The Return of Bridezilla Season

Get your free copy of the book today only!

Ah, June. School's out, and the warm weather of summer is finally here (at least it is for half the month up here in the polar vortex of Chicago where I live). Let's not forget that it's also bridezilla season, that time of year when perfectly reasonable women suddenly become obsessed with tulle and completely deranged about whether or not everyone else is paying enough attention to their day. 

I spun a bridezilla tale myself not so long ago. Okay, it was my first book, and that was a dozen books ago, but this little gem will always hold a special place in my heart and not just because it was also a Lifetime Original Movie. I love this book because frazzled, slightly OCDish wedding planner Lauren Crandell is the bookish, detail-oriented girl who manages to snag one seriously hot and ridiculously good guy, Nick Corona, in this zany tale of weddings gone wrong.

For TODAY only, XOXO After Dark is giving away a free copy of my first book, so if you haven't read it, now's your chance. Want to see the bookish girl triumph? See the glamorous bridezilla get her due? This is the book for you.

Want to read it for free? Get your copy today only! 

Congrats to the Her Hawaiian Homecoming book giveaway winners!

I love giving free stuff away. I do. It's a problem for an author who's supposed to sell books, but the fact is, there's nothing that makes me feel better than sending a signed copy of one of my books away in the mail to a lucky prize winner.

Today, I'm sending off signed copies of Her Hawaiian Homecoming (packaged with care above), Congrats to all the Goodreads book giveaway winners: Lori from California, Mark from Tennessee, Barbara from Virgina, Leanne from Canada, Rebecca from Australia and Valerie, Jessica, Ann, Sally and Shane from the UK!

I'm sending your signed copies today! 

Didn't win? No worries. Buy Her Hawaiian Homecoming for the low, low price of just $3.99 for your Nook or Kindle! 

Texting Under the Influence Blog Tour and Giveaway!

To celebrate the release of my new Cosmo Red Hot Read, Texting Under the Influence, I'm embarking on a blog tour today. You can find me on these lovely websites:

http://rustysreading.com

http://fmrbookgrind.blogspot.com

http://www.bkschocolateandlipgloss.blogspot.com/

http://www.readingbythebook.com

http://ohmygrowingtbr.com/

http://naughtybookeden.blogspot.com.au/?zx=ab96630c86961db

www.readingpastmybedtime.net

http://sarahsaysreadromance.blogspot.com/

http://scandalousbookblog.blogspot.co.uk/

www.sinfulreview.wordpress.com

http://sweetsbooks.com

http://tastywordgasms.theblogpress.com/

http://thisredheadlovesbooks.blogspot.com/

http://throughtheeyesofabookgoddess.blogspot.ca

http://trinastantilisingtidbits.blogspot.co.nz

http://undercoverbookreviews.blogspot.com/

http://karynd19.tumblr.com And, don't forget to enter to win an Apple Watch! After all, if you're going to text under the influence, you might as well do it in style.

The Her Hawaiian Homecoming Blog Tour, Day Two!

It's day two of my Blog Tour for Her Hawaiian Homecoming! Thanks to these lovely blogs for hosting me today!

Loves 2 Read Romance Books, Photos & a little bit of everything else Crazy Chix Book Reviews Delightfully Dirty Reads

 

My Blog Tour!

Hi all! I'm super excited to announce the launch of my "blog tour" for Her Hawaiian Homecoming this week! Today, you can find me at these lovely blogs: 

We Love Kink
Sweet N Sassy Book A holics
Amanda's Blog!
Author Sandra Love
bfd book blog
Bloggers From Down Under
Book Flirts
Book Worms/ Book Written Love Affairs
Bookbesties
Books and Bindings

hanks for including me! Check back tomorrow for more links. Also, don't forget that you could STILL win an Apple Watch. Check out the contests at www.caralockwood.com!

You get a prize...and you get a prize... only it's not a car. But, it's still freakin' cool!

Enter to win!

I'm a giveaway fool, I admit it. Book release time to me is synonymous with sending out free stuff. That's just how I roll.

I've given away four Her Hawaiian Homecoming gift baskets (Congrats, Christine, Susan, April, and Tracy!). They'll be soon rolling in chocolate and coffee and signed copies of Her Hawaiian Homecoming.

But, since the new novella, Texting Under the Influence is also out this month, I've just started an Apple Watch giveaway. I figure, if you're going to drink while texting, why not do it in style? I know when I'm drunk-texting an Ex, I want to do it on the VERY latest in texting technology.

The thing is, I kind of think these Apple watches are awesome, and I've been secretly coveting one myself, so better hurry up and enter before I decide to keep this puppy. It would look amazing on my wrist. I really think so. This one is going to be REALLY hard to give away. Look how cool it is! Seriously!

There are tons of ways to enter, and none of them painful. Enter multiple times. Go ahead, I don't mind. And then go check out Texting Under the Influence, a fun little story about a woman who means to text her ex-boyfriend one night at a bar, and accidentally texts her hot new boss. Oh, yes, high jinks ensue. It's a fun little romp with some mild embarrassment thrown in. And clothes do come off. I mean, look at that cosmo on the cover! You know naughty things have to happen after my character downs a few of those.

Speaking of, is it happy hour yet?

How about now?

Enter to win your Apple Watch, and maybe happy hour will come faster.

Texting Under the Influence is Out!

Okay, I am super excited to tell you about my new novella, Texting Under the Influence, a Cosmo Red Hot Read by Harlequin.

First of all, look at that martini on the cover of this book. I want to down that cosmo, stat! Is it happy hour, yet?

Second, who hasn't had a cocktail or two and then texted someone and then lived to regret it? I have (Sorry, Exes. You know who you are). Okay, so that's reality. But what if drunk texting actually got you somewhere other than morbidly embarrassed the next morning?

The premise of this book started with the question: what if someone drunk texted the wrong person for a booty call, but in the end, he ended up being Mr. Right?

This is, after all, why I write fiction, to turn epic fails into total scores!

Jenna Cho, my main character, really just wants one last hookup so she texts her toxic-in-life but amazing-in-bed ex, Jax. When her gorgeous boss Jack responds to the booty call instead, Jenna learns exactly why a girl should never hit send after one too many vodka sodas. Still, faced with Jack's sexy grin and even sexier Irish accent, Jenna thinks maybe she messaged the right man after all—especially when he admits he's been hoping she'd make the first move…

Texting Under the Influence was fun to write and I hope it's as fun to read. Grab a girl drink and download the novella (it's short, it's cheap, and it's bubbly fun). You can download this story today for just $2.99. Check out Texting Under the Influence! 

New Book and Giveaways!

Hi all!

I admit, I've been atrocious about blogging. I swear, I'm having flashbacks to my middle school diary. I was also a horrible journal writer, which is why I had a stack of blank diaries (with one or two entries at most). It seems I haven't evolved much beyond my 13-year-old self.

But, I kind of knew that already.

I have good news, fair (and tan) readers! My new novel, Her Hawaiian Homecoming, is out May 1. It's a really fun romance set in my favorite place on earth (Hawaii) where love blooms on a Kona coffee plantation. I mean let's recap here: Hawaii. A handsome, displaced cowboy. A woman learning to trust again after she caught her fiance playing Fifty Shades of Grey with another woman. A tsunami that nearly kills them. Hey, nobody ever said the road to true love was easy.

But, what else do you expect from a happily ever after?

How about a giveaway?

You know I love those. For the next two weeks, I'll be giving away special Taste of Paradise Hawaiian Coffee and Chocolate baskets, including a free mug and a signed copy of the book. I think only 8 people have entered so far. Your chances are REALLY good you'll win. Seriously. I am not kidding. 100% Kona coffee, enough chocolate to tame the craving of the worst chocolate fiend, a special mug and a signed copy of the book? It's a PRICELESS gift basket (or, probably, more likely, retail value of $65).

Go ahead, kind readers. Enter today!

Oh, and check out the new website, which got a face lift this week!

Hi all!

Hope everyone is having a fantastic summer. And, since this is the place for shameless self-promotion, I'm here to tell you that your summer is about to get a WHOLE lot better. Why? I've got a new Kindle and Nook short out, that's why!

If you're looking for a sizzling beach read, look no further. BOYS AND TOYS is the new Cosmo Red-Hot Read out form Harlequin.

Every girl has a goody drawer.

Sex toy party hostess Liv Tanaka has a collection. Vibrating purple rabbits, cherry-flavored edible underwear, flavored oils… Hey, wearing a leather corset and stilettos (while selling dildos) pays the bills. Just don't tell her very conservative parents. Because if they discovered Liv's sex-toy-selling "Asian Elvira" alter ego, her parents would disown her.

So far, Liv's doing a bang-up job of keeping her two worlds separate…until Porter Benjamin shows up at her party. Tall and too-tasty-to-resist Porter, who works for her father. Porter, who wants Liv to host a party just for him.

Available for your Kindle or your Nook for download today!

It's summer: time for some sizzling beach reads!

Hi all,

I've got a hot new novella coming out July 15, just in time for summer. If you liked the sex scenes in FOLLOW ME, you'll love BOYS AND TOYS. Here's the back blurb:

Every girl has a goody drawer.

Sex toy party hostess Liv Tanaka has a collection. Vibrating purple rabbits, cherry-flavored edible underwear, flavored oils… Hey, wearing a leather corset and stilettos (while selling dildos) pays the bills. Just don't tell her very conservative parents. Because if they discovered Liv's sex-toy-selling "Asian Elvira" alter ego, her parents would disown her.

So far, Liv's doing a bang-up job of keeping her two worlds separate…until Porter Benjamin shows up at her party. Tall and too-tasty-to-resist Porter, who works for her father. Porter, who wants Liv to host a party just for him.

And oh, she's tempted. But getting involved with Porter means mixing those two worlds that Liv desperately needs to keep separate. And now Liv's Naughty Toybox is starting to look a lot like Pandora's box….

Available for pre-order now and on sale July 15!

Download the last installment of Follow Me!

Hi all,

The last installment of the FOLLOW ME series is now available for download at all your favorite ebook sellers, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

You can finally find out whodunit! And if you haven't started reading this sexy thriller yet, now's your chance to download all of them at once.

Follow Me
Overnight, Calypso "Cal" Morgan's sensual Greek summer abroad turns into a thrilling, high-stakes race to prove to the world (and herself) that her brand-new and very sexy boyfriend Daniel is not a murderer. On the run together, Cal and Daniel must outwit handsome Greek detective Nico Theseus and face their attraction to each other - amid the stress and growing suspicions unearthed by the investigation.

Follow Me: In Too Deep is out today!

The third installment of FOLLOW ME is available for download today!

Check it out on Amazon or Barnes and Noble!

Hi all,

Get ready: it's time for some shameless self-promotion. I know it's been awhile, so you're probably wondering if I'm able to brag like I used to. Let's find out!

The new book is out! It's a thriller mystery in e-serial form, a departure from my previous works, but I think you'll like it. The story was inspired by Amanda Knox, the college student accused of murdering her roommate while studying abroad, and so you know there's sex, intrigue and murder, all in the backdrop of an exotic locale.

And, according to my mom, a mystery-fan, this is my best book ever. She's not biased or anything - she's only ever said that about maybe one or two or four of my previous books. Buy the book. It's a thrill ride. 

Buy yours today! Available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble!

Preorder Follow Me #1: Deadly Game!

Hi all,

I've got more news about my new novel, Follow Me, which is out in October!

The first installment of this suspense mystery thriller is available for preorder on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Follow Me #1: Deadly Game starts off with a bang: Cal Morgan thought her study-abroad summer in Greece was supposed to be all fun, especially when she meets sexy college wide receiver Daniel Ross. But that all changes when a night of partying gets out of hand, and she wakes up in bed with Daniel -- and her roommate, Gia, who has been gruesomely murdered. Cal doesn't know if she can trust Daniel, but she doesn't have a choice as the two find themselves on the run, looking for answers.

This story was inspired by the real-life case of Amanda Knox, and like many of you, I was fascinated by the story. I guarantee this e-serial will have lots of twists and turns you never saw coming. It was so much fun to write, and I hope you'll find this as fun to read.

As always, look for more information at http://www.caralockwood.com

 

Hello all,

I have exciting news: I’m working on a new series. Think sex and murder on an exotic locale. Did I mention there would be sex? It’s a departure from my previous work, but I think ya’ll will enjoy it. I know my mom did. At least, she read part of a first draft and declared it my best work. And you know she’s completely objective on the subject.

The series, called FOLLOW ME, will be out as an e-serial this fall from St. Martin’s Press, and it follows American college student Cal Morgan, who thought her prayers were answered when she landed a summer abroad at a Greek university on one of the most pristine Greek Isles, complete with white beaches and ancient Greek ruins. When she falls for sexy, ripped, football-playing Daniel, she thinks it’s going to be the perfect summer. Until her roommate winds up murdered, and she finds herself on the run with Daniel, desperate to prove he isn’t a sex-crazed murderer. Or is he?

You’ll have to read the series to find out. The first installment, Deadly Game, will be out in fall 2013. Here’s the cover for the first book, available for pre-order at all your favorite outlets: Amazon, Barnes and Noble and iTunes.

 

Spread the word to your friends. I promise this series will deliver more twists and turns than a roller coaster.  

Happy summer!
Cara

The Mayans Were Wrong!

Okay, so since the world didn't end on December 21 (that's the last time I trust the Mayans!), that means we have a little more time here on planet earth.

I realize I have not been blogging for a loooong time, so I am NOT going to tell you that I was secretly prepping for the end of the world (unless prepping for the end of the world requires frantically trying to meet deadlines while also procrasinating endlessly stalking ex-boyfriends on Facebook). Ahem. I have not been doing either one of those things. I have been very busy!

Since I last posted, I've finished my writing project with Francine Pascal (the update on Sweet Valley, first an e-serial and now in hardback... check it out The Sweet Life). I'm on to another project with more details to come!

And if you haven't read Tale of Two Proms, yet. Do!

I've also been keeping busy with 2nd Story, a storytellers group in Chicago. That picture is me talking about my ultimate Epic Fail: online dating. After getting divorced a few years ago, I was thrust suddenly back onto the dating scene. It was quite a culture shock.

Taken at Webster's Wine Bar by Michael Patterson.

I never thought I’d have an online dating story. You see, I married my college boyfriend, way back when Clinton was still in office. There was barely an Internet then, much less a Match.com. But, much like M.C. Hammer pants, my marriage did not last. Stop: Divorce Time. Things had changed a lot since I’d last been single.

Back then: I had a relatively flat stomach. If I knew how awesome my stomach was at age 23, I would’ve worn bikinis to work. Dress code? Shove it, Human Resources. There’s an expiration date on these abs, and I have no time to lose. Fast forward 15 years.
Now: Two pregnancies have turned my stomach into flesh-colored Play-doh. My belly button is no longer a button at all. It looks like the mouth of a really depressed hand puppet.

Back then: I could stay out until two in the morning.
Now: I can barely stay awake until 9 p.m.

Back then: My ride was a sleek black coupe.
Now: When I rolled up on a date, it would be in a silver minivan. Oh, yeah.

Back then: I actually knew something about current events and news in general.
Now: I am far more likely to know the name of a supporting character on Dora the Explorer, than a Supreme Court Justice. These are just facts. Sad, sorry facts.

For my new year's resolution in 2013, I will try to remember to blog more. But, for more timely updates, do friend me on Facebook (Cara Lockwood) or follow me on Twitter (@caralockwood).

The Girl Who Was On Fire -- Movie Edition!

Hi all,

Last week, you may have seen where I wrote about seeing The Hunger Games movie! Well, now, my new essay (and many others) are now available in the new and improved:

The Girl Who Was On Fire - Movie Edition!

And, for those of you who are growing tired of Hunger Games hype (is it possible? I'm not so sure), it might be time for a little parody escape with The Hipster Games.

My favorite line is: "I really miss brunch."

Enjoy!

The Hunger Games Rock

So, I went to see the Hunger Games Friday (technically, it was for "work" because my job is awesome). I have two things to say about this movie: it rocked. And, as I've told my friends, I may have to change my alliegance from Team Peeta to Team Gale. Have you seen Liam Hemsworth?

I think this technically makes me a cougar, but if this is wrong, I don't want to be right.

As a side note, why do movie producers seem to want to cast the less hot dude for the main love interest and the seriously, ridiculously hot guy for the one who doesn't get the girl? There must be a formula somewhere. Is this so we all feel like we get a shot with the rejected guy? I don't know.

What did you guys think of the movie? And am I the only 38-year-old who was standing in line on Friday? Actually, no, I wasn't. The Mom-contingent showed up strong. I actually saw more parent-types in the movie theatre Friday night than teens.

So, my "movie" essay on the Hunger Games is coming very soon (April 1, I think). So stay tuned. More details to come.

In the meantime, don't forget it's Prom Season, and I say why settle for one prom when you can have two? Check out A Tale of Two Proms!

Happy Hunger Games Week!

If you hear that high-pitched squealing sound, it's my inner 13-year-old girl going bonkers over the soon-to-be released Hunger Games movie. I, like millions of you, am a huge Hunger Game triology fan. I love Twilight, too, but come on, let's be real here. We all know in a showdown, that Bella wouldn't last five minutes against Katniss. For Katniss, it's not about pining over boys, it's about kicking butt. As the mother of two girls, I really do have to admire that.

Besides, have you SEEN the Hunger Games trailer? Says it all.

For those of you who don't know, I wrote an essay on the Hunger Games for Smart Pop's book The Girl Who Was On Fire (Most Awesome Assignment Ever). If you head over today, you'll find my essay up for 24 hours and can read it free! But if you haven't read the rest of the book, you should buy it. It's a must-read for every Hunger Games fan.

Pop Smart will also be releasing special movie-related essays. I'll be writing about science and the special effects of the movie. That means when I'm waiting in line to get into the movie theater Friday night, I'm actually "working." Did I mention I have the best job on earth? You know, not to rub it in or anything.

So, in summary, Happy Hunger Games Week!

And I haven't forgotten you Bard fans. I still have a few bookmarks to give away, so anyone who's interested, just email me your A Tale of Two Proms receipt and I will send you a signed bookmark!

Want a Signed Bookmark? Get one!

Hi all my lovely Bard fans,

I have just received a stack of limited-edition Bard Academy bookmarks and I will be signing about a 100 of them. If you'd like one (and, I get it, ironic to have one even though A TALE OF TWO PROMS is an eBook), but hey, it's signed by yours truly, so it's something that will look awesome hanging up in your room. Plus, you could put it into the pages of Wuthering High or The Scarlet Letterman.

All you have to do to get one is to buy A TALE OF TWO PROMS, available from all major retailers:

Amazon (shout out to the Kindle!): http://amzn.to/tdDEdB

Apple: http://bit.ly/uMkpKD

Barnes and Noble (Nook fans!): http://bit.ly/uNd6nG

Once you've downloaded it and gotten an e-receipt, email it to me, along with your snail-mail address and I'll send you a signed bookmark (Hello - collector's item!).

Don't wait!
Buy now!
:)