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Veronica Forand
People rarely try to pick me up. Perhaps it’s my sarcasm, or my really loud voice, or the wedding band on my finger. In truth, I had to make the first move to grab my now husband’s attention.
We’d been friends in high school and had spent a summer before college hanging around each other every single day. It was obvious we liked each other, but the friendship was so strong I didn’t want to screw it up but pushing for anything more. I’m sure he felt the same way…maybe?
Anyway, it was now August and as much as friendship is great, I wanted a bit more. I’m sure he did too, but was bashful. So to make a long rambling story shorter and less rambling, I asked him for some Chapstick after he’d put some on (he was a hunky lifeguard and needed to protect his skin). Instead of taking it from his hands, I took it from his lips with my own lips. Things progressed very well after that!
Taking his own sweet time in everything he does, we married seven years later and will be together over twenty years on our anniversary.
Simmering Ice Blurb
Her newest release co-written with Susan Scott Shelley is Simmering Ice.
When the gloves come off, she’s worth the penalty…
Physical therapist Annie Davidson is great at her job but unlucky when it comes to love. She’s just out of a bad relationship. A really bad relationship. All she can do is focus on work…that is until she runs into professional hockey player Alec O’Meara. She’s a touch insecure and doesn’t understand why he’s interested in her.
Despite being one of the biggest players on the team, right wing Alec O’Meara prefers finesse over force. After the tragic death of his wife, he likes to keep things loose on and off the ice. But the red-headed Annie challenges his beliefs and makes him think about taking their relationship to the net.
The passion and fun they share is addicting and makes them long for more. But her insecurities that she’s not good enough, and his anxiety over a long-term commitment will keep them apart, unless they can find a way to break through the defenses they’ve built around their hearts.
About Veronica Forand
Veronica Forand is an attorney and an award-winning writer of romantic suspense. She’s lived in Boston, London, Paris, Geneva, and Washington, DC and currently resides near Philadelphia. An avid traveler, she loves to roam across continents with her husband and kids in pursuit of skiing, scuba diving, and finding the perfect piece of chocolate.
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Samantha Ann King
Thanks for hosting me today and for participating in the Summer eReader Giveaway. I’m looking forward to chatting with everyone about the best and worst pickup lines they’ve heard…or used! Especially since I don’t have much experience with them. It’s true. I can only remember one from all my years of dating. I don’t know what that says about me. That I led a sheltered life? That no one wanted to pick me up? That my memory sucks?
My heroes don’t use pickup lines, either. They tend to have a friendship with the heroines before they fall in love, or they’re thrown together by circumstance.
But back to my one and only experience with the pickup line.
Imagine a bar. It’s in a college town, so it’s crowded with students. Dancing. Drinking. Shouting above the pulsing, pounding bass of the sound system.
I’m standing at a table, taking a break from the dance floor with my drink of choice, a G&T. Don’t ask what kind of gin. I wasn’t particular back then, couldn’t afford to be. Probably couldn’t afford to be drinking. But it was Saturday night.
A guy—dark curly hair, dark eyes, a little older—asks me to dance with him. And since that’s why I’m there…
When we return to the table, he raises his voice above the music. “I wrote a song about you.”
I laugh. “Yeah. Right.”
“I’m a musician. I’m in a band. Used to play with (insert your favorite rock musician here, because for the life of me I can’t remember the artist.).”
“Sing it for me,” I say.
“Too loud.”
We talk. Dance a little more. He walks me to my car.
“Sing it for me.”
“Not now. Let’s go to dinner tomorrow. I’ll bring my guitar.”
I say, “Okay.” (In my defense, I was young and naïve. Besides, I really wanted to believe he’d written a song about me. I mean, how cool would that be?!)
At dinner we talk. He and the waiter compare notes on how to cook baked potatoes. (I know. Weird, right?)
When he takes me home, I say, “Sing me the song.”
“I forgot my guitar. Next weekend.” (I wasn’t that naïve or that desperate for a song of my own!)
Unfortunately, I can’t come up with an excuse quickly enough. I’ve never been fast on my feet, literally or figuratively. We make another date. A messy cold causes me to cancel the day of. (The only time I’ve been thankful for a cold.)
I’m sprawled on the nubby plaid couch in my apartment. Red, runny nose. A box of tissues clamped in one hand and an overflowing trash can within reach of the other.
There’s a knock on the door. My roommate answers.
It’s him. “You really are sick.”
“Uh, yeah.”
“I thought you were lying.”
Such a charmer. I never heard from him again, and I never got to hear “my” song. I wasn’t crushed.
Sooo, “I wrote a song about you.” Memorable? Yes. It’s the only line I remember a guy using on me. (Probably because it was the only line a guy ever used on me.) Best or worst? I’ll let you decide.
I’d love to hear your best or worst pickup line. Share it here, and you could win one of four Kindles. In the meantime, if you’d like to see how a real man picks up a woman, check out Sharing Hailey, the first book in my Lovers and Friends series. No pickup line needed.
Sharing Hailey Blurb
Hailey Anderson’s deep, dark secret? She’s been madly in lust with her overprotective brother’s two best friends for years. Gorgeous woodworking artist Mark Allen and sexy doctor Tony Adamo have no idea they star in her fantasies every night.
After a nasty breakup with her abusive boyfriend, Hailey’s looking for a little distance. Headed for a two-week Hawaiian vacation with her brother and his hot friends, Hailey can’t wait to feast her eyes on Mark’s and Tony’s rock-hard, ocean-slick bodies. Even if she can’t touch.
But instead of treating her like their little sister, Mark and Tony have a surprising proposition: a monogamous ménage à trois. The three of them—and no one else. Both men want Hailey and have agreed to share her. The red-hot reality is even better than the forbidden fantasy. Until Hailey’s ex threatens their newfound happiness…
About Samantha Ann King
USA Today bestselling author Samantha Ann King was born and raised in Houston, Texas. After receiving her BBA in Finance from Texas A&M University and marrying her high school crush (notice she didn’t say sweetheart), Samantha relinquished her “native Texan” status and moved to Baton Rouge. She has called Albuquerque, New Mexico home since 1985. The mother of three has volunteered in the community as an advocate for children’s issues ranging from education to healthcare. In 2010, as her nest started to empty, she began writing erotic romance. Thanks to her win in Passionate Ink’s Stroke of Midnight Contest, Samantha signed her first publishing contract in 2011. Her first book was nominated for RT’s 2012 Reviewers’ Choice Award.
For more information on Banned Books Week, including the absolutely fascinating lists of frequently challenged books, visit the official 
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