Big Cocks and Broomsticks Blog Hop

I'm excited to be participating in the Big Cocks and Broomsticks Blog Hop. I didn't know what I would write about, but hubby and I spent the weekend in Toronto at the Everything To Do With Sex show and I felt inspired.

So in honor of Halloween, I thought I'd talk a bit about role playing. For me, role play always feels a little silly. I've never been able to get deep enough into character to forget how self-conscious I am. Nothing ruins a scene faster than laughing out loud while attempting to play the naughty schoolgirl, or the dirty nurse, or the sexy nun or whatever else the situation might call for. I find that the fantasy works much better while it's still in my head. And if it's hubby's idea rather than mine, I find it even more difficult to stay in character.

But at the show, it astounded me the variety of costumes available from the "sex shops", from the slightly sexy to the downright slutty. Hubby did his best to try and find me something, but I'm a big girl and unfortunately "one size" does not fit all. Too bad really, because I think that a costume might be the key to helping me get into the role playing a bit more. Perhaps I'll have to start hitting the second hand stores to try and customize something from there. Now is definitely the time to be out looking!

So how about you? Do you enjoy role playing? What makes it easier or more difficult for you? Leave me a comment and I'll select someone to receive one of my ebooks and $10 in Strandbucks to use at Bookstrand. Plus, don't forget to use the Rafflecopter to enter for the Blog Hop Prizes, winner's choice of a gift card from Amazon or Barnes and Noble! Grand Prize is $100, Second place is $50, and Third place is $25. And all my fellow bloggers are giving away their own fantastic prizes so make sure you use the linky list below to hop around to their sites, too.

Happy Halloween!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The crazy cabal are at it again!  Join us for lots of laughs and tons of Halloween fun!!

1.	The Cabal of Hottness	34.	Valerie Twombly (US)
2.	Piper Trace	35.	Mandy Harbin
3.	Danica Avet	36.	Denysé Bridger
4.	Kendall McKenna	37.	Dena Garson
5.	Close Encounters with the Night Kind	38.	Haven Malone
6.	Lea Barrymire	39.	Rhyll Biest
7.	Cassandra Carr (INT)	40.	Jocelyn Dex: Demons Do It Better
8.	A. M. Griffin	41.	Afton Locke (US)
9.	Imagine a World (INT)	42.	DC Juris
10.	Amber Kallyn (INT)	43.	jorja lovett
11.	Cara Carnes	44.	Kiru Taye (INT)
12.	Anya Richards	45.	Cristal Ryder
13.	The Hedonistic Minimalist	46.	Lisa Carlisle
14.	Danita Minnis	47.	Rose Wynters (INT)
15.	Jezebel Jorge	48.	Justus Roux
16.	A.R. Von	49.	Normandie Alleman (INT)
17.	Riverina Romantics (INT)	50.	Madison Chase
18.	Dianne Hartsock (INT)	51.	Selena Blake
19.	Amy Ruttan	52.	Literal Hotties Naughty Book Reviews
20.	Booklover Sue (US only)	53.	SNARKY MOM READS...
21.	Roxanne's Realm	54.	Naughty Edition Reviews
22.	Sherri Hayes	55.	Wicked Wolves & Dreaming Dragons
23.	For Whom The Books Toll (US only)	56.	Natasha Blackthorne (US)
24.	HEA Romances With A Little Kick (INT)	57.	Michelle Graham, Erotic Romance
25.	Christina Phillips (INT)	58.	Naomi Bellina, Adventurous Erotic Romance (INT)
26.	Morticia Knight	59.	Dana Littlejohn
27.	The Jeep Diva (US & Int)	60.	Love Bites and Silk Ties (INT)
28.	Hennessee Andrews	61.	Susan Mac Nicol
29.	Morgan Knight	62.	Draven St. James
30.	Siobhan Muir (US & INT)	63.	Mandy Harbin
31.	Sky Robinson	64.	Ellen Cross - Romance on the Wild Side
32.	Renea Mason (US and Int)	65.	Victoria Danann - Order of the Black Swan
33.	Susan Arden's RULE BREAKERS (INT)

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Review: Remembering Joy by Jenni Moen

Blurb
Alexis doesn't believe in fairytales. She knows first hand that life can turn on a dime - that one stupid mistake can shatter dreams and irrevocably shape the future. Even though her memory of that day is hazy, she has spent the last ten years trying to put it behind her and focus on the future. Armed with the knowledge that her career will be her only legacy, Alexis works night and day to prove that she is more than just her last name. It's not only that she doesn't have time for love - she doesn't have the heart for it. After all, there's no point in starting something that you can't finish. However, when she meets Adam, she's drawn to him in a way even she can't deny. He is dark and brooding and strangely charming. He's the perfect distraction from the mundane life she's created for herself. And, as if fate is pushing them together, he seems to be around every corner. It's enough to almost make her entirely forget about her past and take a chance. Unfortunately, Adam's memory isn't hazy...not in the least. And, what she doesn't remember, he can't forget.

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Author Bio: 

Jenni Moen lives in her hometown in Oklahoma with her husband and three crazy, exuberant kids that have the potential to burn the house down at any moment.

When she's not chauffeuring kids around town, performing her mom duties as a short order cook and maid, or vacuuming for her fastidious husband, she hammers away at her keyboard at her big girl job as a patent attorney. While vodka and exercise have provided some relief from the daily grind, it is reading...and now writing...that are her true escapes.

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My Review
The blurb for the book intrigued me when I first read it. A woman running from a past she can't remember becoming involved with a man from that past. An interesting idea. And in reading Remembering Joy, I was very impressed by the whole concept. From the start, it's clear that Adam is holding some kind of grudge against Alexis, though you could only begin to guess at what it was. Doling out only small snippets at a time, the author strings you along until the big reveal, at which point as a reader, you're convinced that there's no way this can end well.

It's a strong debut novel, with writing that is, for the most part, technically sound. Alexis is a character that you instantly feel for, even though you don't know what her entire story is, and it's easy to see how she's torn about her burgeoning relationship with the handsome stranger.

I had one really big issue with the book though, and maybe it's just me, but for the entire first half of the book, I hated Adam. I mean he was a total asshole and had very few redeeming qualities. The way the story was written, we are privy to some of his thoughts and actions that Alexis has no clue about. And they're not nice. Not at all. I love a bad boy as much as the next girl, but there has to be something right from the start, that convinces me that beneath that exterior is someone I want the heroine to care about, and I didn't get that here. By the second half of the book, we get that information, but in the beginning it's just not there. I can't help thinking that it might have been more effective if the whole first half of the book was told from Alexis's POV, with the reader knowing only what she does, because she has no idea how bad he really is.

Don't fret though - Adam proves himself a worthy hero in the end, though not all the threads were tied up, because there is a sequel planned, and I, for one, intend to pick it up!