Two FREE BOOKS and a Thanksgiving Giveaway! By Renee Vincent

Hello romance fans, I have great news for you today! I have a couple books I'm offering for free right now—yes, FREE!—and I'd love for you to take advantage of it. With the holidays around the corner, I know that money can be tight, and the last thing I'd want is for my readers to go without, especially when a great romance novel is at the top of their "Santa wish list."

One of my books that are free is LONGING FOR LANGSTON (Brody & Liv). It's the first book of my Mavericks of Meeteetse, a contemporary cowboy romance series set in the beautiful small town of—you guessed it—Meeteetse, Wyoming!

Here's a little blurb about it:

Tired of living in his brother’s shadow, Brody Galven wants the folks of Meeteetse to realize he’s no longer a bad boy screwup. He also wants his childhood best friend, Olivia Langston. While staying out of trouble proves impossible, admitting he loves her is out of the question…even when she’s about to walk out of his life forever.

"If you love steamy western romance and sexy cowboys, meet your new favorite author, Renee Vincent!"

—Shelly Thacker, USA Today Bestselling Author

"I love this story so much. The torment that Brody and Olivia go through because each of them think they are doing what's best for the other is so hard. All they have to do is be honest with each other! It is an excellent story! I would recommend anything that Renee Vincent has written." —Melissa H, Amazon Reviewer

*Available at all vendors through one, easy universal link:

https://books2read.com/Langston

The other book that's free is a new release for anyone who'd rather sample my writing before choosing a book to purchase. It's called ROMANCE SAMPLER: The First Chapters, and here's a list of the books featured: 

HISTORICAL VIKING ROMANCE 

• Raeliksen
• Mac Liam
• The Fall of Rain
• The Temperate Warrior

CONTEMPORARY COWBOY ROMANCE 

• Longing For Langston (Brody & Liv)
• Made For McKinley (Jonas & Ava)
• Falling For Forester (Cole & Crys)

SWEET CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

• Silent Partner
• The Start of Something Good
• The Road to Something Better
• The Gift of Something Grand

* Available at all vendors through one, easy universal link:

https://books2read.com/RomanceSampler

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I hope you all enjoy the free reads and, for all my USA readers, I hope you have a fantastic Thanksgiving! It's my favorite holiday, so I plan on eating like a pig (with the manners of a lady, of course) and savoring the good food and the great company of family and friends!

Thanksgiving Giveaway:

Because I LOVE Thanksgiving so much, making people happy, and giving gifts, I'm giving away three (3) autographed print books of SILENT PARTNER (with its new beautiful cover and brand new edits) to three (3) lucky winners!

All you have to do to enter is send me your name and address, along with a picture of your beautiful Thanksgiving table (with or without people) to rv at reneevincent dot com with "Thanksgiving Contest" in the subject line.

Send me the picture anytime before November 28th, 2016 to be eligible in the drawing! And because I love to see how others decorate for this special occasion, your photo might even be featured in my November newsletter!

So, have your camera or cell phones ready on Thanksgiving day and send me those beautiful photos!

*US residents only.

Diary of a Workaholic - Post by Suzanne Rock #RB4U

The theme for this month is diaries. I used to keep a diary when I was a kid. In it I wrote about all of the important stuff in a fourth grader's world: who was talking to whom, which boys were the cutest, and which teacher liked to give homework over the weekend. (What a meanie! *shakes fist*)

As an adult, I don't keep a diary, but a schedule. Those who know me laugh at my computer full of spreadsheets and office full of Post-It notes. What they don't realize is that without them, I'm lost. 

I'll let you in on a little secret: I get easily overwhelmed. It doesn't take too many tasks to pile up before I'm crawling under the covers and sobbing into my pillow. To-Do lists, schedules and deadlines do more than help me get organized. They help me break down my responsibilities into bite-sized pieces so I don't get overloaded.

Task lists are especially handy this time of year. In the fall, my two girls are heading back to school, and all of their after-school activities are beginning. Forms need to be signed, summer projects need to be completed, and signups for extra-curricular activities occur. (Limited space, better hurry!) My youngest daughter also has her birthday on September first, so yeah, you can see how I tend to get overwhelmed. 

I have been creating To-Do lists for years and over time I've come up with a few key things that make them work for me. 

1) Keep the list managable. Don't write down twenty tasks because you won't have time to finish them all. When there are items left on your "to-do" list at the end of the day, it can really put a damper on your motivation.

2) Keep it simple and specific. A goal like "clean the house" can be overwhelming. Try breaking it down into bite-sized chunks like "clean the kitchen" or "do one load of laundry." A good rule of thumb is to make sure you can finish each task in an hour timeframe.

3) Schedule time for youself. It is unrealistic to think that you can work twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Suffering from mental and emotional burnout isn'tpretty, and the best way to stop it is to work on your overall health. On your schedule, make sure you do one thing for yourself each day. It could be as simple as "take a 30 minute walk," or "read a short story." By taking time for yourself, you ensure you are mentally and physically ready to deal with the tasks on your list tomorrow.

4) Schedule time with loved ones. This is just as important. Time goes by so fast. You don't know how long you are going to live on this earth, so make sure you spend some time each day with those people who are important to you.

5) Be rigid, yet flexible. When you create a schedule or a task list, try not to get distracted. Focus on one item at a time and work your way down the list until you have accomplished everything you want to do. At the same time, know that life happens. Emergencies come up, plans change, and people show up unexpectedly. Be easy on yourself. If something happens and you can't finish your task list, don't beat yourself up over it. There is always tomorrow.

How about you? Do you live and die by task lists and schedules like me, or are you more spontaneous? Tell me about it in the comments section. I'd love to hear from you!

And check out my FREE and NEW RELEASE books below!

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Free on iBooks through August 29!  

Book 1 in the Ecstasy Spa series

Dumped by her boyfriend and down on her luck, Annabelle accepts her best friend's gift and goes to the Ecstasy Spa for an afternoon of escape. She expects the service to be mechanical and the staff to have more brawn than brains, but she couldn't be more mistaken. 

Instead of cold and clinical, Seth is everything she has ever wanted in a man. Smart and sexy, it's easy to see why he is the most requested staff member at the spa. Together they embark on a mind-blowing journey of self-discovery that takes them both to heights that neither thought possible. As physical attraction turns into something deeper, Annabelle wonders if she should risk going against spa policy to see if the "quick fix" she ordered can be changed into something more permanent.

New Release - Ecstasy Spa Volume III - available NOW!

Amazon / Kindle

Amazon UK

Barnes&Noble / Nook

iBooks

GooglePlay

Kobo

This contemporary erotic romance anthology features books 6 and 7 of the Ecstasy Spa series.

Mind and Body – Celeste gets a lot of satisfaction seeing others have their sexual fantasies fulfilled at her spa. Unfortunately, her own sex life has been non-existent. Theo, her boyfriend and co-owner, has been ignoring her for the temporary contractor building a new addition to the spa. As Celeste watches the two men interact, she wonders if there’s something deeper between them than friendship, and decides to arrange an erotic interlude for all three of them to find out.

Hydrotherapy – When Jenna Sanders leaves her dead end job and accepts a management position at exclusive spa on the island of Eden, she hopes to put the past behind her and move on with her life. Unfortunately, the past refuses to be buried, and when she discovers that her sexy boss is her former lover, old wounds reopen and shake the walls she has so carefully built around her heart. Caine is offering her everything she’s ever wanted, but can she trust him? As they rekindle their passion in the bedroom, secrets rise up from Eden’s waters and threaten to tear them apart. Only by diving deeper can they move forward, and Jenna must decide if she is willing to risk her heart for a second chance at love.

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ALSO: I just learned that all of my books published through Electric Ink Press are 50% off at KOBO through Monday. Use coupon code SALE50 to get the discount! 

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A lifetime New Englander, Suzanne married her college sweetheart and has been with him for over twenty years. Every summer she drags her husband and two daughters to Maine on a quest for the perfect lobster dinner. Every fall she can be found down in Foxboro, Massachusetts cheering on her favorite football team. In between those trips, she’s a chauffeur, a maid, a chef, an event planner, a hairdresser, a wardrobe stylist, a tutor and a sometimes masseuse. To keep her sanity, she often drinks copious amounts of coffee and stares at the blank screen of her laptop, dreaming of great adventures. Sometimes she even writes them down for others to enjoy.

Suzanne is represented by Deidre Knight of The Knight Agency and writes mainstream romances under the pen name Ava Conway.

 Connect with Suzanne online:

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Lauren’s Lovelies/ Suzanne and Ava’s Awesome Readers

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Romance on a Budget Blog

Spicy and Sweet, Mixing Up the Heat - #Hollow Free Esampler

So much has been going on with me in the writing world. Most of it only impacts things behind the scenes, so I wouldn't bore you with it here. What I will tell you about is something very exciting that I learned only a few, short weeks ago.

My mainstream romance alter-ego, Ava Conway, is going to have the first three chapters of her debut, new adult novel, Hollow, in a FREE esampler. This esampler will also have some chapters from other popular new adult authors. At the end of each book sample, links are provided so readers can purchase the rest of the story if they want to learn what happens next. (Hollow won't officially go up for sale until August, but you can preorder it here.)

As you can imagine, I was very excited about this opportunity. There are so many great authors in this sampler! I was a little star struck by some of the names, lol. Unfortunately,  it meant that the editing timeline  for Holow had to be condensed so I could have my part of the esampler ready on time. As a result, I've been doing a lot of editing behind the scenes, hoping to get things ready for the big release day May 1st. (That's tomorrow!)

Are you curious about the esampler? You can check out TORTURED LOVE here. As you can see, I'm with some great new adult authors who write a wide variety of heat levels. This makes me wonder...will the esampler go over well with readers? My story has a sex scene, but it isn't very explicit (hence the different pen name). Other authors are much more graphic, and would probably be more in line with what Suzanne writes.

This topic hits a little close to home for me, because I've been talking to other authors this past week about possibly putting out a boxed set that has multiple heat levels. While none of the stories would have closed door sex scenes, some would be much more explicit than others.

Would something like that interest readers? The authors I spoke with aren't sure. Heck, I'm not sure, so I thought I'd bring the question here to see what readers think. So, let me know...are multiple heat levels okay for boxed set releases? How about esamplers? Tell me about it in the comments section. I'd love to hear from you!

And here's the blurb for Hollow, in case anyone is interested:

Girl, Interrupted meets Beautiful Disaster in this thrilling and sexy debut novel, in which a college student learns her perfect life is a lie and finds new love where she least expects it—a mental institution.

Freaks, misfits and psychopaths. Those are the kinds of people found at Newton Heights Psychiatric Hospital, and high-society girl Lucy White’s new home.

Freaks, misfits and Jayden McCray. Jayden has his own set of rules for life at Newton Heights, and in this contradictory guy Lucy finds a way to live with the events that left her cheating boyfriend and best friend dead and Lucy in the middle of the investigation into their demise.

The problem? Jayden makes her want things she’s not supposed to have, blurring the lines between fantasy and reality and making Lucy feel more at home in Newton Heights than she ever did at home. But this isn’t how her life is supposed to be.

Or is it?