple hours before the peanut wakes up.
Continue researching for--and add 3-5k to--RS.
More marketing setup for Truth & Temptation.
Finish betaing for Elodie!
Take my daughter someplace fun!

3. A favorite line from my story: A moment my heroine and her hero run into each other at the grocery store and, of course, get into it. Because they hate each other. Well, she loves him, but she pretends she hates him because it's easier to deal with what he feels for her...

"You have no idea what I think," he said. 
"Yeah? So you don't think I'm a lying, manipulative bitch who almost ruined your life?" 
"Okay. You have some idea of what I think." His eyes flashed. Humor? Irritation? She couldn't be sure her hope for the former wasn't disguising the latter. 

4. Biggest challenge I faced this week:
Ugh. This story ripped through me at first and now I'm hitting a wall. Walls are very common for me when I'm working through the middle of a book, but I'm still very much in the beginning, and it's really frustrating me. Even my "favorite" lines above from my WIP? I don't love them. I just kinda Russian roulette-ed it and skimmed for the least sucky lines from the past week. #pitypartyforone

I focused a lot on launch things for Truth & Temptation, so I'm hoping my divided focus had something to do with the stall on my WIP, but...idk.

5. Something I love about my WIP
The good news is I *do* still love my WIP. I just have to funnel that love into ability to move forward. The thing I REALLY love right now is how much fun third POV is to write. I've written first for years and years, so I was nervous about switching. But this? This makes me never, ever want to go back to first...

Ready. Set. Write! is a summer writing intensive that encourages goal-setting and accountability, and provides an opportunity for us to cheer each other on wherever we’re at with our writing projects—planning, drafting, revising, or polishing. ~RSW hosts,
 Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, Jaime Morrow, Erin Funk, & Elodie Nowodazki

Ready. Set. Write! 2015 {Goal Setting}

Ready. Set. Write! is a summer writing intensive that encourages goal-setting and accountability, and provides an opportunity for us to cheer each other on wherever we’re at with our writing projects—planning, drafting, revising, or polishing. ~RSW hosts,
 Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, Jaime Morrow, Erin Funk, & Elodie Nowodazki

Y'all. THIS IS MY FAVORITE THING FOR SUMMER WRITING. If you're a writer--at any place in your career--you should join us. (It's never too late to jump in.) If you're a reader, stop by on Mondays to keep me accountable with my projects, and find some other fun writers while you're here.

Wanna know all the deets? Check out any one of the hosts' posts (lol rhyme) about it! (And Jaime's post has a selection of graphics to browse!) But today is a day to set goals, so let's get down to mine:

Summer Goals:

1. Revise & publish TRUTH & TEMPTATION, the third novel in my Summer Love standalone series.

2. Finish drafting my romantic suspense (RS) novel. Decide on a title. Revise the book. Send to CPs. Start getting query-ready. (Yep, I think I'm going to attempt going a traditional route with this one... Maybe.)

3. Begin drafting Summer Love #4

3. Attend--and have a fucking awesome time at--RWA National Conference in July (Also: Try my absolute hardest not to stalk Nora Roberts and have a complete breakdown if I get to meet her. Aka the reason I will *always* write romance.)

4. Beta for my CPs as needed.

5. Take my daughter someplace fun at least once a week.

6. Get--and keep--a tan. (Starting in July)

This Week's Goals: 

1. Get up at 5:30 every weekday to work for a couple hours before the peanut wakes up.

2. Continue researching for--and add 5-10k to--RS.

3. Beta for Elodie!

4. Take my daughter someplace fun!


Okay, that's it. Lots lined up for the summer and I'm excited for every bit of it! What are YOUR summer goals?

xo Riley

Currently... (#1) + #teasertuesday

Taking a page out of Katy Upperman's book (blog?) and throwing out a Currently post today! Basically, currently posts are a snapshot of your current life statuses. I used to see these all the time in my (long past) days as a lifestyle blogger. I love that they're popping up in the writing community now, too!

AND as it's Teaser Tuesday, scroll down for an excerpt of my current draft!

Loving

I just started using Freedom and holy shit the difference it's made in my writing productivity is phenomenal. For those who aren't already in the know, it's an app that let's you block yourself from distracting websites (hello twitter/facebook/pinterest/etsy/amazon/etc...) for a block of time (you choose the length). And I had no idea how often I "stared off into space" by browsing those other sites during writing time.

Reading

Lots of beta reading up in here these days. A creepy AF ms by Elodie, a mindf&$k of a thriller by Cristin, and Shannon's next Keeper book. Be jealous. It's okay. I would be too. I also started Bone Gap by Laura Ruby--and it's good so far. Very intriguing. I really only get time for personal reading in the last few minutes every night before my sleeping pill kicks in, so I'm going slow with this one, but really liking it.

Watching

Not a whole lot, too busy trying to finish this draft. Game of Thrones is a must most weeks (still need to watch the most recent though). And Big Bang Theory. And Nashville (which rose to one of my absolute favorites over the past couple years). Otherwise, meh. I have so much tivoed to catch up on. I might take a week off when I get this story to my betas just to watch TV, ha.

Listening To

Pandora. While I draft. I have a station I created while writing Surf & Surrender, and it's turning out to be my ultimate writing station for Teagan's story, too. (It's a combination of Maroon 5, The Civil Wars, Carrie Underwood, Hozier, Taylor Swift, & 30STM, to name a few.)

Thinking About

Finishing this damn draft. Teagan's story... I love it. I love her. But it's the hardest thing I've written to date. Because Teagan has it rough. Internally and externally. And she's tough. Especially externally. And understanding her has forced me to cut into my own veins of depression to bleed out some of these words and this both scares and thrills me.

Anticipating

My daughter turns two this weekend and it's hard to talk/write about this without drowning in bittersweet nostalgia. The dichotomy of wanting time to slow the fuck down while also being so excited to see who she becomes is a hard thing to swallow. We went all out for her first birthday party, so this year we're sticking just to family and a low-key picnic at a local lake. We'll be celebrating my niece, too, as she was born three days before my daughter, which is nuts--and so cool. :)

Wishing

This draft was done. Thankfully, I revise a lot while I write, so the end of my first draft is more like the end of my fifth draft, if that makes any sense. But I can't wait to get this baby into the hands of my betas, because I'm so close to the story, I'm having trouble seeing my way through some of it.

Making Me Happy

Paper crafting! My planner is so much fun--and if you follow me on IG, you'll see the layouts I make. They started kinda awful, tbh, ha, but every week I have more and more fun with it. I recently got a laminating machine--and I'm really considering opening a paper craft etsy shop, starting with laminated planner inserts... And, okay, plenty of people roll their eyes at the whole planner craze thing--and I get that, I do. But don't knock it till ya try it. Having a creative outlet outside of writing has been extremely beneficial for my writing.

So. Tell me what you're up to these days!

Teaser Tuesday!

Tuesdays are for teasers :) Perfect time to share a #teaser from my draft of TRUTH & TEMPTATION. Here's an excerpt I shared last week with my Facebook group, Riley & Crew. They get to see everything first--feel free to come join in!

Here's a scene where Alec (Teagan's guy) just confessed a secret to her, and it makes her reevaluate everything she's afraid to feel for him. 


"Yep." He shrugs. "The thing is, kitten, you've got claws and they're hooked under my skin in the most painfully delicious way. And I want the chance to know you. I want the chance to see where this could go. So no, this isn't serious yet, but it came down to telling you or losing you and…well, you see which one I picked." 

He didn't want to lose me. 

He picked me. This is a total first. I'm not sure how to respond—but my body feels like it's made of air. Or cotton candy. Or something else sweet and light and…totally foreign. "But I've been such a bitch." 

"Yep." 

"And you haven't deserved at least half of it." 

"Nope." 

"And you still want—" 

"Everything."


xo Riley