Harlequin Naughty or Nice Winter Blog Tour + Giveaway: Naughty Heroes

Happy Friday Everyone! Today I'm thrilled to be a part of Harlequin's Naughty or Nice Winter Blog Tour, a 4-week event featuring six romance authors and their exclusive holiday-themed guest posts. I have the pleasure of welcoming Maisey Yates to the blog to talk about something very close to my heart: Naughty heroes. What? I can't help it! I love a book boyfriend who has a few rough edges and isn't afraid to revel in them, so I will certainly be checking out every book on Maisey's list. I hope you guys enjoy her recommendations as much as I did!

MY TOP 5 NAUGHTY HEROES BY MAISEY YATES

All right, since it’s Christmas, I thought I’d devote a post to my favorite heroes who would absolutely get coal in their stocking.

My hero in A Copper Ridge Christmas, Ryan, would most definitely earn himself a lump of it. Why? He’s on the naughty list. A gruff, grumpy fisherman harboring illicit fantasies for his former foster sister, he’s certainly not going to qualify for presents from Santa.

But that’s okay! Because I like my heroes naughty.

Here are my Top 5 Naughty Heroes who are just as naughty…if not naughtier…than my hero.

1. Ajax from Make You Burn by Megan Crane. Naughty is kind of an understatement for Ajax, an MC President with hard language and a hard body. He’s possibly the naughtiest hero around ever. You’ve been warned.

2. Dan from Rebel Cowboy by Nicole Helm. Former hockey-playing, llama-ranching (yeah, you heard me), sexy, naughty cowboy hero who hires the heroine to help him figure out how to run his ranching spread in Montana.

3. Vin from Having Her by Jackie Ashenden. A very naughty, very…er…bossy hero who enters into a fantasy-driven relationship with his little sister’s best friend.

4. Rafael from Unwrapping the Castelli Secret by Caitlin Crews. Rafael is a very naughty hero who reformed slightly when he lost the love of his life in a car accident. But when he finds out she’s actually alive…it’s pretty clear he still retains his naughty edge!

5. Alex in What I Did For a Duke by Julie Anne Long. This hero sets out to seduce the much-younger sister of the man who stole his fiancée, all for revenge. Delicious, romantic and very, very naughty.

I can’t guarantee reading these guys won’t put YOU on the naughty list, but then I think they’re pretty good compensation. :)

Happy holidays,

Maisey

Thanks so much Maisey!

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A COPPER RIDGE CHRISTMAS

Snow is falling in Copper Ridge, Oregon—but the heat between a holiday-loving party planner and the town’s resident Scrooge is off the charts in this sweet and sizzling Christmas novella…

Holly Fulton is throwing a special Christmas Eve party for the foster parents who gave her so much. To finish the preparations in time, she needs to recruit her one-time foster brother, Ryan Masters. He may have a scowl that could curdle eggnog, but under that surly demeanor is a big heart. And amazing muscles. And a gorgeous chest. In fact, X-rated visions of Ryan have been dancing in Holly’s head for years, but she can’t risk complicating the only real family she’s ever known.

But maybe there’s a way for Holly to have her Christmas cake and eat it too. A no-strings affair, just until they’re done with the planning. Ryan is certainly willing. But from the first touch, it’s clear that this isn’t just a festive fling. It might just be a Christmas miracle in the making…

Find A Copper Ridge Christmas:

Goodreads • Amazon • B&N

Find Maisey:

Website • Facebook • Twitter

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GIVEAWAY

One grand prize winner will receive:

• 1 print copy of The Harder You Fall by Gena Showalter, White Wedding Christmas by Andrea Laurence, A Cowboy Under the Mistletoe by Vicki Lewis Thompson, Wrapped in Red by Nana Malone and Sherelle Green
• 1 eBook copy of A Copper Ridge Christmas by Maisey Yates and Under the Spotlight by Kate Willoughby
• 100,000 Harlequin MyRewards points
• 2 Harlequin Classics limited edition notebooks
• 1 Brenda Jackson Westmoreland limited edition notebook

Please enter via the Rafflecopter form.

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Review + Giveaway: Brokedown Cowboy

BROKEDOWN COWBOY
Copper Ridge #2
Maisey Yates
Contemporary Romance
368 pages
Harlequin
Available Now
Source: eARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
There are lines best friends shouldn't cross, but in Copper Ridge, Oregon, the temptation might be too much…

If practice makes perfect, Connor Garrett should be world champion of being alone. Since losing his wife he's concentrated exclusively on his family's ranch. Until his dear friend Felicity Foster needs a place to stay and Connor invites her to move in temporarily. That's what friends do—and Liss is his rock. What friends don't do? Suddenly start fantasizing about each other in their underwear. Or out of it…

Since high school, Liss has kept her raging crush in check. Another few weeks should be a breeze. But helping Connor rebuild his life only reinforces how much she longs to be a part of it. One explosive encounter, and she'll discover that getting what you always wanted can feel better than you ever dreamed…

MY THOUGHTS
Brokedown Cowboy is a romance fraught with the kind of tension that can only exist between longtime friends as they navigate the potentially treacherous waters of a shifting relationship, keeping us on edge throughout despite knowing a happily every after is awaiting us at the end. What makes this friends-to-lovers romance so successful is leading lady Liss, a woman who ensures the channels of communication between her and Connor are wide open even as she holds the full depth of her feelings back as a means of self-preservation. Where there could have been miscommunications and unnecessarily hurt feelings we find instead a woman who knows when to push Connor and when to take a step back, and we can't help but want her to have her fairytale ending with every fiber of our being.

Liss is upfront with Connor from the get-go, letting honesty serve as the foundation for their relationship and sparing us all the drama that accompanies silence or misdirection, but while she doesn't allow either of them to get away with hiding, she's unable to keep herself from throwing her heart in Connor's direction and hoping he catches it. She's careful as she can be though, as honest with herself as she is with Connor about what their relationship is and what it isn't, until she reaches the point where her careful honesty turns blunt and she starts fighting for all that she deserves. 

Connor, while not quite as strong a character as Liss, is a thoroughly enjoyable romantic hero, lost and adrift after his wife's death three years prior until Liss steps into his field of vision and blithely rips away his Jack Daniels-soaked blinders. Both Connor and Liss have a well-developed sense of humor that works its way into their everyday banter, able to laugh at the inevitable awkwardness that accompanies the change from friendship to intimacy while keeping intact what made them best friends in the first place.

The only minor drawback is the speed with which the damage caused by Connor's resistance to admit there's anything serious between is repaired, Liss granting forgiveness and exhibiting a willingness to jump back into them as a couple with an ease that's a tiny bit surprising given how careful she'd been all along. That being said though, when the man you've loved for years with no real hope of him ever being yours is standing in front of you professing his love in return, it's hard to do anything other than grab hold of what's being offered and never let go. Overall, Brokedown Cowboy is the perfect combination of sweet and sexy, with just a kiss of heartache to ensure we're emotionally invested in our couple's happiness. Ms. Yates also does a beautiful job of setting up our next romantic pair, and I can't wait to see how things unfold for Connor's younger sister Kate and his womanizing best friend Jack.

Rating: 4/5

Get Brokedown Cowboy:

Amazon • IndieBound • B&N • Goodreads

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MAISEY YATES

USA Today Bestselling author Maisey Yates lives in rural Oregon with her three children and her husband, whose chiseled jaw and arresting features continue to make her swoon. She feels the epic trek she takes several times a day from her office to her coffee maker is a true example of her pioneer spirit.

In 2009, at the age of twenty-three Maisey sold her first book. Since then it’s been a whirlwind of sexy alpha males and happily ever afters, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Maisey divides her writing time between dark, passionate category romances  set just about everywhere on earth and light sexy contemporary romances set practically in her back yard. She believes that she clearly has the best job in the world.

Website • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads 

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TOUR & GIVEAWAY

Up for grabs today are 5 paperback copies of Part Time Cowboy (book one!). To enter, please fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Giveaway is open to US/Canada only.

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For more tour details and the full list of participating blogs, visit CBB Book Promotions.