Charlene Sands: Going for Broke… Have you ever? And a giveaway!

Recently on The Biggest Loser, the contestants were flown to Auckland, New Zealand (the City of Sails) and aside from having to continue with their weight loss program, they were asked to so some amazing challenges, such as “base-jumping” from atop the Sky Tower, the tallest tower in the Southern Hemisphere and bungee jumping off Kawarau Bridge in Queenstown.

Now, I’ve never done either of those daring activities and if asked, or if paid a whole lot of money I would decline, shaking in fear and running for my life. I have no desire to scare myself to death. Yet, even the host of The Biggest Loser, Alison Sweeney, (and star of Days of Our Lives) decided to take the plunge and bungee jump. She’d never done it in her life and I held my breath for her as she jumped off that bridge strapped in a harness and bungee cord. I have to give her kudos for that. I was scared silly, for her. I guess you can tell I’m not a roller-coaster kind of girl.

My motto is that life poses enough challenges, without making up more as you go along!

For some, getting up in front of an audience to give a seminar might be a big challenge. Or speaking up in your own defense when you are falsely accused, might give you hives. For others, it might be driving the freeway (my mom’s biggest fear) or confronting your boss for a raise.

At any rate, I think all of us, in one way or another, have decided to go for broke at one time in our life. In my story Carrying the Rancher’s Heir, my heroine, does exactly that. Callie Sullivan has been in awe of hero, Taggart Worth, since childhood, but as fate would have it the entire Worth family had been forbidden to her since birth. She was never to go near any of the three Worth boys that were her neighbors and classmates. But all grown up now and a woman in her own right, Callie has a chance meeting with Tagg, in another town, and suddenly all the rules changed. Callie decided to finally go for broke, to just do it, to be brazen and bold for once in her life and finally satisfy her fondest desire.

I have to admit, that I wouldn’t have the courage to do what Callie did, to go up to the man you admire most in the world and lay your heart on the line. With no guarantees, no real assurances that she wouldn’t get rejected, or worse yet, have her heart broken.

So what have you done in your life that surprised you, yet made you proud? What have you accomplished that you thought you never would? Have you ever gone for broke, in even the smallest way, and did it make a difference in your life?

I’d love to give away an autographed copy of The Billionaire’s Baby Arrangement, a 2010 RT Top Pick or any one of my backlist titles, either Desire or Historical, to one commenter today.

Charlene Sands is a USA Today Bestselling author of Harlequin Desire and Historical. She’s the recipient of the National Reader’s Choice Award, The Cataromance Reviewer’s Choice Award and double recipient of The Bookseller’s Best Award. Her May Harlequin Desire, Carrying The Rancher’s Heir, the first of her Red Ridge series, starring the Worth brothers, is available NOW in book stores and online outlets. Be sure to visit her WEBSITE for Grand Prizes “Worth”Winning where you could win one of 3 Amazon Gifts Cards.