This hop is merely to raise awareness of something that, yes, I believe in.

I refuse to accept that people should be stripped of their rights or treated as somehow other because of their orientation. As an army officer, mom, and a person who believes in a Creator, I believe that we are all created how we are intended to be.

I am glad that the Army repealed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. I am glad that my friends can serve in the Army they love without fear of losing their careers because they love someone who is the same gender as they are.

Pass it along and stop by the other sites on this hop to help spread the word. Help spread the word and you’ll be entered to win one of 4 copies of BECAUSE OF YOU.

http://hopagainsthomophobia.blogspot.com/

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The arguments that people make about opening up the maneuver units to females is that women are not going to be able to reach the highest echelons of the army because the top echelons are reserved for maneuver combatant commanders. Mind you, America’s First Team the 1st Cavalry Division is about to have the first female Assistant Division Commander – Support I think in for the first time in army history. BG Richardson *is* a combatant commander. She lead a combat aviation battalion in combat during the Iraq war. If she’s successful as the S, she’ll continue to advance to higher levels in the army, just like any other successful assistant division commander.

The other argument about this being a big deal is that supposedly, women will now get the proper credit for serving in hostile environments. I really don’t know where this allegation has come from but in 17 years in the military, I’ve never had anyone say “oh you’re a female, you weren’t in combat” (I was a REMF but that’s another conversation). Now, if we want to talk about the perception of support folks vs maneuver folks, sure, there’s a significant difference in how we trained for the war AT THE OUTSET. But now at the end of the war? If you want to know how to conduct a doctrinally sound mounted patrol? Talk to the logistics folks who run in the Forward Support Companies. Talk to the logistics folks who were the last folks out of Iraq and were running the longest sustainment runs in country by the end of the war. There were men AND women on those operations and I assure you, not one NCOER or OER did not accurately reflect contributions because someone was or was not a male soldier.

We make too big of a deal about women in the army and to be sure, there are some real challenges that disproportionately women must overcome. But they are nowhere near close to the portrayal in the media. The vast majority of men in the army have treated women in the army as they are: sisters in arms.

Putting women in the maneuver units does not change that. The only thing it changes is the legality of the assignment.

It’s time to scorch up the summer! It’s hopping time again (noticing a trend around here) and today I’ve got a steamy excerpt from Because of You to help fog up your computer screen!

Make sure you visit the other blogs for more great contests! One Lucky winner from here will win a copy of Because of You!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Jen. She was beauty and strength and life and everything that was still good in the world. Desire surged inside of him and he dragged her against him, giving in to it.

He traced one hand down her throat, her pulse beating erratically beneath his thumb. His hand ran down her back to cup her backside and with a quick jerk, he dragged her on top of him. She caught her foot against one of the external fixators and white hot pain exploded. He groaned and she froze immediately. “This is an omen,” he said when he could speak.
“No, it’s not.”
She pressed her hips against his still-clothed erection. That simple erotic contact nearly sent him over the edge. The one thing that mattered was Jen. Her taste, her touch. His lips traced down her throat as the pain receded. She arched her neck and he dragged his teeth over her pulse until she gasped.
He slipped his hand beneath her pants and her skin was satin and heat. His need nearly overwhelmed him, and he yanked it back.
This was Jen rocking against him, releasing soft gasps in his ear as his hands played over her body. He would never hurt her. Not in this lifetime would he ever use her for a simple physical release.
He wanted to lay her on her back and thrust inside of her, leaving the pain, the heartache, and the despair behind as he lost himself in her. He needed her, not just another warm body.
Slowly, so slowly, he slid his hand over her belly, inching her blouse up. She gripped his wrists. “Don’t.”
Reality crashed over him.
“No one has touched you there.” It wasn’t a question.
She pulled away. Not physically, but she might as well have. The juncture of her
!
hips lifted away from his fading erection, her hands braced against his chest instead of curling into him like they had a moment ago.
She started to move away, but he held her to him gently, his thumbs stroking her lower back.
He couldn’t let her go. Not now, when he’d fucked up so badly. He would get this one thing right.
“Don’t pull away.” His whisper was the only sound above their still ragged breaths. “Please don’t.”
She stilled above him, and then nuzzled his palm with her cheek. “I didn’t mean to freak you out.”
He tugged her down so he could nibble on her lips. “You didn’t.”
She sighed as his tongue flicked over the corner of her lips. “You stopped.”
He stroked her lower back and pleasure spiked through him as she began to respond
to his touch. “You were surprised.”
“You’re right.” She arched against him. Her breath warmed his neck as her fingers
curled into the base of his neck and shoulder. “I . . . I just haven’t been touched there . . .” Her words brushed against his skin and he shivered, wanting so badly to fix this.
The silky fabric of her blouse caressed his skin and he loved the fullness of her breasts—breast—against his chest. He wanted to touch her there, to tease that nipple to a hard peak. He wanted to look up into her eyes as he suckled her. But tonight, he would find another way.
He stroked her skin, slowly, his fingers trailing lower.
He’d never felt such arousal, such a need to claim. To give. He’d never felt the
!
desire for this slow build. He wanted to take his time with Jen, to watch her eyes darken, her lips part. Her breath hitched as he drifted lower still, her body frozen in anticipation of his touch. She bit her lip and let him explore. Watching. Waiting.
He slipped his hand under her pants and her underwear and cupped her sweetness, his palm absorbing her heat. Her hips jerked and a low gasp escaped her. He kept his hand still, cupping her heat. So slowly, he parted her and slick, hot moisture covered his finger.
She trembled beneath his touch, and her hips rocked against his hand. She gasped his name into his ear as her orgasm burst through her, an intense explosion riding over both of them in waves.
Her gaze darted between his face and his shorts and realization dawned on him like hot pinpricks racing across his skin.
“We need to get these off of you.” She reached for the snaps on the athletic shorts he’d worn since they’d taken the catheter out, the only article of clothing other than a man-dress that he could get on and off easily over the pins.
“Are you sure?”
She kissed him and he prayed that meant yes.
Thank you, Jesus.
She quickly shimmied out of her own pants then flicked off the overhead light
before climbing back into the bed. She’d clean the lamp up later. His breath caught at the sight of her kneeling over him, exposing the glorious blond hair between her thighs. He wanted to lift her hips and drive into her until they both exploded. He yanked back the fierce arousal. He wasn’t going to screw this up.
!
He closed his eyes as her fingers slithered down his chest. Over the tattoos and the scars. Her fingers lingered over the tiny scar on the right side of his stomach and the more recent ones that were still healing, including one of the two that had almost kept him home from the war. Then she drifted lower again with aching slowness. She paused at the top of his penis and he waited for her to go just a little lower.
A smile crept over her lips. He scowled. “What’s so funny?”
“It’s not quite the same without a tube sticking out of it.”
“Ha-ha-ha.” He gripped her hand and guided her to him, cutting off her laughter.
He sucked in a hard breath as her small fingers wrapped around his cock. He damn near came when her thumb stroked over the head, already slick with his own wetness.
If she kept stroking him, he wasn’t going to last. It had been months since he’d been with anyone, but nothing had ever felt like this. The emotion churning inside him was anticipation mixed with dark pleasure and something more.
She pressed a foil packet into his hand. His hands shook as he struggled to cover himself. Then she braced her palms against his chest and shifted her hips. And he was there, right at the opening of her tight heat. He groaned when she teased the tip of his cock with a tiny rotation of her hips.
She was so slick. He could glide deep inside her with a single thrust. Instead, he held infinitely still as she slowly, so slowly, sank onto his erection. Her beautiful body tightened and stretched around him.
He couldn’t move, couldn’t complete their union the way he wanted. He slid his palms down over her hips, and showed her the rhythm he craved.
She closed her eyes and raised herself off of him, rocking in that perfect, primal
!
motion. The pressure built inside of him as she tipped her head back and rode him, small gasps of pleasure bursting free with each smooth rise of her hips. His own need grew more urgent, more demanding. His eyes rolled back in his head as she rode him faster, taking him deeper. Her body clenched and spasmed and then she burst around him, his name a gasp on her lips.
He held her tight against him as he shattered, and her body trembled and exploded as her orgasm crashed over her again and again. He wrapped his arms tight around her when she collapsed against his chest, her breath brushing against his sweat-covered skin.
He felt alive. And for the first time in months, it didn’t feel wrong.

But over the years, I’ve been fairly brand loyal. I discovered Bobbi Brown while I was pregnant with my first born, primarily because it did not contain a lot of phthalates. Well, I sort of stuck with the brand for a long, long time. Bobbi has been good to me. But in 2010, I started a small shift. A good friend of mine turned me on to Stila and Smashbox. I’ll tell you quite honestly, that Smashbox lid primer is the best product out there for keeping eye shadow in place. But I digress.

There have always been my go to products. For my hair, I always used Feria. For my foundation, I always used Laura Mercia tinted moisturizer. This year, though, I got a wild hair across my ass as I’m wont to do and started changing things.

Yeah, um, this did not pan out so well. I changed to Natural Instincts temp color. I went darker because I thought it would be good to just cover my command induced grey hairs. Yeah, well, instead of classy chocolate brown, I ended up goth brown/black. It looked AWFUL. Bad enough that during my duaghter’s first communion (and Jesus is so going to get me for this) I sat there and obsessed about how terrible my hair looked instead of listening to the priest. (I did actually manage to get over my self absorbtion but still. My hair was distracting me).

I also tried Stila tinted moisturizer, which at first glance, seemed like a great product. Until I looked at a picture and realized I looked like the emperor from Star Wars. That kind of pale only works in vampire movies. Kind of like full length leather trench coats but that’s another story entirely and I won’t admit to owning one in high school. Not under pain of bad mascara.

So needless to say, I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time and intense conditioning trying to get the color out of my hair. I spent a good half hour online ordering my tried and true foundation again and Bobbi, I’m coming back to you because there is nothing like Bobbi Brown long wear eye liner.
Sometimes change is good. I can tell you it’s inevitable. But there are some things that should not be changed on a whim. And other things, like stripping your own hair color, should definitely be left to the professionals.

I’m now going back inside the paper bag I’m wearing over my head. Goes well with the ACU.

When I say over the moon, I had gone beyond hyperactive to plaid (yes, that is a Spaceballs reference. don’t ask). So after the RITAs I was chatting with random folks and gushing about, what else, my book. I mentioned to the poor lady who’d gotten cornered that Sue was going to ask Robyn Carr to blurb it. Freaking Robyn Carr, I mean could you believe it?

“Yes,” she responded. “But I have to read the book first.”

Um. Yes. That was me. Being a complete and total freak the first time I met Robyn. Well, it turns out that making the #1 New York Times Bestseller status doesn’t go to some people’s heads because Robyn is the most gracious, loveliest person. She generously blurbed my book and what can I say, she’s a sweetie. And we’re both moms and we both have connections to the military. Her son is an army officer, too so we’ve chatted.

Well today she popped into Fort Hood for a book signing and invited me to swing by. I brought my kiddos, who, for once, were absolute saints and made me look like a halfway decent parent. I was able to meet her son and her husband and basically spend the afternoon chatting about life, kids, the army and a little bit about books.

So I’m thrilled today to give away autographed copies of Robyn’s latest books: SUNRISE POINT, REDWOOD BEND & HIDDEN SUMMIT. You can enter the contest below by any of the means you’d like. I’ll draw the winner on the 20th! And of course, I’ll throw in a digital copy of BECAUSE OF YOU, as an added bonus.

Enjoy!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Is this not the most delicious cover!

From the cover:

Jessica Scott returns with an all-new contemporary eBook original romance, following last fall’s release of her sizzling debut novel Because of You. Includes a special message from the editor, as well as excerpts from these Loveswept titles: Blaze of Winter, Light My Fire, and Santerra’s Sin.

Please email me asap with whether you prefer a Kindle or a Nook so I can get it in the mail today!!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered! Tune in soon for more giveaways, random rants and sneak previews of my next book UNTIL THERE WAS YOU!

And remember to sign up for my newsletter for an exclusive first look at the excerpt, coming soon!

What I mean by that is how much time do we spend attempting to punish those in our society who get something they don’t deserve. I participated, however briefly, in a conversation yesterday about combat awards and I made the comment that if I’d received a CAB (combat action badge) for actually engaging the enemy, I’d be pretty pissed if someone was running around with the same CAB for simply being on a base when a bomb blew up nowhere in the vicinity of risk of actual harm.

Why should I care if someone else is sporting the same award or not? Does it somehow cheapen the award I received (I don’t have a CAB, FYI). Does it really matter? I’m not sure.

Let me take it further. We spend an inordinate amount of time talking about poor people in this country and those who “don’t deserve” the benefits they receive, whether its welfare or WIC or some other public assistance. Does it really impact your life directly if someone who doesn’t deserve something gets it? Sure you can make the argument that you’re paying taxes and that’s not fair but how do we qualify someone as being deserving or not?

And what about veterans? I read a piece in Time Battleland today talking about homelessness among veterans. Does a veteran who never deployed “deserve” the same care and treatment as someone who did deploy? Or do we say thank you for serving to all veterans? What about those who did not serve with honor?

Here’s what I’m getting at: why are we all wrapped around the axel about people getting what they don’t deserve? Attempting to weed those people out usually results in a policy that hurts the people who do truly need “it” whatever “it” is.

What would happen if we stopped worrying so much about people who got what they didn’t deserve and instead focused on getting people who have earned benefits, awards, or privileges the things they do deserve? The difference is small but I’d be willing to bet the impact would be significant. Or would it? What would happen if we were really able to keep people from getting something they don’t deserve?

Thoughts?

I’m so excited to have written a book recognized by the HOLT Medallion contest and congratulations to all the other awardees! It’s a huge honor!

From the war-torn streets of Baghdad to the bittersweet comforts of the home front, two wounded hearts navigate the battlefield of coming home from war in this explosive eBook original from newcomer Jessica Scott.

Keeping his men alive is all that matters to Sergeant First Class Shane Garrison. But meeting Jen St. James the night before his latest deployment makes Shane wonder if there’s more to life than war. He leaves for Iraq remembering a single kiss with a woman he’ll never see again—until a near fatal attack lands him back at home and in her care.

Jen has survived her own brush with death and endured its scars. And yet there’s a fire in Shane that makes Jen forget all about her past. He may be her patient, but when this warrior looks her in the eyes, she feels—for the first time in a long time—like a woman. Shane is too proud to ask for help, but for Jen, caring for him is more than a duty—it’s a need. And as Jen guides Shane through the fires of healing, she finds something she never expected—her deepest desire.

If you haven’t already checked it out, BECAUSE OF YOU is available at these fine ebook retailers.

B & N | Amazon | Powell’s| iBookstore

Being a mom in the military, I remember spending Mother’s Day deployed, missing my kids so badly, it felt like my soul was bleeding. But I’m home now and slowly, the daily routine has become, well, routine. And I’m grateful for it. Let’s be honest, I’ve got a lot to be grateful for in my life.

So, to give back a little bit to the mom in our lives, I’m giving away a Nook or a Kindle to one lucky winner for Mother’s Day.

I’m going to end the giveaway on 10 May so the winner will have to contact me ASAP to ensure the prize gets delivered before Saturday, May 12. Oh and if you leave a comment, don’t freak out if you don’t see it right away. I’ll try to get to the spam filter daily.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rules:

Entering the contest grants us permission to list your name as our winner and to add you to Jessica Scott’s mailing list. We will never sell or give away your information.