10. THIS sums up every HEA in a romance book and makes me smile. (Well, the m/f HEA’s. There are others. Some involving three fingers.) (Thanks Claudia)
9. In case you haven’t entered yet, Ilona Andrews is giving away two arcs of Gunmetal Magic on their blog (book releases 7/31). This will be Andrea’s book, in her Kate Daniel’s series. So go enter! Contest ends tomorrow.
8. This coming Tuesday, Larissa Ione will be releasing The Lords of Deliverance Compendium (in ebook format only). A behind the scenes look with character descriptions, Reader Q&A, a brand new short story and an extended look at her next book in this series, Lethal Rider. And, it is only $.99! Amazon, B&N.
7. I’m not a fan of the Fifty Shades series. Well, I should say I DNF’d book one around the 50% mark and did not read book two or three. However, I’ve heard Bared to You by Sylvia Day is a good ‘Fifty’ alternative. (Thanks to Kati for rec). I’m about halfway through this one and I am enjoying it. The hero is extremely wealthy, intense, broken guy with stalker tendencies. Sounds hot right? LOL. Heroine is trying to resist this guy, but he wears her down. I like this heroine MUCH more than the girl in Fifty Shades. This book has that ‘cracky’ feel to me – the kind of book that I’m not 100% sure about, but I have to read it. I have to know why Gideon Cross is so tortured, yet so damn sexy. Dear Author has a nice review of it. It’s currently $3.82 at Amazon (Full length novel) and $4.99 at B&N
6. Cover Alert! Double Time by Olivia Cunning, book three in her Sinners on Tour series. I enjoyed book one, Backstage Pass. It was dirty, and funny. Book two was not good. I couldn’t stand the hero. But how can I resist this one with a bi-sexual hero? I kind of wish there was not a suspense plot in these books – why can’t we just have slutty rock stars? What? Also, don’t you think there are a lack of rock star books in the romance genre? Or am I just missing out?
We still have awhile to wait though. This one is not scheduled to be released until November – almost 18 months after book 2.
5. Prepare yourself. Earlier this week, Sarah tweeted me a link to this video. Firefighter + Kitten + Alcoholic Beverage = A Lusty Smexy. Take a look:
I’m not sure if there is anything better than this. A fireman must make all of my drinks from now on!
4. Last week I drooled all over the Magic Mike trailer. So of course now I’m a Channing Tatum stalker. Which means I also must go see GI Joe 2 this summer. Channing Tatum + Big Gun = Probably cheesy times, but also possibly Smexy cheesy times. Am I right? (I haven’t seen the first GI Joe yet. I’m failing in my Tatum stalking. Is it worth a view?)
3. Last week I blabbed about Shame with Michael Assbender (oops, did I leave off the ‘F’?). I did watch it and I actually ended up really liking it. And not just because we see Fassy’s butt about 100 times. (Okay, totally because of that). It’s super depressing. The ending is NOT a happy one. But, it is such a well done movie. So I definitely recommend but don’t expect to be happy when it is over. LOL. Teaser – at one point in the movie, Fassy walks into a gay club. That’s all I’m sayin’.
Speaking of Fassy, Claudia sent me a clip from when he was on Top Gear (I love that show) this year. He drives a fast car around the 8:40 mark. I love to hear him talk though…he is so cute.
2. David Gandy fans. Are you ready? In this video, he talks about his workout. We get to watch him do push-ups while clapping behind his back..and…he says the word ‘nipple’.
Gandy can do push-ups over me any day he wants. True story. (Thanks Crystal for the link!)
1. I saw Kenda tweet her recipe for White Sangria this week. Go HERE for full recipe. I think this weekend I need to make this. Maybe more than once *grins* I’m currently reading Patch of Darkness by Yolanda Sfetsos, which is the start of a new UF series about a ‘spook catcher.’ So far so good. I hope everyone has a fun, smexy weekend!
April 27, 2012 at 1:25 pm
David Gandy is for me the most beautiful man ever born, but the biggest impression made that firefighter! Oh, God…I’m tempted to start my own fire, because of that commercial! He is H.O.T.
God bless you, Sarah…;)
April 27, 2012 at 4:09 pm
Yes…a fire has started in pants ;p
April 27, 2012 at 4:10 pm
in *my* pants. If we needed clarification. LOL
April 27, 2012 at 7:13 pm
::giggling::
He kinda looks like Henry Cavill, doesn’t he…?
May 1, 2012 at 10:53 am
Yes!
April 27, 2012 at 1:51 pm
I started Bared to You today also. I was immediately sucked in. I think the writing is better than Fifty which already makes it appealing to me.
April 27, 2012 at 4:10 pm
Oh good..we can compare notes!
April 28, 2012 at 12:39 am
I loved this one too. Both Eva and Gideon are totally obsessed with each other and that was so compelling for me. And sexy too!
April 27, 2012 at 1:52 pm
Glad I could help with Smexy’s Top Ten! I always look forward to it on Fridays.
I could watch the Fassy clip over and over!
My boyfriend watches Top Gear all the time and he didn’t tell me Fassy was on in that episode. Can you believe it? He can be so glad he’s still alive. His excuse was that I have to many “fictional boyfriends”, he can’t keep up with all of them. I have no clue what he means with that.
I think they put all the stops out in this Tequila advert. Fireman (with a nice stubble!) and kitty? Who can resist that?
Have a nice weekend!
April 27, 2012 at 4:11 pm
Umm..hello. Fassy is real. He is our REAL boyfriend. He just isn’t aware of it!
You rocked the top ten this week..thanks for that!
April 27, 2012 at 2:05 pm
Oh Gandy! He can give me a work out anytime!
I admit. I watch that Magic Mike trailer at least 3 times a day. I can’t get enough of it. I drool and I am not ashamed.
I say we whip up some White Sangria and party when it comes out!
April 27, 2012 at 4:11 pm
I am so there Amy! Sangria and strippers. What else do we need?
April 27, 2012 at 2:43 pm
Wait, wait, wait, hold on just a dang minute! Do you see that all-too-brief shirtless shot as Mr. Hot Fireman is pouring the beer in the pitcher? I feel cheated, but he’s right. Kittens make everything better, especially when they’re wearing berets.
I guess I’m one of the few who didn’t like Bared to You. I DNF’d it.
The writing was MUCH better than the tiny bit I’ve read of FSoG, I just couldn’t connect with the main characters. I liked Eva/Ana’s roommate better than I did her. I might’ve rolled my eyes hard enough to strain them when he says, “I’ve scandalized you.” Lordy…
April 27, 2012 at 2:44 pm
Oops, and the “he” who says that is Gideon/Christian, not the roommate.
April 27, 2012 at 4:12 pm
I’m about 50% in..we’ll see. I still need to be convinced that Gideon isn’t a total stalker
I’m in love with Cary. (roommate)
April 27, 2012 at 3:04 pm
This may be the best Smexy Top Ten yet! Hot fireman, Fassy AND Gandy? eyegasms! I don’t even like tequila & I would totally drink it if prepared for me by a sexy, kitten-rescuing firefighter. The wall of swooning women behind Michael is hysterical. I probably would have tried to climb the back of the seat & attack him. He is so delicious! the double whammy of Michael’s Irish accent & Gandy’s British accent are brutal. Shirtless Gandy doesn’t hurt either. Nipples! His body is ridiculous. Pardon me while I continue with my swooning. Happy Weekend!
April 27, 2012 at 4:13 pm
LOLOL..I love your comment. I’ve read it three times and I can’t stop giggling. Fassy/Gandy/accents/nipples – it’s all too much
April 27, 2012 at 3:10 pm
Bared to You had that cracktastic feeling while I was reading it. I couldn’t stop reading it. I kept saying to myself “these people are so effed up. I can’t look away.” And Gideon was really straddling the fence between creepy and sexy. LOL! I haven’t read Fiddy and all the hype surrounding it makes me not want to read it.
Mmmmmmm shirtless Gandy. That is all.
April 27, 2012 at 4:14 pm
Yes – Gideon is a creepy stalker who is very sexy. CRACK!
April 27, 2012 at 3:22 pm
If they had put the fireman in a plain Tshirt. Something other than the shirt he has on… I could give my stamp of approval to that. LOL.
Have a smut tastic weekend
April 27, 2012 at 4:14 pm
LOL…or skip the tshirt altogether?
April 27, 2012 at 5:51 pm
yes. that would be authentic. and I would have to approve of it as well.
April 27, 2012 at 3:26 pm
I love Channing Tatum also…My husband calls him “Your boy” to me.
I did see the first GI Joe and it really wasn’t good. If you have Netflix streaming, you can watch it there…I wouldn’t go our of my way.
I enjoyed him in She’s the Man…I think he’s cute in that…you might want to give that a try. It’s a cute silly movie. I watched it with my 11 year old and she thinks he’s hot!
Dear John was just on the other night…and I recorded it but did not watch it yet.
April 27, 2012 at 4:16 pm
Oh, I do have netflix streaming…I might watch it if I find myself bored one day. And I’ll keep She’s the Man in my mind too! Thanks!
April 27, 2012 at 3:46 pm
Lol, great post Mandi, and those drinks look so tasty!
April 27, 2012 at 4:16 pm
They do look yummy
April 27, 2012 at 3:56 pm
Great top 10 and loved seeing Fassy and Tatum
yes I have been watching the Magic mike trailer too but for glimpses of Bomer 
April 27, 2012 at 4:17 pm
Poor Bomer..left out
April 27, 2012 at 4:35 pm
The first G.I. Joe movies was okay. There’s already rampant speculation that Channing’s character will die in the sequel, so there might not be much of him in the movie.
May 1, 2012 at 10:54 am
*Gasp!!!!*
April 27, 2012 at 4:52 pm
Hoo, Mandi, what a post! Hope you don’t mind if I just roll out my sleeping mat and camp out here for the weekend to keep all the man candy company. I promise to clean up after myself and be gone by Monday morning.
May 1, 2012 at 10:54 am
Well – I hope you had a nice weekend!
April 27, 2012 at 5:06 pm
Yes please, get me a fireman and that kitty
May 1, 2012 at 10:55 am
Want me to wrap them up for you with a bow?
April 27, 2012 at 5:22 pm
I wanted to comment on G.I. Joe. But then I got to David Gandy. And now I don’t know what I was going to say! He’s just friggin’ HOT!
May 1, 2012 at 10:55 am
True words…..
April 27, 2012 at 5:27 pm
The comment, “Its like watching porn!” about the Gandy video is LOL.
As for Bared to You I DNFed it and it seems I’m in the minority about this book.
May 1, 2012 at 10:56 am
Well I DNF’d Fifty, and I think I’m in the minority for that
April 27, 2012 at 5:28 pm
I really enjoyed “Bared to You”, but the funny thing is it totally read like the author had finished reading FSOG and said “I can do this better, folks, watch!” because so many of the characters and plot points are the same with a one degree twist away. Have to say (even as an unabashed lover of the Fifty Shades books) that Eva is a much better and more interesting character than Ana although Gideon just did not stick with me as much as Christian.
A book I recently read “Knight” by Kristen Ashley is my new favorite of these types of books (wealthy man sweeps heroine away into a land of luxury and “do what I tell you to” sexytimes). The hero reads to me like a cross between Terrible from “Downside Ghosts” and “Rehvenge” from BDB — but “Knight” is a non-paranormal contemporary romantica book. Has anyone else here read it?
May 1, 2012 at 10:59 am
Thank you for your thoughts! I finished Bared to You this weekend and I really liked it. Got a little tired of the jealousy but I’m very curious to know more of Gideon’s Past.
Now I’m super curious about Knight! I’m looking it up on GR now….
April 27, 2012 at 6:23 pm
Ilona Andrews added two more copies to their giveaway–they’re now giving away four arcs. Of course, entries are in the thousands, so I don’t know what kind of difference that will make to anyone’s chances.
April 27, 2012 at 6:24 pm
Is it bizarre to use the plural pronoun when talking about a single person who is actually the pseudonym of two people? I’m so confused right now.
May 1, 2012 at 11:00 am
LOL..yes..I never know how to address “them” – but they write damn good books! Thanks for the heads up!
April 27, 2012 at 7:04 pm
I enjoy three fingered romances.
April 27, 2012 at 7:14 pm
And that made me snort.
April 27, 2012 at 9:01 pm
Metoo
May 1, 2012 at 11:01 am
ME TOO! LOLOLOL
April 27, 2012 at 9:11 pm
I thought I was the only one who didn’t like Fifty Shades series. Everyone went on & on about how good it was & I wasn’t a fan. I was starting to feel abnormal. I’m glad I’m not alone. Bared to You sounds good, looking forward to your review.
Thanks for the hot fireman/kitten/vodka video!! Three of my favorite things =D
May 1, 2012 at 11:02 am
I think you should try Bared to You…I really liked it
April 28, 2012 at 1:10 am
Thank you for the top ten. I didn’t like 50 Shades. I wasn’t even sucked in and let down at the end. I’m going to add Bared to You to my TBR list. I’m excited for Magic Mike–I watched the trailer at least 3 times but it was already on my radar before the trailer popped up. I’m already in full lust mode. lol. Also, thank you for my Fassy fix.
May 1, 2012 at 11:02 am
I wasn’t sucked in either. Now with Bared to You, I didn’t get truly sucked in until the second half. So give it time…over the top book, but it was a fun read
April 28, 2012 at 3:16 pm
Why is the firefighter only shirtless when he pours in the light beer???
May 1, 2012 at 11:03 am
We got robbed!
April 28, 2012 at 8:49 pm
Thanks for all the vids! I could watch David Gandy workout all day. *sigh* And Michael Fassbender on TG was awesome! Love that show and watch it on BBC-America, but I hadn’t seen that one yet.
May 1, 2012 at 11:03 am
Maybe one day Fassy and Gandy will work out together *dreamy*