 I'm giving away a copy of my friend Jennifer Shirk's book to celebrate the release of the second book in her Accidentally Yours series, which releases next month. All you have to do to enter is comment below, @me on Twitter or Instagram or Facebook with #romancerocks and you'll be entered to win and ecopy. Winner will be announced June 15th...plenty of time to read book one before book two releases.
 I'm so excited to be part of Entangled's Under the Mistletoe event. There are some excellent titles on sale this month and More than Friends is one of them. What I love most about this is the timing. This time last year, I was just getting ready for the release of Owen and Gabby's book, unsure how anyone would feel about the first book in my first series with Entangled. It's been an excellent and fun year in the book world, which included the second and third books in the series. If you didn't get a chance last year, start your holidays with a sweet story about unrequited love that ends up being not so one sided after all. More Than Friends is an exceptional and fun, holiday romance novel. The timing and pacing of these relationships just felt right; the family interference appropriately stifling and #goalsworthy and, most importantly, the connection between geeky (*swoon* I love a geek!) Owen and artsy Gabby simple and genuine.  Welcome to Jennifer Shirk!
My first Entangled Bliss publication was set to come out December 5th, 2016. My editor suggested I read one of her other authors as a way to get a better grasp on a specific trope. This was my introduction to Jennifer Shirk. Not only is she a great author-- I really enjoyed Wrong Brother, Right Match, but when I reached out on another trope issue....she was so gracious and helpful. I'll definitely be thanking her for her great advice and guidance on the first book in my new series. And I'll remember her telling me (when I wondered how she was SO good at this), it's easier with someone else's book. Here are Jennifer's answers to this week's Who's Who Wednesday. You can connect with her by clicking on the links below. Thanks for joining me on my blog Jennifer. Who's Who Wednesday with Jennifer ShirkWhat you write.
For those of you who don't know me, I write sweet (and sometimes even funny) romances for Montlake Romance and Entangled Publishing. Who are your influences? Wow… so many to name. The first and queen of my influence would be Susan Elizabeth Phillips. But I also love Meg Cabot, Sophie Kinsella, and Jill Mansell. Favorite writing snack and beverage. A lungo espresso (basically an espresso with more water in it) and either a little piece of dark chocolate or my healthy banana oatmeal cookies to go with it. Hardest thing about writing? The actual writing. LOL I should say just getting the first draft down. That's the hardest part for me. But once it's down on paper, the editing and making it all pretty and legible is my favorite part! What you're working on now. I'm working on the first book of a new 3 book series for the Entangled Bliss line. This is the premise: In a weakened moment, a depressed woman jilted by her longtime boyfriend has a one night stand with a wedding guest at a friend's wedding only to discover he's the man who recently bought her family's suffering business—and now happens to be her new boss. Thanks so much for having me!   Including my two self-published Christmas titles, More than Friends is my eighth book release. It has been the best one yet. This is likely for a variety of reasons, but one of the biggest ones, I think, is the fact that people have read (and enjoyed) some of my other work. We're told, as authors, to build a platform and you never really know what that means while you're hanging out on Twitter and Facebook, joining book groups, and adding to your TBR pile on Goodreads. The cool thing about releasing this book, More than Friends (other than the amazing support of a truly fantastic publisher, editors, publicists, author friends, and so much more) is that there were people (other than my mom and best friend) who were excited to read what I'd written. They were waiting for my next book. The way I wait for the newest release from an author I like. That is and was such a cool feeling this week. Every bit as cool, were the number of reviews that said it was their first read of mine, but wouldn't be there last. The absolute greatest thing out of all of this is the fact that readers are connecting with Owen and Gabby. It makes me so happy that people are falling into the story, caring about the characters, and enjoying the words. I often say this quote to my daughters. It's about doing things because they mean something to us, because they matter. We don't need validation to make something worth it. But when you put a story out there and share pieces of yourself-- especially when you've created this fictional world with people you care about-- it's really awesome to know that it touched people in the way you meant for it to. And really, we all need validation sometimes. We need to know that what we're putting out there into the universe is reaching someone. It makes us feel connected. Books and words have an amazing power to lift people up, bring them happiness, escape, and joy. It has been an amazing week, knowing that More than Friends brought happiness to people, that it mattered or made them smile. I'm so grateful that I get to share my books. It is the kind of gift you can't put a price on.  
Tomorrow is the first of a few events coming up to celebrate the release of More than Friends. Gabby and Owen's story is one that I'm very excited to share. Gabby has loved Owen for some time now, but as he's usually got his eyes on a computer screen, he seems to have missed her looks of longing. When Owen's white lie backfires, he needs Gabby's help and saying yes to being his fake girlfriend might be her only chance to know what it is like to have an all access pass to the man that owns her heart. She doesn't want to fool herself into believing he could ever feel the same, but soon, lines are blurred and Gabby isn't the only one who's not pretending.
Join me tomorrow for a Blissfully Sweet Event over at Ramblings with This Chick.
On Wednesday, you can join me and fourteen other authors for a Romancing the Holidays Hop! 
If you've already read my most recent holiday stories, Falling for Kate or More than Friends, head over to Amazon and pick up one of my other Christmas reads. 
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