Gerard Butler is my guilty pleasure.
There. I said it.
I saw my first Gerard Butler movie about seven years ago, when I was home sick with the flu. I ordered Reign of Fire through On-Demand, and couldn’t drag my eyes from the hunky Scotsman with the sexy accent. I became an instant Gerry fan. I was actually naïve enough to believe that I was the first to discover him. Little did I know, I came waaaay late to the party. I soon learned that there were more Gerard Butler fan sites than you could shake a Scotch broom at. I became a Tart. And then a GAL. I even registered to attend a Gerard Butler Fan Convention, where I looked forward to dressing up for the event’s costume ball (I was unable to attend due to a conflicting business trip). There was no question about it; I was officially obsessed. Gerard Butler became the inspiration for every hero I created.
So when I was invited to participate in an amazingly fun Blaze mini-series, DRESSED TO THRILL, (where the best thing about dressing up is taking it off) how could I resist? I already had a story idea formulating in my head. You see, the one thing that kept bugging me about Gerard Butler was why he’d never been romantically linked to any one woman, despite his obvious appeal. So that got me thinking…
What if my hero was a Hollywood juggernaut? What if, before he’d become an A-list actor, he’d met the love of his life but the relationship had gone terribly wrong? What if he was secretly still in love with this woman? And what if she showed up—in costume—at one of his fan conventions, harboring a secret about the hero? And so HOLD ON TO THE NIGHTS was created. This is the third book in the series, and makes its debut in November.
Don’t miss the first book, FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME, by Tawny Weber, which is out on bookstore shelves right now, or the second book, CAUGHT IN THE ACT, by Samantha Hunter, which comes out in October. The series wraps up in December with SANTA, BABY, by Lisa Renee Jones. In addition to these four fabulous stories, there is also a behind-the-scenes romance that runs through all four books, and ties the four stories together. Like I said, it’s an amazingly fun mini-series, and I absolutely loved working with these three talented ladies.
Yesterday, the four of us began writing a “Dressed to Thrill” mini-romance on Twitter, round-robin style! There will be one new story each month, Tawny in Sept, Sam in Oct, Karen in Nov, and Lisa in Dec. These are free reads and it should be a lot of fun, since with round robins, who knows where the stories can go?
Each Twitter story will be another spin-off story from our books, starting with Tawny’s “Feels So Good” that began on Sept 7. Each day, we will post 5 new tweet installments of the story, and to follow, all you have to do is have a Twitter account and follow @BlazeDTT. Discussion cannot be held on that account, it will be for story tweets only, but you can discuss the account at #BlazeDTT, or on the Facebook group for @BlazeDTT.
So please come join us…I promise you it will be a great time. And if you’re brave enough to share your own guilty pleasure here, I’ll send a copy of HOLD ON TO THE NIGHTS, along with some other goodies (including a book-light and chocolate) to one random commenter. Thanks for stopping by!
Entries (RSS)
Okay, I’ll bite. . . see, to me, the phrase guilty pleasure means something you like but reeeeeeallly do not want anyone to know about it. But since no one here knows who this Lois is — I have a couple of Britany Spears songs that I listen to. . . and, well, sigh, like. Me, don’t like her, can’t stand when she’s in the news, but there they are, I think it’s three songs on my computer. That’s definitely a guilty pleasure. LOL
Lois
I understand, Lois!! I try to keep my GB obsession a secret, since my family just doesn’t understand. And if they see me on a GB fan site, they sadly shake their heads. My kids aren’t huge Britney Spears fans these days, but I know they have certain songs that they do like, so you’re not alone!
Hmmm…Can’t say Gerry is a ‘guilty pleasure’ because I moderate a Gerry forum, so I spend at least an hour a day staring at Gerry in all his glory. And the DH lives with it. Actually calls him my ‘boyfriend’. How cute is that?
I suppose my ‘guilty pleasure’ is writing sexy romance. My online friends might know about it, but in real life, only my DH really knows. So when I’m writing and someone calls and asks what I’m up to, of course I tell them “nothing special” while I smile inside and keep typing
Oh, I love your logon name! So…we have to talk . My DH tolerates my obsession, but he’s not crazy about it…or the days when my daughters and I do Gerry-movie marathons. In my book, HOLD ON TO THE NIGHTS, my heroine also has a guilty pleasure that she does not share with anyone, and hopes that the hero never discovers what it is…
I definitely need to read this one, Karen
Thank you for the compliment on my screen name. And email me if you’d like.
I have everything Gerry’s done, except The Jury. I haven’t bought that yet. I only play the soundtrack to POTO in my car, the one with *sigh* him singing…I usually have Timeline or D2K in the DVD player because I like to write with them playing in the background. (I know, they’re not his best, but I like them.) Yeah, I’m Gerry focused. What can I say.
I have a couple movies too that weren’t released on DVD if you’re interested. PLEASE is phenomenal!
Gerry? GERRY?? Can. Not. Think. Of. Him. As. Gerry.
I know…he’s a Gerard…pronounced Jerad with that special roll of the “r”. But he claims that he prefers Gerry, so…
I did find it easier to think of him as Gerry after I saw him in PS I Love You.
Hmmm guilty pleasures… food wise I would say Peanut M&Ms, oh and ice cream. Reading romance novels are my fav guilty pleasure… and I love watching anime! (F)
Anime…as in Avatar? My daughter really loves anime, and I actually enjoy it, too! I think Speed Racer is still my favorite, though! And definitely peanut M&Ms…I hide them in my spice cabinet where the kids won’t think to look!
Guilty pleasures? The Haagen Daas bars stashed in the back of the freezer, behind the chicken nuggets and frozen vegetables
And tons of books, of course, but the guilt from that is mainly that they’re overtaking the house (so it’s a clutter thing, not a book thing ;)) Congrats on this new one, Karen–can’t wait to read Hold Onto the Night and the other three titles!
Thanks, Fedora! It’s so nice to see you here! Yes, I’m with you on the books overtaking the house thingy…I have several TBR piles, in several different rooms, LOL!
I guess my guilty pleasure (besides my romance book obsession) would be white chocolate. I’ve never met a white chocolate I didn’t like. I love to go to Books A Million (who doesn’t) because it feeds both my obsessions. Books and white hot chocolate at Joe Muggs. Sigh, I need to go get some now.
Mmm…white chocolate…this is actually a staple in my house. I thought my daughter was going to become violent when her Ivy-league cousin told her that white chocolate actually contains no cocoa–just cocoa butter–and would be better used as a skin lotion…we agree that it is delicious enough to want to rub all over our bodies! Now I have to try a white hot chocolate at Joe Muggs!
My guilty pleasure is ice cream. That is definitely my weakness. It can be freezing cold outside and I’ll still want a nice cold bowl of ice cream, preferably chocolate chip.
Nicole, you would fit right into my family; we always have a freezer full of ice-cream, and my husband will recommend sundaes instead of supper at least once or twice a month. I’m not a big ice-cream fan, but I support my family’s obsession!
OMG, I am SUCH a Gerard Butler fan. I first saw him in a great movie called TIMELINE. I used Gerard as the inspiration for 2 of my heroes. One is a 17th Pirate in my erotic romance novella in the Secrets Vol 28 coming out in DEC. But if you’ve seen Gerard in Beowulf, long hair, beard, his bright green eyes, bulging biceps… YUM. The other hero that is Gerard Butler is my always in control fighter pilot in the sequel to my first Blaze, that I’m working on right now. The pics I use for this hero is the way he looks is prob my fave GB movie: DEAR FRANKIE. So I have Gerard pics all over the office, on my background… I tell hubby it’s purely research purposes.
And does anyone else think he made a great PHANTOM, singing and all? I thought he did a great job singing! And then there’s THE UGLY TRUTH out this summer. Wasn’t he a cutie in that? And I loved him in Tomb Raider, of course, and PS I Love You, and… Oh, I’m sorry, am I drooling on your blog? I’ll get a grip. :-P
No apologies required! I have lots of mop-boys on site to take care of any drooling…and with all the delicious topics flying around her today (Gerry, M&Ms, white chocolate, ice-cream), I can tell you that a little drool is inevitable. I agree with you…Gerard Butler makes a perfect hero, regardless of the setting…someday I’ll share my poem, Ode to a Hero, with you, written about (you guessed it) Gerard Butler.
I love free reads. One of my guilty pleasures is chocolate covered pretzels. I can’t resist the sweet and salty combo.
Mmm….I discovered yogurt-covered pretzels this past weekend. I’m also noticing a definite trend here with guilty pleasures…
Oh Gerry, he’s definitely a guilty pleasure! Although I don’t feel guilt about my adoration. My name is Jody and I love Gerard Butler. There, I too said it. Not only Gerry, but Ryan Reynolds and Taylor Kitsch and Jensen Ackles and…..I better stop before I get labeled a shameless hussy. LOL!
I have a nephew whose name is Ryan Reynolds…he’s in California trying to break into the movie industry! I laugh to think what would happen if he did,..two Ryan Reynolds!
I’m a tennis fan, which isn’t so guilty, really, except that one of my favorite parts of any Patrick Rafter match used to be watching him remove his sweaty shirt in the changeover. I was reminded of this guilty drooling pleasure watching the U.S. Open on television Saturday, when Rafael Nadal received a near standing ovation from every woman in the crowd at his moment of shirtlessness.
Oh, yes…you gotta love those athletes. Have you seen David Beckham’s recent underwear ad? He’s doing a sit-up across the railing of a fence…unbelievable. It’s enough to make me become a soccer fan!
Hi Karen,
You have yet to disappoint me with anything you write. So I am counting the minutes until I can have a copy of
Oh, Pam, thank you so much for the kind words! I hope I don’t let you down!!
Okay, I don’t know what just happened, but I somehow just lost my post. Forgive me if this somehow posts twice.
Karen you have yet to disappoint me with anything you have written. So that being said I am counting the minutes until HOLD ON TO THE NIGHTS is in my hot little hands.
As for my guilty pleasures, I too count books and chocolate as the top two. But when it comes to men it appears that’s where I part company from all of you. My favorite man of the moment is Nathan Fillion. There is something about his humor that caught me, and his beautiful Navy Blue eyes just do me in. (Big Thank You to Juliet for turning me onto Firefly!) Nathan is followed closely by Dean Cain, but I’m stuck on Nathan right now. I must have a thing for dark haired/ dark eyed men, I guess…*sigh*
So in honor of Captain Tight Pants himself : FEED THE BIRDS
-Pamela
Okay, I’m off to bed, but wanted to select a visitor from today’s blog to receive a bag of goodies…I put all the names into a bowl and had DH make the selection. The winner is…JODY F.
Jody, please send your address to me at karenefoley@comcast.net, and I’ll get these into the mail.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by!
My guilty pleasure is my lingerie collection.
For the longest time, mt boobs were so big I couldn’t buy bra in a store. They had to be special ordered. So, when I finally got that rectified (yay, surgery!) I went on a bra-buying tear. And then I realized that I could finally, FINALLY be one of those girls who could wear matching bra and panties. I haven’t looked back ever since.
Hold On To The Nights sounds like a fab set up. I’d love to read it
Congrats, Jody! I have a feeling you’re gonna love it all
Congrats Jody!!
Congrats Jody! (*)
Oh wow! Thanks so much! I didn’t even realize it was my name at first (guess I need more caffeine).
Sending you my info now Karen.
Mmmmm, Gerry is a doll isn’t he? I loved him in Tomb Raider till he became a backstabber. And oh that accent, need I say P.S. I Love You. lol
Deidre
Hi, Karen: Imagine my surprise when I clicked on your awesome blog and Gerry’s beautiful form popped into view. I’m obsessed with the man myself. It’s like the old Tootsie Roll commercial – “Whatever it is I think I see becomes a Tootsie Roll to me†well insert Gerry’s name. I thought I was seeing things when I clicked on your blog and saw him. I had just been on GerardButler.net and so I thought I had gone into GB overload and was having a hottie meltdown. I mean I DVR everything Gerry days in advance and make sure I catch any news or tidbit about him. And then I innocently open your blog and POW! There he be!! Totally wasn’t expecting it. I almost spewed coffee (C) on the computer.
I will definitely check the books out – especially now that I have the inspiration behind the guy. By the way, I was hooked by Attila – just innocently channel surfing one evening and suddenly I found myself abducted by a hunky Scottish Hun.