I’m Back!

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Hi Everyone. Yes, I’m still alive, but I haven’t been writing much of late. I’ve been working three jobs (not counting writing and promoting). My wonderful husband, Dana, needed to be working less, so I picked up more work. All of my jobs are part-time and I primarily get to work from home, which I love. Plus, I get to set my own schedule for the most part. However, it doesn’t leave a lot of time or energy for my creative endeavors. But… I’m hoping my jobs slow down a bit soon, so I can focus more on writing and connecting with my friends and readers.

I do have some exciting news to share. I got the rights back to the My Body Trilogy (My Body-His, My Body-His (Marcello) & My Body-Mind) and had to have new covers made for them. They will be ready soon and I’ll be putting them up for purchase. I fell in love with my cover artist, so we had two other covers redone as well: The Demarcation of Jack and The Second First Chance. Spoiler alert: The Second First Chance’s new cover is my favorite!!

While I sit here typing this blog, we are snowed in and have been for six days. Our grocery stash has dwindled but I can’t complain because we have kept our electricity and Wi-Fi the whole time minus a few short brownouts. I’m definitely experiencing cabin fever!

The snow is gorgeous and plentiful but because we live up in the hills northeast of Seattle, we tend to get way more snow than the city folk. The Hippie Dippy Weatherman says we are due for rain, so fingers crossed that it happens soon.

I plan to be posting more often and to be around more on social media. I’m even venturing into Instagram, even though I swore off adding any more social media to the docket. 😊

Life has been great, but I have been WAY busier with work than I like to be. Here’s to things slowing down enough so I have the energy and the will to finish Samantha’s Maze. Samantha is tired of living in limbo, at least that’s what she said to me yesterday. 😉

Stay tuned for new polls, giveaways, and connecting again online!

A special Happy Valentine’s day to my closest and most supportive readers, I hope we can reconnect. I miss the Blakely Bennett Babes!

Warmest hugs,

Blakely

The Top 65 Reasons I Love My Husband So Much!

Today is my favorite day of the year … the day my husband was born. For his 65th birthday, I’ve made a list of my top 65 reasons why I love him so much. There are so many more reasons I could have listed, but I’ll save those for his 75th birthday. 😀

As you will see, I am VERY lucky in love. Thank you, Dana, for making my life so much more worth living. I can’t imagine a life without you in it. Without further ado:

  1. heartsI love how confident you are.
  2. I love your voice, so deep and manly.
  3. I love that you work hard for us.
  4. I love your smile, which brightens my day.
  5. I love your face and the twinkle in your eyes.
  6. I love that you can fix and/or build almost anything.
  7. I love that you’re the father of our beautiful daughter.
  8. I love your relationship with my mother, which warms my heart.
  9. I love how loyal you are.
  10. I love that you are the first to jump in if someone is in trouble.
  11. I love that you’re a great listener and that you give me your undivided attention.red heart
  12. I love that we are true partners and share the chores.
  13. I love that you’re a great cook.
  14. I love how you make friends wherever you go.
  15. I love that you are so generous.
  16. I love that you mean what you say and say what you mean.
  17. I love that you’re so open I can hear your thoughts.
  18. I love how you willingly handle the icky stuff, like taking out the compost and getting the bat out of the house.
  19. I love that given a choice you always want to spend your time with me.
  20. I love that when you are happy, you sing as you walk around the house.
  21. cloudI love how much you care about the world and what is happening in it.
  22. I love that you’re a hippie (kind of like me).
  23. I love that when you make a decision, you stick to it.
  24. I love how creative you are sexually. It’s such a turn on.
  25. I love that your secret is that you have no secrets.
  26. I love the way you kiss my neck. Yummy!
  27. I love how you love me each and every day.
  28. I love that I can be my uninhibited real self with you.
  29. I love how my hand fits in yours.
  30. I love that you always reach for my hand when we’re out and about.
  31. bookI love that you support and encourage my writing.
  32. I love that you’re my first reader and biggest fan.
  33. I love being swirled up in your energy.
  34. I love how safe I feel with you.
  35. I love that you laugh at my jokes.
  36. I love that you GET my jokes.
  37. I love your kisses, which still melt me in my special places.
  38. I love how handsy you are. Not a day goes by in which I don’t feel desired.
  39. I love that you desire me whether I’m heavier or not.
  40. I love sleeping with you.
  41. I love your warm hugs.you
  42. I love how you spoon me, which is the perfect way to fall asleep.
  43. I love that you come back to bed to snuggle me in the morning.
  44. I love how we dance together.
  45. I love that we grow closer and closer the longer we are together.
  46. I love the sweet and sexy texts you send me.
  47. I love that we shower together almost every day.
  48. I love that you hold out my towel for me when I’ve finished showering.
  49. I love how you make me laugh and giggle.
  50. I love that during the course of our years together you’ve been open to growing and changing.
  51. heartsI loved our time at the cabin.
  52. I love how we work together.
  53. I love how our gaits synchronize.
  54. I love exercising with you.
  55. I love how we snuggle together on the couch.
  56. I love that you watch some shows with me, which aren’t really your thing.
  57. I love all the very sweet things you say to me and I know you mean.
  58. I love that you understand my need for alone time.
  59. I love that even when we are apart, I can still feel you next to me.
  60. I love that we’ll grow old together.
  61. handsI love how we communicate together, verbally and non-verbally.
  62. I love that after all these years, sex is still exciting and evolving for us.
  63. I love that the longer we are together, the more I love you.
  64. I love that I’m your favorite person.
  65. I love that you are mine as well.

Thank you Dana for choosing to share your life with me!

Warmest hugs to the greatest man I know,

Blakely

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His Domain

own riskIn some ways, my husband and I fall into the traditional gender roles. If we found ourselves in a dangerous situation, he would put me behind him and protect us both. And just last week when the bat flew into our house, I screamed like a silly woman and let him handle it. In most other ways, we share the traditional gender roles between us, like shopping, cooking, cleaning, and child rearing. However, the garage is most definitely his domain and I tend to stay out of it. Continue reading

Living with an Open Heart

heartsBeing human can be odd at times. Somewhere along the line, most of us decided good emotions are preferable and the bad ones should be avoided, shoved down, and/or pushed away. It’s quite understandable because pain, jealousy, anger, and hate can be very uncomfortable. The problem with closing off from the “bad” emotions is that we dull our ability to feel the good ones. Continue reading

She Flew the Coop

old me0001Our daughter has moved away to her university. We got her settled yesterday, with big help from my mother. I’ve been so excited for her, knowing that it’s the perfect school for our girl, I really had no clue how I would feel when she finally left. Mind you, she will probably be back for the summer and I know I will be way more panicked when she goes abroad to Japan for six months next year. However, I’m deeply— I honestly don’t know the right word. Sad doesn’t seem to quite fit. Maybe more it feels like a loss but I know it’s not. She and I are super close and she is only an hour and a half away but my heart hurts today. Continue reading

Release Day Blitz for ❤The Second First Chance❤

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The Second First Chance by Blakely Bennett

Release Date: March 16th
Genre: Romance
Cover Design: Happi Anarky
Editing: Harper Jewel

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Buy Links:

Amazon / iTunes / Smashwords / KOBO

Add to your TBR on Goodreads

Synopsis:

If you could have a second chance at true love, would you take it?

Jayden is offered the opportunity to journey back in time when she loses her soulmate, Callahan, on their twentieth anniversary. Enticed by the idea of meeting Callahan ten years earlier, she takes the leap.

From 2015 back to 1985, Jayden restarts her college experience at Florida State University. Her best friend Patrick from the first time around is at her side, supporting her attempts to win over young Cal.

Professor Travis Stratford has his eyes set on Jayden and throws his hat into the ring. Could he be a good distraction while she waits for Callahan to give her a second first chance?

Young Cal, still suffering from a recent loss of his own, is a different man than her Cally of the future. Will Jayden have the patience necessary to win him over? Will Cal believe her crazy tale?

Immerse yourself in this poignant, sexy, hilarious romance, which will have you laughing—and crying— your heart out.

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Excerpt

I lay in bed wondering if I had crossed over into coo-cooville. I desperately needed to talk to Callahan. (If he were still alive,) he would know what to make of it all. If Toly was real, could I walk away from the life we built and start over? There was so much I could and would do differently.

I could go back to the age of eighteen and hunt down Callahan, and we could start ten years earlier. I wouldn’t drop out of college after my first year, throwing away my parents gift of four years paid tuition, room, and board. I could pursue creative writing from the start instead of waiting tables for years as I paid my way to earn my teaching degree.

If I couldn’t convince Cally to love me straight away, I would have the opportunity to have more sexual experiences. He had so many more lovers than I did when we met that he felt like I had somehow missed out. However, having sex with another while still so deeply in love with Callahan might prove challenging.

I wondered if I could change my appearance, or if I would have to look the same as I did at eighteen. I was attractive enough, but if I could change a few things here and there… On the other hand, it would be amazing if Toly could hold off cellulite until I was, at least, sixty or make me one of those women who bounce back from pregnancy in a week and never look like they had a baby in the first place.

The only stumbling block—well two of them really—which stopped me from outright considering it: (my daughter) Ash lightly snoring beside me and whether or not my mind had fractured over the loss of Callahan and had decided to play trick or treat with me.

I slipped quietly out of bed and went downstairs to find some alcohol to help lull me into sleep. My racing mind would not shut up.

In the cabinet above the refrigerator, I found a bottle of Stolichnaya vodka. At the table, I poured an inch into a tumbler and knocked it back. The smell of cinnamon wafted over me just before Toly reappeared. “Back again, I see.” I poured another shot into the glass.

“We had not completed our conversation.” He bowed slightly. “My apologies for the abrupt departure.”

“Understood. Shannon would have swift kicked you had she met you on the street. Of course, my sanity is still in question. Whether I believe you or not is simply beside the point.”

“To answer your question, the only change I can make for you would be to retain your memory if you decide to go back. In addition, as soon as you make your choice, I will be gone. If you choose to remain here and now, I can wipe your memory of me.”

“So you can’t make me enjoy cleaning or have less of a sweet tooth?”

“No.”

“Wait a minute,” I bristled. “Do the collective of watchers or whatever you called them see everything I do? Even in my private alone time? Pick my nose? Touch my… Okay now, I’m an open-minded woman, but that’s just—” I was about to say fucked up but instead said, “Creepy.”

“Their purpose is not to judge or gawk, but to guide when necessary. The more closed off the occupier is, the less influence they have. You are considering eighteen for your insertion time,” he stated, taking a seat at the table.

“Would you care for a drink?” I asked, my southern politeness overriding the fear of my apparent lunacy.

“I have no requirement of sustenance and prefer you refrain until our conversation has concluded.”

“Fine,” I said, pushing the glass away from me. “Yes, eighteen makes the most sense to me or really is the most appealing. I’m not sure I have any sense left. I would love an extra ten years with Callahan, and retracing the same steps I’ve already covered seems like a dreadfully boring prospect. I was always the dreamer and the risk taker of the two of us. I know, knew, know Callahan so well and yet, in this crazy scenario, I have no idea what he’d advise. I do know he would take any opportunity for a longer life together. But I feel like I’m abandoning Ashley when she needs me the most. I get that she wouldn’t have been born yet, but she will still be real to me.”

He watched me intently and waited for me to continue.

“If I’m going to go full-blown into this delusion, let’s get down to business. Can I tell Callahan about all of this if I go?”

“Yes, but there are no guarantees he will believe you.”

“I’m certain he won’t initially, but I think I can get past that. And other people?”

“It would be ill-advised to share it with others, but there is no rule against it.”

“Can you send me back with a lot of money?”

“No. You’re financial situation will remain the same given the particular time you select. However, once in, you can manifest any changes you would like within the confines of natural law.”

“Can I go back to the very day I arrived at Florida State University after my folks drive away?”

“That can be done.”

“I know I already asked this, but please tell me again that I will definitely have Ashley if I go back.”

“If and/or when you get pregnant, she will be your first child.”

I forced out a breath and said, “Let’s do it, but first I want to kiss her goodbye.”

 

Author Bio:

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Blakely Bennett grew up in Southeast Florida and has been residing in the great Northwest for over ten years. She graduated from Nova Southeastern University with a degree in psychology, which accounts for her particular interest in crafting the personalities, struggles, and motivations of her characters. She is an avid reader of many genres of fiction but especially enjoys erotica and romance. Writing has always been her bliss.

Blakely is married to a wonderful, loving, and supportive husband, who is also a writer, and who helps to keep her grounded. She is a mother, a communitarian, a lover of music (it is always on while she is writing thanks to Pandora), and a good friend. An advocate of love and female empowerment, she is also a facilitator for a women’s group. She loves to walk and hike for exercise, and finds that, since moving to Seattle, Washington, she is now one of those crazy people who walk in the rain.

The Second First Chance is her eighth novel. Her other novels include the Bound by Your Love Series (Stuck in Between, Bittersweet Deceit, & Blue Persuasion), the dark erotic suspense My Body Trilogy (My Body-His, My Body-His (Marcello) and My Body-Mine) and the contemporary romance, The Demarcation of Jack, which she co-wrote with her husband, Dana Bennett.

Website / Amazon / Goodreads / Twitter / Pinterest

Giveaway:

Blakely is offering a huge giveaway. Click HERE to enter.

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What’s On My Mind…

062015 278Leading up to the release of my eighth novel, The Second First Chance, on Wednesday, I have a lot on my mind. Of course, there’s the usual—Will this be the book that really opens the hearts of Romance Readers everywhere? Will the reviews continue to be stellar? Will the sales for the release be as good as they were for Blue Persuasion? On and on it goes in my head.

Then there are the thoughts specific to TSFC. Most of my novels are stories written because they’re novels I’d want to read. After all, I’m a reader at heart and love a story that moves me and draws me in from the start and then changes me in the end. I love being lost in a story as a reader and a writer. Continue reading

Release Party & Giveaway for The Second First Chance

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To join my release party on Facebook (March 16-18) for The Second First Chance click HERE. There will be lots of games, prizes, & takeovers. It will be loads of fun!

Please enter the Rafflecopter for a chance to win many ebooks, paperback, and swag.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Continue reading

Cover Reveal for ❤The Second First Chance❤

TSFC - CR Banner (1)

Title: The Second First Chance
Author: Blakely Bennett
Release Date: March 16th
Genre: Romance
Cover Design: Happi Anarky
Editing: Harper Jewel

TheSecondFirstChance_Ecover

Pre-Order Links:

Amazon / iTunes / Smashwords

Synopsis:

If you could have a second chance at true love, would you take it?

Jayden is offered the opportunity to journey back in time when she loses her soulmate, Callahan, on their twentieth anniversary. Enticed by the idea of meeting Callahan ten years earlier, she takes the leap.

From 2015 back to 1985, Jayden restarts her college experience at Florida State University. Her best friend Patrick from the first time around is at her side, supporting her attempts to win over young Cal.

Professor Travis Stratford has his eyes set on Jayden and throws his hat into the ring. Could he be a good distraction while she waits for Callahan to give her a second first chance?

Young Cal, still suffering from a recent loss of his own, is a different man than her Cally of the future. Will Jayden have the patience necessary to win him over? Will Cal believe her crazy tale?

Immerse yourself in this poignant, sexy, hilarious romance, which will have you laughing—and crying— your heart out.

Goodreads

TheSecondFirstChance_PrintCover

Author Bio:

Blakely Bennett grew up in Southeast Florida and has been residing in the great Northwest for over ten years. She graduated from Nova Southeastern University with a degree in psychology, which accounts for her particular interest in crafting the personalities, struggles, and motivations of her characters. She is an avid reader of many genres of fiction but especially enjoys erotica and romance. Writing has always been her bliss.

Blakely is married to a wonderful, loving, and supportive husband, who is also a writer, and who helps to keep her grounded. She is a mother, a communitarian, a lover of music (it is always on while she is writing thanks to Pandora), and a good friend. An advocate of love and female empowerment, she is also a facilitator for a women’s group. She loves to walk and hike for exercise, and finds that, since moving to Seattle, Washington, she is now one of those crazy people who walk in the rain.

The Second First Chance is her eighth novel. Her other novels include the Bound by Your Love Series (Stuck in Between, Bittersweet Deceit, & Blue Persuasion), the dark erotic suspense My Body Trilogy (My Body-His, My Body-His (Marcello) and My Body-Mine) and the contemporary romance, The Demarcation of Jack, which she co-wrote with her husband, Dana Bennett.

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Connect with Blakely:

WEBSITE / PINTEREST / AMAZON / GOODREADS / TWITTER

Love at First Sight?

ID-100208222Do you believe in love at first sight?

As much as I am the romantic, believe in true love and write about it all the time, I don’t believe in love at first sight. Lust at first sight? Sure, that happens all the time. Chemistry, attraction, recognition, all I believe can happen in a moment’s notice. Love, nope. Continue reading