UPDATE: CONTEST HAS ENDED
Are you ready to get Hooked?
What makes a man strong?
That’s the question posed to the final 4 heroes battling for the title of Summer’s Hottest Hero at All Romance eBooks this week in Round #4 of the competition.
What’s the answer to this question?
You’ll have to go to ARe and log in to your ARe account to read the 4 heroes’ answers. Once you are logged in, you’ll see the 4 heroes in the 2 match-ups. Click on Wes Griffin’s name and read what he thinks makes a man–and a cowboy in particular–strong in his eyes.
Don’t forget to vote for your two favorites. Voters can vote in each bracket in every round so if you haven’t voted yet in Round #4 which began today, Friday, July 22nd and ends July 27th at 11:59 PM CT, you are eligible to vote and to win $25 in eBook Bucks (your vote is your entry).
It’s going to be a tight competition again this round so go support your favorite hero–and if he happens to be my hot roping rodeo cowboy Wes, even better! The two winners of this round will advance to the 5th and final round next week where one will be crowned the Hottest Hero of the Summer!
We’re in round #3 and my roping rodeo cowboy hero Wes has been running neck and neck against his competition this round in All Romance eBooks’ Summer’s Hottest Hero Contest. It’s 5 rounds of head to head battles between the reader nominated heroes in events such as best first kiss and best dinner invite/menu.
Voting for this round ends Wednesday. Voters can vote once in each bracket matchup in each round, and 1 voter in every round will be randomly selected and get $25 in eBookBucks! Please note you have to be logged into your ARe account to see the match-ups and to vote.
What’s a cowboy to do when another guy is moving in on the girl he’s got his eye on? Take charge and take her back! That’s what Wes does when his best friend Shooter makes a play for Maryann in the excerpt from TEXAS TWO-STEP below.
Want to read Wes and Maryann’s first kiss? Go to ARe’s SUMMER’S HOTTEST HERO contest where Wes is in a head-to-head battle in Round #2 Hottest First Kiss. LOG IN to your ARe account to see the contestants, their “First Kiss” entries and VOTE for your 8 favorites.
REMEMBER ONE LUCKY VOTER IN EACH OF THE 5 ROUNDS WILL BE CHOSEN AT RANDOM TO RECEIVE $25 IN EBOOK BUCKS TO BE USED AT ARe/OMNILIT.
TEXAS TWO-STEP EXCERPT
Maryann took another swallow of something that tasted far too good and went directly to her head. “What is this again?”
“Energy drink with alcohol in it.” Shooter grinned. “I figured it would help you with the jetlag and all.”
It sure was helping her, helping her think maybe she should grab Shooter’s enormous buckle and see what was behind it. That reminded her… “Ellen said something before I didn’t understand. About cowboys collecting bunnies and buckles?”
Shooter choked on the mouthful he’d just taken. “Jeez, girl. Warn a guy before you say something like that.” He coughed and then wiped his face with his hand and grinned. “So you want to know about buckle bunnies, do ya?”
Maryann nodded. “Yes.”
He looked even more devilish than she’d gotten used to him looking in the short time she’d known him. At least she thought he did as his face swam a bit before her. She needed to stop drinking this stuff.
“Well, let’s just say the bigger the buckle, the better the cowgirl.” Shooter smirked.
“I still don’t get the corr…correlation.” Maryann frowned as it took her two tries to get out the last word.
“Women like cowboys who win. When we win an event, we get a big buckle.”
“Like yours.”
“Like mine.” He grinned and took another swallow from his cup.
“So you’re saying girls are attracted to you for your big buckle.”
Shooter coughed again, then shook his head and put his cup down next to him. “I’m not drinking any more. A man’s liable to choke to death around you. And yeah, girls may come on to me for the big buckle, but they stick around because of what’s behind it.”
Maryann swallowed hard at his insinuation. “Oh.”
Wes came around the truck, cell phone in his hand. In her inebriated state, she’d forgotten for a minute that his cell phone had rung and he had to walk off to try and find better signal. “Ellen just got out of work and has a flat tire. She needs me to come help her change it.”
“Go. I’ll get Maryann home safely.” Shooter waved a hand at him.
Wes’s sandy-colored brows rose high beneath the brim of his hat. “Oh, really? And how exactly would you do that? Being that we all came in my truck.”
Shooter shrugged. “I’ll call a cab for us.”
“No, I think I’ll feel much better if I drop you off at your place, Maryann at my apartment, and then go and get Ellen.” Wes turned to her. “That sound good to you? You ready to go home?”
Maryann nodded. The party had been like something she’d never experienced before. Trucks, cowboys, music, alcohol, but she was more than ready to go before she did something stupid, like start dancing in the back of the truck like the scantily clad girl currently gyrating nearby.
“Good. Let’s go.” Wes nodded with a glance at Shooter.
Wes placed his hand beneath her elbow and guided her around the truck. He opened the passenger side door, but the height of the truck seemed beyond her in her state. She handed him the cup she still held so she’d have both hands to climb up with.
“You sure do know how to ruin my good time.” Shooter shot Wes a less than friendly look.
Wes snorted. “That’s the plan.”
LOG IN AT http://www.allromanceebooks.com/contest.html TO SEE THE 16 REMAINING HEROES’ ENTRIES
You know I’ve got a newfound obsession with ropers. I’ve blogged here about how I get all a’tingle at the sight of a tie-down roper, piggin’ string between his teeth, controlling a ton of horse with his legs, and then leaping from the stirrups at a full gallop to throw down a 250 pound calf, all within seconds.
No surprise I planted myself on the bleachers directly behind the roping boxes at a recent PRCA rodeo I attended in Connecticut, and snapped away plenty of photos of the buffet of hot cowboy flesh in front of me.
It’s also no surprise that other women feel the same as I do about rodeo cowboys, as evidenced by my tie-down roper Wes from Texas Two-Step being a finalist in All Romance eBooks’ Summer’s Hottest Heroes Contest. Voting in Round #1 opens today as the 32 finalists compete in head-to-head competition. The winners of round 1 will advance to round 2, and so on until there remains only one hottest hero. The events to come include hottest first kiss and best invitation for a romantic dinner.
Check it out at All Romance and remember you have to be logged into your ARe account to be able to see the competitors and vote. I’m hoping Wes makes it through round 1 since he’s got some great stuff planned for his romantic dinner!
OH!! I forgot to mention that AllRomance will be choosing a random voter in each round to win $25 in eBook Bucks to be used on the site.
All this week JoJo’s Bookcorner is hosting a Halloween Bash.
Today is my day on the blog where you will find a virtual pumpkin carving contest (go see my attempt), some of my favorite Halloween things and what I’m going to be this year.
I’m giving away an out-of-print paperback copy of Witches Night to one lucky US reader today and an eBook copy of Crossing the Line (open to international readers) next Sunday.
There’s also a Character Costume Party next Sunday, guest authors, games and prizes all week long so make sure to stop by!
Turn up the heat this summer. Check out Romance Junkies Summer Contest. Go to the RJ Contest, scroll down on my page and see what goodies I’m giving away.
There is no doubt in my mind that romance readers love cowboys. The proof is in the numbers, and the sales of my three cowboy books (Rough Stock, Unridden and Bucked) have surpassed all of my personal records to date. But what I’d like to know is WHY?
I’ve written sexy computer geeks, firemen, and soldiers but the cowboys always do best with readers.
Can you put your finger on exactly why stories about cowboys make your heart rate speed? If you can, I want to know. I kind of have to know, actually, because I’m sitting on a few panels this Fall at the Authors After Dark romance reader convention in Secaucus, NJ in September and at Albacon in Albany, NJ in October. As an “expert” (and I use that term lightly) in this area, I will be imparting to other authors and readers WHY men in boots do it for you, my readers.
So leave your comments here, if you’d be so kind, about why you love reading the western/cowboy romance genre. And as an added incentive, for those commenters who want one, if you email me your snail mail address to cat@catjohnson.net I will mail you back a “Looking for more than an 8 second ride? Let’s Buck!” fridge magnet as a thank you for helping me flesh out my panel discussions. In the interest of keeping my sanity, I will cut requests for this free magnet offer off on July 1st.
AND while you’re at it, hop over to Melissa Schroeder’s Random Thoughts blog today where I am a guest blogger. It’s military week there during her Summer of Love blog promotion and I’m writing about how I turn the real life mission details from my military muses’ deployments into fictional romance. Don’t get me wrong, cowboys may sell best, but my military series has always done really well also. Maybe it’s the boots we love, be they cowboy or combat. So over at Melissa’s blog I am asking for commenters to tell me why they love stories about military men. Yes, I’m on a ‘why we love military men’ panel at the reader conventions as well…
CONTEST: There on Melissa’s blog, to one randomly-selected lucky commenter, we are giving away a download of my now out of print Crossing the Line, a military romance I wrote in collaboration with my USMC consultant. The contest at Melissa’s runs from 7am today (June 3rd) until 7am tomorrow Eastern time.
So there you go. I’m asking to pick your brain and giving you a public forum to express your opinion about both cowboy and military romance. Love it? Hate it? Too much of it in the world? Not nearly enough? Is there something you want to see and haven’t? Tell me. I want to know.
Thanks!!
Cat
TODAY IS MY DAY IN THE ARe SPRING INTO ROMANCE
SCAVENGER HUNT!
This March All Romance eBooks, LLC brings you 31 of today’s hottest romance authors and 31 chances to win fabulous prizes. Discover new authors, new books, and one more reason to shop at AllRomance.com and OmniLit.com… The Hunt is ON!
Daily Prize:1 Download from the day’s featured author and a $10.00 Omni Bucks Gift Certificate
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See the Official Rules at the bottom of the contest page for details.
