Melinda Dozier : Winter Warm-Up Blog Hop #HopsWithHeart #Giveaway

Winter is one of my favorite times of year. Though I live in a faraway land known as "Land of Eternal Spring," I knew I wanted to write a winter romance. In came the opportunity of a lifetime. I joined forces last year with three amazing authors and we created a Winter Olympics anthology. My dream hero had to be Ty, a silly snowboarder who participated in his first Olympics in Switzerland. Unfortunately for him, he had to partake in a hazing ritual and that's where the book opens up. Here's a sneak peek:

Adam nodded to Chris, ignoring Ty’s question. “It’s a good place as any other.”

“What the hell are you two talking about?” Ty folded his new US Snowboarder-jacket collar up to block the breeze around his neck. He looked around to try to figure out what they referred to. “The party’s in the community center, isn’t it? And there’s no one around here.”

Chris stood in front of him and tapped his shoulder, a smug smile directed at Ty. “We all had to do it.”

“Do what?” Ty zipped up his jacket and narrowed his eyes. What could they do here?

“Time to join the brotherhood, man.” Adam patted him on the back.

Aw, shit. They were up to no good. A puff of vapor exited his mouth as the realization came to him. He should have known; his nickname wasn’t Trouble for nothing. In fact, his well-known pranks at the X-games still linger in the half-pipes of Aspen.

Chris laughed and rubbed his hands together. “You’re the virgin of the games, dude. You had to know something was gonna happen.”

Ty stamped his feet to warm his toes. “What do I have to do?” No big deal. He could play another prank if he had to. What pissed him off was that they completely blindsided him tonight and he had no idea what they had up their sleeves. No one else surfaced around them and the quiet echoed off the snowy ferns.

“See that Olympics statue in the corner?” Chris pointed. When Ty nodded, Chris continued, “You need to run around it, jump through one of the rings, slide a 180 – with your boots only – and we’ll take a picture. Then run back without falling.”

Ty shrugged. “Sounds simple.”

His friends smiled back at him. Chris spoke up, his eyes lit with a twinkle of mischief, “Without your clothes on, Trouble.”

He flinched, a bitter tang in his mouth. They had to be kidding. His toes were already numb and he wore boots. “No clothes? In this cold?”

“Yep.” Adam chuckled, a smile as wide as one of the Olympic rings.