Welcome to the hop! There are over 200 authors and bloggers participating in this blog hop, and the prizes are AWESOME! Each participating blog is offering a prize, plus, for each blog where you leave a comment, you are entered into the drawing for one of THREE grand prizes. Remember to leave your email address in your comment!
Now what are those prizes?
1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet
2nd Grand Prize: A $130 Amazon or B&N Gift Card
3rd Grand Prize: The following Swag Pack!
So, on with the hop! But first, and this has nothing to do with the blog hop, but I’m throwing it out there anyway…Sunday is my birthday! Happy birthday, Self!Now then, let’s chat a bit about romantic gestures, those sweet things our heroes do that just melt our hearts. The Helvetican has always been good about the classic gestures: remembering the dates of my birthday and our anniversary, taking me out for regular date nights, buying me flowers (extra points for remembering that roses are not the only flower on the planet) and/or chocolate, and accompanying me to events he has no interest in just because he knows I want to go.
I love those things, but it’s the little things he does that really turn me to mush. Like how he remembers so many details from funny or sweet moments in our whirlwind courtship, and how he’ll talk about falling in love with me, or what he loves about me now. Or the way he always manages to walk in the door holding a Diet Coke when I really need one. Or the quiet flirting, the way he’ll hold me or drop a quick kiss on the back of my neck and pat me on the backside, even when there are teenagers in the room. Yes, they groan and tease us, but I think it’s a great example to them of keeping the good stuff alive in your relationship, even when you’ve been married long enough to have teenagers.
In return, I give him little romantic gifts, too. Guys do tend to find different things romantic than we do. With the Helvetican, when I pick up his car at work and return it to its parking spot after a wash and vacuum, he gets a little misty eyed. He’s the only guy he knows who never gets a honey-do list on his day off, and he regularly mentions how much that means to him, that he’s allowed to just enjoy his time off work. But I think his favorites are those little gifts of physical affection when he’s not expecting it, like a quickie before he heads off to work, or a little flash when we’re alone on a mountain trail. Those moments tell him I still find him sexy and I still enjoy playing with him after all these years.
It’s so easy to get stuck in a rut in a relationship, but it doesn’t take big romantic overtures to keep the wheels of love turning and stir up the passion. What’s your favorite romantic gesture to give or receive? Leave a comment (remember your email addy) for an entry into the Grand Prize drawing, as well as an entry into MY drawing! I’m giving away a $15 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card! Then, continue on the Hop with this link: Romancing the Hop. Have fun!
Welcome to the Birthday Blog Hop! 60 authors are celebrating paranormal author Carrie Ann Ryan’s birthday tomorrow by participating in this hop. I’m so glad to have you here and I hope you enjoy yourself for a bit before moving on to the rest of the hop!
Take one reformed hotshot CEO playing rancher. Add one strong woman, an abuse survivor with a lot of secrets. Toss together for one searing kiss on Halloween, then separate. Fold in a slightly deformed pet bison who creates serendipity by accident. Stir together. Add discoveries, revelations, angst, heartbreak, suspense, and generous helpings of both healing and sexual tension. Layer with family relationships and a secondary love story and simmer to a Happy Ever After.
Next is Chelsea. She is a chinchilla rabbit. Though she came from a pet store, she is truly a rescue as well. She’d spent her first year at the store, living in a plastic tub with a wire top that was too small for her to stand vertically in or even stretch out all the way. The store owner said the only people who wanted her were those looking for snake food, and she just couldn’t sell her for that. I’ll never forget putting Chelsea on the grass for the first time. It took her several days to learn how to be a free bunny, to run and jump and stand straight up, but the other bunns taught her well. Especially patient Oyster, who adored her until she gave in and bonded with him.
Finally, we have Brownie. She is nine, our oldest bunny. The rabbit life span is usually seven to ten years, so we’re grateful for every day she’s with us. She’s outlived two mates before her current love, Smokey Jr. Not that Smokey had it easy with her. Brownie made him beg for her love for a couple of months before she gave in and decided he was a good choice for a mate. Brownie has bad teeth that don’t align properly. Most rabbits will wear down their constantly growing teeth as they eat and chew on wood treats. Brownie’s teeth don’t wear down, so once a month she visits the vet to have her teeth trimmed. Oh, in case you’re wondering, all of these rabbits have been spayed/neutered. There are enough homeless, abandoned bunnies in the world. We rescue, we don’t breed.
