Tag: Wilder Adventures series

Excerpt (+ a Giveaway): Instant Attraction by Jill Shalvis (reprint)

Posted October 3, 2012 by Rowena in Giveaways | 32 Comments

In case you didn’t know, Jill Shalvis’ reprint for Instant Attraction goes on sale today and to celebrate, we’ve got an excerpt and a giveaway for you guys!

The excerpt:

“Live life balls out,” Katie Kramer whispered to herself every night, even though she didn’t own a pair, hoping the mantra would keep the nightmares away.

It hadn’t.

Death and destruction and horror still dogged her every single sleeping breath. Until tonight that is. Tonight she’d miraculously been nightmare free. So when she opened her eyes in the middle of the night, she felt . . . confused. She wasn’t screaming about the bridge collapsing, about being trapped in her car, hanging upside down by her seatbelt fifty feet over the side of a cliff with flames licking at her . . .

Which meant something else had woken her. And whatever it was, she wanted to kill it for interrupting the first solid sleep she’d had in four months. There was a fatal flaw with this logic, of course. Because most likely it hadn’t been an it, but a someone.

She wasn’t alone.

Not prone to hysterics or drama, she shook her head in the dark. She’d locked the cabin door. She was safe. Plus, she wasn’t in Los Angeles anymore. After the accident, she’d gotten into her brand new used car and left town to fulfill her Œballs out’ motto. She didn’t know what adventures were ahead of her exactly, but the not knowing was part of the plan. She’d gone north because Hwy 5 had been the only freeway moving faster than fifteen miles per hour and she’d needed to move fast, needed to get as far from her old, staid, boring, careful life as the tank of gas could get her.

Eight hours later, she’d found herself in the Sierras, where it was real winter. None of LA’s lightweight weather where flip-flops were risky for a few weeks in January, but the real deal complete with snow piled high in berms on either side of the roads and frost on her windows.

When she stopped for dinner in a tiny old west town named Wishful, she’d nearly froze her fingers and toes right off. And yet after all her nightmares of heat and flames, she loved it. Loved the huge wide open sky, loved the way her breath crystallized in front of her face, loved the way the trees smelled like Christmas.

Then she’d seen the Want Ad.

Local outdoor adventure and expedition company seeking temporary office manager, adventurous spirit required. Call Wilder Adventures for more info. That had been it for her, she was sold. She’d been working for Wilder Adventures for a week now, the best week in recent memory. Up until right this second when a shadowy outline of a man appeared in her room. Like the newly brave woman she was, she threw the covers over her head and hoped he hadn’t seen her.

“Hey,” he said, blowing that hope all to hell.

His voice was low and husky, sounding just as surprised as she, and with a deep breath, she lurched upright to a seated position on the bed and reached out for her handy dandy baseball bat before remembering she hadn’t brought it with her. Instead, her hands connected with her glasses and they went flying.

Which might just have been a blessing in disguise, because now she wouldn’t be able to witness her own death.

But then the tall shadow bent and scooped up her glasses and . . . Handed them to her.

A considerate bad guy?

She jammed the frames on her face and focused in the dim light coming from the living room lamp. He stood at the foot of the bed frowning right back at her, hands on his hips.

Huh.

He didn’t look like an ax murderer, which was good, very good, but at over six feet of impressive, rangy, solid-looking muscle, he didn’t exactly look like a harmless Tooth Fairy either.

“Why are you in my bed?” he asked warily, as if maybe he’d put her there but couldn’t quite remember.

He had a black duffel bag slung over a shoulder. Light brown hair stuck out from the edges of his knit ski cap to curl around his neck. Sharp green eyes were leveled on hers, steady and calm but irritated as he opened his denim jacket.

If he was an ax murderer, he was quite possibly the most attractive one she’d ever seen, which didn’t do a thing for her frustration level. She’d been finally sleeping. Sleeping!

He could have no idea what a welcome miracle that had been, dammit.

“Earth to Goldilocks.” He waved a gloved hand until she dragged her gaze back up to his face. “Yeah, hi, My bed. Want to tell me why you’re in it?”

GIVEAWAY: Jill has kindly offered us an advanced copy of INSTANT GRATIFICATION and INSTANT TEMPTATION (Books 2 & 3) to giveaway on the blog so to win, leave a comment on this post letting us know why you want to read this book. Please include a valid email with your comment.  We’ll leave the giveaway open for two weeks, so get your comments in before Oct. 15th at 11:59PM PST. 

GOOD LUCK!

This book is available from Kensington. You can buy it here


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Lightning Review: Instant Temptation by Jill Shalvis

Posted January 12, 2012 by Holly in Reviews | 0 Comments

Holly‘s review of Instant Temptation (Wilder Adventures, Book 3) by Jill Shalvis

T.J. Wilder is the perfect package of breathtaking adventure and raw sex appeal. Even better, he’s about to reconnect with the one woman he’s never been able to forget. . .

Get Your Pulse Racing

To Harley, the landscape around Wishful, California, is exhilarating, untamed, and more than a little dangerous. The same could be said for T.J. Wilder, who’s invited himself along on her trek to study a rare coyote. Harley’s career is riding on this trip, and she doesn’t need a stubborn, incredibly sexy distraction. But T.J. is a professional guide who knows when to stay back and when to provide invaluable expertise–just like he’s done since they were in high school. And Harley, as usual, is torn between throttling him and giving in to the raw attraction that’s been smoldering all these years.

T.J. knows how proud and capable Harley is, but he’s damned sure not letting her put herself at risk when there are illegal hunters in the area. She needs him, with the same soul-stirring urgency that he’s always craved her. And here, in this beautiful place days from civilization, he’ll finally have a chance to prove it–over and over again.

This is the 3rd and final book in Shalvis’ Wilder Adventures series. I really enjoyed the first two and was looking forward to reading about TJ and Harley.

In the previous books TJ seems the least likely to fall in love. He’s aloof and detached, though he obviously cares about his family. I was surprised then that he was the one who was willing to think about more than a casual relationship. Harley’s reasons for not wanting to pursue a relationship with TJ were sound, but they seemed to go on just a bit too long.

I loved TJ and Harley together. Not just the sex, but their friendship. Harley didn’t want TJ’s help, but he gave it anyway. I loved that. I also loved how well they fit together.

The backdrop and secondary characters were was wonderful as always. I love the relationship between the three brothers and Harley and her sister, Skye. They were very well written.

Shalvis does contemporary romance very well. This whole series was light and fun, with just the right touches of emotion. 

4.25 out of 5

This book is available from Brava. You can buy it here or here in e-format.


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Review: Instant Temptation by Jill Shalvis.

Posted March 26, 2010 by Rowena in Reviews | 49 Comments


Rowena’s review of Instant Temptation by Jill Shalvis.

Hero: TJ Wilder
Heroine: Harley Stevens

T.J. Wilder is the perfect package of breathtaking adventure and raw sex appeal. Even better, he’s about to reconnect with the one woman he’s never been able to forget…

Get Your Pulse Racing

To Harley, the landscape around Wishful, California, is exhilarating, untamed, and more than a little dangerous. The same could be said for T.J. Wilder, who’s invited himself along on her trek to study a rare coyote. Harley’s career is riding on this trip, and she doesn’t need a stubborn, incredibly sexy distraction. But T.J. is a professional guide who knows when to stay back and when to provide invaluable expertise-just like he’s done since they were in high school. And Harley, as usual, is torn between throttling him and giving in to the raw attraction that’s been smoldering all these years.

T.J. knows how proud and capable Harley is, but he’s damned sure not letting her put herself at risk when there are illegal hunters in the area. She needs him, with the same soul-stirring urgency that he’s always craved her. And here, in this beautiful place days from civilization, he’ll finally have a chance to prove it-over and over again…

There was something about TJ Wilder in the previous books that made me eager for his story. I loved his sense of humor when ragging on Stone for his fear of needles, I enjoyed seeing him be the big brother to Cam when Cam came back and I loved seeing him tease his brothers about every little thing under the sun and couldn’t wait until it was his turn to bite the love bug.

I’ve been anxiously awaiting this story for quite some time now (I wanna say since I read Cam’s book but it was really in Stone’s book that I developed ants in my pants for more TJ) and to say that I enjoyed the book would be putting it mildly.

I adored this book.

Shalvis never fails to make me happy when reading one of her books. I could be having the most shittiest of days and I’ll pick up a Shalvis to read and everything will be right in my world again. She has a knack for putting me in a good mood. This book was no exception.

TJ Wilder is the last of the Wilder boys to settle down and while he loves women, he loves the outdoors more. He likes having his freedom to do what he wants to do, whenever he wants to do it. He gets itchy after staying in one place for too long so he takes off on crazy treks across different lands. On one of his trips home, he gets closer to Harley. TJ and Harley grew up together and she’s good friends with everyone in TJ’s family…except TJ.

With TJ, she’s grouchy. She growls at him and TJ never knew why. He’s aware of Harley and again, he doesn’t know why. Harley on the other hand knows exactly why she’s so grouchy when TJ is concerned. She’s got some unresolved issues with him and she’s also got this insane and insistent crush on him that just won’t go away. It’s annoying and since he always looks so delicious, she blames him for her crush. Makes sense right?

Seeing these two bicker their way to a love match was quite the entertaining ride. I enjoyed the hell out of these two. Once TJ finds out what went down back in the day to make Harley behave the way that she does toward him and seeing him trying to make things better. To make it all better softened me toward him and made me love him all the more.

TJ was a fantastic hero and it was easy to see why Harley loved him…or crushed on him. He was totally crush worthy. He had the whole outdoorsy sexy man thing going for him and I totally ate it up. I loved seeing him interact with his family, I loved seeing him interact with Harley (even when they were fighting/arguing/bickering whatever you want to call it) and I just loved him. He was such a man’s man and I totally adored all of him.

Harley is one of those I can do anything you can do better kind of women and while that can sometimes get on my nerves, I found that Harley didn’t make me want to punch her in her throat. I’ve got to say that surprised the hell out of me because I could tell that she was that do it myself kind of woman but she wasn’t one of those too stupid to live heroines and I liked her.

One of the many reasons why I love this series is the camaraderie between the Wilder brothers. You can tell that all joking aside, this was one united family. They laughed together, they fought together and they loved together. They were a solid unit and it’s always a treat to see them again.

In this book, Annie is pregnant and it was such a treat to see her and Nick again. To see everyone again, really. I love that Jill Shalvis can bring back characters and not have them over power the main couple. Nobody was stealing TJ and Harley’s thunder and I appreciated it.

This book was a fantastic reading romp that I would definitely recommend to fans of Jill Shalvis, this series and anyone in the mood for a lighthearted straight up contemporary novel. This one doesn’t disappoint.

Grade: 4.75 out of 5

GIVEAWAY ALERT: Because I loved this book so much, I’m offering 3 copies of this book to 3 lucky winners. All you have to do is leave a comment on this review and let me know who your favorite Wilder brother is and if you haven’t read the books yet then let me know why you want to read this book and your names will be tossed in the hat for a chance to win a copy.

Good luck!

This book is available from Brava. You can buy it here or here in e-format.


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Another Excerpt from TJ’s Book and a Giveaway!!

Posted March 23, 2010 by Rowena in Giveaways, Promotions | 39 Comments

Jill Shalvis sure did spread the excerpt love around here and we couldn’t be more excited! Here’s another excerpt from TJ’s book, Instant Temptation.

I’m so frickin’ excited about this book because I have lusted after TJ since we first meet him in this series and I have been pretty anxious for his book.

Now that it’s finally on its way to the bookstore, how could I not jump for joy?

Check out the latest excerpt from the book:

…She pushed free of him and paced the length of the kitchen, which means she got about five feet before turning around and smacking right into the hard wall of TJ’s chest. He stood there, filling the kitchen with his larger-than-life presence, making the room seem even smaller than it was.

“Want me to tell you what I think?” he asked.

“Are you about to agree with me about the trip?”

“No.”

“Then no.”

He smiled, laugh lines fanning out from his sharp green eyes. “Still stubborn.”

“And you’re still . . .” She couldn’t think of an insult. With an annoyed huff, she moved toward the front door and opened it for him. “Thanks for coming. We’ll have to do it again sometime.
Buh-bye now.”

TJ smiled, reached over her head, and shut the door. “Let’s do it again now.”

She thunked her head against the wood. She felt him lightly run his fingers down her spine, which caused a sensuous shiver, but when he spoke, the amusement was gone from his voice, replaced by a gut-wrenching gentleness. “Harley, why didn’t you tell me you needed money?

Oh, God. “I—“

The phone rang, saving her pride, and she leapt for it, then hesitated, standing there in front of the answering machine.

At the third ring, TJ raised a brow. “You going to get that?”

“I’m trying to decide.”

The machine clicked on and Harley’s voice invited the caller to do their thing at the beep, and then her landlord’s voice filled the small apartment.

“Harley Stephens, you’re avoiding me.”

Crap. Harley hit the volume button, but not in time to avoid her landlord’s next line.

“You are ten days late on rent, missy. I need—“

Harley smacked the volume again and again, until the voice could no longer be heard.

Gaping silence.

Her back was still to TJ, so she closed her eyes and wished for a nice big hole to vanish into.

“Harley.”

“Don’t say it.” Without meeting his gaze, she tried to move around him, but once again his hands came up to hold her in place. She could snap at him or shove him, but the truth was, she liked his touch.

Too much.

Which told her just how bad off she was.

*sqquueeaalll*

So much to look forward to, especially since we’ll be doing giveaways for this series and book real soon! Stay tuned and jump for joy with us!

Holly says: For those of you who haven’t read the first two books in this series, now’s your chance…Leave a comment on this post telling us why you want them, and you’ll be entered to win either Instant Attraction or Instant Gratification. Make sure you tell us which one you want in your comment (and if you’ve already read them, stick around because we’re going to be giving copies of Instant Temptation away later in the week). You have until Wednesday, March 24 at 11:59 p.m. to enter. Better not delay!

This book is available from Brava. You can pre-order it here.


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Jill Shalvis Shows Us Some Excerpt Love!

Posted March 22, 2010 by Rowena in Promotions | 8 Comments


Jill Shalvis is a contemporary favorite of ours here at Book Binge and she was nice enough to share some excerpts of Instant Temptation (yep, TJ’s book, WOOT!) with us to whet our appetites until the release date.

Check it out:

If you asked TJ Wilder to choose between a warm autumn night in the Sierras or a warm woman, he knew that most people would put money on him taking the woman.

And while that might have been true in his wild, unchecked youth, tonight they’d have been wrong.

Not that he didn’t love women. He did. Short or tall. Willowy or curvy. Sweet or hot-as-hell sexy– actually, make that especially hot-as-hell sexy. Over the years he’d loved plenty.

But he loved the Sierras, too. And while it was true that the tall, rugged, remote mountain peaks could be deadly dangerous to both life and limb, the mountains couldn’t break a man’s soul.
At least not without permission.

And TJ no longer let anything break him. He didn’t let anything break him or get to him, period. He was cool, calm, and prepared, always. Cam and Stone had long ago accepted this, that as the oldest brother, TJ just knew things, like which direction to go on the mountain, whether on skis or a bike, or in the helicopter. He knew which of their outdoor expedition company clients would be a pain-in-the-ass, and he could sense trouble a mile away.

Usually.

And then, as he walked through Moody’s Bar And Grill after a quick dinner with Cam and Stone, feeling full and surprisingly content for the moment, something plowed into his chest with the force of a cyclone.

Not something. Someone.

Harley Stephens. AKA the one source of trouble that he’d never managed to avoid.
Absorbing the impact, he managed to keep them both from tumbling to the floor, and as his brain registered how warm and soft she felt in his arms, she lifted her face, the scent of her filling his head. That’s when something else hit him too, the same inexplicable sense that he always got with her, the deja vu feeling that he’d been here before. Not in the doorway of Moody’s with the fiery Indian summer sun setting behind her and the sound of the dinner crowd behind him, loud and rowdy . . . but having her practically wrapped around him.

*sigh*

How excited are you guys for this book?

This book is available from Brava. You can pre-order it here.


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