The Wild Ones and all my paperbacks

Okay, sooooo I got the proof for the print copies of The Wild Ones.  Look!  Aren't they so pretty? 

Yes, there's a glare on the top one and my finger in the bottom one, but you're not supposed to see any of that.  You're only supposed to see lovely Trick and his lovely back side.  Of the cover I mean;)  hehe

Anyway, what I am trying to say is that paperbacks of The Wild Ones will be available by Monday August 6th here on my blog, on Amazon, on Barnes & Noble and on CreateSpace, as all of my paperbacks are:)  If you've never bought one from Amazon or Barnes and Noble, the link to the print copies is listed on the digital copy page.  You can't miss it.  If you do, though, and you ever have a question about where to find or how to get a copy of one of my books, shoot me a quick e-mail.  I'm always happy to help:)

Now, on to the giveaway.  *gasp*  Giveaway?  Yep, giveaway:)  Eeeeeep! Y'all know how much I love to do these:)  Yep, yep, yep.  Okay, so here's the deal.  The first print copy has a misspelled word on the back cover (long story), so I had to fix it and order another.  For that reason, the proof I have now, the one pictured above, is the ONLY ONE OF ITS KIND.  It is a truly original hard copy of the book.  I'm going to sign it along with some bookmarks and give the package away.  What do you have to do to win it, you ask? 

** You must be at least 18 years of age

** You must follow me on Twitter ( @mleightonbooks )

** You must tweet me the name Trick gives his wild horse along with the hashtag #TheWildOnes (don't forget the hashtag) and you'll be entered into the drawing.  After a random selection tomorrow night at 9 pm EST, I'll announce the winner on Twitter.  That's the plan.  Sound do-able?  Yes?  Yes!  Cool!  I'm excited!!

All right, let's get to it!!

Winner of Pick Your Trick

It was a very close race between Trick 2

and Trick 3. 

*the pictures have now been removed for copyright purposes*

It looked for a long time like Trick 2 was gonna sweep it, which was okay with me, because he was my top Trick.  But then Trick 3 came up out of nowhere and gave Trick 2 some pretty healthy competition, going on to take the win.  Congratulations to Alyssa, who sent in the delicious winning Trick!!  You'll be getting an ARC copy of The Wild Ones.  Please e-mail your Amazon address to me at m.leighton.books@gmail.com.

Thanks to everyone who participated.  It was so much fun!!

The Wild Ones Cover Reveal and Blurb

Don't look down yet!!!

I want to tell you some things about this cover before you look.  Did you look yet?  No?  Okay, cool.

It took me forever to get my husband to pose for this!!

*pauses for effect*

Bahahahahaha  Just kidding;)  hehe

You know, funny thing about this photo.  It was actually black and white to start with.  And it was lovely, of course.  But the thing is, I wanted the jeans to be blue.  Sounds easy, right?  Make jeans turn blue.  Abracadabra kalamazoo!  Boom!  But it's not! Or it wasn't for me, anyway.  Luckily, I met this amazing girl in Nashville who is married to a graphic artist who does this sort of thing.  Probably blindfolded, I'm guessing.  He's THAT good.  Anyway, he fiddled with it for like 0.2 seconds and BAM! Blue jeans.  I have to give him mad props for hooking me up with some color.  His name is Matthew Bagley and if you need something artsy or graphic done, he's your guy!  *update* I've gotten several requests for his contact information, so I thought I'd go ahead and post it here. It's Matthew Bagley at bagleydesigns@gmail.com

Okay, so now that you know these important facts, are you ready to see it??  What, you want another fact?  A random fact?  Well, let me see what I can do.  How about the fact that I have a completely unhealthy and inappropriate love affair with #Hashtags.  Have I mentioned that?  No?  Oh, well, you'll see. 

Are you ready #NOW?  Yes?  Can I get a #DrumRoll then????

*insert drum roll here*

TADA! 

The Wild Ones

Passion as hot as midnight in the South and love as wild as the horses they tame.

Camille “Cami” Hines is the darling daughter of the South’s champion thoroughbred breeder, Jack Hines.  She has a pedigree that rivals some of her father’s best horses.  Other than feeling a little suffocated at times, Cami thought she was pretty happy with her boyfriend, her life and her future. 

But that was before she met Patrick Henley.

“Trick” blurs the lines between what Cami wants and what is expected of her.  He’s considered the “help,” which is forbidden fruit as far as her father is concerned, not to mention that Trick would be fired if he ever laid a hand on her.  And Trick needs his job.  Desperately.  His family depends on him.

The heart wants what the heart wants, though, and Trick and Cami are drawn to each other despite the obstacles.  At least the ones they know of.

When Trick stumbles upon a note from his father, it triggers a series of revelations that could ruin what he and Cami have worked so hard to overcome.  It turns out there’s more to Trick’s presence at the ranch than either of them knew, secrets that could tear them apart.

**Updated with purchase links below**

Buy from Amazon or B&N

Pick Your Trick

Let me first thank everyone who participated in the search for Trick.  I got hundreds of pictures and I must admit, you ladies have a great eye for Trick. Whew!  I've never had so much fun looking for "inspiration" before:D  LOL  But, alas, this is much too great a task for lil ole me, so I've narrowed it down to the 5 pictures that remind me most of Trick.  His personality is so key to his charm, it's hard for me to overlook a sexy smile in favor of rippling pecs.  But I did it, and I'm posting them below for your viewing and choosing pleasure.  You'll have your own vision of Trick, I'm sure, once you read The Wild Ones.  This is simply the face that most closely resembles the one I had in mind when I wrote him.  It's a hot, sexy face for sure! 

So without further ado, start your engines, ladies, and vote for your favorite Trick.  The poll is right over there on the side bar.  It closes at midnight on FRIDAY, JULY 27th and the winner will get an ARC.  You can vote for more than one if, like me, you have trouble choosing:D  Too many good choices!  Besides, you may change your mind after you read it anyhow.  It'll be interesting to see what you all think:)

Enjoy the eye candy! 


*the pictures have now been removed for copyright purposes*





The Wild Ones- Playlist

With just a little over a week until The Wild Ones releases on August 1st, I thought I'd go ahead and share Trick and Cami's playlist.  They don't pop out anymore, but here's the link to it on Playlist.com.  I hope you enjoy it!!

http://pl.st/p/23525030411

The Wild Ones- Teaser Two

Okay, so I promised a tease each Wednesday until release day, which will be AUGUST 1st.  It's really hard to choose a teaser.  At least it is for me.  There's so much I want to share, but I don't want to ruin anything for you.  I picked this one because it's...well, you'll see. I hope you enjoy it!  I'm off to finish up Trick and Cami's story so I can get it to you on time:)

From The Wild Ones

From the corner of my eye, I see Cami fidget.  At first, it appears to be a nervous thing.  But when I glance at her, she looks at me and smiles. It’s a bright smile.  Bright and …excited, which makes me think it’s not all bad nerves.  In fact, it makes me twitch a little in my jeans, which is never a good thing when I’m getting ready to strip down in front of mixed company.

Without even pausing, Jenna pulls her shirt over her head then reaches for Rusty’s.  While they’re all wrapped up in removing each other’s clothes, I turn more toward Cami. 

“Are you sure you’re up for this?”

She takes a deep breath and grins at me.  “Yep.  You?”

I nod.  “Yep.”

She puts one small hand on my arm and looks me in the eye.  “It’ll be fine, you know.  Drogheda would never tell on me, so you don’t need to worry, okay?”

She’s worrying about me worrying?  Now I feel bad for telling her how important this job is.

“I’m not worried,” I assure her.  “I trust you.”

Her smile is sweet and pleased and it makes me want to kiss her.  Hell, everything she does makes me want to kiss her.

“Good.  You should.” 

As if she’s making her point, Cami takes a few steps back and pulls her shirt over her head.  She does it quickly and then holds it in front of her and waits.  That's my cue to shed a piece of clothing, too. 

In the brightness of the full moon, I can see her eyes twinkling devilishly.  She’s so coy.  So damned adorably coy.

God, it would be so much fun to have her all to myself for one night.  Just one night.  Maybe that would be enough to get her out of my system.

“All right then, Mr. Rock Hard Abs, show me what you got,” she demands teasingly.

She doesn’t have to ask me twice.  Grabbing a handful of shirt behind my neck, I pull it over my head.  But I throw mine on one of the white lounge chairs, sort of like upping the ante a little.  Her eyes flicker down my chest and stomach.  My muscles tighten.  I see her gaze drop lower then hurry back to my face. She’s curious.  She wants to look, she wants to see what’s under my jeans, but she’s trying not to show it.  I bite back a groan.

What I wouldn’t give to carry her off to someplace more private…

The Search for Trick

Trick.  You can't imagine how hard it is to find a picture that even remotely matches this gorgeous, charming guy that lives in my head. But, I like to try.  And I want to find him.  Or at least someone that's really, really close.  I'm just one girl, though, and I don't know all the juicy hot-guy sites that some of y'all do.  Soooo, with that in mind, I'm going to go with a little game that might help me find Trick a little faster.  I know other people have done this before and I've been thinking about it since a reader mentioned doing it. I just had to work out the logistics. 

Here's what I've come up with.  If you stumble upon a picture of a guy who seems like Trick--early 20's, tallish with a muscular build, tan skin, greenish-gray eyes, dark hair, wears worn blue jeans and a deliciously cocky grin--send him to me via e-mail at m.leighton.books@gmail.com.  I'll screen them and post the ones who come the closest.  When I see the one that just screams TRICK, the person who found him will receive an ARC the instant I'm done with the book.  How does that sound?  Everyone who sends me a picture will get a signed The Wild Ones bookmark when I get them in.  That way you won't feel like your efforts went unnoticed:)  Be sure to include your name and mailing address when you send me the pic.

THIS CONTEST WILL RUN THROUGH MIDNIGHT JULY 31, 2012!

Here are a couple I've found that I think COULD make a good Trick, but none of them have hit me like Heather Self's Jackson (see my sidebar for that yumminess).  I knew that was Jackson the second I laid eyes on him.  There will be no other.  It's one of those I'll-know-him-when-I-see-him kind of things.



*the pictures have now been removed for copyright purposes*

Holy crap balls!  I love my freakin' job:D  Bahahahahaha  *wipes drool*

Okay,y'all, go find him!  But most importantly, enjoy the hunt!  This is the most entertaining kind of research / gaming EVER!!!  Nom nom nom:)