Guest post by Christi Barth

We’re a society who likes to judge others.  First impressions pack a punch that can linger forever.  You might hit it off with a co-worker, until you see them lunching with the office schlub.  Gossip – true or not – can permanently taint an image.  We seek acceptance from others, and often find our worth in what others may think of us.  This can be good…and bad.

Often in books, this theme revolves around the classic bad boy.  He screwed up in his youth, was vilified by the town, or somehow unforgivably hurt the heroine.  Perhaps that has led him to a crossroads: should he live down to everyone’s expectations, or try to surpass them?

In my book Act Like We’re In Love, the Hollywood hunk of a hero has a reputation of treating women as disposable.  So when Luke asks Linnea to meet his mother, she dismisses his request.

“Luke, I’m having the time of my life, but we both know the expiration date on this relationship is closing night. Your suitcases will be packed and ready to go as soon as that final curtain hits the stage. There’s no need to pretend otherwise.”

Linnea’s words were matter of fact, and her tone light and upbeat. Not what he’d expected. Her offer verged on a friendly business arrangement. It seemed perfect. And yet, like a collar a half size too tight, it didn’t quite fit. Chafed parts of him he couldn’t name.

More uncomfortable with every passing minute, every perfectly reasonable statement she made, he lashed out. “Don’t assume you know everything about me. My reality doesn’t have to conform to anyone’s expectations.”

“Forgive me for being rational,” she said, exasperation pitching her voice louder and higher. “We’re not joined at the hip. You’re under no obligation to introduce me to your mother.”

He picked up the pace, his long legs eating up the pavement. Temper pushed him faster till Linnea practically trotted beside him to keep from being dragged along. She flat-out pissed him off. Couldn’t she see how difficult this was for him? Did he really have to spell it out?

“Listen to me. I don’t care whether Mom wants to see you—which, by the way, she does. Don’t you get it? I want her to meet you. It’s important. Not to be polite. Not to torture you as payback for your parents breathing down my neck every day. But because you both matter to me, damn it!”

Linnea didn’t ask for any ties, had no expectations, and had gone above and beyond in the understanding department. Any man on the planet would do cartwheels in his shoes. Instead, her lack of outrage at his lack of commitment annoyed him to no end. If only he could figure out why.

No outraged father wielding a shotgun demands he commit.  Linnea doesn’t ask him to give up his job and stay with her.  Public perception is that, just like always, he’ll walk away from her in a matter of weeks.  Heck, he’s downright famous for the way he cycles through women.  Half of his career depends on his playboy image.  It would be so easy for Luke to be defined by the public’s perception.  And yet, how much richer could his life be if he put in the effort to rise above what little is expected of him?  Spoiler alert – he does decide to knuckle down and work toward true love.

So many great stories abound that harken back to this theme.  If Frodo had eschewed adventure to live the life of a typical Hobbit, all of Middle Earth would be overrun with Orcs by now.  Scarlett O’Hara put aside society’s perception of her as a simpering debutante and not only brought her family back from the brink of starvation, but opened a thriving business.  What are some of your favorite character’s that surpassed the world’s expectations of them?

Christi Barth spent years performing in musicals, singing about love and giving people a happy ending in every performance.  Then as a wedding planner she spent every day immersed in romance.  Now she writes it!  It is exciting to share her love of the theatre with the world through Act Like We’re In Love.  For all her fellow Broadway fans, favorite shows include Guys & Dolls, Phantom, and The Most Happy Fella.  A special curtain call for Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers, the show where she met and first starred opposite the love of her life.  She lives in Maryland with the absolutely best husband in the world (sorry ladies, but it’s true!).

Remember the year two major studios both put out movies about an astroid hitting the earth? Remember the year every book in the B&N was about Anne Boleyn? Remember the year a certain author *cough* published a book about Cleopatra’s daughter and so did everybody else?

I’ve always assumed this kind of thing happens because there’s a sort of collective conscious at work. Creative people are influenced by their times to be fascinated by certain subjects, so maybe it’s not so strange that ideas happen in clusters.

But I’m also certain that there’s a bit of serendipitous magic at work. And when you’re a writer, it feels like destiny. Case in point? The recent historical erotica story that I’ve been writing like a maniac, night and day, for the past week.

The setting? The 1920s. The heroine? A silent film screen siren loosely based on Clara Bow. The hero? An American aviator. They fall in love while trying to make a hollywood movie about WWI fighter pilots.

I’m thirty-five thousand words into this novella. It’s almost done. I’m putting the frosting on the cake now and pulling it to a conclusion, so I decide, on a whim, to look up the popular films of 1927.

And what do I find? But Wings, the first film, and the only silent film, to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It starred none other than Clara Bow. If that weren’t freaktastic enough, this historic film–which was believed to be lost–is going to be released in its restored version THIS MONTH!

If only I could write and publish this in time for the January 24th release of the film, I’d be a happy girl. In the meantime, I’m going to have to settle for the mystical sense of satisfaction that maybe I’m writing something I was meant to be writing.

Updated: This Giveaway is Closed. A Winner Has Been Chosen.

Remember when Harry met Sally? Oh, what a romantic New Years that was. I don’t have any New Years Eve memories like that one, but I do have a zany memory from my teen years. I was in that phase when kissing was still very scandalous and I wore pink perfume and coated my lips with strawberry gloss. My boyfriend was smart, cute, and a little crazy.

Very conveniently, my parents were good friends with his. So when the four grown ups decided to go out for the evening and leave the kids at home, I thought I’d spend a romantic New Years Eve with my first real boyfriend. The mistletoe was still up and everything. But the catch? We had to babysit our younger siblings. To keep them entertained…and hopefully exhaust them so that they’d give us some privacy…we decided to play a game. We needed some pencils, so I went into the basement to fetch them.

While I was down there, all hell broke loose. Apparently, my boyfriend and his little brother were horsing around, opened a side door, and splashed out into the mud. Then, with muddy shoes, they chased each other through the house, leaving huge muddy footprints all over my mother’s brand new white rugs.

I was a dead woman if my mother came home and found those stains. So I made everyone get on their hands and knees and scrub the rug clean. For hours! Our entire New Years Eve was spent with rags and buckets of water, frantically trying to erase the tell-tale signs.

Unfortunately, it was a lost cause. It left stains. My mother was furious. And I never spoke to that boy again. But I confess that the memory now makes me laugh.

So what’s your New Years Eve Story?

1. While you’re here, why not grab a free copy of my historical erotica fantasy, The Knife’s Edge?

2. Want a ridiculously easy way to win a Nook? Click Here.

3. In honor of a quiet new year spent at home reading, I’m giving away a free digital copy of Dark Sins & Desert Sands, a paranormal romance about a modern-day minotaur and the sexy sphinx whose mind and body he must unlock… just leave a comment below. (And if you join my very infrequent but frequently snarky newsletter, you could win a lot more than that!)

4. In exchange for an honest review on Amazon/B&N/Goodreads, I’ll send you an ARC of my super-hot new paranormal erotica novella, The Fever & The Fury.

Be sure to visit these other fine authors on the New Years Blog Hop for some amazing grand prizes!

I love dragons. Always have. They’re that mystical creature which can do anything, fly, breathe fire, capture pretty maidens, fight off knights, LOL. To me, Dragons do it all better: from finding love to battling evil. Why?

5. Dragons are fierce. Never get between a dragon and its treasure, especially if that treasure is its mate.

4. Dragons are fiery. Enough said

3. Dragons are resourceful. They’ll stomp the bad guy and save their mate, no matter what problems are thrown their way.

2. Dragons are saucy. Their acerbic wit, or snarkiness, can fillet anyone stubborn enough to butt heads with them.

1. Dragons are devoted. Once they find their mate, better watch out And like wolves, Dragons bond for life.

Dragons kick butt. They can go against anyone or anything, and survive.

Can you think of a few more things to love about our fire-breathing friends?

Blurb for Dragos 1: Burned