My friend and fellow Whiner joins us today to talk about one of my favorite guilty pleasure shows (well, I watched the CA version)!!!  Please welcome the awesome Terri Brisbin — and be sure to leave a comment! One lucky commenter will win a digital copy of Highlander!

Oh I’m sure that everyone can come up with lots of reasons to make lots of money – family, vacations, charities, health, fun, and so many more that even I would agree with. But the reason that I hope my books sell tons of copies and make me millions of dollars? Three words –

Million Dollar Listings! Well, four if you count the NY abbreviation!

I am, to my chagrin, addicted to this show on Bravo. I, the one who has ignored pretty much every reality show made (except for TOP CHEF, but that’s for a different blog!), have fallen hard for this funny, over-the-top show about over-the-top real estate brokers with big personalities and lots of drama in the Big Apple.  I kind of happened upon some episodes from first season while I was traveling and stuck in a hotel room and quickly got caught up – and hooked!

The three guys this season are Ryan Serhant, Fredrik Eklund and Luis Ortiz – Michael Lorber was on the first season but hasn’t returned for the second. Though I have my suspicions, I have been wondering!  Anyone know why?  So each of the guys are so very different in personality but each is completely driven by the need to succeed:

— Ryan goes for the sexy, suave approach to everything, except that is offset by the pet pig he was given as a gift by a client and which blows the whole debonair thing to heck! But the music video he had made to show off one of his listings – and he appeared in – with Mary C and The Stellars – showed off his sexy side nicely! (it’s on YouTube – search for “Love Automatic” – uh huh!)

— Luis pulls out all the stops when it comes to his Puerto Rican background and culture, but he is such a baby-faced young man that he’s probably still ‘carded’ at bars and comes off as trying waaaaay too hard to get respect. But he knows all sorts of great drink recipes. And,

— Fredrik – what can I say about Fredrik? Well, he is over-the-top in everything but my favorite part of the show is just watching his facial expressions! A poker face? Not this guy! When he raises his eyebrows and purses his lips, I start laughing.  But watching him with his husband can be heartwarming and funny, too.

The amount of money they handle – the prices of the houses, apartments and buildings they rep to rent or sell—is over-the-top, too. Prices that make me gasp are routine for them. One night Fredrik sold out a building of apartments that cost over $7 million each! And that’s not unusual for the properties they sell. (It’s kind of like watching ANTIQUES ROADSHOW when you think that vase is worth $3.50 and it’s a priceless Ming vase worth hundreds of thousands of $$! I’m always wrong….)

And the houses and apartments and buildings can be anything from fixer-uppers to lavish penthouses with scenic views of the city below. From fully-furnished luxury apartments to ready-to-finish lofts…but as the title says they’re going to be worth at least $1million.

So, there you have it – the reason I need to make millions of dollars on my books. I want to be able to go to NYC and hire one of these guys to find me the appropriate apartment for my little ‘pied-à-terre’  in the city! (Really, don’t I deserve a ‘pied-à-terre’ ?? Really, don’t we all deserve one??)

Do you watch Million Dollar Listings NY or the LA version? Who’s your favorite real estate broker? Which deal made you gasp? Or are you caught up in another reality show? Please let me know! I’ll pick one person who leaves a comment to win a digital copy of my latest release – HIGHLANDERS, a Scottish historical romance anthology featuring stories by me and Michelle Willingham and Brenda Joyce!

 In her previous lives, Terri has lived in ancient Egypt and medieval Scotland, but in this one she’s stuck in the wilds of southern New Jersey with a hubby (wonderful one!) and kids (three adorable and finally grown sons!). When not living the life of a glamorous romance author or suffering through deadline-binges-o-writing-mania, she spends some of her time as a dental hygienist.

    Terri’s had more than 30 historical and paranormal romance novels, novellas and short stories publishing since 1998 and has a bunch more swirling around inside her brain, just waiting to come out. She has releases from Harlequin and NAL coming out from now until 2016! And you can find out more than you need to know about Terri on her website (www.terribrisbin.com) or her FB page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Terri-Brisbin/).