Perfection by R.L. Mathewson

A delightful, crazy romp with another food obsessed, bossy, obnoxious Bradford. This book had me laughing out loud at all Trevor’s crazy antics. What a scrumptious nut job. Zoe needs someone to be her champion and Trevor is just the man for the job. She’s his tenant and they’ve never spoken, but he still manages to annoy the HELL out of her. The first time they have a face to face encounter he insults her, over food of course, and regrets what he says the minute it comes out of his mouth. So, he tries to right the wrong by helping her out and along the way, he falls in love with her.

See, Zoe’s a plump girl, and Trevor has a list of standards that his future wife needs to meet. Zoe meets none of them, but it doesn’t matter, because even though in Trevor’s head she’s not perfect, his heart has him feeling differently…only it takes him FOREVER to realize it. I cracked up as Trevor kept convincing himself that she is nothing that he wants, but being he’s such a “giver”, this is what drives him to take care of her. He also helps satisfy her sexual needs, his way of protecting her from all the evil men out there who will just take advantage of her...yeah right Trevor!!! Oh and the two of them were insatiable, and did “it” six ways to Sunday…very HOT! Zoe held her own against Trevor and as much as he played her, she played him right back. They interacted so well and made an amusing couple.

Initially I thought that since the first book ended 10 years in the future that this book would continue from that point. What a pleasant surprise, when I realized that it was only 2 years later and that Haley and Jason were expecting their second child. So, not only did we get Trevor and Zoe’s story, we got crazy Jason and the lovely Haley too. Jason hasn’t changed much and fatherhood has made him nuttier and even more arrogant, didn’t think THAT was possible, but he is. When Jason and Trevor were together it was like Laurel and Hardy on testosterone. Food is what drives this family and they ate so much I started to get a stomachache, although I think some of it was from laughing so much.

Just another fun well-written book from this talented author, with witty dialogue, crazy antics and charming loveable characters!

Karla

Winners of the R.L. Mathewson Giveaway

Congratulations…

Ana Smith and Taryn.

You are the winners of our R.L. Mathewson Giveaway. Thank you all for entering and your great comments. We had a lot of fun hosting this contest and working with an amazing author. We want to thank R.L. again for offering two sets of her books for the giveaway and for the lovely interview. We appreciate you so much and would love to have you back again at Swept Away By Romance.

 Steffi and Karla

***Winners were chosen using random.org***

***Prizes not claimed within 7 days of being notified will be forfeited, and another winner will be drawn. ***

Interview and Giveaway with the fabulous R.L. Mathewson

Today we’re welcoming our very first guest at Swept Away by Romance, talented author R.L. Mathewson. We read her fabulous books and couldn’t stop gushing about them, so we asked her over for a chat and she agreed! Not only that, she is also giving away ALL of her 7 published books to one very lucky winner!! Can you believe it? We certainly couldn’t at first. As always, the giveaway directions are down below. Now, please say hi to R.L. Mathewson. We asked her a few questions that might interest you and of course everything we wanted to know ourselvesJ

When you first started looking into making your work public, why did you decide for self-publishing instead of trying for the big publishing houses?

Well, after I finished my first book I set it aside with a smile and focused on writing another book. Later when I started to think that perhaps I should look into publishing my book I took it out and looked it over before I started banging my head against my desk. It was awful......just awful. After I deleted that book (I kept the characters because I loved them so much) I started working harder on my books where some days it seemed as though I was deleting more than I was writing and when the point came that my finished book didn't make me cringe I started to look into publishing.

I read articles, blogs and took books out of the library to figure out how to get my book published. The information that I found made me rethink the whole thing. There was just too much hassle and not enough reward to through with trying to hunt down an agent and then wait for a contract. It didn't hurt that what I read about actually being published made me shrug off the whole thing. As great as it would be to have a team of professionals to look over my books it would also be too much stress. I like writing what I want, when I want and not having to worry about making my books meet whatever trend was popular at the time. I guess when it comes right down to it I don't want to give up control of my work.

By the point I was looking at writing just as a hobby. I hope to have it published, but wasn't about to go through that whole nightmare to get it published. I got into self-publishing by accident. I don't remember how I came across the idea, but I decided to give it a shot. To be honest it probably wouldn't have gone anywhere if it hadn't been for Vampireromancebooks.com.

They were very supportive from the beginning and gave my book a chance. I still consult Rhonda Valverde, the owner of Vampireromancebooks.com and Lieve V., another member of the site, who helps me now with editing and proof reading. I really don't know where I would be without the ladies from VRB.

Have you always had a passion for writing or were you inspired by a certain event/person?

When I was a kid I always had a book in my hand, always, and would read every chance that I got. Back then I was more into drier material such as biographies and history books. I guess you could say I was a nerd, probably still am :) My focus was history, but I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I was pretty shy and reserved so of course when I started college I lived it up. I didn't party or anything that would have probably left me with questionable tattoos and fond memories, but instead I got into everything.

I started to explore my new world and got to know people and do things that I never really gave much thought to before.  That focus of course resulted in poor grades and I switched to another college, hoping to get my act together. Instead I saw a brochure for an EMT training course and I thought, why not? I ended up working as an EMT for a couple of years before working residential programs for kids. During that time I dabbled a couple of times, but never got past the first paragraph.

It wasn't until after I had my second child and ended up not being able to walk for a while thanks to a ruptured disc that I started to get back into reading, but it was the horrible marriage that I found myself in that made me give writing a chance. I needed an escape and writing became that for me. I also needed it to provide a way to support my two children. I didn't want to become just another statistic so I put in long hours, working on each book and hoped and prayed that they would take off.

I guess when all is said and done I write for my children, Kayley and Shane, my little buddies. They inspire me to keep writing.

Your books are really funny. Especially the A Neighbor from Hell series made us laugh out loud so many times. Is humor something that is important to you in your writing or was it just fitting to the characters?

Humor is very important to me as is a good sense of humor. If my characters can't manage to earn a smile from me then I don't want to deal with them and they get deleted.  I want my stories to be enjoyable and help the reader just sit back and relax and I think, hope, that a little bit of humor will help do that.

Your book covers are pretty basic, title, author, which is unusual. We've read books with awful covers that were terrific, and awful books with great covers, which brings to mind that you can't always judge a book by its cover. Why did you choose to go with the simple covers?

You should have seen the covers when I first started. You would have cringed. They were absolutely horrifying, lol. This is a big improvement, trust me. I use the covers that I have because it keeps the cost of the books down. As much as I would love to have a hot guy grace the covers of my books it would also leave me with no other choice but to raise the price of my books to cover the costs. That's something that I don't want to have to do, especially after I had several readers reach out to me and explain their circumstances and told me how much it meant to them that I kept my prices affordable for everyone.  For them I'm going to keep the prices where they are for as long as I can, which means the covers are not going to have drool worthy guys.

What do you like to read in your spare time? What do you like to do in your spare time? Do you even have any spare time?

Spare time? What's that? Lol, right now I'm have a lot on my plate, kids, writing, editing and all that goes along with self-publishing and I've gone back to college full time so my spare time is pretty limited. So when I have any spare time I like to do things with my kids like fishing, hiking, zoos, library and places like that. I am an avid reader and I bake a mean chocolate chip cookie :)

  

Can you clue us in as to what the future holds, additional books to ongoing series, possibly a new series? 

Right now I'm working on the next Pyte novel, a Neighbor from Hell novel, a paranormal romance and a Historic Neighbor from Hell novel.  Those will all be coming out probably in the next six months. I am also working on several more NFH books, Immortal novels, Anger Management series and two Pyte novels.

Giveaway

R.L. Mathewson is giving away ALL of her published books to 2 winners. The books are in e-book format (PDF that can be read on any e-reader). The Giveaway ends on the 23rd of February (Thursday), 2012 and is of course International.

In order to be eligible for this giveaway you MUST

1. be a FOLLOWER or SIGN UP to be one

2. leave a valid email address

3. leave a comment telling us why you want to win

We want to thank R.L. Mathewson again for taking the time out of her busy schedule to answer our questions and offer all her books for a giveaway. R.L., we have a serious fan-crush on you!:)

***Winners will be chosen using random.org***

***Prizes not claimed within 7 days of being notified will be forfeited, and another winner will be drawn. ***

Steffi and Karla

Playing for Keeps by R.L. Mathewson

It has been a very long time since I laughed so hard and had so much fun with a book.

Haley and Jason are neighbors and colleagues but they don’t get along very well.  Or at least it feels that way for Haley. Jason is loud, ignorant and quite selfish and Haley never complains. But one day it’s simply enough and Haley decides to change her life and starts speaking up for herself. Surprisingly, she and Jason strike up a friendship. That friendship and Jason’s influence help Haley to free herself and be the strong woman that she always knew she was. All that sounds really serious and emotional but it is not. R.L. Mathewson tells this story with a wit and freshness that blew me away and made me an instant fan; and I mean FAN as in: I’m on an R.L. Mathewson marathon right now, going from one book to the next. Jason is a very quirky, hot hero with a serious food obsession and I instantly fell in love with him, even though he might scare me to death in real life….I’d probably think he’s some psycho! In the book and with Haley it just works and they make a beautiful, if slightly weird, couple.

The situations Haley and Jason find themselves in are not very believable but so well told that they are hilariously funny. At the same time, the author manages to include a romantic sweetness and sexiness that make the book sensual, funny and romantic at the same time.

Playing for Keeps feels whole and complete, there is nothing I didn’t like or wish for. It has a beautiful, heart-warming epilogue; it is a very funny book but serious when it needs to be and sexy at just the right moment. Please give this a try, it’s definitely worth it!!

Favorite Quotes:

“Jason had to bury his face against her shoulder to keep from laughing out loud. She was just so damn cute. “Stop laughing at me! I’m a threat, damn it!”

Jason pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. “No, you’re my sweet little grasshopper.””

“Look woman, I don’t know what you did, but I haven’t been able to sleep since we got back from New York. I’m tired and bitchy and all I want is some sleep so cuddle your ass up with me or so help me I will kill you.”

Steffi

 

Winner of Hot Heroes Valentine Giveaway

The winners of our Hot Heroes Valentine are:

June M – 1^st prize, $20 gift card

Camille – 2^nd prize, $15 gift card

ReneAva – 3^rd prize, $10 gift card

Congratulations to you and thanks to everyone who left a comment. We had a blast reading about your Hottest Heroes. This is your consolation prize; some man candy for everyone to enjoy. We hope you had a lovely Valentine’s Day! We’ll be back with more news, reviews and giveaways very soon.

Hot Heroes Valentine Giveaway

In honor of the day of love, Valentine’s Day, we decided to make a list of our hottest romance novel heroes. For this event we are giving away three prizes in the form of gift cards. Directions on how to enter are listed down below but first we want to present to you our Hottest Heroes:

 

Check it out!!! There will be 3 prizes drawn...Yes THREE! You can win a gift card in the amount of $20, $15 and $10 from any (online) bookstore of your choice.  You choose where you want the card from, and as long as they issue gift cards or vouchers, it will be yours!

Amazon, B & N, Samhain, Book Depository, etc...and get your own hero for Valentine's Day!

In order to be eligible for this contest you MUST be

-          be a FOLLOWER or SIGN UP to be one

-          leave a valid email address

-          tell us about your HOTTEST HERO

Giveaway is International and ends on Valentine's Day, February 14th.

***Winners will be chosen using random.org***

Steffi and Karla

Firelight by Kristen Callihan

Firelight is the biggest discovery I have made so far. I didn’t expect anything from this book. To be honest, I’m not a fan of dark, gloomy historicals. A dark historical romance with paranormal elements is a total no-go for me. I only considered this because of a raving review I’ve read on goodreads and it was the best decision I could have made. Firelight enthralled me; it gripped me tight and wouldn’t let me go. The mystery and magic and sensuality of this book are so fascinating and kept me reading long into the night.

We meet the lead characters, Miranda and Archer, for the first time in 1878. Directly, we know that Miranda is not an average girl just waiting for the right suitor to knock on her door. She is a strong-willed, talented and beautiful young woman who can very well take care of herself. Three years later, Miranda is forced to marry a man she has never met before, or so she thinks. It turns out that Archer never managed to get Miranda out of his head and when he sees a way to make her his, he doesn’t hesitate. The mystery around Archer is the central theme of the novel and it is definitely always in the center. Lord Benjamin Archer wears a full-face mask and until later in the book, Miranda doesn’t even know what he looks like. But Miranda harbors some secrets herself. The paranormal world is always there but it is kept in the background.

When I read about Archer’s mask, I was sure that I could tell what was going to happen down to every single detail. Nothing turns out like I first thought and I loved how this book surprised me at every corner. Miri and Archer’s relationship must not be forgotten of course. Archer is a very strong man but his one vulnerability is Miri. For three years, she has had a place in his heart and now she is finally his wife. Still, he fears judgment and rejection from her, when she sees him without the mask for the first time. I loved how Miri manages to make Archer feel beautiful and loved again and how she draws him out of his self-inflicted reclusion.

This book has something for everyone, a little of the paranormal, a lot of romance and a bit of suspense. It is original, funny, exciting, mysterious and romantic. I cannot wait for the second book in the series, Moonglow. Miranda’s sister is the heroine and she is already hilarious in Firelight. I’m excited to find out more about her! Firelight comes with high recommendations from me. I really hope that more people will give this a try even if the blurb doesn’t attract them outright. It is more than worth it!!

Kristen Callihan: homepage

buy at: amazon, BookDepository

Steffi

*This galley was provided by the publisher via netgalley*

Coupon Codes for the Dream Man Series: 20% off

After our Dream Man series Giveaway here on Swept Away By Romance, Kristen Ashley was so kind as to give us coupon codes for our followers. With the following codes you’ll get 20% off the Dream Man books at smashwords.com:

Mystery Man: MC64C

 

Wild Man: HD29M

Law Man: EC85L

Winner of the Dream Man Series by Kristen Ashley

The winner of the fabulous Dream Man series by the even more fabulous Kristen Ashley is:

Amandakgc

Congratulations, Amanda. An email with all the details has already been sent out to you.

Thank you to everyone who entered. We appreciate every single one of your comments so much. As a treat for all those who didn’t win, Kristen Ashley was so kind as to give us 20% off coupon codes at smashwords.com.

Mystery Man: MC64C

Wild Man: HD29M

Because Law Man has only come out very recently, our code for Mitch’s book doesn’t work yet. As soon as it does, however, we will post it here for you all to use.

We have a lot planned for you in the next couple of weeks. Next up is a review of a new discovery, Firelight by Kristen Callihan, which is simply amazing. You can expect a review this weekend. Also, we have a huge giveaway coming up for Valentine’s Day. We will both present our romance novel Valentines and of course we’ll be giving away great prizes in the form of giftcards, so you can get yourself your own fantasy hottie.

Steffi and Karla

***Winner was chosen using Random.org***