Santa's New Contract

There’s a chill in the air (it dipped to a nipply 60 degrees yesterday) and everyone at the mall has their elbows sharpened. It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. Course, if you hang out in department stores, you probably thought that sometime in mid-September.

So, ho-ho-ho and all that.

Unfortunately, the economy has taken its toll on the North Pole. A new contract for Santa has finally been negotiated. He swung by to check in on uncle Ebenezer (he ascertained the relationship because I have nary a decoration anywhere in sight) and asked me to pass along the following information:

To Whom It May Concern:

I regret to inform you that, effective immediately, I will no longer be able to serve Southern United States on Christmas Eve. Due to the overwhelming current population of the earth, my contract was renegotiated by North American Fairies and Elves Local 209. I now serve only certain areas of Canada and the northern boarder states.

As part of the new and better contract I also get longer breaks for milk and cookies so keep that in mind. However, I made certain that your children will be in good hands with your local replacement who happens to be my third cousin, Bubba Claus. His side of the family is from the South Pole. He shares my goal of delivering toys to all the good boys and girls; however, there are a few differences between us.

Differences such as:

1. There is no danger of a Grinch stealing your presents from Bubba Claus. He has a gun rack on his sleigh and a bumper sticker that reads: These toys insured by Smith and Wesson.

2. Instead of milk and cookies, Bubba Claus prefers that children leave an RC cola and pork rinds [or a moon pie] on the fireplace. And Bubba doesn’t smoke a pipe. He dips a little snuff though, so please have an empty spit can handy.

3. Bubba Claus; sleigh is pulled by floppy-eared, flying coon dogs instead of reindeer. I made the mistake of loaning him a couple of my reindeer one time, and Blitzen’s head now overlooks Bubba’s fireplace.

4. You won’t hear On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and Blitzen . . ., when Bubba Claus arrives. Instead, you’ll hear, On Earnhardt, on Wallace, on Martin and Labonte. On Rudd, on Jarrett, on Elliott and Petty.

5. Ho, ho, ho! has been replaced by “Yee Haw!” And you also are likely to hear Bubba’s elves respond, “I herd dat!”

6. As required by Southern highway laws, Bubba Claus’ sleigh does have a Yosemite Sam safety triangle on the back with the words “Back off”. The last I heard it also had other decorations on the sleigh back as well. One is a Chevy logo with lights that race through the letters and the other is a caricature of me (Santa Claus) going wee-wee on the Tooth Fairy.

7. The usual Christmas movie classics such asMiracle on 34th Street and It’s a Wonderful Lifewill not be shown in your negotiated viewing area. Instead, you’ll see Boss Hogg Saves Christmas and Smokey and the Bandit IVfeaturing Burt Reynolds as Bubba Claus and dozens of state patrol cars crashing into each other.

8. Bubba Claus doesn’t wear a belt. If I were you, I’d make sure you, the wife, and the kids turn the other way when he bends over to put presents under the tree.

9. And finally, lovely Christmas songs have been sung about me like Rudolph The Red-nosed Reindeer and Bing Crosby’s Santa Claus Is Coming to Town. This year songs about Bubba Claus will be played on all the AM radio stations in the South. Those song titles will be Mark Chesnutt’s Bubba Claus Shot the Jukebox, Cledus T. Judd All I Want for Christmas Is My Woman and a Six Pack, and Hank Williams Jr.’s If You Don’t Like Bubba Claus, You can Shove It.

Sincerely Yours, Santa Claus
(member of North American Fairies and Elves Local 209)

*thanks to christmasjokes.wordpress.com

I hope you all have fabulous plans for the holidays that involve friends, family, and lots of food. I'll be in Florida for Christmas because I believe Santa can land his sleigh in sand so why freeze my butt off going to the snow. I fully expect to have a completed draft of Outside the Lines bk 2 by the time I get home. (My gift to myself.) Thank you all for an amazing year! I've said it before and I'll say it again: I have the BEST readers! I'm excited to bring you Hot Mobster Sex in 2015! Here's a preview: My gift to you!

Have a happy, healthy holiday and a fabulous New Year! See you in 2015! xoxox

Books I read this year that you definitely WANT!

I read some amazing books this year. So many that I'm having a hard time remembering all of them. But there are two that really stuck with me.

This first one hasn't published yet. It's out on December 31st and I'll tell you it's definitely worth spending your holiday gift cards on. This book was sent to me over the summer to read for a blurb, but life happened and I wasn't able to get to it until October. And then I hated myself for not getting to it sooner. I finished it in a day, then sat there staring at my screen, sort of in shock. It's like watching a slow motion train wreck. I wanted to jump into this book and URGGG!, and AAAAH!, and NOOOO! But alas, I just lamented for weeks afterward. I read other books and still found myself going over this one in my head, trying to figure out how to fix everything. You can probably tell I'm still thinking about it. It is this book

and you really want it.

The other book is by one of my favorite authors. Jay Crownover is a character writer, and nothing pulls me into a story like a great character. One of her best yet (characters, that is) is Shane Baxter. This guy had me right from the start. You can find him here:

The second book in the series, Better When He's Bold, publishes in February, and I'm waiting very impatiently to see what's in store for the rest of the crew.

And, speaking of upcoming books I'm drooling over, there's also There You Stand by Christina Lee that doesn't even have a cover or buy links yet, but is publishing in April, I believe. I will definitely be checking that one out.

What are your "must reads" from this year?

Hot Mobster Sex! (aka: What's Next From Me)

I finally get to share my news!

(You'll need to click on the pic to read it, or you can find it in Publishers Marketplace if you subscribe.)

Most of my ideas are inspired when a character comes to life in my head and starts telling me their story. This project was different. The concept came out of a brainstorm between the fabulous publishing professionals I've been lucky enough to surround myself with. I'm not usually great at writing other people's ideas, but these characters took me by storm: the brooding heir apparent to the largest crime organization in Chicago; his brilliant business-minded sister, who may or may not be in love with the man who's contracted the hit on her family; his womanizing club-rat younger brother, who might just find himself now that he's out from under his Chicago persona; his youngest sister, who's already made a name in fashion design, only to have to give it up to protect her littlest brother from men who want them all dead. There are some powerful stories of self-discovery there. Plus, lots of hot mobster sex, danger, and suspense.

As always, I owe an enormous thanks to my omnipotent uberagent, Suzie Townsend. I'm super excited to work with my new editor, Leis Pederson at Penguin. I just heard from her yesterday that Outside the Lines is set to publish in October, and the second book in January. In the meantime, I promise much more eye-candy like the picture of my Rob above, and many previews to whet your appetite for my sexy Mafioso. So stay tuned.

Books That Ruined Me

My daughter and I recently had a conversation about the book at the top of this list, and then she asked me what some of my other favorites were. I stumbled a little because I've read so many books I've really enjoyed, a ton I'd recommend wholeheartedly, but they don't really rank as favorites. And then there's the question of how to define a "favorite." What criteria go into deciding rank order?

After our conversation I really gave it some thought and what I decided is that, for me, whether I categorize a book as a favorite is a function of how much a book sticks with me after I've read it. Or, as some have coined it, the "book hangover" effect. I decided to pull together a list of books I've read that have left me thinking about them long after I put them down. That's not to say I loved everything about each of them, so they may not belong on a classic "favorites" list, but they hit me in a way that didn't let me forget them.

So, in rank order of how long my book hangover lasted (as best as I can remember years later) here are the ten books that ruined me.
Side note: I intentionally left out classics as well as blockbusters. (Lolita, Wuthering Heights, and Harry Potter definitely stuck with me for different reasons.)
Side note #2: Click the covers for buy links if you want to check them out.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman
So here's the thing about this book. Adam. I obsessed over him for weeks, prompting this blog post, and also this one. Then, when I finally recovered from my Adam hangover, I sat down and, in the next three weeks, wrote the best book I'll ever write on the wave of angst and grief Adam left behind. Gayle created such an incredibly damaged and genuine character that I wanted to climb through the pages and just be there for him. Maybe it was my frame of mind when I was reading, but I honestly don't think anyone will ever top Adam on my list of favorite characters. For full effect, you'll probably want to read If I Stay first, since Where She Went is a sequel.

Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
This book yanked my heart out, fed it through a meat grinder, then almost succeeded in putting it back together again. Again, this all comes down to characters. Rogerson, specifically. Just like Adam, he is incredibly damaged, and Sarah captures that extremely well in her characterization. Everything, from the way he moves, to the things he says and does, reflect his brokenness. I wanted to shake him and tell him to pull himself together, because somewhere in there, you know there's a decent guy. You'll have to read to see if that happens, but make sure you've got a box of tissues handy.

Graceling/Fire by Kristin Cashore
I'm lumping these two together because I didn't want to take two spots back to back for them, but both left me with a lasting hangover. The writing is phenomenal, and the common thread with all of these books, I'm discovering as I write this post, is the characters. Katsa and Po are so well portrayed, and my favorite sex scene ever in a book happens between them. Archer from Fire is one I pined for long after I put the book down. So well done.

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
This speculative is so well done that I kept thinking through the plot for days after I finished. And the romance aspect--I'll just say that not too many books leave me in tears, but this one did.

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma
Keeping with the incest theme (yeah...that romance I mentioned in How I Live Now, well...) I thought about this book for a long time after I read it. This is one that probably wouldn't make my classic favorite list because I found it pretty disturbing at some turns, but it was definitely thought provoking. I came away with so many questions I was (for the first time ever) contemplating contacting the author to ask what she was thinking as she wrote it. Was the romance innocent, or abusive? Was Lochan so socially stunted that he fixated on his sister and persuaded her into the relationship, or did they genuinely just fall in love with each other? Lots to think about here.

Before I Die by Jenny Downham
This is another one that made me cry. I thought Jenny did a lovely job portraying the whole process of dying young. I loved how real both that and the romance felt. It kept the wheels turning for a while after I was done.

Beautiful by Amy Reed
This is like watching a slow motion train wreck. The prose are very different than anything else I've read, but Amy's main character's motivations as she makes a string of really horrible decisions has you right there with her. This is another one that I'm not sure how I really feel about, but it had me thinking about it for weeks.

Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
I just sort of randomly picked this up one day and realize three hours later that I'd finished it. And then wished I hadn't. So, of course, I was incredibly excited to find, purely by coincidence, the movie was releasing on DVD the next day. I raced to my local Redbox and picked it up the next afternoon, watched it immediately...and then wished I hadn't. The beauty of the book is Stephen's main character and his inner dialogue. That, unfortunately, doesn't translate to the screen. But I thought the process of bringing this socially awkward character to life was done incredibly well in the book.

Cracked Up To Be by Courtney Summers
I read this eons ago and still sometimes think about it. Courtney's prose is sparse and she gets right to the point, which I appreciate. I've read some of her other books, and really enjoyed them, but this one left me rolling things over in my mind for weeks. It's a great study in how choices can change your life.

White Cat by Holly Black
I'm usually a pretty tough reader to get anything past. Maybe I was just so involved in the story that I wasn't paying close enough attention. Whatever happened, Holly surprised me in this one. I thought her main character was very well done, and, if you go back through this list you'll find one (okay, two) high fantasy novels at #3, a speculative at #4 and the rest until now are contemporary. I guess that's because in contemporary, it's all about the characters, and I've already mentioned that I'll follow a great character anywhere. In this one, not only was the writing great, but the premise was fresh and creative and held my interest in a way many urban fantasies don't. And it was twisty enough that it kept me rehashing the plot for a long time after reading.

So, there you go. My ten worst hangovers. Hope you find something in there that interests you. Help me find more. What books have given you your worst hangovers?

Very BAD boys

Let's face it, bad boys have an irresistible allure. We love to read about them and see how love transforms them. But my good friend, Jay Crownover, pointed out that her Marked Men boys are labeled bad boys just because they have tattoos and get around. I think that's the "bad" comfort zone for a lot of us. We could imagine ourselves with a tattooed bad boy.

But could we ever picture ourselves with an actual bad boy--a boy who was seriously bad? Like, criminal bad?

I've always thought those women who start writing to serial killers on death row needed psychological intervention, but I've found myself taken in by two boys who are seriously bad over the last few months.
One is Shane Baxter, or Bax, as he's known on the street. He is Jay Crownover's boy in the upcoming BETTER WHEN HE'S BAD, that releases one week from today. If you've followed this blog at all, you know Jay's boys do it for me, and Rule is one of two boys (along with Gayle Forman's Adam Wilde) who ruined me for all other fictional boys. But I will tell you, Bax is right up there. I might have to make room for all three in my heart. We meet Bax on the day he's released from prison, and immediately I was smitten with him. He's basically made the best of a bad situation, and he makes no apologies for what he's done (or is yet to do). This is one bad boy you will definitely want to get to know.

Another is by my bud, Katy Evans. His name is Greyson King, and you get to meet him in her upcoming ROGUE. (Releasing July 29th.) I will tell you right up front that this boy has a truly black heart. He kills people, plain and simple. He does it in the course of the novel and he's not even conflicted about it. But he's just so damn hot you can't help but fall in love with him right along with Melanie. As bad as he is, I found myself instantly taken by him, and you will too.

Click on the covers to pre-order, because I swear to God, you want to.

Romantic Times in New Orleans! I'm going to be there! Are you?

RT starts next week, and in case you haven't seen the line up of registered authors,
 you can find it here. I will definitely be making a fool of myself fangirling all of these fab authors, and having a blast hanging out with readers and bloggers. I'm also on a Sex in New Adult panel with Abbi Glines, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Jay Crownover and Sophie Jordan on Friday. You guys know my secret of writing all my sex scenes first, so this panel is right up my alley! If any of y'all are going to be there, I'd love if you'd stop by and say hi! I'll have swag, which may or may not include hot boys and candy! Here's where you'll be able to find me (besides at The Dungeon most nights ;p).

5/13 Tues 1-3pm, Garden District Book Shop signing, 2727 Prytania St., New Orleans

With Jennifer L. Armentrout, Cora Carmack, Jay Crownover, Nichole Chase, Sophie Jordan. 

5/13 Tues 8-10pm NA pajama party, Marriott, 2nd floor, Gallery 4

With Jamie McGuire, Abbi Glines, Jay Crownover, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Cora Carmack, and many more.

5/15 Thurs 11:15-12:15, Avon Hats and Tats, Marriott 3rd floor, Salon E

With Kim Harrison, Laura Kaye, Veronica Rossi, Monica Murphy, Cora Carmack Nichole Chase, Sophie Jordan, and many more!

5/15 Thurs 7:10-7:30, Avon Pub crawl, Saints and Sinners (Owned by Channing Tatum!), 627 Bourbon St.

With Jay Crownover, Nichole Chase, Sophie Jordan and many more!

5/16 Fri 2:45-3:45 Sex and New Adult panel, Marriott, 2nd floor, Gallery 5

With Jennifer L. Armentrout, Abbi Glines, Jay Crownover, and Sophie Jordan

5/16 Fri 6:15-7:45 Avon Krewe of Muses (FREE SIGNED BOOKS!), Marriott 3rd floor, Acadia

With Eloisa James, Jeaniene Frost, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Kelley Armstrong, Cora Carmack, Kiera Cass, Nichole Chase, Jay Crownover, Claudia Gray, Kim Harrison, Melissa Marr, Monica Murphy, Sophie Jordan, Laura Kaye, Diana Peterfreund, Aprilynne Pike, Veronica Rossi, Kerrelyn Sparks, and TONS more!

5/17 Sat 11-2 Giant Book Fair, signing books with OMG EVERYONE! Marriott 3rd floor, Grand Ballroom.

5/17 Sat 7:15-7:45 Fan-tastic Day party! It's a party! EVERYONE will be there! Marriott 2^nd floor, Preservation Hall

Squee! Can't wait! And I'm staying a few days afterward and checking out some plantations that I missed last time I was there, as well as taking the French Quarter Ghost tour at night, which I heard is good.

Hope to see you there!

The lunatic is in my head...

Y'all know I love music. There are some songs that are so good that they always give me the shivers. One of them is Pink Floyd's Brain Damage. Actually, a lot of Pink Floyd's music will do that to me. (I wrote Wish You Were Here into Personal Demons.) I haven't listened to Brain Damage in a really long time, but I woke up with it in my head this morning. Specifically, the line "There's someone in my head, but it's not me." The song was accompanied by a whole cast of characters who I'm just getting to know.

That's what the writing process is to me: people in my head. They start out as strangers, but little by little we get to know each other. They tell me things and have conversations with each other, and I take dictation. Some of them, I really like. Others, not so much. But whether I like them or not, I'm just the poorly paid help with the laptop, so they all get an equal crack at getting their story on the page. (I don't play favorites.)

So, I'm still hanging out with my old friends, but I'm making some new friends too. It's fun to watch these new characters emerge, and I'm dying to hear the stories they have to tell as we get comfortable with each other.

I'll leave you with a question and a song. Question: New stories come to me as characters with something to say. If you write, how do new stories come to you? 

And the song: Pink Floyd's Brain Damage. As always, if you love it, please visit your chosen mode of music purchase and buy it.

A LITTLE TOO audiobooks!

Fun stuff! Harper released the audiobooks for the A LITTLE TOO series today! If you want to hear the samples, they're here on Audible!

This is super exciting for me. I remember when my first audiobooks released for my Personal Demons series. I got audition tapes and got to choose my demon, Luc, (who I will say was very demonic ;p). Then I got to hear his and the actress who read Frannie's interpretation of what I had
written. As an author, hearing someone do a dramatic reading of your work is enlightening. It makes you see where you could tighten things up, and where you might not have relayed exactly what it was you meant to. So, I'm looking forward to hearing Lexie, Hilary, and Sam come to life and tell me their stories.

Thanks to Harper, Blackstone Audio, and the actresses who read my characters! Now, off to listen...

A new A LITTLE TOO story, audiobooks, and a giveaway!

Yo! There is so much stuff I have to tell you!

First, did you guys know a new A Little Too story released this week? Yep! Remember Lexie's dirtbag ex, Rick, from A LITTLE TOO FAR? See if he can change your mind about him as he fights to win Rene's heart in A LITTLE TOO SCARRED. Rene and Rick's story is part of the FIFTY FIRST TIMES anthology, which is on sale for only $1.99 right now! There are stories from Jennifer L. Armentrout, Molly McAdams, Carrie Ryan, Sophie Jordan, and lots of others. Here's what an Amazon reviewer had to say about A LITTLE TOO SCARRED:
"One of my favorite stories in this anthology was, A Little Too Scarred, by Lisa Desrochers. It dealt with a woman who had been severely disfigured. She lost an eye, and had scarring on her body. Her self-esteem became non-existent, she refused to leave her home, and would not let the man she had fallen in love with see her. This story really touched and broke my heart. Due to my own personal experience, I have scars on my body, due to multiple surgeries I had to undergo 5 years ago, to save my life. I too have had to deal with self esteem issue's, feeling unattractive, and not wanting to go out in public. So, I could relate to the main character, and her thought process and actions were very realistic."
You can find it on Amazon, B&N and any other e-book retailer.

Also, A LITTLE TOO HOT is now available in paperback on Amazon and B&N! If you want to get your hot little hands on Harrison, wrap your arms around him in bed, here's your chance!

And, for those of you who like your audio books, the entire series will be available on audio on March 11th! This is super exciting to me. I love my audio books, and I can't wait to hear my characters tell their stories.

If your still not quite sure this series is for you, you can check out the series spotlight over on The Rock Stars of Romance for excerpts and a giveaway for the entire series in signed paperbacks.

Thanks for stopping by! More news to come!

Wow *deep breath*

I'm taking a second, now that A LITTLE TOO HOT is out in the world, to reflect back on the last year. It was one year ago last Friday, January 17th, that I woke up with Lexie in my head. She told me she thought she might be in love with her stepbrother, Trent. I grabbed my laptop and started typing, and by that night I had the first 10K words of A LITTLE TO FAR. A couple of days later, I shot my omnipotent uber-agent an email with the pitch and asked her if NA was a thing now. (She'd always said it wasn't, but she'd just sold Cora Carmack's LOSING IT to Harper the month before.) She emailed me back and said it was a thing, but that it was still a tough sale. I sent her the first 80 pages of ALTF, which she read and loved, and we agreed to try to sub it. A week later, I'd finished the first draft. We took a few weeks to clean it up, then subbed to editors. It went to my lovely editor at HarperCollins on Friday and on Tuesday we were speaking on the phone. By Thursday we had a pre-empt we were happy with and I had a crazy deadline schedule for the next two books in the series. And that was my year.

So, I find it sort of karmic that the final book in the series would publish exactly one year from when I sent the first feeler to my agent about the idea--a year and four days after I first opened a clean Word doc and started writing Lexie's story. It's been sort of a fairy tale year, and I've met so many awesome readers and fabulous authors--people who have turned into some of my closest friends. (I'm looking at you, Jay and Katy!)

It hasn't always been easy, but it's been wild in the best possible way. It's a ride that I wish could have lasted forever, but instead of looking back, I'm looking forward.

When I wrote A LITTLE TOO FAR, it was in the two weeks that my agent had a new young adult novel that I'd written in December. We put that on the back burner when things started happening with A LITTLE TOO FAR, but I finally had a chance to go back and clean that up before Christmas, and I'm hoping for good things there. I also have some fun new adult ideas knocking around in my head that I'm looking forward to getting on paper, so to speak, in the next few months. I've contributed to a really cool anthology coming out next month, FIFTY FIRST TIMES, with Jennifer L. Armentrout, Molly McAdams, Sophie Jordan and a whole bunch more of us. So, there's not much chance I'll stop writing. But...I will slow down a little. Life got a little crazy in the last half of last year, so I'm taking some time to enjoy my family and just breathe.

Thanks to all you readers who have been along for the ride. You're the reason I love my job. The notes and Tweets make all the insanity worth it. You are the absolute best! xxoxoxoox

A LITTLE TOO HOT Character Week--Harrison HEAT (and a MASSIVE giveaway!)

It's A LITTLE TOO HOT release day! We finally get to unleash Harrison on the world. ALTH is totally stand alone, so there's no need to read the first books in the series before diving in! Here's what you guys are saying about A LITTLE TOO HOT:

5 stars from Good Choice Reading: “Sam loses control a little and that is where the story does a complete twist. One that I had NO IDEA was coming. One second I am all blushing and waiting for the exciting moment, and then all of a sudden I am yelling O-M-G what?!?!?”

5 stars from Dark Faerie Tales: “If you like new adult contemporary novels with lots of steam and intrigue this is a must read for you.”

5 stars from Bittersweet Book Love: “Every once in a while, you read books that completely take you by surprise. This is one of them.”

5 Olives from Martini Time Romance: "When you think you have everything figured out, the author throws us readers a wicked curve ball, and we have no choice but to hang on for the ride. And what a ride it is."

So...yeah. There's a twist. And it involves this guy:

Harrison is that sexy combination of sweet and tough, but he's got his demons. For the most part, he does a decent job of keeping them in check, but they drive him and his need for revenge boils just below the surface of his cool-as-a-cucumber exterior. Harrison is hot, no doubt, but he's also a little mysterious. There's a reason. He's not who he says he is. Things get interesting for Harrison when he meets Sam. She seems to break through all his barriers. He want to get to know her. Hell, he wants HER more than he's ever wanted any other woman. When it become clear that Sam wants him back, he's got a decision to make. The one he makes spins both their lives into a cyclone of chaos that even Harrison never could have anticipated. Their only hope of surviving lies in trusting each other, but how do you do that when someone's shattered that trust. All he wants is Sam in his bed--the one thing he can never have without risking everything. So what he needs to decide is if she's worth it.

And I promised a giveaway! Some amazing authors have blurbed ALTH. Here's what they said:

“Every page is deliciously breathtaking, wickedly sexy and sensational. A LITTLE TOO HOT is wonderfully unique and a LOT HOT! I am a HUGE Lisa Desrochers fan.”
   — Katy Evans, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of REAL, MINE, and REMY

“Lisa is brilliant at creating sizzling sexual tension and impossible circumstances that make the reader hold their breath all the way to happy ever after. Sam and Harrison are more than A Little Too Hot, they are scorching!"
   — Jay Crownover, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of RULE, JET, and ROME

“Lisa Desrochers’ best yet! A LITTLE TOO HOT is hotter than hot with all the emotional punch to back it up!”
   — Sophie Jordan, New York Times bestselling author

Because the ladies are so amazing, I'm giving away a "blurb pack" of signed books by all three. There's REAL, MINE, and REMY by Katy Evans, RULE, JET, and ROME by Jay Crownover, and FOREPLAY by Sophie Jordan! Enter here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A LITTLE TOO HOT Character Week--Sam (and win signed books!)

It's A LITTLE TOO HOT release week, which means another Character Week here on the blog! Before we start, though, just a reminder that today is the LAST DAY to pre-order ALTH and earn a BONUS CHAPTER from Harrison's POV. This bonus chapter is only available to those who pre-order and fill out this form for your download code by today. Here's what Katy Evans, NYT bestselling author of REAL said about the bonus content:

"I just read the extra chapter for A LITTLE TOO HOT! @LisaDez are you trying to kill me? I'm still aflutter! Harrison's so sexy!"

Don't miss out on Harrison HEAT!

Also, enter below to win signed books from the authors who blurbed ALTH, including REAL, MINE and REMY by Katy Evans, RULE, JET and ROME by Jay Crownover, and FOREPLAY by Sophie Jordan.

So, we kick ALTH Character Week off with my lovely, yet somewhat misguided heroine, Samantha West. A LITTLE TOO HOT is totally stand alone, and there is no need to read A LITTLE TOO FAR first, but if you did, you might remember Sam. She was Lexie's best friend who was totally lusting on Lexie's stepbrother, Trent. Some of you loved to hate her in A LITTLE TOO FAR, for good reason. Sam was crazy for Trent, and what Lexie couldn't tell her best friend was that she was secretly in love with Trent, so Lexie had to stand by and watch Trent date Sam...which nearly killed her.

Here's what some lovely blog reviewers had to say about that after reading A LITTLE TOO HOT:

"I thought I knew [Sam's] character and personality after reading about her in book 1, but it turns out I didn't know a thing! She's feisty, resilient, and street smart." --Forever Me Romance

"I've got to be honest and say that I didn't like Sam at all in the first book. In fact, I thought she was a calculating, callous, boy crazy bitch. My opinion soon changed upon being able to see events from her point of view." --Book Angel Emma

"The side of Sam we got in A LITTLE TOO FAR was the bratty, best friend side, which doesn't to Sam any justice at all! The Sam I got to know in this book was so much more--determined, feisty, sensual and sweet." --Bittersweet Book Love

So, why the "boy crazy" brattiness in A LITTLE TOO FAR? I'll let Sam explain that to you...

I sit and force my fingers to stop fidgeting with the clip of my garter belt.

“So, no boyfriend?” Harrison asks, and there’s an intensity to the question that unnerves me a little.

“No boyfriend. I’ve really only ever had one.” Oh my God. Why did I just tell him that?

“Me too. That is … one girlfriend,” he clarifies.

“Your fiancée?”

He nods. “How long ago? Your boyfriend, I mean.”

“We broke up a year ago.”

“Were you together long?”

I shake my head. “We were dating for about eight months, but it was long distance.” I don’t tell him the whole time we were together, Trent was in love with someone else, because that just makes me sound pathetic.

“How did you meet?” he asks.

“He untangled his stepsister’s kite string from my braces,” I say, tapping my lips with my finger.

His gaze sticks for a second on my mouth before he lifts it to my eyes. “Braces … ” he says with a tip of his head. “How old where you when you met?”

“Fourteen.”

“So, you knew him for a while before you dated.”

“You could say that.”

He looks at me curiously for a long beat. “There’s a story there.”

I blow out a sigh. “A long and extremely pathetic one.”

“I’m listening.” He settles deeper into the cushions and drapes an arm over the back of the sofa.

I just look at him for a second, trying to gauge if he’s messing with me or if he’s really interested. His liquid gaze is deep and his expression soft but intent. I tip my head back against the sofa and stare at the ceiling. “I was totally in love with him all through high school, and I held out for him for five years, even when he didn’t show any interest, because no one else measured up. So, yeah. I knew him for a while.”

“After all that time, you finally got your man. What happened?”

“He was in love with my best friend … who also happens to be his stepsister.”

There’s a long silence, and I lift my head, but I can’t bring myself to look at him as I tell him things I’ve never said out loud before. “He was practicing with his band in Lexie’s garage, and we were in the driveway flying her kite, but the wind gusted and it did this loop, and the string got caught in my braces. Lexie yanked, I screamed, and when the guys came out of the garage to see what was up, they all started laughing. But not Trent. He came over and got me untangled. And he told the guys to cut the shit when they started calling me Jaws and asking if I got good reception.”

I remember it so clearly.

Hold still, he’d said. He grasped my chin gently and leaned in to examine my mouth. He was a little sweaty from jamming with the guys, and I remember thinking I should think that was gross. But I didn’t. It was the opposite of gross. I’d crushed on a few guys in junior high, but I never remember my heart racing the way it did with Trent so close. He’d unhooked me from the kite, and when he let me go, he smiled this incredible sideways smile and said, Good to go, and that was it.

I sigh and sink deeper onto the cushions. “I fell in love with him right that second. But even though I was under his nose all the time, he never thought of me as anything but his stepsister’s best friend, so, for five years, I pined.”

The heart wants what the heart wants, even if it (he) doesn't want you back. When Sam loses Trent to Lexie, she feels betrayed by both of them. Her best friend and boyfriend have chosen each other over her, and it stings. So she acts out, first by burning bridges with her best friend, then by drowning her sorrows in alcohol. She makes some new friends, the best of whom is lead man for a local band, and the real partying starts...which eventually gets her thrown out of college. A LITTLE TOO HOT is the story of Sam trying to finding herself again after being totally adrift. Unfortunately for her, this involves a little more chaos than she'd anticipated...especially when a certain hero enters the picture.

Enter here for SIGNED BOOKS and check in tomorrow for Harrison's story!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ONE WEEK! ONE WEEK! AHHHH! (plus Harrison heat and all things ALTH)

Yep, it's only one week until the release of A LITTLE TOO HOT! Have you pre-ordered it? If so, guess what? HarperCollins has a BONUS for you! I'm just putting the finishing touches on an exculsive chapter from HARRISON'S POV!  And let me tell you, it is HOT! Pre-order, then go here to claim your bonus chapter.

And, also, have you guys seen the amazing blurbs???

“Every page is deliciously breathtaking, wickedly sexy and sensational. A LITTLE TOO HOT is wonderfully unique and a LOT HOT! I am a HUGE Lisa Desrochers fan.”
   — Katy Evans, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of REAL, MINE, and REMY

“Lisa is brilliant at creating sizzling sexual tension and impossible circumstances that make the reader hold their breath all the way to happy ever after. Sam and Harrison are more than A Little Too Hot, they are scorching!"
   — Jay Crownover, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of RULE, JET, and ROME

“Lisa Desrochers’ best yet! A LITTLE TOO HOT is hotter than hot with all the emotional punch to back it up!”
   — Sophie Jordan, New York Times bestselling author

Those are some awesome authors, and I'm honored that they took the time to read my little book. The blog tours have started, and you have a chance to win signed books by all of those authors! I'm giving away signed copies of REAL, MINE, and REMY by Katy Evans, RULE, JET, and ROME by Jay Crownover, and FOREPLAY by Sophie Jordan. To win, all you have to do it check out one of the blog tour stops (listed below) and fill out the Rafflecopter! That simple!

Here's a little something to get you hot for A LITTLE TOO HOT...

If you want more, you can read the first three chapters here.

And to follow the blog tour and enter to win a massive stash of signed books by all the blurb authors, go here.

A LITTLE TOO HOT excerpt and a little Sam/Harrison heat

Last week, a whole bunch of awesome bloggers helped reveal the first peek at A LITTLE TOO HOT! I'm so excited you're only 2 weeks away from meeting Harrison and Sam. This was a super fun book to write and I hope you love reading it.

To warm you up, here's a snippet of heat from Sam and Harrison. If you like that, scroll down to read the first three chapters.

Exclusive Excerpt of A LITTLE TOO HOT by Lisa Desrochers by WilliamMorrowBooks