Welcome to my daily blog. If this is your first time, I'm a romance writer and a misplaced city girl currently living in the wild Sierras. I tend to have a lot of I-Love-Lucy moments that I share here but sometimes we talk about books, TV, and our favorite cookies. Okay, my favorite cookies. In any case, please feel free to comment by clicking on the Comments at the bottom of any entry. If you're too shy, that's okay, just know I love having you.

Bears oh my

December 20, 2011 | Filed under: Stuff

So I was taking out the trash and came face to face with this.

We took one startled look at each other and decided … WTF!!! I turned tail and ran faster than I run when there are cookies on sale at Safeway, straight into the house and, because I love you, grabbed my camera and hit the deck.

The big bastard was still there, right there, eyeballing the trash I’d dropped. Except …

He wasn’t alone.

And then while I took a very big gulp and waved and said “hey guys, you take all the trash you want” … something happened. ANOTHER head popped up.

I offered them all of my cookies but they said no thanks, they were good with my trash, thank you very much. Apparently, we here at the Shalvis abode give very good trash.

I’m still trying to recover. It might be awhile …

Posted by Jill @ 3:30 am | 52 comments

Free Stuff and how the teenagers are driving me crazy

December 19, 2011 | Filed under: Stuff

Update: Winners randomly drawn are #21 Ayleen and #81 CathyS. Email me with your snail mail!

Original post:
First of all, how many people does it take to decorate a tree?

The entire family minus the one pouting teenager …

p.s. Still giving away stuff! Will draw two names today, one for Maddie’s boyfriend scarf from Simply Irresistible and one for a print copy of Small Town Christmas. (thanks to my wonderful publisher and editor for providing the presents for the 12 days of Christmas with Jill Shalvis!)

Posted by Jill @ 3:30 am | 98 comments

TGIF

December 16, 2011 | Filed under: Stuff

Update: Winners are #99 Megan (the scarf) and #74 Amy (print copy of Small Town Christmas). Congrats! Email me your snail mail!

Original Post:

No, I’m not on vacay …

I just wish I was …

If you’ve been around for awhile, you know I would like to run away to a deserted island with a box of cookies, my Kindle, and possibly Ranger.

Okay, definitely Ranger.

But that’s not in the cards for me. How about you?

If you could anywhere on vacay, anywhere, with anyone or thing, where would it be?

Don’t forget, we’re still in the twelve days of Christmas giveaway, so I’ll be drawing two random winners who will get Maddie’s boyfriend scarf from Simply Irresistible and a print copy of my novella Small Town Christmas.

Now go forth and be merry. And if you could do my holiday shopping for me while you’re at it, that’d be great, thanks.

Posted by Jill @ 3:30 am | 118 comments

Excerpt Day and a little bit of eye candy

December 15, 2011 | Filed under: Stuff

Update:
Winner of the scarf is #32 Amber, and winner of the print copy of Small Town Christmas is #107 Maggie. Email me with your addy.

Original Post:
So this one is pretty obvious. It’s a bit of a give me, actually, a Christmas present, if you will. I’m giving like that. Actually, my publisher is giving. My lovely editor is the one supplying all these wonderful presents this week. So … guess the book this excerpt is from and one of you will win Maddie Boyfriend scarf from Simply Irresistible and another of you will win a print copy of the ebook Small Town Christmas.

The iPhone screen went foggy for a moment as the Love Predictor app did its work, then cleared, and two words floated to view.

Absolutely not.

With a low, mirthless laugh, Sawyer shook his head. Of course, Chloe wasn’t going to behave. She didn’t know the meaning of the word.

Chloe smiled a little apologetically, like the odds were completely stacked against her, and some of the tension created by that mind-blowing kiss dissipated into the night. But relaxing around her was just as dangerous as whatever had been crackling between them. Sawyer took another look at the screen of her to see if it’d changed its mind. A strand of Chloe’s long hair stuck to his stubbled jaw. Her scent filled his nostrils, and he shifted closer so that her shoulder bumped into his chest.

He liked being close to her. Way too much. “Ask it a question,” she said.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Anything. You could ask if you’ll catch another idiot convenience store robber, or have to replace any more batteries for Mrs. Abbott any time soon. Hell, ask it if you’ll be getting lucky– I always ask it that.” She turned to the phone and said, “Magic Eight Ball, will Sheriff Sawyer Thompson get laid any time soon?”

“Jesus, Chloe.”

She grinned at him over her shoulder and peered at the screen, which clouded and then cleared, and two more words appeared:

Not likely.

Chloe laughed out loud with what Sawyer thought was a rather nasty glee. “Same question,” she told it. “For me this time. Will I be getting laid any time soon?”

Sawyer didn’t know what he wanted the answer to be, but before he could decide, the screen came into focus, and two crisp words floated:

Outlook good.

Chloe burst out laughing again, bending at the waist with amusement, which thrust her ass directly into his groin.

As that part of his anatomy was still cocked and loaded from their kiss, it was also now aimed. His hands went to her hips to step back, but somehow his brain mixed up the signal, and he held her still instead.

In the heavy silence, all he could hear was her suddenly accelerated breathing. “Well,” she said straightening. “The Magic Eight app has never paid off quite so fast before.”

Sawyer was dizzy. He was certain it had to do with the fact that he no longer had any blood in his brain.

“Sex stirs up my asthma.”

He blinked. “What?”

“Yeah. I probably should have told you that sooner.”

He shook his head, trying to catch up. He couldn’t.

Turning to face him, Chloe grimaced. “Every time. And then I end up overusing my inhaler. But they’re expensive, and I have this really crappy catastrophic insurance, and the inhaler isn’t covered at all.” She drew in a breath. “So I have this thing I do before sex. A test. An ‘Is He Inhaler Worthy’ test.”

He just stared at her. “There’s a test. Before sex.”

“Yes. And I should tell you, not many pass.”

Somehow they’d ended up tangled in each other again, and she rocked against him, her actions at odds with her words. “There’s a test,” he repeated inanely.

“A guy has to pass it before I’ll—“

“Have sex with him.” She nodded, her gaze locked on his mouth. He could tell she wanted it on hers, and for once, they were perfectly in sync. Having no idea what he was doing, he kissed her again, another no-holds-barred, tongues tangling, rock-his-fucking- world kiss that left him staggered and her apparently unable to speak as they tore apart for air and waited for the world to right itself.

Didn’t happen.

She was breathing hard but not wheezing. Good sign, he thought. He stared at her mouth now, still wet from his, and just barely managed not to take a bite out of that full lower lip. It took a hell of a lot more control than he thought possible. Her hands were gripping his shirt, and also a little bit of his skin and some chest hair to boot, but he didn’t say anything. Mostly because he wasn’t sure if she meant to push him away or pull him closer, and if it was the former, he didn’t want to remind her. “Chloe?”

“Yeah?”

“I’d be worth the inhaler,” he said, then forced himself to walk away into the night.

I know, I know, not much of a challenge… But life is hard so this one thing should be easy.

Posted by Jill @ 3:30 am | 147 comments

Fun facts and free stuff

December 14, 2011 | Filed under: Stuff

Update:
I LOVED today’s comments. Talk about making an author feel good! You all made my day. Today’s random.org winners are #35, Steffi K (scarf), #75 Denise and #98 Lady Jayne (copies of Small Town Christmas). Be sure to email me with your snail mail!!

Original Post:
Hey. If you’ve been around here for awhile, you might have heard that HEAD OVER HEELS is on the shelves now. If you haven’t been around and you’re new — hello! And .. MY BOOK IS OUT. Sorry, did I yell that?

Head Over Heels has generated more reader mail than any book I’ve ever written, and that’s okay with me. I love hearing what you thought of the book. You made me smile, so now I want to return the favor. Pretend Head Over Heels is a dvd, and consider this an extra. Five fun facts about the book:

1. Sheriff Sawyer Thompson would rather lick the sidewalk than face nosy body Lucille

2. Chloe has had a secret thing for Sawyer since the day she first came to town in Simply Irresistible, all the way through The Sweetest Thing and into Head Over Heel, though she’d shoot you if you said so.

3. I wrote Head Over Heels with five teenage girls in my house over one very long summer, every day pretending that I was Chloe and that Sawyer was mine.

4. Sawyer eats like a twelve year old boy and so do I.

5. Chloe got Sawyer drunk on purpose for nefarious reasons, not the least of which was to get her paint covered hands all over his delish bod. Shh, don’t tell.

Today’s giveaway is brought to you by my publisher. I’ll be drawing three names, one will get Maddie’s boyfriend scarf (from Simply Irresistible) and two will get … a print copy of my novella Small Town Christmas. All you have to do is tell me your favorite Lucky Harbor moment. And if you haven’t read any of the Lucky Harbor books, just say so. We’ll still let you play.

Posted by Jill @ 3:30 am | 124 comments

Merry effing Christmas…

December 12, 2011 | Filed under: Stuff

Update:
Randomly drawn winner for today’s scarf is … comment #51. Donna M! Congrats and email me with your snail mail addy.

Original Post:

So Frat Boy rolled in bear poo. Yes. You read that correctly. BEAR POO.

And then he came in my house.

Suffice it to say, lots of screaming followed, and Youngest, Alpha Man and myself took the stupid pup to the damn lake. Yes, the lake was cold. Ask me if I care. I do not. If you are stupid enough to roll in bear poo, you do not deserve to use my clean tub and warm water. And hey, it was 50 degrees. We were having a warm spell.

There were lake shenanigans, of course. Because Youngest and Alpha Man enjoy shenanigans (and by the way, I’m 5’2″ and completely jealous of the length of Youngest’s legs and the fact that her 5’10″ self doesn’t ever have to roll her jeans).