Tag: Instant Attraction Month

Review: Instant Attraction by Jill Shalvis

Posted January 29, 2009 by Casee in Reviews | 7 Comments

Accountant Katie Kramer is a quintessential good girl – working hard, recycling diligently, all the while trying to ignore the feeling that she doesn’t fit in anywhere. That’s all she wants. Well, that – and amazing sex, and the kind of daredevil escapade she can look back on when she’s crunching numbers in a dusty cubicle. Which explains why she just took a job in Wishful, California, working for Wilder Adventures and Expeditions. Waking up to find a magnificently built stranger towering over her bed – that part defies explanation…

After wandering the planet for months following a life-changing accident, Cameron Wilder has come back to the only home he knows. Under other circumstances, he might be thrilled to find a gorgeous woman sleeping in his cabin, but now, while he’ll risk his body taking clients on adrenaline-drenched excursions, his heart is off limits. Still, Katie’s killer smile triggers something deep in his gut…among other places. Showing her how exhilarating it can be to stop balancing her life as if it was a check book is the biggest rush he’s ever felt – and an adventure Katie’s wishing would never end…


I’m not really going to go into a summary of the book since we’ve had multiple reviews of it. You can find Rowena’s review here, Kris’ review here, and Holly’s review here.

Katie was a kick-ass heroine. I totally loved her. After a tragedy that would have destroyed her if she let it, she took a long look at her life and decided to not waste another minute. Where prior to the accident, she wouldn’t take risks and stayed away from adventure, she’s now determined to grab life by the horns and live. That attitude is so admirable and I thought that Jill did a fantastic job of writing Katie’s character. The first place she lands is in a little town in the Sierras called Wishful. It’s everything she could have hoped for when she set out from home to finally live her life.

Cam Wilder was definitely a hot-as-hell hero. I loved how affected he was by Katie and her positive outlook. Having had a life altering event happen himself, he can’t comprehend how Katie can be so happy with life. That was my biggest problem with Cam. I understood that he was famous for snowboarding and his career was over when he got hurt, but his constant self-recriminations and doubt was enough to drive me crazy. This is a guy that has a family that loves him and will do anything for him. After his accident, he has someone to go home to. Yet it seemed that he was just whiny about it. He was such a man’s man, I thought he should have been a little tougher.

I loved the secondary characters. The relationship of Annie and Nick just seemed so realistic. That type of thing could happen to any married couple. I can’t wait to see how Annie and Nick’s marriage progresses in the following Wilder books.

This has been my favorite JS book to date. Don’t miss it.

4 out of 5

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

7 Comments

Tagged: , , , , , ,

Instant Attraction Month: Reader Questions

Posted January 27, 2009 by Casee in Promotions | 7 Comments

At the beginning of Instant Attraction Month, we asked you to send in your questions for Jill. Sometimes it’s hard for us to come up with fresh new interview questions, and I think that we have some great questions here. So thank you, readers, for playing with us!

Nancy B: I’d like to know where she gets her ideas from. She has unusual characters, wonderful but unusual.

Jill: Where do I get my ideas . . . Well, I’d like to say they come easily, but they really don’t. It’s a long, slow, tortuous process that’s almost worst than having a root canal but not quite. And then after agonizing over having NOTHING for what seems like forever, the idea’ll just show up in my brain, like “hi, been here all along waiting for ya …”

I Heart Book Gossip: What time do you write? Do you write with music?

Jill: I write from the moment I kick my people out the door for school and work until the moment they arrive back home again, taking time out for a daily hike in the woods with the dogs and the occasional plotting session on my couch with my eyes closed. Sometimes I don’t get enough done and have to go back at it at night but I hate to miss my shows so I try not to do that . . .

Anon: Are your characters based on people you know?

Jill: No. Never. Ever. Made up people are far more fun.

Willa: For anyone who has never read your books how would you describe them?

Jill: Fun and sexy. Maybe I’m not writing deep literature but I do think there’s something to be said for fun and sexy as a great escape.

Cassie: On your blog you chronicle events from your life living in the Sierras. Any chance your future books feature an appearance of Momma and Baby Bear, running into Luke Wilson while walking on a trail without a camera or that ‘special’ stump?

Jill: Oh most definitely. I just have to recover from the embarrassment of the Luke incident first. (Blushing all over again) As for the bears, be sure to stayed tuned. I have a special bear mention in my Christmas novella coming out in 10/09.

Seneca: What is the most common question you get asked? Not counting ‘where do you get your ideas’. That’s a given, I think. LOL

Jill: Definitely the most common question is always directed at my husband: “Do you help her research the sex scenes?” I’ve seen him answer in a variety of ways, and he’s always a good sport about it, but for some reason, it drives me crazy, lol! Please if we ever meet, don’t ask me that one.

Karin: Jill, do your daughters read your books? And, if they do, how old were they the first time they did?

Jill: I have always told my kids that my books are rated R, and so just like certain movies, certain books aren’t age appropriate. But now my oldest daughter is in college at UCLA and her friends read me. She’s still not ready, lol!

Allison(‘s) Reads: Jill, do you think the characters you come up with and/or the issues they face in your stories are affected by your family/people in your life? For example, the worries or hopes you have for them specifically translating into a story idea? If that makes any sense at all… whatsoever..

Jill: Sometimes, yes. I think it’s natural to have your work affected by what’s going on in your real life. But for the most part, I truly try to mostly make everything up. It’s far easier that way. And far more fun to write make-believe that real worries, real angsts. At least for me, because let’s face it, I like light-hearted. I like a happy ending.

ddurance: What genre would you like to write, but haven’t thus far?

Jill: A good old fashioned who-done-it mystery, complete with mapcap adventure and add in the sexy.

Joy: How much influence do you as the author have on the way your cover for your book looks?

Jill: Very little, lol. VERY little. (Read: none)

Susan: Jill, do you have a scene in your mind that you haven’t been able to fit into one of your stories yet? If so, can you give us a clue as to what it’s about?

Jill: I did, but then I just squeezed it into the story I’m writing now, which happens to be the third Wilder brother, so sorry. Can’t tell. But trust me, it’s . . .well, hawt. How’s that for a tease? 🙂

Gina: Can you tell us more about your next series, the one about the baseball player?

Jill: Double Play comes out in July of this year, and it’s the first of two sexy, alpha major league baseball players. Pace Martin n an ace pitcher on the Santa Barbara Heat, and he’s got it all. Or so he thinks. But this being me, and the book being a romance, of course it all falls down around his ears and he has to pick up the pieces one by one. Luckily, he has a little help from an unlikely source, and let’s just say he never expected love to play a part in the game or his life, but really, as it happens, it was the missing piece.

Blanche: Is there a story that you’re dying to write but haven’t had time to get it written yet…if so, can you tell us about that story?

Jill: I always feel this way about the book I’m writing now.

Nikol: Which of your own books is your favorite?

Jill: Oh boy. That’s like asking which kid is my favorite, but I have to say, it’s INSTANT ATTRACTION, and not just because it’s out RIGHT NOW SO PLEASE GO BUY IT. 🙂 It’s my favorite because it just came out of me like a song, and because it has a hot hero, a lot of fun and love and adventure, and it’s what I love to read, as well as write.

Theresa: It’s the start of a new year, did you make any writing resolutions this year? Care to share some of them?

Jill: No resolutions. I suck at keeping them.

Delene: Who’s your favorite Wilder brother?

Jill: I can’t do it. I can’t pick. How about this, when all three books are out, I’ll have a contest and you guys tell me which brother is your favorite? Deal?

Thanks again to everyone that sent in a question for Jill!

7 Comments

Tagged: , , ,

Instant Attraction Month: Winner Announced

Posted January 26, 2009 by Holly in Giveaway Winners | 6 Comments

We apologize for the delay in announcing the winner of Instant Attraction from Jill’s guest post. If you didn’t win and are still interested in a copy, be sure to stick around this week. We still have 2 copies to giveaway!

Without further ado:

Tabitha, please email us at contests @ thebookbinge . com (no spaces) with your mailing address and we’ll order the book for you right away.

If you haven’t already, go check out the other posts from Instant Attraction Month:

Plus, we still have more to come this week: Mine and Casee’s reviews of IA, an interview with Jill where you asked the questions and two more giveaways!!

Congrats again to Tabitha!!

XOXOX
Holly, Casee and Rowena

6 Comments

Tagged: , ,

Instant Attraction Month: Excerpt Time!

Posted January 25, 2009 by Rowena in Promotions, Reviews | 6 Comments


We’re on that home stretch and there are only two more days before this fantabulous book comes out. Are you guys ready for it? Have you guys ordered your copy of it? You should because I can vouch for how great this book is. You can read some of our reviews on this book here and here.

So far, everyone on our blog has loved the book so that should say something about how great it is. Also, expect two more reviews from Holly and Casee. They’re our toughest critics so let’s see what they have to say.

Until then, let’s enjoy another fantastic excerpt that Jill so kindly provided for us.

Enjoy!

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 duffle 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?”

“Your bed? But I’ve been sleeping here for a week.” Granted, she’d had a hard time of it lately but she definitely would have noticed him in bed with her. Just thinking about it now had her glasses fogging up.

“Who told you to sleep here?”

“My boss, Stone Wilder. Well, technically, Annie. She’s the chef here and—“ She broke off when he reached toward her, clutching the comforter to her chin as if the down feathers could protect her, really wishing for that handy-dandy bat.

But instead of killing her, he hit the switch to the lamp on the nightstand and more fully illuminated the room as he dropped his duffel bag.

While Katie tried to slow her heart rate, he pulled off his jacket and gloves and tossed them territorially to the chest at the foot of the bed.

His clothes seemed normal enough. Beneath the jacket he wore a fleece-lined sweater opened over a long-sleeved brown Henley, half untucked over faded Levi’s. So even good-looking, possibly an ax murderer knew how to layer in the Sierras. His jeans were loose and low on his hips, baggy over unlaced Sorrels, the entire ensemble revealing that he was in prime condition.

“My name is Katie Kramer,” she told him, hoping he’d return the favor. “Wilder Adventure’s new office temp.” She paused, but he didn’t even attempt to fill the awkward silence. “So that leaves you . . .”

“What happened to Riley?”

“Who?”

“The current office manager.”

“I think she’s on maternity leave.”

“That must be news to his wife.”

She met his cool gaze. “Okay, obviously, I’m new. I don’t know all the details since I’ve only been here a week.”

“Here, being my cabin, of course.”

“Stone told me that the person who used to live here had left.”

“Ah.” His eyes were the deepest, most solid green she’d ever seen as they regarded her. “I did leave. I also just came back.”

She winced, clutching the covers a little tighter to her chest. “So this cabin . . . does it belong to an ax-murderer?”

That tugged a rusty-sounding laugh from him. “Haven’t sunk that low. Yet.” Pulling off his cap, he shoved his fingers through his hair. With those sleepy-lidded eyes, disheveled hair, and at least two day’s growth on his jaw, he looked big and bad and edgy — and quite disturbingly sexy with it. “I need sleep,” he said, and dropped his long, tough self to the chair by the bed, as if so weary he could no longer stand. He set first one and then the other booted foot on the mattress, grimacing as if he was hurting, though she didn’t see any reason for that on his body as he settled back, lightly linking his hands together low on his flat abs. Then he let out a long, shuddering sigh.

She stared at more than six feet of raw power and testosterone in disbelief. “You still haven’t said who you are.”

“Too Exhausted To Go Away.”

She did some more staring at him. Staring and glaring, but he didn’t appear to care. “Hello?” she said after a full moment of stunned silence. “You can’t just—“

“Can. And am.” And with that, he closed his eyes. “Night, Goldilocks.”

Squeeeeeaaaaalllll! Is it Tuesday yet?

This book is available from Brava January 27, 2009. You can pre-order it here.

6 Comments

Tagged: , , ,

Instant Attraction Month: Jill Shalvis Introduces The Wilder Brothers!

Posted January 16, 2009 by Rowena in Giveaways, Promotions | 28 Comments


Over here at Book Binge, we can barely contain our excitement for Jill Shalvis’ new release, INSTANT ATTRACTION so we’ve dedicated the month of January to getting the word out about this fab book. We’re just going to keep the party going to make sure that everyone knows about the release of this book and Jill Shalvis herself is here today to introduce us to the wonderful Wilder brothers from her new series, so without further yapping from me, let’s meet those hottie Wilder boys already….

Hey there. Rowena and Holly asked me if I’d write a guest blog about my Wilder Adventure series. Since I don’t know where to start, I thought I’d go back to the beginning. Waaaaaay back.

I’m a city girl at heart. I grew up in Los Angeles. I went to Santa Monica pier with my allowance, the Glendale Galleria to be cool, and drove the 405 like I was a formula one driver. Then I met a boy and he wanted to move to the mountains.

Huh?

You mean, like the Burbank Hills, I asked?

Nope. Not what he meant. We moved 600 miles north of my beloved city to the wild Sierras, and I do mean WILD. In LA, the biggest pests I faced were ants and the occasional squirrel. My only problem was which pair of flip-flops I was going to wear.

Here, at 6,300 feet altitude, our pests are . . . different. I get kamakaze raccoons in my house, bears at my back door looking for a handout, and coyotes taunting my stupid but lovable puppy. Flip-flops are a fond memory. The boy grew up and now I call him Alpha Man. He makes me go wake boarding and skiing and snow shoeing and hiking. I no longer own nail polish or pretty sandals. Frankly, it was either cry or write a book.

I settled on writing a series. A series of three wild and sexy brothers who think they know it all, until each of them, one by one, is flattened by the only thing they never saw coming – love.

Ha. My own little revenge, I suppose. These Wilder brothers, Cam, Stone and TJ, all grew up in the mountains, and know them like the back of their hand, and make a living providing outdoor expeditions in the high Sierras, centered out of a three story log-style lodge not far from south shore Lake Tahoe.

Book one, INSTANT ATTRACTION is out next week, and starts with Cameron Wilder, a wild bad boy at heart who’s had a change of destiny when he wasn’t looking. I put poor Cam through the ringer, yes I did. Or should I say Katie did, his wonderful, adventurous heroine who has come into her own courage the hard way, and shows him what’s he’s been missing out on. I envisioned Cam looking like Sawyer, from Lost.


He’s six foot two, leanly muscled with the physique of a world class athlete (snow boarder). Here’s a description from the book when the heroine first sees him:

He wore a ski cap, his light brown hair sticking out from the edges to curl around his neck. His eyes were a sharp green that were leveled on hers. He had on a denim jacket layered over a fleece lined hoodie sweatshirt, and he was quite possibly the most attractive ax murderer she’d ever seen.

“Earth to Goldilocks,” he said, waving a gloved hand until she dragged her gaze back up to his face.

His extremely good looking face.

“My bed,” he said. “Want to tell me why you’re in it?”

Book two is called INSTANT GRATIFICATION and is out 7/09. It’s the story of Cam’s brother Stone, a guy who thinks he knows it all, and of the woman who actually does. Yeah, Stone gets his ass kicked by love but good. Anyway, I pictured Stone looking a big like Laird Hamilton the surfer.


Six foot two, dark blonde hair, pale green eyes, tough and rugged, most comfortable in jeans . . . a classic middle child who likes to be in charge. Ha. His heroine helped him change that notion right quick.

Which leads me to the third brother, TJ, the oldest and frankly, the most damaged of all. I’m just starting his story so I can’t really go into details. No, really, I can’t. As in literally. I’m still staring at page one, which is currently sort of blank. Send cookies.

But here’s how I see TJ:


He’s also over six foot, tough, rugged, outdoor bred and raised. Darker hair than his brothers, not quite as open or accessible. Dark green eyes. A wanderlust sort of guy most comfortable in his element, the outdoors. His story is a sort of rescue story and it will be in summer and he will be wet a lot, like the pic above.

So that’s what I’ve got. INSTANT ATTRACTION is shipping right this very minute from Barnes And Noble online, and should be doing the same from Amazon any day. It’ll be in stores next week. So if you’d so be inclined, go ahead and give me a late Christmas present and get your copy. Oh and stop by my daily blog for more ramblings and giveaways. I LOVE the company. Thanks Book Binge for having me today!

Hugs,
Jill

Did you hear that? They’re shipping INSTANT ATTRACTION from Barnes and Noble online right now, so have you ordered your copy yet? You totally should…it’s a fantastic book!

Look at these fantastic covers:

Bring on the Wilder brothers please…woot!

GIVEAWAY ALERT: Book Binge will buy a copy of INSTANT ATTRACTION for one lucky commenter of this very post! So what are you waiting for? Comment, comment, comment.

Get your copy of Instant Attraction today, its brought to you by Brava. You can buy it here or pre-order it here.

28 Comments

Tagged: , , , ,