How much would you pay for love and surrender?
Seven sensuous tales of secret identities by seven bestselling authors. October 2013
Cover Story Excerpt
50 NORAH WILSON
Vampires and curses and medical technology? THE MERZETTI EFFECT has it all!
Features
22 THREE INTO NINE Eileen Dreyer talks about turning 3 books into 9 Julie knows not all monsters run on 4 feet; now she must learn-- 36 TALES FOR THE WITCHING HOUR some beasts are good.
Bridget Keown recommends her fave paranormal reads 48 THE INSPIRATION BEHIND NORA ROBERTS LAND
AND THE DARE VALLEY SERIES
Ava Miles talks about her stories and Nora Roberts 60 THE EVOLUTION OF THE PANTY Genella deGrey and Lynda Cohen teamed up to bring
you interesting facts from history
73 CONFESSIONS OF A CONFERENCE NEWBIE Tibby Armstrong brings you Authors After Dark (AAD)
91 FROM BULLETS TO BULLS Cat Johnson brings you a behind the scenes peek in the making of her books Review Spotlight Lace Eastlake can't remember anything. But with Chan 15 THE SHEIK RETOLD Victoria Vane Channing and Zack Blackwood keeping her safe from a killer, it's not all bad.
Series Spotlight Top Pick Reviews 44 THE SEATTLE LUMBERJACKS Jami Davenport 71 ROMANCE 95 OF WAR SERIES Lisa Beth Darling 80 GLBT 108 EROTIC ROMANCE
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October 2013
Romance Excerpts Giveaways
27 SUGARWATER RANCH 11 TEMPTATION (Contemporary) Kathryn Barrett Stephanie Berget 18 BACHELOR’S SPECIAL (Contemporary) Christine 41 HOW TO DATE A DRAGON Warner Ashlyn Chase 20 BEACON OF LOVE (Contemporary) Allie Boniface 64 TASTE THE HEAT Rachel Harris AND MORE 24 LOVING LIBERTY (Contemporary) Belinda Boring
28 HYPNOTIC SEDUCTION (Contemporary) L.L. Kellogg
33 THE TYCOON AND THE TEXAN (Contemporary) Phyliss Miranda
39 CINDERELLA SCREWED ME OVER (Romantic Comedy) Cindi Madsen 42 THE ELUSIVE WIFE (Historical ) Callie Hutton
55 THE DEMON MISTRESS (Paranormal) Jordan K.
Rose
57 DARKNESS RISES (Paranormal) Dianne Duvall
65 SHADOW’S EDGE (Paranormal/UF ) Jami Gray 67 SHADES OF PINK (Anthology ) Kallysten and other authors Can a man convince a woman to let go of her insecurities and take a chance on love?
GLBT Excerpt
77 SECRET OF THE WOLF (Paranormal) Sienna Matthews
Erotic Romance Excerpts
82 TAKEN BY STORM (Contemporary ) Opal Carew
87 LOSE CONTROL (Contemporary) Anna Leigh
Keaton 93 LUCIFER’S CHOICE (Contemporary) Jianne Carlo
103 BOUND BY LOVE (Fantasy) S.E. Gilchrist Trapped, her only chance of escape is to awaken the warriors in the next cell.
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October 2013
Dear Reader,
ard to believe it’s nearing the end of the year, and here we are in our third (but not yet final) issue for the year. Have your Halloween costume H yet? Ready to trick or treat? Good news! We have lots of treats for you in this issue!
First treat is news of our upcoming Year-End Splash Party in November! As usual, we’ve lots of prizes to go around for everyone. Authors, if you’re interested in this promo, you can still join. Deadline to sign up is October 20. Email carole @ theromancereviews.com for details. If you want to see list of authors and publishers who will be joining the event, check out this page.
Speaking of contests, for our second treat, TRR is sponsoring one again with an awesome prize pack of books! Check it out! There are also other contests scattered throughout the ezine with great prizes, so check them out, too.
The third treat is the wonderful books we’re featuring here in this ezine, with tantalizing excerpts, fascinating interviews and eye-catching book covers. Don’t miss out on any of them! Raven Comes of Age
For our fourth treat, in this ezine, we continue to bring you exciting articles from Eileen Dreyer, Ava Miles, Genella deGrey, Linda Cohen, Tibby Armstrong and Cat Johnson. Reviewer Bridget Keown recommends well-loved paranormal romance reads for your consideration.
The fifth treat is the list of paranormal books recommendations we’ve compiled for you. Put yourself in the mood for the season and pick up these books!
SILENT WARRIOR is an edgy and violent tale that captivates and enthralls. It is set in a fantastical world with oddly-sympathetic characters that stand out in the paranormal genre…. The ending was poignant, truly attesting to how much Hark must love Silence, despite the short time they had together. As a short introduction to a new paranormal series, this novella did its job A chef whose business is pretty well to intrigue and hook the reader. Read more. damaged by a sex scandal, and (Recommended by Ashia) the image consultant sent to fix her.
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October 2013
If you like funny paranormal romance in the style of Shelly Laurenston with crazy but endearing characters, BIG BAD BITE will be for you. I’m impressed enough that I’m looking forward to the next book, Walk On The Striped Side! (Recommended by Steffi)
Dianne Duvall has outdone herself this time. Not only my favorite of the Immortal Guardians series to date, this is definitely one of my favorite books of the year. With a deeply emotional love story, two beautiful, complex main characters and a pulse-pounding adventure that won't let up, this book was haunting and addictive and I loved every page. Read more. (Recommended by Bridget and J9) Will the only woman troubadour in England tame an angry lord with her songs?
This book was heartbreakingly beautiful and is one that is so touching I still think about the characters from time to time. (Recommended by Breann)
What a refreshing surprise this book was! I really enjoyed it. I think the humour in this book really helped. I loved how the characters talked to each other and how they were quite happy to take the mickey out of themselves and their situation. Because of this, I really got hooked and sucked in to the whole story. Sil is a very realistic, sexy and enthralling character. I also liked how Jessica came to question her own identity and what being human really means. (Recommended by Rebecca) "A fast paced, action packed I am speechless. This story is amazing. The spanking story." worldbuilding is magnificent in scope and breadth, and yet, for all that was revealed, there is the potential for more…The story is rich in worldbuilding, with vividly described details and facts… The heroine Paige is a complex and rich character. She's smart, strong and incredibly loyal. In the midst of oppression in the camp, her humanity shone through in the way she tried to help the other humans in the camp, humans who are in the lowest rung of the social ladder… The pace of the story was right for me, with action-packed scenes to up the excitement, mixed with slower paces of revelation and dialogue…Read more. (Recommended by Ashia)
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October 2013
Recommended for the way she eviscerates the evil characters, which is satisfyingly blood thirsty. (Recommended by BookAddict)
I'm so enthralled by the world building in this series. This is fast paced, action packed and has you guessing until the end. Not to mention, Kaleb is a total babe. (Recommended by Breann)
Three men are better than one!
BYZANTINE HEARTBREAK is hot damn awesome! The sci-fi world is fascinating, the romance utterly compelling and the secondary characters amazing. I want to squee like a rabid fan-girl but I'm going to try to coherently explain why this book is so great. First, the world building is outstanding…Next, the romance is deliciously emotional and sexual…BYZANTINE HEARBREAK is a total must read for any fan of captivating storytelling. Read more. (Recommended by J9)
Once again, Kate SeRine wove an engaging and enchanting tale in ALONG CAME A SPIDER...The characters may be from Make Believe, but Kate SeRine puts her own mark on them and made them three-dimensional, realistic and humanly flawed, characters we can relate to and root for. The story's pacing was just right, with plenty of romance and Two lonely men, uncontrollable action to mix up the excitement… I can't get need. ACCEPTANCE enough of the Transplanted Tales series…Read more. (Recommended by Ashia)
Once again my favourite author does not disappoint. This book is filled with much loved characters from previous books as well as a few new ones that I am sure we will get to know in future books. The laughter and the fun does not stop for one second throughout this book…Read more. (Recommended by Chrizette and Steffi)
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October 2013
Shadow was my first favorite. While some are comparing these to Lori Leigh's Breeds books, and there are very few minor similarities, the world Laurann has created is very different. Her characters have a bit more animal to them but at the same time are more vulnerable and insecure of their place in the human world. (Recommended by Laurie P)
The way the werewolf world functions, comes across as an alpha male dominant patriarchy yet it's twist with service to the queen. (Recommended by BookAddict)
The Mindhunters, Book 3
You can't go wrong with this riveting page turner with true love, a suspenseful plot, wonderful dialogue, vampires, shifters, and steamy hot sex. I couldn't put it down, and I'm anxiously awaiting the next book in the series! Read more. (Recommended by KindleRomance)
Recommended for its intense romance, strong world building and stellar secondary characters all set in an action plot. (Recommended by J9)
One woman's struggle to find the truth about her marriage and her husband's identity
It's fun and sexy and the 'bad guy' has been brought to his knees by The One. (Recommended by Breann)
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October 2013
Riveting, romantic character driven intergalactic love story with three amazing characters in a fight to save themselves and humanity. The plot was exciting, including participating in the sex games, winning their ship back and their travels to the Zone. The story was dynamic, weaving together several ideas throughout the tale to bring us to our conclusion. An amazing story where every action, every sex scene, and every conversation helped to move the plot, the romance, and the relationships along. The love story was beautiful, and the action-packed, science fiction-based plot was exciting and interesting…Read more. (Recommended by KindleRomance)
Spirits and romance mix in this fast-paced, enjoyable story… I loved the paranormal elements and how they played perfectly with the romance angle. There were a few different cases they took on which kept the story moving quickly without ever getting overwhelming or confusing. The most emotional moment in the story, which had me in tears, actually took place between two of the spirits…Read more. (Recommended by KindleRomance)
There you have it. Don’t forget to join us on November 1 for the Year-End Splash Party! Happy reading! And Happy Halloween!
Roberta stands for everything Winner Aspen Gold Readers' A woman taken and the Captain Damien dislikes in a woman. Why Choice Award who saves her. does she fascinate him so much?
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Romance October 2013
Temptation Kathryn Barrett
Laura Hayes has been acting since she was in diapers, and acting up almost as ISBN: 9781622669615 long. When she moves to Pennsylvania’s Publisher: Entangled Amish country to film her next movie, Publishing she discovers there’s more to life than a Publication pair of Jimmy Choos and a Marie Claire date: 2/16/2013 cover. Genre: Contemporary Romance Intrigued by the Amish simplicity, she’s Buy Links: soon putting in a garden, dodging Publisher Site earthworms and garter snakes. And Amazon Kindle when her neighbor turns out to be the Barnes and Noble local heartthrob as well as a talented ITunes furniture maker, she realizes that what’s Kobo missing from her life might be the love of a good man—not to mention the perfect heirloom tomato. Kathryn Barrett Website
Jacob is trying hard not to question the teachings of his Amish faith, despite a desire to create furniture that looks like it belongs in a museum rather than the local tourist shop. As his attraction for his neighbor grows, so do his doubts, until he’s forced to face Temptation.
acob ran the side of his hand across the length of birdseye maple. It was a beautiful piece, textured with tiny knots, rifts, and valleys ingrained in the wood, nature’s own decoration. J Some considered the grain patterns flaws; Jacob thought they possessed a certain beauty, a non-conformity to the patterns of life that appealed to him.
He was making a chest with the birdseye maple. He rarely used such fancy wood, but he wanted this piece to be special. He’d seen it in a dream, and then woke with a start, palms flexing as if the wood were in his hands, mentally drawing the plans, shaping the wood, fitting the pieces together.
It would be unlike the furniture he made every day. Not plain, but not so fancy that it would stain its maker with the twin sins of pride and self-indulgence. And if he felt a tiny amount of pride when it was finished, he’d auction it to benefit the relief fund. That would atone for his sin.
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Romance October 2013
So he methodically shaped the wood, getting to know its strengths and weaknesses, learning its idiosyncrasies, calculating its miter angles. He’d experiment with a new dovetail joint…maybe a double haunched tenon. He was lost in thought, until the scent of spring wafted past, mingling with the sawdust and glue.
It was Laura, in his workshop, nosing around, inspecting the half-finished furniture in the corner. She was wearing white pants that ended at her calves, and pink tennis shoes that had enabled her to sneak in without him hearing her.
She looked up from the tabletop she was inspecting, her smile like an electric light. “Hi. I didn’t want to disturb you.”
Didn’t she know she was disturbing him just by existing? By walking into his shop and interrupting his mortise and tenon construction?
She hopped up on the table beside him. “I have an emergency.”
“You should try the hospital. There’s a good one in Lancaster.”
She laughed. “It’s a decorating emergency. I need furniture, and I need it fast. My mother’s coming on Friday, and if she sees an empty stretch of baseboard she’ll call her decorator.” She lowered her voice. “Trust me, it wouldn’t be a pretty sight. Roger isn’t known for subtlety.”
Jacob hung his measuring tape on the pegboard, in the wrong place, but he was grateful for any excuse to move away from her.
“Can you just see French Provincial, down-stuffed Louis Quatorze chairs in my cute little farmhouse?” Laura shuddered. “Honestly, I need help. And you’re the only one who can help me.”
Jacob shook his head. “I cannot help you this time. I have a shipment of chairs due in Lancaster this week.”
“Surely you’ve got something here?” She looked around the workshop. “Anything. I don’t care if it’s half finished. I’ll take it unstained, unglued, whatever. Anything to keep my mother from terrorizing me with Louis Quatorze.”
“I can make you a guillotine. It worked pretty well in France.”
Laura groaned. “You don’t understand. My mother—”
“It would work for that, too.”
She laughed, then gave a melodramatic sigh. “You don’t know what she’s like…she comes in and takes over. She’s like Mommy Dearest without the personality. She always knows how best to run my life, how to decorate my house, how to pick my boyfriends…don’t laugh! She tried to set me up with her podiatrist once.”
He nodded, as if he understood perfectly. “Mothers are supposed to do that. It’s in their nature.”
“Mothers.” She sighed. “Can’t live with ’em, can’t guillotine ’em.”
“She sounds like mine. Maybe we should introduce them.”
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Romance October 2013
“Hmmm… I’m sure your mother would tell her where to put her overstuffed chairs.”
Jacob nodded. “Ja. And my chairs, too, if I don’t get busy on them.”
“Oh, Jacob, you have to help me out. I’ll take anything you’ve got.”
He looked away, hardening his heart to her pleas. She didn’t need his chairs, or his heart. “I cannot help you.”
She slid closer, until there was no further room for him to move away. “I’ll pay you. Whatever you want—”
He glared at her, his feelings for once close to the surface. She wanted something he couldn’t give her—wouldn’t give her. Jacob was only flesh and blood, and his control snapped, snagged by a trace of perfume in the air surrounding her. “I do not want your money!”
She swallowed. “What is it? Did I do something? Say something?”
He didn’t reply.
“What?” she repeated, a demanding child who’d too rarely been denied. “You’re angry with me.”
He kept his gaze lowered, not answering. Of course he was angry, but not with her.
“It’s the kiss, isn’t it? You’re angry about that.”
“I shouldn’t have done that.”
“I’m the one who started it, remember?” She waited a beat. “But I didn’t see you protesting then.”
“It is not right. This…attraction. It cannot continue.”
She flushed with pleasure at his words. Too late he realized he’d said the wrong thing, admitted he found her attractive. Surely he wasn’t the first man who’d told her that, yet she basked as if he’d given her the moon.
“Why not? We’re both free at the moment.” She trailed a finger over his forearm. “There’s nothing wrong with…experimenting. Trust me, I’m the expert on bad behavior.”
He jerked his arm away. “Ja, I am beginning to find that out.”
“You want me to go? Leave here and never bother you again?” She laughed bitterly. “Well, join the club. There’s someone else who’s pretty anxious to see my taillights, too. Have you—” But then she shook her head. “Never mind. I guess I thought you were different, that’s all.”
“It’s not good to be different. Not here, among us,” he clarified. “It’s a sin to be an individual. To set oneself apart. To want to do something better than anyone else.”
“I know. Humility is a virtue—and practically unheard of where I’m from. But Jacob…” Her gaze circled the workshop, stopping at the walnut cabinet with the ebony inlay panels. “You are better than everyone else. The things you make…” She picked up a piece of paper with a chest drawn on it. “Why, in California a chest like this would inspire a cult following. You could make a fortune, with the right marketing. You could make enough to—to send Daniel to college,” she told him. “You could buy things, for your workshop, for yourself…whatever you want.”
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Romance October 2013
He shook his head. “You do not understand. The things that are of value in your world—a college education, a new car—it is not even on our radar screen.”
She blinked. “You have a radar screen?”
“It’s an expression I have heard. It means we do not think about these things.”
“Right.” She nodded toward the desk in the corner. “I know what you think about, Jacob. I’ve seen your books.”
Then, as if pulled by the same attraction he’d admitted earlier, she glanced at his lips. “I know what you taste like.” Her gaze returned to lock with his. “I know what you feel…deep inside.”
He couldn’t look away. Her eyes were filled with a longing he hadn’t seen in a woman in many years. A need, as fierce as his own…
Jacob swallowed. The workshop was too warm, the day too hot. And she was too close, there on his workbench amongst his tools. He shook his head. “You do not know what I feel.”
But he was very much afraid she did.
She lifted her hand, slowly, giving him time to move away, but he couldn’t have moved if flames leapt at his backside.
She set her palm on his chest, over his heart, pulsing with forbidden emotion.
“I know what you want,” she said in a low voice. “And I want it, too.”
About the Author:
Kathryn Barrett reluctantly put aside childhood dreams of becoming an author and took a more practical approach, majoring in Business Administration in college. But after marrying an Air Force officer, she realized a career in high finance didn’t suit an itinerant lifestyle. She happily returned to her first love, writing stories that feature larger-than-life characters, family relationships, and of course, a happy ending.
Having lived all over the United States, Kathryn and her family now live in England, just outside London. She enjoys walking her dog in the Chiltern hills and exploring crumbling castles, and only occasionally reads the Financial Times.
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Romance October 2013
Rating:
Amazon Barnes and Noble Book Depository
The Desert Was Never Hotter...
Pride and passion vie for supremacy in this steamy re-telling of E.M. Hull's romance classic.
A haughty young heiress for whom the world is a playground…A savage son of the Sahara who knows no law but his own…When pride and passion vie for supremacy, blistering desert days are nothing compared to sizzling Sahara nights…
"There will be inquiries." I choked out. "I am not such a nonentity that nothing will be done when I am missed. You will pay for what you have done."
"Pay?" His amused look sent a cold feeling of dread through me. "I have already paid… in gold that matches your hair, my gazelle. Besides," he continued, "the French Government has no jurisdiction over me. There is no authority here above my own."
My trepidation was growing by the minute. "Why have you done this? Why have you brought me here?"
"Why?" He repeated with a slow and heated appraisal that made me acutely, almost painfully, conscious of my sex. "Bon Dieu! Are you not woman enough to know?"
Review by Bridget:
I am consistently impressed with Victoria Vane's ability to craft historic romances that are both wickedly steamy and deeply emotionally complicated. But this book is something special in her growing list of successes, and fans of history, as well as historic romances, should not miss this fascinating read.
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Romance October 2013
Victoria Vane's book is, at heart, a retelling of Edith Maude Hull's classic novel of the same name, which tells the story of the beautiful, wealthy and independent Diana Mayo. Bored and impulsive, Diana has spent the past six years travelling around the world with her brother, Aubrey, hunting and exploring and doing precisely as she pleases. Thus, it comes as a great surprise when Aubrey sternly objects to her plans to hire a desert caravan and explore the vast Sahara during their visit to North Africa. But Diana isn't about to start heeding anyone else's directions now and sets off alone through the desert, promising to meet her brother in New York when she has had her fill of adventure.
But Diana's adventure quickly descends into a nightmare when she is kidnapped by a ruthless and apparently merciless sheik, who informs her that not only had she been the target of a murder plot, but that he has purchased her from her would-be murderers. Terrified, not only by the implacable man who holds her captive, but by her own helpless fear, Diana resolves never to submit to the will of a barbarian like Ahmed Ben Hassan. But with each passing day, this inscrutable man reveals another side to his complex character, and Diana begins to realize that there might be far more to her own nature than she ever considered. Slowly, with the passing of each long desert day, a fragile trust begins to develop between the haughty English lady and the inscrutable sheik. But when she is kidnapped by a rival chieftain, Hassan knows he will do anything to secure her freedom—even if it means returning Diana to a world he can never inhabit.
When it was first published in the 1920s, The Sheik caused an utter uproar, both with its presentation of non-European characters and with its intense sensuality. Widely accepted as the precursor of modern romance novels, the book is certainly worth perusing. But it can't be denied that it is a product of its time, with long, flowery passages and some less than savory attitudes towards those non-European characters. Victoria Vane has done an admirable job updating this story while still retaining a beautiful sense of the time and place that make this story such a success. In this version, Hassan's character is given a thorough analysis, allowing readers to see his insecurities and his inner struggles, as well as his dominance and condescension. Those brief moments of insights that are scattered throughout the book make Diana's growing feelings for him much more understandable and their journey together much more sympathetic. There are some elements of his character that cannot be altered without destroying Hull's plot, but all in all, Victoria Vane has made Hassan a wonderfully complicated and conflicted character.
The insight she brings to Diana's character is similarly remarkable. For as long as she can remember, Diana has been able to hide from others and from herself behind her masculine clothing and her cultured bravado. When she is brought to the Sheik's tent, her reaction to her own vulnerability and her own emotions is startling and wrenching to read. But as she gradually comes to understand herself, she becomes infinitely stronger and evolves into a heroine who is more than a match for the sheik.
The chemistry between these two is sudden and blazing. The battle of wills in which they engage is by turns humorous, dangerous and smoldering and will keep readers turning pages far too long into the evening. I was truly impressed by how balanced their relationship came to be over the course of the book, and how Diana and Hassan managed to complete the other so well.
The best part of this book, in my opinion, is that Victoria Vane preserved the wonderful sense of romanticism that clings to this story. The desert is a place of adventure and wonder in this book,
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Romance October 2013 just as it was for Hull's audiences and for those legions of fans who watched Rudolf Valentino play the Sheik in the 1921 film. Victoria Vane's book allows readers to sink into a world that was still full of mystery and intrigue and experience a level of passion and sensuality that her modern readers have come to crave. Retelling a story that played such a seminal role in the romance genre took a lot of courage. In the end, Victoria Vane has triumphed splendidly, weaving a story that is full of romance and insight into two complex, timeless characters and proving that some love stories can transcend even time itself.
Revenge must be taken. A voodoo queen striking fear in ur heart; She's broke. He's worth millions. Urban Fantasy Romance while zombies eat people.
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Romance October 2013
Bachelor’s Special Christine Warner
Saute, simmer, and flambé… ISBN: 9781622661312 Jill Adgate wants three things from life: a Publisher: Entangled successful catering business, the devoted Publishing, LLC love of an exceptional man, and a family. Publication What she has is no job, a mounting pile date: 6/10/2013 of bills, and her outspoken best friend— Genre: Contemporary who sets her up on a blind date with the Romance man who inadvertently ruined Jill’s life. Buy Links: Publisher Link Chet Castle is a prosperous businessman Amazon Kindle who has everything, except the ability to Barnes and Noble trust. Burned by a money-hungry Kobo fiancée, he refuses to get involved with any relationship that has a shelf life longer than a head of Christine Warner Website lettuce.
Intrigued by her ambition—and determined to get her in bed—Chet offers Jill the chance of a lifetime: Work for him for the next eight weeks as his live-in chef and he’ll help her get her catering business off the ground. When sparks fly in the kitchen, Jill realizes what’s cooking with her commitment-phobic employer is a recipe for disaster…but it’s just too tasty to not take a bite.
er body hummed as his smile wavered. Although he wore sunglasses, she’d bet her last dollar his gaze swept across her chest, lingering on the betrayal of her pert nipples pushing H against the fabric of her suit. Until this moment, shyness had never been a trait she possessed. Air stalled in her lungs, her palms grew sweaty, and she itched to cover herself with a towel. Even though her replica vintage swimsuit hid more than most sets of women’s underwear, she felt too exposed. She turned to the side slightly and folded her legs up. Not that it helped, but it made her feel a bit less exposed. Chet slid his feet from his sandals, brushing a hand through his hair. The heat from the sun wasn’t the only thing scorching her skin. She trickled several droplets of water over her arms, but she couldn’t drag her focus from his toned flesh.
Jill soaked in his ripped abs and the obvious package of goodies covered by his brown swimsuit— the same sexy brown as his hair. Damn, did a man have a right to fill out a pair of swimming
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Romance October 2013 trunks like that? Flecks of hair, just enough to give him a manly appeal, covered the etched muscles of his long, tan legs. She licked her lips, hoping she could still speak.
“Do you want some privacy?” Yes, say yes. She needed an excuse to make an escape without coming off like someone desperate to be making an exit.
* * * * *
Hell no, he didn’t want privacy. Through the shield of his sunglasses, he inspected her body from the tips of her pink-painted toenails to the top of her brightly flowered swimming cap. Did people still actually wear those things?
“No, you look comfortable. Stay and enjoy the day.”
“Oh…are you sure?”
“Sure.”
Amazed at his own ability to talk without his tongue hitting the cement, Chet turned to throw his towel and sunglasses on a nearby lounge chair. Damn.
The red and white polka-dot halter-style suit featured a tight bodice, but her slender hips and shapely thighs hiding beneath a matching skirt grabbed his attention until all oxygen left his blood. Even showing less skin than the average girl on the beach, she far exceeded sexy and alluring.
Get a grip, Castle. She’s off limits, no matter how delectable. He turned and stepped onto the diving board. He bounced along the surface as he made his way over the water. When he looked at Jill’s bathing cap covering her head, he held back his grin. The neon rubber flowers reminded him of something his grandmother would’ve worn, but there the similarity ended. Everything beneath that cap was far from making him think of Grandma.
About the Author:
Christine Warner is living her dream in Michigan along with her husband, three children, one laptop and a much loved assortment of furry friends. Besides laughing and a good round of humor, she enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, reading, writing but no arithmetic. A confessed people watcher, she finds inspiration for her stories in everyday activities. She loves to read and write about strong heroes and determined, sometimes sassy, heroines. A girl gone wild, at least where social media is concerned, she enjoys meeting other avid readers and writers on Facebook, Twitter and her Website.
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Romance October 2013
Beacon of Love Allie Boniface
Welcome to Lindsey Point, Connecticut: suspicious of outsiders, loyal to tradition, ASIN: B00CJTK4Y2 and absolutely devoted to its local Publisher: Lyrical Press legends. Publication date: 4/26/2013 Enter Sophie Smithwaite, feisty travel Genre: Contemporary show host, in town to film an episode Romance about Lindsey Point’s haunted lighthouse. Buy Links: But digging into the story of a tragic Amazon Kindle murder-suicide and love gone wrong Barnes and Noble reveals startling connections to Sophie’s ITunes own past. When a gorgeous local handyman fills in behind the camera, Allie Boniface Website Sophie’s life gets complicated by more than just her family history.
Part-time paramedic, handyman, seasonal Santa-Lucas Oakes does it all–except get attached. He’s still reeling from the death of his best friend ten years ago and the more recent infidelity of his ex-fiancee. Yet despite Sophie’s big-city nosiness and her insistence on chasing long-dead ghosts, he’s drawn to her.
But mixing with an outsider means questioning people and traditions Lucas has always defended. When a series of attacks seem to be connected to Sophie’s investigation, both Sophie and Lucas must decide if they are willing to risk everything to uncover the town’s secrets…and their own.
“Wise ass.” Sophie backed into the street before he could grab her. “I’ll see you later!” she called. “I think Lon said something about meeting tomorrow morning and--hey!” She squawked off the last word as Lucas lifted her off the ground and onto his shoulder.
As if she was a bag of flour.
Or a damsel in distress.
Or his damn cavewoman.
About a hundred thoughts raced through her mind, and it took all she had to keep them from coming out in biting words.
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Romance October 2013
“Why do you have to be so stubborn?” he asked as he carried her back to his truck, parked in front of the bar. He wasn’t panting, not out of breath in the least, as if she weighed close to nothing. “If anything happened to you, Lon would kill me.” With one hand he opened the passenger side door. Only then did he lower her to a seat inside the truck. His hands slid down her arms and settled her hips into place.
Oh yum. All her scathing thoughts of thirty seconds earlier vanished. She shifted on the leather. There was room for him on this side of the cab, she was almost positive. If not, she’d make room. In about two seconds.
About the Author:
Allie was born and raised in a tiny community in upstate New York, which probably explains her fascination with the magic of small town life. She earned her B.A. in English from the University of Rochester in New York and a M.A. in English Literature from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Since 1997, she has enjoyed life in the northern NYC suburbs, where she lives with her husband and teaches English and Education to high school students. In her spare time, she and her husband love to travel. She is also a runner, a musician and an animal–lover.
Allie writes sensual contemporary romance. She reads in all genres and loves chatting with other readers and writers about any topic under the sun. You can find her around the Web, at writers' conferences, giving workshops, swapping stories, and generally chatting about romance writing. Allie loves stories set in small towns and is a firm believer in the power of love and the emotions that connect us all!
Life's a bitch, and then you DON'T Can love save Dawn from the die... Top 10 Finisher at the 2012 Sun, Sea and Scandal curse that has kept her enslaved P&E Readers Polls for two thousand years?
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Romance October 2013
Three Into Nine
By NYT bestselling award-winning author Eileen Dreyer
So, what do you do if, halfway through writing the second book in a series, you suddenly realize that you don't have a trilogy on your hands. You have a nine-book series. At least. A few years ago, I ran into that very problem. Which was good news and bad news. At least for me.
First of all, let me say that one of these days I'm going to figure out the 'Turn Every Book Into a Trilogy' rule. You know, that knack some authors have of making sure that every heroine they write has two sisters, or every hero a SEAL team he belongs to. I thought I'd done well this time. After all, I created this wonderful trilogy that I called The Three Graces about women who meet in Brussels during the battle of Waterloo. I was so excited, because finally I didn't create a series by stumbling over the hero's family in his book and realizing that each one of them needed their own books (my Kathleen Korbel Kendall Family series). I thought I'd planned well.
And then, I started writing the darn things. And I realized that my heroes not only knew each other, they belonged to a secret gentleman's group who spied for the government. Oh, hell, I thought. I bet there are more than three heroes running around.
I was right. There were ten. They didn't bother to forewarn me, either. I was just writing Never a Gentleman, and my hero Diccan walks into his rooms to find the rest of Drake's Rakes having a meeting. I no sooner wrote the scene when I knew I was sunk. Ten men. Ten books.
Two things are important here. I'm the kind of reader who prefers to hold onto my books until the series is finished. I get really cranky when I'm reading a book and all of a sudden people and events sound familiar, but I can't place them. It's frustrating to be halfway through a book before you realize that it solves a puzzle set up two books ago---and often at least a year or two ago.
Second, I'm not as quick a writer as I used to be. So I knew I wasn't about to get all nine or ten books out within four years. How could I do to my audience what I hate done to me?
And then it came to me. I'd already outlined the first trilogy. I'd based it on my heroines. But the minute my editor at Forever learned of the gentlemen spies, she changed the series from The Three Graces to Drake's Rakes. And I had to agree with her. I'd sure rather look for studly, well-born, ex-soldier-spies than three society women. But that didn't mean I didn't still need heroines. So what if I divided the nine books up into three trilogies? It's tidy, it's easier for me to coordinate (because I suck at that stuff), and it helps my audience get closure more quickly. Because I can close the important things on each trilogy, while leaving the nefarious plot running through all nine books.
Yes. It's nine books. On character, Chuffy Wilde has decided that he prefers to be a second banana. (Don't worry, though, he gets a girl of his very own. I'm writing that story now). And the amazing thing is that the minute I knew there would be nine books, I knew exactly what the ninth book would be. The ultimate fight between the best and worst in the series starring Drake and....I'm not going to tell you. But it's great.
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Thus was born my new structure. First, The Three Graces, which is already out and stars not only my Rakes, but three very courageous women: Mrs. Olivia Gracechurch (Barely A Lady), Miss Grace Fairchild (Never A Gentleman), and Her Grace, Kate the Dowager Duchess of Murther (Always A Temptress).
And now, for my second trilogy, I would like to present The Last Chance Academy, which is the nickname for the boarding school my three heroines attended, and which I introduced in an e-short, IT BEGINS WITH A KISS. The heroines are all relatives or known to the Rakes, and have been inadvertently exposed to danger their whole life.
And now, in ONCE A RAKE, I bring you Rake Colonel Ian Ferguson, who, at the end of my last book, was left shot, accused of treason, and bobbing around in the English Channel. Fortunately for him, he washes up near the estate of Sarah, Lady Clarke, who went to school with his sister. Sarah is trying desperately to save the estate her husband had left in her hands when he went off to Waterloo four months earlier. She is an outsider, never fitting anywhere and so isolated that her best friend is a 600 pound pig. Sheltering Ian would be the most foolish thing she could do. And yet, against her own better judgment, she does. And finds herself hip-deep in conspiracy, treason, and murder. Just the kind of problems I love best for my characters.
I truly hope you like it, and my new trilogy. Let me know. Of course I'm on Facebook, Twitter and have a webpage. http://www.eileendreyer.com. Stop by. And let me know how you like my elegant solution. Okay, and my story. And characters. And everything. ‘Cause as much as I love my Rakes, I'm still trying to get used to this whole, nine book thing.
About the Author:
New York Times bestselling, award-winning author Eileen Dreyer, known as Kathleen Korbel to her Silhouette readers, has published 28 romance novels, 8 medico-forensic suspenses, and 7 short stories.
2012 sees Eileen enjoying critical acclaim for her first foray into historical romance, the Drake's Rakes series, which follow the lives of a group of British aristocrats who are willing to sacrifice everything to keep their country safe. After publication of the first trilogy in the series, she has just signed for the next trilogy, following the graduates of the aptly named Last Chance Academy, who each finds herself crossing swords with Drake's Rakes. Eileen spent time not only in England and Italy, but India to research the series (it's a filthy job, but somebody has to do it).
A retired trauma nurse, Eileen lives in her native St. Louis with her husband, children, and large and noisy Irish family, of which she is the reluctant matriarch. She has animals but refuses to subject them to the limelight.
Eileen is an addicted traveler, having sung in some of the best Irish pubs in the world, and admits she sees research as a handy way to salve her insatiable curiosity. She counts film producers, police detectives and Olympic athletes as some of her sources and friends. She's also trained in forensic nursing and death investigation, although she doesn't see herself actively working in the field, unless this writing thing doesn't pan out.
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Romance October 2013
Loving Liberty Belinda Boring
Liberty Montgomery is many things: ISBN: 9781301732579 A dutiful daughter. Publisher: Blushing Perfect wife-in-training. Heart Press Easy to manipulate. Publication Compliant. date: 7/14/2013 Genre: Contemporary But secretly she wants more. Romance, Coming of Age, New Adult For years, Liberty has dreamed of a life Buy Links: filled with opportunities—a life where she Amazon Kindle makes the decisions, living by her own Barnes and Noble rules. Unfortunately, her parents have Smashwords other plans for her, ones that involve her submission and total obedience. Every attempt to break free from Belinda Boring Website their control is met with threats, leaving her feeling trapped.
Just when all seems hopeless, Liberty meets Oliver Nichols. With just two words, be brave, he stirs up her secret longings for more . . . friendship, fun, and independence. He almost has her believing her dreams are possible. However, taking a stand can be terrifying when you've spent your entire life pleasing others.
Are some chances worth taking? What would she risk for freedom?
“Will you dance with me?” There was no hesitancy in my question. I began moving, forcing Molly and Blake to slide out, and took hold of Oliver’s hand. “Before your break is over.”
The corner of his eyes crinkled with amusement. “Lead the way, sweetheart.”
Empowerment coursed through me, flooding my system and short-circuiting the part in my brain that would normally overanalyze the situation. His hand was warm in mine, the contact making my skin tingle like an electric charge. People yelled out their greetings as we passed through, but there was no stopping. I was on a mission and no one was going to distract me.
Finding our own small spot on the dance floor, I stepped in close and wrapped my arms around his neck. It felt as natural as breathing and my heart skipped faster when his hands held my hips before encircling my waist.
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As if testing my resolve, Oliver watched me intently. He pulled me into his body, every part of our fronts touching as he began to move us to the beat. Our hips perfectly aligned, making me marvel again at how well we fit together—as though it was meant to be.
Up close, Oliver was even more intoxicating. I could feel the heat from his skin and smell his light cologne. “…You’re the one who’s My heart thudded against his chest, but I didn’t care. I dangerous. My heart was at was exactly where I wanted to be, with the person I risk the moment I saw you chose to be with. The world could be burning down sitting alone at that table.” around us, but my entire focus was on him. “Having fun, tonight?” Oliver murmured low.
“More than I could ever imagine.”
“You’ve made my job near impossible, Liberty.” His hand moved from my lower back, brushing up my spine. I didn’t bother hiding my shiver.
“I did?”
Our eyes locked. “The second you showed up, I didn’t want to leave your side. Then when you were dancing . . .” Oliver tightened his hold of me and turned us around.
“I was hoping you noticed.” My gaze dropped enough so I stared at his mouth—his perfectly kissable mouth.
“With you in the room, no one else exists. Of course I noticed.” He slowed down the pace of our dancing until we were swaying on the spot. “You were wrong, you know? When you said I was dangerous when we first met. The way I’m feeling right now with you in my arms, and the way you’re looking up at me . . . you’re the one who’s dangerous. My heart was at risk the moment I saw you sitting alone at that table.”
It was now or never. The timing was perfect, the chemistry between us demanding immediate action. I didn’t wait for him to act. I rose on my tiptoes and kissed him.
This kiss would forever go down in my memory as my first. It was how it should’ve been—all consuming and life changing. Everything faded away the second my lips touched his and he responded. There was no thought of being inexperienced. I instinctively knew what to do, almost shattering when my mouth opened and his tongue touched mine.
He tasted completely forbidden. With the pulsating thump of the music in the background and my thudding heartbeat, my hands escaped into his hair. There was no getting enough of him. I was kissing him with everything I had, matching him stroke for stroke, indulging in what he was offering.
The moment was far from innocent. His hand held me firmly, one lowering to my behind where he drew me in, pressing me against his body. I felt everything—sensations—both physical and emotional. We moved together, touching. When he broke away long enough to cup my face with his hands, he left me somewhat dazed.
My lips felt bruised. I could still taste him, and staring at his lips, I wanted more.
“Liberty.” He all but breathed my name and the walls around my heart crumbled completely.
“Did you like my sign?” My fingers gripped the top of his jeans, keeping him from stepping away. There wasn’t a need, however. Oliver remained where he was, his thumb tracing a line back and forth over my cheek.
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“Sign?”
“Yeah, Molly told me to give you a sign telling you I wanted to be more than friends.” Surprisingly, there was no embarrassment revealing that private conversation.
“Then you chose well.” His dimples reappeared when he softly smiled and I fought the urge to wipe my fingers over them. Tilting his head, he moved his hand toward my hair and brushed over my pink streak. “Tonight’s been a night for bravery, I see.”
“It has.” His blue eyes twinkled under the flickering strobes. “The best of my life.”
“Think you can be brave a little longer?” Oliver’s face came closer, his lips hovering over mine.
“For you . . . anything.”
“Good, because I have a sign for you, too.”
“What is it?” My voice was barely a whisper now as the sexual tension between us skyrocketed.
“This.” And he captured my mouth again.
My knees buckled, forcing Oliver to catch me. If this was what falling in love felt like, I was in trouble. He was gentler this time, careful in how he stoked the fire fueling the kiss. Where the first had threatened to push me careening over a cliff, this one all but reduced my insides to ash. When he sucked on my bottom lip, grazing it with his teeth, we crossed the line from friendship to something more. There was no way we could ever go back after this.
“You’re mine, Liberty. In case you misunderstood my sign.” Oliver smiled, sweeping the pink strand away from across my forehead. “Still with me?” He stooped a little to check my eyes.
“Yeah,” I stammered.
“You’re good for my ego. Keep breathing, sweetheart.” I blushed at his comment, knowing it wasn’t the first time he’d had to remind me. “And there’s the pretty pink I love so much. Come on, I need to get back to work and I’m sure Molly is bursting at the seams to hear all the details.”
I tugged on Oliver’s hand, letting him know I had something to say before returning to the group. “Thank you.” “You’re mine, Liberty. In case “For what?” you misunderstood my sign.” “For this. Everything. The kiss. Introducing me to your friends. Believing in me.”
“This is just the beginning.” He smiled, casting a glance over me at the DJ stage. “We’ll talk more after my shift’s done, okay?”
Nodding as he kissed me on the cheek and I watched like a giddy schoolgirl as he returned to his music station. Within seconds, Molly rushed up behind me, squealing with excitement, demanding a blow by blow of what she dubbed an “epic” kiss.
“I told you so,” she gushed, her hands moving as she talked. “You guys looked so amazing out there; and oh my gosh, the way he held you. Yep, I told you Oliver wanted you. Now we can double date . . .” She kept raving, but my brain kicked in and was running wild, in another direction.
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A future. Oliver and I now had one, and I knew it would involve more than my current situation allowed. Something had to give—either my family’s demands or my ability to stand up for myself. I waited for the niggling doubt to surface, reminding me of my obligations, but there was nothing but silence.
That was the thing. Tonight—that one kiss—had changed everything.
About the Author:
A homesick Aussie living amongst the cactus and mountains of Arizona, Belinda Boring is a self-proclaimed addict of romance and all things swoon worthy. With all that excitement, it wasn't long before she began writing, pouring her imagination and creativity into the stories she dreams. Whether urban fantasy, paranormal romance or romance in general, Belinda strives to share great plots with heart and characters that you can't help but connect with. Of course, she wouldn't be Belinda without adding heroes she hopes will curl your toes. Surrounded by a supportive cast of family, friends and the man she gives her heart and soul to, Belinda is living the good life. Happy reading!
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Romance October 2013
Hypnotic Seduction L.L. Kellogg
A red-hot ugly-duckling love story ISBN: 1938618076 Publisher: LK Books She has a problem relaxing with men Publication date: 5/10/2012 Frumpy wallflower Hannah Oliver is nearly Genre: Contemporary thirty and has a serious self-image Romance problem. Growing up in her centerfold Buy Links: mother’s shadow and being raised by her Amazon pious grandparents has left her so self- conscious about her matronly, D-cup L.L. Kellogg Website figure she gets tongue-tied around good- looking guys. So when Hannah discovers her fiancé/employer boinking her roommate, she’s not only devastated—she’s unemployed.
He’s got a problem fending off women
Pharmaceutical CEO Jordan Calder has a huge image problem too—his professional image. Most guys would kill to be publicly proclaimed a world-class lover, but other men don’t share his dark, shameful past. The only thing women have ever wanted Jordan for is what he can give them in and out of bed. So when his grandfather drags dowdy Hannah into his office as an executive assistant candidate, Jordan hires the mousy woman on the spot.
Could hypnosis be a solution?
After miraculously landing her plum new position, sexually frustrated Hannah resorts to hypnosis to boost her self-confidence with men, hoping to attract another mate. Unfortunately, a post- hypnotic suggestion compels her to kiss her sexy playboy boss, who she then stupidly falls for in and out of bed. Despair induces her to use similar hypnotic principles on him—in the form of subliminal messages—to convince the man she loves that he wants a happy-ever-after with her. But as everyone knows, desperate measures usually spell disaster.
NOTE: This romantic comedy has an extra high sensuality level and is not for those seeking a 'sweet' romance.
“Considering all the sexual harassment rumors Renee has spread,” Jordan muttered to his grandfather, “I’m lucky she didn’t file false charges against me after I canned her.”
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“In that case, Hannah’s perfect.” Edward jabbed a finger at the résumé Jordan held. “Especially with the reputation you’ve earned since your date mouthed off about you at the Christmas party.”
Most men would sell their souls to be publicly proclaimed a world-class stud. Which simply made Jordan’s protests seem hollow and phony. But other men didn’t share his dark, shameful past that, if ever exposed, would make him an even bigger laughingstock than he already was.
“Did you know Kurt Preston received a copy of that Calder Love Machine cartoon the employees were e-mailing to each other?” Edward asked.
“Great. So I guess the son of a bitch is trying to convince the rest of the board not to let me assume your seat as chairman next year?”
“Exactly. Having a sweet girl like Hannah sitting in your outer office will go a long way toward changing your image.”
As Jordan scanned the page listing Miss Oliver’s impeccable credentials, a needle of guilt pricked the sexist corner of his conscience. Her fashion sense had nothing to do with her administrative skills.
Still, what kind of idiot hired a woman his grandfather dragged in off the street? “Where’d you meet her, anyway?”
“Right outside in the garden.”
“Oh?” Jordan narrowed his gaze. “That explains it.”
“It wasn’t like that. She had no idea who I was.”
“And yet she convinced you to bring her up here.”
“She’s no gold-digger,” his grandfather insisted. “Most young women won’t even talk to an old codger like me, let alone share their goodies, which, incidentally, are better than your grandma’s.” He pulled a bag of cookies from his pocket and tossed it on the desk. “Try one.”
Whew! For a moment there, Jordan thought his grandfather had been speaking metaphorically about sampling the woman’s so-called goodies.
Whether the cookie-baking secretary was a femme fatale or not, his grandfather hadn’t been this enthralled with a female since they’d lost Jordan’s grandmother twenty years ago. It was good to see a spring back in the old boy’s step.
“What have you got to lose by giving her a chance?”
Good point. Unless the woman’s résumé was a gross exaggeration of her ability, she couldn’t be any worse than the amateurs he’d had botching everything up the last few weeks. On the plus side, no one would ever believe he’d sexually harass a mouse like her. And he seriously doubted she was bold enough to try to seduce him like every other female in his life.
Still, her interest in his grandfather could be a problem. The paradox between Hannah Oliver’s sexy feet and the rest of her suggested there was more to her than one would guess.
Jordan sucked in a breath to ease the strange ache that gripped his
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Romance October 2013 chest at recalling the uncertainty in the woman’s huge eyes. “Forget it, Gramps. I’m not crazy enough to hire someone simply because she reminds you of Grammy.”
~*~
“It would’ve been nice if Edward had told me he used to run the whole damn company,” Hannah mumbled, flopping into the seat in front of the computer.
Or at the very least, he could’ve paused outside the office door long enough for her to read the plaque that must have indicated it was the CEO’s office. Of course, if he had, she probably would’ve run the other way.
Sure, she’d been a great office manager at Kevin’s accounting firm. But executive assistant to the head of a major corporation? Could she handle such a high-level position?
She wasn’t altogether sure she wanted to work for the tyrant, anyway. What had his friend called him—JC? Only a megalomaniac would identify himself with the same initials as the man who a good portion of the world believed to be the Son of God.
Moreover, Edward’s grandson was way too good-looking. She’d made a fool of herself, ogling those six-feet-plus inches of muscle. And then his electric gaze had unnerved her to the point she couldn’t speak. He must have taken her for a total imbecile.
Then again, she really needed the job. Between the lost deposit on the canceled reception, buying her now useless wedding gown, and paying the tuition for the spring semester, she’d pretty much wiped out her savings. And after Kevin’s rejection, her pride could definitely use the boost of skipping a few rungs on the career ladder.
A few minutes later, the inner office door swung open. Jordan Calder stepped behind her and expelled a breath, peering over her shoulder at the monitor. “Thank God, you fixed it.”
His hot breath stirred the tiny hairs on Hannah’s nape and sent a gaggle of goose bumps skittering down her back. Upon inhaling his spicy aftershave, her throat seized again, so she simply nodded.
After what happened in her previous job, the last thing she needed was to be attracted to the CEO. However, Kevin’s betrayal had decimated her ego and left her in such a susceptible state her deficient love life made any guy with clean fingernails and a full set of teeth look good.
“Do you mind telling me what was wrong with it?”
“Uh—no, Sir,” she croaked like a bullfrog.
“So you do have a voice.” His intense eyes glittered at her as he leaned against the desk, waiting. “Well?”
Her heart hammered her ribs so hard, surely he could hear her bones rattling. She cleared her throat, trying to work up enough saliva to speak coherently. “The document was in a weird variation of Times New Roman called Special G2. I simply converted it.” She showed him how the full font identification hadn’t fit in the little formatting window.
“Ahh—that explains why we didn’t see it. Thanks.” He jerked his thumb toward his office. “Since you managed to solve that mystery, why don’t you come inside for an interview, and we’ll discuss my expectations.”
Said the lion to the mouse.
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“And mine?”
His head whipped around. “Excuse me?”
Oh, crap. Had she actually said that out loud? “Uhh—my expectations of you. The employer/employee relationship goes two ways, doesn’t it?”
The corner of his mouth twitched. “So you have a spine as well as a voice.”
“With you, she’ll need it,” Edward said, wandering out to the reception area. “Good luck, Hannah.” The sweet old man squeezed her hand. “I’ll leave you to get acquainted.”
Standing, she wobbled and nearly fell off her dagger heels. “Thanks so much, Mr. Calder.”
“I was Edward half an hour ago. Let’s keep it that way.” He winked. “I’m sure I’ll see you again very soon.” He nodded to his grandson on his way out. “We’ll talk tonight.”
The intimidating CEO stepped back from his door and made a sweeping gesture with his hand. “After you, Miss Oliver.”
Her knees quaking, she stepped inside his luxurious office. It “The last thing I need was decorated in varying shades of steel blue and gray, and . . . Holy Guacamole! The pewter-toned carpet had to be three is another assistant inches thick. who’s more interested The humongous room was split into two sections. Near the entrance sat a massive cherry desk, bookcases, and filing in me than her work.” cabinets. At the far end, was a sitting area larger than her entire garden apartment. It included an enormous flat screen television, a state of the art sound system, and a wet bar complete with an efficiency kitchen.
She poked her head through a carved door on the right that led to a spacious conference room containing a long polished table and well over a dozen executive armchairs.
“There’s another entrance into the boardroom from the outer office,” he said behind her, making her jump. He pointed to a door on the other side of the room. “Through there is my private bathroom and gym. You’re welcome to use them both when I don’t have visitors.”
“I haven’t accepted the job yet, Mr. Bond—er—Calder,” she corrected, certain her cheeks had turned fuchsia.
“Assuming you do,” he amended and waved toward the two overstuffed chairs facing his desk. “Please, have a seat.”
After she sank into the rich upholstery, he propped one hip on the edge of his desk and loomed over her. “Tell me a bit about your previous position and why you left it.”
“I resigned. I can’t say why, because I refuse to malign a past employer. But you’re welcome to contact him and ask.”
“It’s a comfort to hear you won’t be badmouthing me later on. In your last position, what’s the worst mistake you made, and what’d you learn from it?”
It was a tough question to answer since her most serious misjudgment hadn’t involved her performance at work. “I’d have to say it was agreeing to marry my boss—an error, I assure you, I won’t be repeating.”
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His gaze narrowed. “I’m glad to hear it. The last thing I need is another assistant who’s more interested in me than her work.”
About the Author:
Laurie Kellogg is a two-time winner and seven-time nominee of the Romance Writers of America® Golden Heart® award, winner of the PNWA Zola® award, and a Romantic Times® American Title I finalist. She began writing to avoid housework and has since resorted to naming the dust- bunnies that multiply as fast as real rabbits while she plots love stories that are Steamy, Heartwarming, Romantic Fun!
Laurie also writes red-hot romantic comedies under L.L. Kellogg, which she's branded as A Little Naughty and a Lot of Fun! To learn more about her books visit http://www.LaurieKellogg.com
Strangers: a sexy, British actor She didn't have a name... He was and a young business woman on The Duke of Ashcroft is Death... A secret worth killing the run for their lives--2012 determined to marry her; she for... National Readers' Choice Awards says no. in Romantic Suspense
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The Tycoon and the Texan Phyliss Miranda
What in the blue blazes does a millionaire playboy do with an independent, spirited ISBN: 9781601831330 Texan when he wins her at a charity Publisher: Kensington auction? Publication date: 9/5/2013 In The Tycoon and the Texan, a short Genre: Contemporary contemporary romance, California rich Romance boy, Nick Dartmouth decides the best Buy Links: way to handle the dilemma is to show Amazon McCall Johnson, an uprooted Texas native Amazon Kindle with secrets of her own, that their lives Barnes and Noble aren’t as different as it might seem ... All Romance eBook only to find out they are more alike than Kobo he ever dreamed. Phyliss Miranda Website
"Phyliss Miranda has provided a sweet romance wrapped up in small town politics and familial intrigue...” Be My Texas Valentine
~ 5 Spurs Review from Carol at Love Western Romances
"Outlaw Savannah Parker finds hope for justice--and redemption--in the arms of Texas Ranger Ethan Kimble in Miranda's "Texas Flame," which deftly weaves layers of secrets into a narrative that keeps readers guessing...." Give Me a Texas Outlaw
~ Review from Publishers Weekly
From Chapter One
Seven Days to Texas ...
“Nicodemus, you are being rude. And, for your information, we are serving pâte á chou and caviar,” Madeline said.
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Not wavering, Nick continued, “I warned you from the start that even for charity the whole damn idea of auctioning off bachelorettes for dates was asinine. This proves it --”
“It proves nothing except you are the one who is being, as you so delicately called it--asinine.” Madeline punctuated each word with her best boarding school English.
“Why doesn’t everyone settle down?” Josie’s words pierced the air. “Mrs. Dartmouth. Nicodemus. Both of you, listen to me. We’re not getting anywhere.”
Silence engulfed the room. Only a low hum could be detected from the air conditioning duct. It seemed almost as if Josie had blown a whistle and sent the quarrelsome, twosome scurrying to the penalty box for time out.
“Then by damn --“ Nick’s deep-timbre voice was that of a man determined to remain in control.
“Nicodemus!” Madeline warned.
“Josie’s right. We’ve got bigger problems than those jerkass flowers. In less than eight hours the benefit begins, and we’re short one woman.”
“We can auction off only nineteen --” Josie spoke up.
“No!” In unison, Nick and Madeline responded.
This time Nick took charge. “We advertised twenty women, and by damn--sorry Mother, by damn, crap--I meant, oh hell, we’re going to have twenty. Not nineteen, not eighteen, but twenty. One. Two. Three.” Nick spoke with depth and authority that impacted the room in the same manner as his six-foot three-inch frame.
“We can count,” his mother retorted.
“Just make sure that we have twenty women on that catwalk by eight o’clock. We’re in LA, and the last time I checked, this town’s overrun with beautiful women. So I don’t give a damn where you get her. Just make it happen,” Nick stormed.
“Why don’t you call that gold-digger, Lauren, dear? If you can find her, I am sure she would be more than willing to come to your aid,” his mother said in a crisp emphatic tone.
“If I recall, you made certain that she’d never speak to me again, much less do me or you a favor,” Nick’s voice cracked like a bullwhip.
He grabbed a bottle of Penta from an ice bucket. “Is anyone else thirsty?” He addressed the room, but only looked at McCall.
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About the Author:
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Phyliss Miranda is a contributor to six award-winning romance anthologies and her contemporary romance “The Tycoon and the Texan” release through eKensington. Born and raised in the Texas Panhandle, she still believes in the Code of the Old West and loves to share her love of antiques, the lost art of quilting, and the Wild West. One of her favorite parts of being an author is teaching the craft and mentoring beginning writers.
Phyliss Miranda loves to hear from her readers and fellow authors. She can be followed on Facebook, Twitter @PhyMiranda, or blog with her on Tuesdays at PetticoatsandPistols.com.
Life, love, laughter, adventure, She'd given up hope of peace yet curses, tragedy, death, rebirth, the Alpha's touch offers promises perseverance and Magick. too hard to run from.
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Romance October 2013
By Bridget Keown
I live in a neighborhood where Halloween isn’t just a single night of donning masks and wandering about for candy. It’s a lifestyle. Decorations adorn houses, hang from trees, and reach from the flowerbeds. Ghost stories are told or read aloud by flashlight (my father gave me a copy of Salem’s Lot when I was ten). Costumes are elaborate and worn even by those who stay at home to hand out candy. So, for me, Halloween becomes a month-long affair full of disguises and frights and fun…and candy, naturally. Lots and lots of candy. So, in that spirit of Halloween, here are some books that incorporate all sorts of aspects of the season for your consideration.
My love of Bram Stoker’s Dracula is complete and total. I love its gothic imagery and its creeping sense of darkness and foreboding. And, most of all, I adore Mina Harker. She is one of my favorite heroines in all of literature, and one of the characters by which I measure my heroines. Though not strictly a romance, though many have tried to color it that way, I would always recommend Dracula to those looking for the perfect seasonal read. However, for those looking for a bit more modernity in their Halloween reading, though, there are romances that have the same wonderful intensity and tempting darkness.
For atmosphere and imagination, it’s hard to find better than Adrian Phoenix. Her Maker’s Song series (which opens with A Rush of Wings) blends suspense and adventure with some of the most brilliantly complex paranormal creatures you could hope to meet. At the center of it all is Dante Baptiste, the stunningly beautiful, eerily talented star of the band Inferno, and owner of the wildly popular nightspot Club Hell in New Orleans’ French Quarter. When we first meet him, he is a person of interest in a murder investigation led by F.B.I. Special Agent Heather Wallace. All of Heather’s impressive instincts tell her that Dante is the man who will help her unravel the case, but nothing can prepare her for the truth. Dante is Nightkind—a vampire—and so much more. The true son of a vampire and an angel, Dante has some incredible, and incredibly dangerous, powers that he can barely control.
Dante is one of my favorite characters, paranormal or otherwise. In addition to being fantastically beautiful and talented, he is also genuinely flawed, and so very human. Growing up in a series of horrifically abusive foster homes and having his soul broken by several shadowy villains who still seek to control his gifts, Dante is distrustful and defensive and definitely scarred. But he’s also incredibly loyal, honest and so charmingly guileless at times that it’s impossible not to hope for his eventual salvation. What makes this series for me, though, is the fact that Heather is Dante’s equal in every respect (aside from the potentially apocalyptic powers, perhaps). She is his rock and his shield and is more than happy to take on any of Dante’s many pursuers in order to secure a future for them together. This is certainly a dark series, and it can be a little tricky to navigate Adrian Phoenix’s frequent shifts in narrator and perspective, but ultimately, her characters and their incredible bonds will keep me coming back for more for as long as she keeps writing.
In a similar vein (pun intended, of course) is Diana Rowland’s Kara Gillian series, which is a must-read for those of us who love all things that go “bump” in the night. Like Adrian Phoenix’s heroine, Kara Gillian work in law enforcement, although Kara is a detective in Beaulac, Louisiana,
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Romance October 2013 and has an impressive talent for summoning demons. Chief among them is Rhyzkahl, an incredibly powerful, remorseless and surprisingly spicy demon lord who unexpectedly appears during a routine summoning. Unlike the small-time demons that Kara is used to summoning, Rhyzkahl submits to no one. In fact, the last mortal foolish enough to call on him wound up dead. But Rhyzkahl has very different plans for Kara. Plans of a very intimate kind.
Very little is what it appears to be in Beaulac, not even the handsome and enigmatic FBI Agent Ryan Kristoff, who is assigned to help solve her case, and ends up becoming the third point in a very dangerous love triangle. As this series progresses, Kara’s relationship with Ryan becomes ever more complex, until their fates—and the fate of the demon realm itself—are woven together so intricately that I find myself simply marveling at Rowland’s creative daring. Her descriptions of Kara’s world, from the taste of her chicory-laced coffee to the glint of sheer power in Rhyzkahl’s gaze and her ability to craft a genuinely absorbing mystery, make this a series worth savoring—and with her knack for cliffhanger endings, this is definitely a series to follow to the very end.
I’ve mentioned this book before, but since it was one of the first romances I’ve ever read, and a bit on the lighter side, Susan Sizemore’s Master of Darkness will always have a soft spot in my heart. Though the fourth in her Primes series, this book stands well on its own and is a bit of a change from the rest of the series, though it is filled with plenty of Sizemore’s humor and wit. Laurent, a vampire on the run from two worlds of immortals, is a phenomenal blend of lonely outcast and cynical rapscallion. Hoping to buy himself some time and assistance in decoding the computer he stole from his master, Laurent teams up with Eden Faveau, the youngest daughter of an ancient vampire-hunting family, convincing her that he is an honorable Prime vampire. Before either the feisty Eden or the wily Laurent realize what is going on, they have become far more than business colleagues, but when Laurent is unmasked, will Eden accept the man, and vampire, that he really is?
I loved that at different times and to different characters, Laurent was both the hero and the villain of his own story. His snarky replies and impulsive behavior are roguishly endearing, but they hide a past of pain and rejection that have made their mark on him. Laurent has Eden, though, his sassy, strong and wonderfully honest heroine who gives him a chance at redemption and a way out of the darkness of his past. Their chemistry is positively sizzling, but their loyalty to each other, even in the darkest of confrontations, makes this book the success that it is.
But what of the candy?! How can we talk about Halloween without candy? Never fear! For those readers with a bit of a sweet tooth, there is nothing quite as satisfying as Laura Florand’s luscious Amour et Chocolate series. In the first book in this series, The Chocolate Thief, Cade Corey, heir to a massive chocolate empire, journeys to Paris with the dream of inking a deal with Sylvain Marquis, the undisputed master of the art of chocolate. In person, though, Sylvain is an arrogant, albeit alluring, Frenchman who refuses to entertain the notion of working with an American. Infuriated and intrigued, Cade begins sneaking into Sylvain’s chocolate shop under cover of darkness to discover his secrets. But when Sylvain surprises her in his kitchen, the results are utterly unpredictable and simply delicious.
Laura Florand has a knack for creating complicated and engaging characters, and for keeping their chemistry sizzling. But her talent for describing chocolate, for pinpointing the succulent, indulgent, downright sinful goodness of every bite, is completely spellbinding. The mouth-watering details of Sylvain’s creations, and of Cade’s insatiable hunger to understand each complex taste, are utterly entrancing. Even better, the rest of the series is just a delectable in
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Romance October 2013 their descriptions, and the love stories only get better with time. This might not be the best series for those trying to forget about their Halloween stash, but it’s a perfect indulgence for these lengthening fall evenings!
So, if you have plans for Halloween, I do hope you enjoy, and, naturally, stay away from dark forests or from crumbling graveyards during the witching hour. I will be at home, handing out candy to the wolfmen and fairy princesses and hot dogs who come to our overly-decorated, ghoulish-minded neighborhood and reading H.P. Lovecraft to the kids who come for flashlight story night. Whatever your plans, I hope you revel in the coming of fall and the promise of a new season, and with it, new books. Happy reading!
About the Author:
Bridget was born and raised just north of Boston. She spent most of her early years as an historic re-enactor, turning every day into a grand costume drama. After attending graduate school in London and wandering about Europe with her garden gnome, Bridget returned home to her beloved Red Sox and is now working on her doctorate in First World War history.
On Sale Now! "Fresh, funny and How do you tell a man there is heartwarming!" ~ROBIN WELLS, something wrong with his child? NY Times Bestselling Author
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Romance October 2013
Cinderella Screwed Me Over Cindi Madsen
Darby Quinn has a bone to pick with Cinderella. Burned one too many ISBN: 9781622660315 times by ex-boyfriends, Darby has Publisher: Entangled lost all belief in the happily-ever- Publishing after that the fairy-tale princess Publication promised her. She's sworn off love, date: 10/22/2013 Prince Charmings, and happy Genre: Romantic endings and she's happy about it. Comedy Really. Or at least she was…until Buy Links: she met Jake, her gorgeous Publisher Link neighbor and the manager of her Amazon favorite restaurant. But Darby has Barnes and Noble rules about dating, ones she's culled iBooks from her years spent with so-called “princes,” and starting something Cindi Madsen Website with Jake would break all of them.
Charming, fun, and unwilling to give up on her, Jake doesn’t fit any of the profiles Darby has created from her case studies of ex-princes-gone-bad. Finally presented with her own Prince Charming, can Darby take a chance on a happily-ever-after?
Full of wit and sarcastic humor, Cinderella Screwed Me Over proves that sometimes the perfect love, like a perfect pair of shoes, is just within your grasp.
Chapter One
Cinderella screwed me over. And really, she doesn’t deserve all the blame. Jasmine, Ariel, Belle, Sleeping Beauty—whatever her real name was, she had, like, three of them—they all added to it. This idea of happily ever after. Of finding Prince Charming.
If you rewatch Cinderella now, you’ll realize there are some similarities between Prince Charming and the guys you’ve dated. Cute, charismatic, and kind of lazy. After all, what did the prince in Cinderella really do? He danced with Cinderella, thought she was pretty, and picked up her shoe.
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Romance October 2013
Then, did he go after her? Nope. He sent the duke. You’d think if he were as in love as he claimed, he would’ve gone himself. Instead he was, like, Well, as long as her foot’s that small, she’ll probably be about right for me. That’s what’s sold to us. Forced down our throats as one of the greatest romances of all time.
The brainwashing starts at about two or three years old, when you first hear fairy tales about princesses, castles, ball gowns, and everybody living happily ever after. It’s no wonder that by sixteen, you’re shocked when your boyfriend cares more about looking cool or copping a feel than sweeping you off your feet. So you tell yourself it’ll get better when you’re older.
Then you get older.
You remain optimistic, because you watch romantic comedies now—they’ve become your new, more realistic fairy tales. You see lovey-dovey couples everywhere you go, proving that romance is still out there. Around the early to midtwenties, some of your friends start getting married. You keep waiting for it to happen to you.
I waited. And waited. But the more dating experience I got, the more I realized that guys aren’t princes and love fades, replaced with either mediocre feelings or full-on contempt. I looked back at my relationships and noticed my dating life had been more like Con Air than Cinderella—you know, bumpy and full of bad guys.
Still, I tried to stay positive. Kept hoping the right guy was out there. I dated every man in the city—well, not literally, but after a while they all started to blur together. Dating became this sadistic ritual that always ended the same way—disappointment. With each bad date, each failed relationship, I grew more and more cynical.
It was on my twenty-sixth birthday that it finally hit me: Love is bullshit. There was no happily ever after.
I swore off men and threw myself into work. I started spending lots of money on shoes. A pair of great heels was much more satisfying than a man. They lasted longer, and better yet, they didn’t leave me for someone prettier.
Sure, there were some lonely nights when I wished I had someone to talk to. So I’d stroll past the pet shop and wonder exactly how much that kitty in the window was. On more than one occasion I’d been tempted to buy myself a furry companion. But I wasn’t quite ready to be the crazy cat lady. I was saving that for my forties.
At twenty-eight, I had a relapse. I fell in love; I was sure it was meant to be. But then it ended and I was left brokenhearted. Again. You’d think, after all the disastrous relationships I’d been through, I’d know better. That I wouldn’t be crushed in the end. But as all history teachers say, those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. So right then and there I recommitted to my previous decision that two people couldn’t really work it out. I also watched a few of the friends who’d gotten married in their early twenties get divorced, which only reaffirmed my decision.
That’s why, at thirty years old, I’m a year sober from love, fairy tales, and happy endings. And it’s not so bad.
Really.
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About the Author:
Cindi Madsen sits at her computer every chance she gets, plotting revising, and falling in love with her characters. Sometimes it makes her a crazy person. Without it, she'd be even crazier. She has way too many shoes, but can always find a reason to buy a new pretty pair, especially if they're sparkly, colorful, or super tall. She loves music, dancing, and wishes summer lasted all year long. She lives in Colorado (where summer is most definitely NOT all year long) with her husband and three children.
She is the author of YA books All the Broken Pieces, Cipher, and Demons of the Sun and adult romances Falling for Her Fiancé, Act Like You Love Me, and Cinderella Screwed Me Over.
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Romance October 2013
The Elusive Wife Callie Hutton
Jason Cavendish, Earl of Coventry, is trying to discreetly locate his unwanted ISBN: 9781622661022 and abandoned bride among London Publisher: Entangled society to request an annulment. Publishing However, he doesn’t remember what Publication date: she looks like because he was blind 5/20/2013 drunk at his arranged wedding, and Genre: Historical Romance hasn’t seen her since. (Regency) Buy Links: The fascinating Lady Olivia has captured Amazon Kindle the Earl’s attention. Newly arrived from Barnes and Noble the country to stay with her school Kobo friend for the Season, she is appalled to ITunes discover that her husband, Lord Coventry, doesn't even recognize her. She's not about to tell Callie Hutton Website the arrogant arse that she is his wife. Instead, she flirts with him by night, and has her modiste send her mounting bills to him by day.
Will Coventry discover that the woman he wishes is pursue is actually his elusive wife? And if he does, will Olivia welcome him with open arms?
ason stormed into the library of Stafford’s townhome and stopped, feet braced apart, his J hands fisted at his sides. “Damnit, Drake, it’s her.” He glared at his best friend. Drake put aside his book. “Who is her?”
“Lady Olivia,” Jason growled.
“You’re not making sense. Who or what is Lady Olivia?”
Jason ran his fingers through his hair. “Follow along, man. Elizabeth’s esteemed house guest, the lovely Lady Olivia, is none other than Lady Jane Grant. My wife!”
Drake stared at him for a moment, his jaw slack. “Lady Jane and Lady Olivia are one and the same?”
Jason nodded, his jaw clenching so hard it ached. Never in his life had he been made such a fool.
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Romance October 2013
Drake grinned. “Let’s see if I understand this. For weeks you’ve been twisted in knots trying to find a mysterious woman. You had no idea when she arrived in town, who she was staying with, and even what she looked like. Were you to find this elusive woman, you intended to coerce her into an annulment—not sure you even had grounds for one—so you could pursue the lady, it turns out, you are already married to. Does that about cover it?”
Drake threw his head back and roared with laughter.
In a flash, Jason blindly struck out, his fist landing square on his friend’s chin. Drake and the chair tumbled backwards, feet up in the air.
About the Author:
Callie has been making up stories since elementary school, and writing gave her a way to turn off the voices in her head. After having a number of articles and interviews published in newspapers and magazines, she took on what she’d always dreamed of. Writing that book. She currently has a number of both historical and contemporary romance books published.
She currently lives in Oklahoma with her husband and adult children who move in and out with alarming regularity. Add three rescue dogs and the household is complete—and full. She enjoys hearing from her readers, and would love to have you visit her on Facebook.
She wielded a power to save Love Him or Leave Him made me Murder, Mayhem, and a Marriage kingdoms, but only his love could smile through my tears... A must of Convenience save her soul. read. -Ms. Romantic Reads
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Romance October 2013
Jami, thanks for joining us in this issue to talk about your Seattle Lumberjacks series!
Q: What inspired you to write this series? Why football?
They always say to write what you love. I love to read contemporary romances, and I love football, so it was a natural that I’d write football romances. I tried writing what was selling for a while, but found out that was the biggest mistake I’d made in my writing career. Now I write what I love to write, and it’s a plus if it sells.
Q: Please tell us a little about the overall series arc.
The Seattle Lumberjacks football series is based on a fictitious football team set in Seattle. If you’re familiar with the Seattle Seahawks, you’re going to recognize a lot of similarities between the two teams, as I’m a life-long Seahawks fan. Each book features a different team member. I’m also launching a new adult spin-off series called “Seattle Lumberjacks—The Rookies”. The launch book will be a short holiday romance titled “Christmas Break” in which we see the main characters of the future full length novel while they’re still in college.
Q: When you started this series, did you already have a clear vision of the books and characters you wanted to write about? Or did that evolve over time?
Actually, this series goes way back to when I was a teenager writing my version of “YA” then it morphed into a college football series then into its current form many, many years later. These are the books of my heart, and thanks to digital publishing opening up niches which traditional publishers wouldn’t touch, I’ve been able find publishers and readers for these books. The first two books had always been planned and involve cousins who are now playing on the same NFL team. Since they sold so well, and I love writing them, I kept picking different team members. In the future, I’ll be including more ethnic diversity in my players.
Q: How do you keep track of your series details?
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I keep a OneNote notebook for each book in the series. In fact, I’ve written a cheat sheet on how I use OneNote to organize each book. You can see it here: http://www.jamidavenport.com/OneNote.html
Q: Wow, you sure are organized! In an upcoming novella, Roughing the Passer (Seattle Lumberjacks #6), we see Tyler having problems giving Lavender the ring that she wants. Why is this so?
Tyler has a phobia when it comes to marriage. He sees his parents’ marriage has having been perfect, and he doesn’t think he can measure up, so why try? Lavender wants that ring, and with the help of her girlfriends, she’ll get it.
Q: In your upcoming October release, Backfield in Motion, we have running back Bruce “Bruiser” Mackey’s story. How did his twin brother’s tragic accident shape his character?
Without giving too much away, Bruiser was there when the accident happened, even contributed to it, so he feels responsible for what happened. Ever since, he’s been living the life he believed his brother would have lived instead of the one he really wants to live.
Q: Among all the characters in the series, major and minor, which is your favorite? Why?
I would love to say that Derek is because he was my first character that I wrote about in this series. Truthfully, I find that with each new book, that character becomes my favorite until I move onto the next book. Right now, I’m in love with Brax from “Christmas Break.”
Q: Which character in the series is the most difficult to write? Why?
So far, Tyler has been the most difficult. Tyler loved to play the part of an asshole. So it was really hard to walk the line between him being too much of an asshole and not being true to character. As a result, I have a character that readers either absolutely LOVE or absolutely HATE. There doesn’t seem to be any middle ground.
Q: Which usually came first for you? Plot or character? Please give us an example.
Character. Character. Character. Frankly, I suck at plotting. I’d rather delve deep into my characters. So while I know a lot about my characters before I start writing, I rarely know what is going to happen more than two or three scenes ahead in any given book. I know how I’ll start, and I know how I want to end the book. The rest is a surprise to me.
Q: Who are some of your romance influences? What about your writing influences, if different?
I love Susan Elizabeth Phillips, also Rachel Gibson, Deirdre Martin, and Lori Foster. They’ve shaped a lot of my earlier writing, but I would have to say that how I write now is uniquely mine.
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Q: What’s up next for you?
Lots of stuff: the new adult Rookies series I already mentioned. I’ve gotten the rights back to my first published series. I’ll be putting those books back out there with new covers and better editing that they originally had. I’m also planning on a college football new adult series centered around a college football team (not related to The Rookies or Lumberjacks). Lastly, I have a small town series that is partially written. As you can see, I’m pretty busy along with a full-time day job.
Thanks a lot, Jami, for sharing with us more about the Seattle Lumberjacks. Now for the Fast Answer Round:
Last book you read: Adrianne Lee’s Delectable Favorite vacation location: San Juan Islands in Washington State Favorite dessert: Crème Brule Favorite drink: Mexican Coffee Favorite place to write: The Moran Mansion at Rosario Resort on Orcas Island
About the Author:
An advocate of happy endings, Jami writes sexy romantic comedy, sports hero romances, and equestrian fiction. Jami lives on a small farm near Puget Sound with her Green Beret-turned-plumber husband, a Newfoundland cross with a tennis ball fetish, a prince disguised as an orange tabby cat, and an opinionated Hanoverian mare.
Jami works in IT for her day job and is a former high school business teacher and dressage rider. In her spare time, she maintains her small farm and socializes whenever the opportunity presents itself. An avid boater, Jami has spent countless hours in the San Juan Islands, a common setting in her books. In her opinion, it is the most beautiful place on earth.
Find Jami Davenport at http://www.jamidavenport.com
Book 1 in the Seattle Lumberjacks series
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Struggling pro football wide receiver Derek Ramsey was once Rachel McCormick's best friend and lover. She's about to help him get back his game.
Stuck with an empty bank account, an uncanny ability for evaluating football talent, and a dogged determination to succeed in a man's world, Rachel swears to do just that. When Derek's coach suggests sex as an excellent pre-game tension reliever, she takes one for the team. The next day, Derek has the best performance of his not-so illustrious career.
Soon Derek and Rachel are racking up nights in bed--and other places--and the team is racking up wins. But Derek knows the truth of a secret Rachel swore to reveal, a truth that destroyed her
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Romance October 2013 father years before. A truth that might destroy Derek, too. Torn between love and loyalty, Rachel sees time winding down. It's fourth and goal, one second left on the clock. The next play must be made for her heart.
Book 2 in the Seattle Lumberjacks series
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Quarterback Tyler Harris is about to find the woman who can get past his defensive line and reach his heart.
With two championships in as many years, superstar Tyler Harris is the best quarterback in the league. Gorgeous and rich, he's at the top of his game. But everyone's looking to take him down. There's a building media frenzy around an unfortunate accident, and the only safe place seems a rundown mansion deep in the San Juans and owned by his late great uncle. There, Tyler gets sacked by the sassy redhead next door. It's more alive than he's felt in years.
Lavender Mead has a good reason to dislike jocks, namely an absentee father who deserted the family to coach college football. Maybe that explains her penchant for bad boys who play ball for a living and break hearts for a hobby. Her new neighbor seems just the type. Yet, something is different about Tyler, and sometimes love requires a Hail Mary. You draw back your arm, pray…and give it all up to fate. And sometimes you win your ring.
Book 3 in the Seattle Lumberjacks series
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It's showtime.
After twelve years in the league, all Zach Murphy wants is a Super Bowl ring. He's been about hard hits not smooth manners, about breaking quarterbacks not making small talk at cocktail parties. But now he's shattered something else. After dumping a tray of drinks on the team owner's snooty daughter and accidentally feeling up the Governor's wife, his tenure with his team looks perilously short. And things are getting worse.
Life is looking up for Kelsie Carrington-Richmond. A onetime beauty pageant star and mean girl, she only recently stopped living out of her car. But both those times have passed. Her Finishing School for Real Men has a real shot, and the Seattle Lumberjacks have hired her to polish up their roughest player. Except…it's Zach. Long ago she broke his heart. He's just the beast she remembers—gruff, protective—but she's nothing like the beauty from his past.
Yet, getting knocked down happens, and getting back up makes a contender. And they both have the hearts of champions.
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Romance October 2013
The Inspiration behind NORA ROBERTS LAND and The Dare Valley Series
By Ava Miles
Coming from a big family is like being from your own small town. Everyone has their own story. My sister’s divorce ended up producing the first book in The Dare Valley series, NORA ROBERTS LAND. Her ex-husband actually blamed their divorce on her reading too many Nora Roberts’ books. Can you imagine? Well, after I got over being so upset—she is our favorite author, after all—I realized I had the makings of a novel, one in which the heroine returns to her hometown to prove she can find her own happily ever after, NORA ROBERTS LAND. The book came to life after I received Nora’s blessing, of course. And that’s a whole different story. Suffice it to say, receiving her blessing was one of the biggest moments in my life, and I am forever grateful.
My Nora heroine, Meredith Hale, is a journalist, and the granddaughter of a journalistic legend who created a well-known independent press out West. This storyline was based on our family’s newspaper.
Around the time I received Nora’s blessing for the story, my five siblings and I visited our grandparents in our small Midwest town. I asked for a special tour of our family newspaper to help with my book research. My cousin—who runs the paper now—took us into the archives, and somehow, the story of how the paper came into the family popped out of my cousin’s mouth. How I’d never heard that story until that moment is what I call divine timing. Some things come to us at the perfect moment.
Our roots stretch back to the Plains, ancestors who came West to find a better life or stand up for justice. I could hear them say to the land, I dare to be here and make it mine. Thus, Dare Valley.
In 1892, my great-great grandfather won our family newspaper in a poker game. He fought vigilantes, brought the man who embezzled from our small town to justice, exposed a corrupt district judge, and pretty much kicked butt his whole life. Even more exciting, he married a refined woman from back East whose family came out West—very historical-romance-like. When I heard about him, he went on one of my top people to meet when I get to heaven. And I decided I would base Meredith’s grandpa on him. Arthur Hale is a town legend and one of the best grandpas around.
Then there’s my aunt, who is a retired police detective. She definitely picked up my great-great grandfather’s desire for law and order. I grew up hearing about her cases and the challenges of being one of the only females on the force. She became the inspiration for Peggy McBride, the cop who becomes the deputy sheriff in Dare Valley. She’s the sister of the hero in NORA ROBERTS LAND. There’s something so tough about female cops because of what they do for a living, but under that, are big hearts and wicked senses of humor. Peggy is a single mom, and her softer side is seen in her interactions with her seven-year- old. Her story is in book 3 of The Dare Valley series, THE GRAND OPENING, which comes out September 24. She finds her match in a hotel magnate and poker player, Mac Maven.
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And we’re back to my great-great grandpa again, right? But also my brother-in-law, who plays in poker tournaments and hopes to enter The World Series of Poker championship one day. He provided me with the incredible details in the poker scenes in THE GRAND OPENING.
What is it about gamblers?
Then there’s me. My story inspired at least two characters. The first is the hero from NORA ROBERTS LAND, Tanner McBride. He worked as a journalist in war zones, and well, in my old career, I worked in war zones as well, helping rebuild on the humanitarian side. In many ways, Tanner’s desire to find the beautiful things in life again are my own after seeing all of that destruction.
Then there’s FRENCH ROAST, Book 2 in the series. Before I began my work in warzones, I also served as an apprentice chef and private chef. As a career, it wasn’t for me, but I love to cook. So making my hero a chef was fun and inspiring.
What stories does your own family have? Like me, you might be surprised to discover that they could inspire a series like Dare Valley.
About the Author:
Ava Miles burst onto the contemporary romance scene after receiving Nora Roberts’ blessing for her use of Ms. Roberts’ name in her debut novel, NORA ROBERTS LAND, which kicked off The Dare Valley Series and brought praise from reviewers and readers alike. Much to Ava's delight, BlogCritics says "It [NORA ROBERTS LAND] captures the best of...a Nora Roberts novel,” while USA Today's Happily Ever After blog praises the book saying it "combines small-town romance with big-world issues in a full- bodied romance" and noting its "great hero...wonderful, idyllic setting... [and] great characters." Ava continues The Dare Valley Series with her recognized wit and charm, creating happy endings with humor and heart.
Ava is a member of the Romance Writers of America and Washington Romance Writers. She is also part of an unofficial group that regularly convenes a writing retreat at Nora Roberts' restored Inn Boonsboro in western Maryland. Having left behind the "day job," which took her, literally, all over the world, she now writes full-time in the peace and quiet of her northern Virginia porch-swinging-friendly community.
Visit Ava's website at www.AvaMiles.com
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COVER STORY EXCERPT
The Merzetti Effect Norah Wilson
ISBN: Delano Bowen has been a medical doctor 9780987803771 (Print) for a very long time. More than 170 9780986705571 (eBook) years, in fact. For much of that time, he’s Publisher: Norah Wilson been searching for a way to reverse the Publication date: June curse foisted on him by a vampress who 2011 sought to own him. With the emergence Genre: Paranormal of medical technology, he now also aims Romance to develop a vaccine to protect the Buy Links: vulnerable from predation by rogue Amazon vampires. After a century of searching, he Barnes and Noble thinks he's found the key to his vaccine – ITunes a surviving descendent of the Merzetti Kobo family. The Merzettis were virtually Smashwords hunted to extinction over the years by rogue vampires who feared the anti-vampirism properties in their Norah Wilson Website blood.
A foundling, nurse Ainsley Crawford has no idea that she carries a genetic gift, and Delano aims to keep it that way. He must keep her close, and ignorant, for he can leave nothing to chance. He manipulates events to ensure her unwitting cooperation.
But when Delano's arch enemy Radak Janecek mounts an all-out assault to destroy Delano and the fruits of his research, Delano is forced to draw Ainsley even closer to protect her. Inevitably, the attraction that has sparked between them from the first flares hot and urgent. Ainsley sees no reason why that attraction shouldn't be consummated, but Delano knows succumbing to it is not just ill-advised; it could literally be the death of him.
ontreal at night. One of his favorite spots on earth. Delano gazed out over the sea of lights spread virtually at his feet, and waited. And waited still longer. But for once, the pulse of M the city failed to steal into him to quicken his own heartbeat. Instead, he felt … nothing.
Dammit. It was a sorry vampire whose blood was not stirred by the prospect of all that vibrant life down there on the streets.
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COVER STORY EXCERPT
Of course, it was a sorrier vampire still who had to be carted into his penthouse, in full daylight, delivered up like an inanimate piece or furniture.
Or a numb, cold piece of statuary.
His brows drew together in a frown. What was this odd feeling dragging at him? What was this strange mood? He looked inward and saw the answer.
Melancholy.
His gut clenched. Sweet Jesus. Bring on the mortar shells. Let a hundred enemies rain fire from the sky. But please God, keep the monkey of depression off his back. Stronger men than he had stepped outside at dawn to witness their last sunrise, impelled by an unrelenting weariness too profound to resist.
The woman. Ainsley Crawford. That’s what brought it on.
These past few days, she’d looked on him as though he were an ordinary, if not entirely trustworthy, man. Until that moment in the helicopter. He’d seen the shock, the shift in her eyes when he’d had to seek shelter from the sun.
What he would give to have her look at him again the way she had before….
Delano heard the door open behind him but did not turn. That would be Eli, bearing sustenance and a status report.
Eli came to stand beside him at the window. “Ah, Montréal,” he said, pronouncing it the French way. “Good to be back, isn’t it?”
Delano sighed and turned his back on the nighttime tableau. “I must be getting old, Eli. The blood doesn’t pump like it used to.”
Eli looked singularly unconvinced, but said, “It’s been a rough twenty-four hours, I’ll grant you that much.”
Delano raked his hair, still wet from the shower, back from his forehead. “It was our Czech friend, of course.”
“Yeah, it was Janecek, all right.” Eli moved away to place the unit of blood he carried in the blood warmer. “Our sources in Prague confirm he was Stateside as of last week, and he was spotted in New York two days ago. And just in case we might have had any lingering doubts, the blast you left for them took out one of his key lieutenants, a merc by the name of Liam Hanlon.”
Delano whistled. “Hanlon? Are we sure about that?”
“Absolutely.”
Janecek would be extremely pissed. As would Hanlon, if he were still around to reflect on his fate. Word had it Hanlon had made a deal with Janecek. When he’d served long enough and faithfully enough, he would be rewarded with his master’s eternal kiss. If nothing else positive came out of last night’s firefight, the world was far better off without a merc-turned-vamp rampaging around it.
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COVER STORY EXCERPT
“The body?”
“Our people let their people retrieve it.”
“What about police?”
“Nothing to worry about there. The scene was sufficiently sanitized before their arrival. The HAZMAT team that went in was 100% ours.”
Always good when the contingency plans one laid so carefully actually fell into place. “The media? How did they characterize it?”
“Natural gas explosion. No injuries, since you were out of town and your staff had the week off.”
More good news. “Repairs to the lab?”
“Already underway.”
He nodded his satisfaction. “Sounds like everything is under control.”
Eli coughed, to disguise either a laugh or a snort. “Under control. Absolutely. Except for that little detail that the Butcher of Bohemia is apparently out for your head.”
“Indeed.”
Eli shot Delano a hard look. “You know, I can do my job better when I have the full picture.”
“Point taken. When I have the full picture, I’ll fill you in.”
Eli blew out an exasperated breath. “Okay, I appreciate it’s a little early for definitive conclusions, but if you had to speculate, what would you say? What’s this about?”
“If it were just me he wanted, he could have ambushed me any number of times over this past week, but he chose to strike my home, my lab. So I would say I have something Radak Janecek wants. Or perhaps something he wants to see destroyed.”
“The fruits of your research?”
“Definitely. Also the woman.”
Eli’s lifted his left eyebrow, which for him was tantamount to gaping. “The Crawford woman?”
The Merzetti woman, he thought, but instead he nodded. “Ainsley Crawford, yes.”
“But why?”
Delano inhaled, released his breath slowly. It was past time to tell Eli. He was right about that; he couldn’t do his job unless he knew the situation. “Because she’s the key. She can bring it all down, the whole vampire kingdom. And somehow, Radak must have figured that out.”
This time Eli’s face showed no reaction. “Bring the Kingdom down? How?”
Delano waved his hand dismissively. “It doesn’t matter how. What matters is keeping her safe. She is now my number one priority, Eli. The research must continue, but above all, her life must be preserved.”
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COVER STORY EXCERPT
Eli held his gaze for a few beats. “Does she know?”
“No.”
“When will you tell her?”
He ran a hand over the back of his neck. “With any luck I won’t have to.”
The soaring eyebrow again. Twice in a single night. A record.
“Delano, I don’t like this—”
“In the long run, it would be better for her if she doesn’t know.”
That was the understatement of the century. And if she did know, she could very well withhold her consent. He’d seen the look on her face when she realized her attacker was dead. Relief so profound she couldn’t hide it, but mixed with an equally strong measure of guilt and remorse. If she felt that conflicted thinking that he had killed Edward Webber to avenge the attack, imagine the turmoil she’d feel to know that, strictly speaking, it was her blood that caused his demise. Even though her role in his death had not been an active or deliberate one, even though the responsibility still lay squarely on Delano’s shoulders, he knew she would suffer for it. And if he went on to use her blood to bring down other rogues, which indeed he planned to do, she could multiply that guilt a hundredfold.
Once upon a time, taking the decision out of her hands would have been beyond him. As a physician — hell, as a morally upright human being — he could not have crossed that line. But he was infinitely older now, and his once black-and-white world had long since dissolved into gradations of gray, a world where he frequently had to choose between the lesser of evils.
“What about her safety? Doesn’t she have the right to know?”
“She’ll remain under my protection until all threat is removed. And if I’m not satisfied she’ll be safe in her ignorance, I will certainly tell her the truth. But mark my words, Eli, it would pain her greatly to know. I seek only to spare her the burden. You know the work must go on.”
Eli held his gaze for a long moment, measuring the veracity of his words. “Okay,” he said at last.
Delano inclined his head in acknowledgement.
“But I still don’t like it.”
Delano narrowed his eyes. “Nevertheless, it’s my decision.”
This time, Eli inclined his head in acceptance. “You should eat.”
Eat. Delano’s lips twisted. Despite being a medical professional, Eli clung stubbornly to language that characterized Delano’s nightly infusion as some manner of meal. And Eli well knew he never ingested anything, beyond the occasional sip of whiskey he took just to feel the alcohol sear his throat, or maybe a sip of ice water to feel the cold.
For better or worse, caffeine could not jolt him. No amount of alcohol consumption could produce the warm, welcome, barely-remembered buzz of inebriation. No matter how many cigarettes he
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COVER STORY EXCERPT smoked, they couldn’t create, and then fill, receptors in his brain to give him an instantaneous nicotine rush. The only, the sole intoxication available to him whispered in the veins of humans.
And that was an intoxication no vampire could indulge freely, lest he become ruled by it. That was how creatures like Edward Webber were born. Far better to imbibe disembodied blood from a bag. Granted, it was like eating a K-ration when a sumptuous, aromatic buffet beckoned, but it was the only path he dared walk.
Eli handed him the unit of blood. “You’d best eat. Ms. Crawford knows you’re awake and is probably preparing to knock down that door this very moment. I won’t be able to hold her off much longer.”
Delano’s fingers closed around the bag of blood. Warm. Thirty-seven degrees Celsius. Body- temperature. “She waits outside?”
“I expect so.”
“Then send her in.”
“But—”
“Send her in.”
Eli sighed. “You don’t have to do this, Delano.”
Ah, but he really did. “She’s a nurse, Eli. I don’t think she’ll develop a case of the vapors. You didn’t.”
“I’ve also killed men in hand-to-hand combat.”
“Show her in, Eli.”
About the Author:
For all my love of books, I was well over thirty before it occurred to me to try to write one of those stories I loved so much. The result of that first attempt will never see the light of day, but it was the beginning of a decade-long apprenticeship. In 2001, I finaled in the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart® contest for unpublished writers with a romantic suspense entry. Then I did it again in 2002 and 2003. Also in 2003, I won Dorchester Publishing’s New Voice in Romance contest. The winning entry – LAUREN’S EYES – was published by Dorchester in 2004.
I continue to write romantic suspense and paranormal romance, but I’ve undertaken a number of other projects with a co-writer, Heather Doherty. Heather is published in dark literary, and together we write the laugh-out-loud Dix Dodd Mysteries under the pseudonym N.L. Wilson. We also jointly write YA Paranormal under the pseudonym Wilson Doherty.
I live in Fredericton, New Brunswick, with my husband, two university-aged kids, a Lab-Rottie mix named Chloe, and five rats (the pet kind).
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Romance October 2013
The Demon Mistress Jordan K. Rose
What’s a girl to do when she discovers her husband, who happens to be the ISBN: 9780989417518 Master Vampire for the New England Publisher: Jordan K. Region, has been lying to her for, oh, Rose say a hundred and eighty years? Publication date: October 2013 Well, it all depends. If she’s accidentally Genre: Paranormal released forty demons from some Romance creepy old book, unintentionally Buy Links: announced the existence of vampires on Publisher Link The Internet, kidnapped a werewolf, Amazon enraged a lovesick vampire by stealing Barnes and Noble his approved mate, and attracted the Kobo attention of The High Commander for The Vampire Federation, not to mention gotten stoned and Jordan K. Rose Website mastered the forbidden art of demon calling, she might be willing to call it even.
Or, she might plead her case at an Inquisition and hope like all hell, she isn’t staked before sunrise. Eh, a slightly busier night than usual, but nothing Eva Prim can’t handle.
Prologue
October 3rd
Exeter, Rhode Island
My Flower,
I wish I were with you, but maintaining the sovereignty of our region calls me away from home, from you, the one I love above all others. Tonight being your birthday brings me added pain. Not being with you to celebrate the anniversary of the most glorious day in all my existence breaks my heart.
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Each morning, when I lie down to rest, my memory is flooded with thoughts of you. Your brown eyes sparkle as your hot, demanding gaze wanders over me. That hungry smile sets my blood aflame. Your long, auburn hair tickles my skin while you trail soft, urgent kisses over my chest to my neck. I can barely contain myself as I enjoy the memory of your body against mine, the scent of your skin, the taste of your blood.
I shall do my best to deal with this situation in Maine and swiftly return to you, to your arms, to your love.
I’ve sent your gift with the messenger, a laptop computer to keep you connected to the world around us, to me. I look forward to your first vmail.
Your faithful and loving husband, Stefan
P.S.—Remember, Chrysanthemum, I am still your master so don’t try anything in my absence. This includes but is not limited to: creating a fledgling, scaring humans who refuse to see things from your perspective, fighting with the wolves (who by the way told me about the incident at the Tasty-Freeze), attempting to force any of the remaining captains to answer to you, excessive use of the credit cards (This includes on-line shopping. The computer is not to be used as a portal into every store in existence.), and spending time in my personal library. REMEMBER, YOU ARE FORBIDDEN FROM READING THOSE BOOKS!
About the Author:
Jordan loves vampires. But if you know anything about Jordan, you already knew that detail. What you didn’t know was it wasn’t long ago that she began writing about them.
A few years back Jordan received a copy of Twilight from her husband as part of her anniversary gift. By the end of that week she’d read the entire series and moved onto Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles. Eight weeks and eighteen vampire books later the idea for her first book, Perpetual Light came to her followed very quickly by Eva Prim.
In October of 2013 The Demon Mistress, the first Eva Prim Novel is available along with four short stories. For continual updates on Eva please join the Snack Of The Week Club at www.evaprim.com.
Coming November 2013 Black Magic Rose, Book One of The Alliance Series. Join Jordan’s newsletter for updates.
Jordan is a member of the national Romance Writers of America organization and several chapters.
When she’s not writing about one vampire or another Jordan enjoys spending time with her husband, Ken and their lovable Labrador, Dino on the beautiful beaches of New England.
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Romance October 2013
Darkness Rises Dianne Duvall
Dianne Duvall returns to the world of the ISBN: 9781420129786 Immortal Guardians, where danger — and Publisher: Zebra desire — make every decision count . . . Publication date: 10/1/2013 Krysta is used to getting the drop on Genre: Paranormal vampires. Her "special abilities" aren't Romance much, but the plan is simple — she plays Buy Links: helpless pretty young thing to lure them in. Amazon Then her shoto swords come out and it's Amazon Kindle bye-bye, bloodsucker. Until one night she Barnes and Noble finds herself with an unexpected ally. He's Nook a vampire, all right, but different. Books a Million Mysterious. Handsome. And more interested in saving her skin than draining Dianne Duvall Website it.
Étienne has been an Immortal Guardian for two hundred years — long enough to know that Krysta is special. He can't stop thinking about her long legs, even more than her short swords. Then he discovers the vamps she's exterminating have friends in high places, and the Guardians are in danger, too. He'll have to accept Krysta's help to save them. The stakes for a mortal are high. But the cost to his heart might be higher . . .
A scuffing sound behind her halted her footsteps. Swinging around, she drew her swords with a triumphant smile, and . . .
“Damn it!”
No vampires faced her with leering, evil intent. No vampires faced her at all.
She was alone. Again.
More rustling sounded.
Racing back to the street, she flew around the corner and skidded to a halt.
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Nothing. Just an empty road glowing green from the streetlight at the corner.
The unmistakable shick, ting, and clang of metal striking metal split the air several blocks away.
“Oh, no you don’t,” she growled and took off running. She didn’t care that she raced down a sharply sloped hill that would make it damned near impossible to stop once she got going. She didn’t care that she ran with an unsheathed sword in each hand. (Her mother and father’s frequent admonitions not to run with scissors chose that moment to dance through her head.) She didn’t even care that anyone who saw her would likely call the police and report a madwoman fleeing through Chapel Hill, waving deadly weapons, and get her arrested.
She had only one goal in mind: Get to those damned vampires before Mystery Man did whatever the hell he’d been doing for the past two weeks and disappeared.
Her heart pounding in her chest, she honed in on the battle’s location and managed to put on the brakes enough to zip around the corner at a speed that would keep her from rolling ass over elbows downhill.
She jerked to a halt and stared.
The darkened alley was deserted except for a dumpster about twenty-five yards away and — she released a growl of fury — a pair of jeans, a bloody blue sweatshirt, and a pair of bright red Chucks spread out on the pavement as if they had been laid out by some kid’s mother.
Krysta sheathed one of her swords, stomped over to the place a vampire had clearly fallen, and grabbed the sweatshirt. “Oh, come on!” she shouted, her voice echoing on the somnolent night. She shook the sticky clothing at the sky. “Where are you?” she demanded. Turning in a circle, she examined every nook and cranny at street level, then peered up at the rooftops.
She could see no sign of Mystery Man. Had he already left?
Krysta tossed the shirt down in disgust. “This is bullshit.”
A low chuckle wafted on the night.
Eyes widening, she drew her second sword and turned in a slow circle. “Damn it! Show yourself!”
“Well, since you asked so nicely,” a deep voice laced with a French accent purred behind her.
Gasping, she spun around and swung a shoto.
Once more, he caught her wrist. “Careful.” The warning was gentle, carrying neither malice nor anger.
Krysta stared.
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His touch sent electricity tickling its way up her arm. His flesh was warm, his long fingers free of callouses.
Her heart slammed against her ribs as butterflies erupted in her stomach.
She should be furious. Frightened. Instead, she felt as excited as she would on a first date.
Crap.
Stepping back, she withdrew her arm from his grasp.
Dropping his hand, he tilted his head and studied her with those entrancing amber eyes.
Yeah, he was hot all right.
Short midnight hair glinted in the moonlight. Faint stubble shadowed a strong jaw. Straight nose. Broad shoulders. What was clearly a well-developed, muscular build beneath a black T- shirt that clung to him courtesy of the vampire blood that saturated its front. Slim waist. Slim hips. All revealed by the gap in the long black coat he wore.
She didn’t let her gaze stray further. The last thing she wanted to do while facing him was blush like a school girl if he had a nice package.
His tempting lips stretched in a slow smile.
About the Author:
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Dianne Duvall earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of St. Thomas, where she studied fiction writing, playwriting, and poetry writing. Darkness Dawns, the first book in her Immortal Guardians paranormal romance series, was nominated for the RT Reviewers' Choice Award for Best Vampire Romance by RT Book Reviews and for Best Paranormal Romance - Vampire by The Romance Reviews. It was also deemed a Top Pick by The Romance Reviews and a Best Book by Long and Short Reviews. Night Reigns, the second book in the series, was nominated for Best Best Book of 2011 - Paranormal Romance by The Romance Reviews and declared an “utterly addictive” Top Pick by RT Book Reviews. Phantom Shadows, the third book in the series, has been declared a Top Pick by both The Romance Reviews and Night Owl Reviews. Her Immortal Guardians novella In Still Darkness was released in the Predatory anthology on May 7, 2013, and has received many fabulous reviews. Darkness Rises, the fourth book in the series, will be released on October 1, 2013.
In addition to writing romance, Dianne has completed a one-act play (comedy) and teamed up with an award-wining screenwriter to write a spec script for a new situation comedy. Several of her poems have also been published in anthologies.
When she isn’t writing, Dianne is very active in the independent film industry and once even appeared on screen as a machete-wielding maniac not unlike the vampires she so loves to create in her novels.
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The Evolution of the Panty
By Genella deGrey and Lynda Cohen
Cole Porter said it best: “In olden days a glimps of stocking was looked on as something shocking...”
Wait just a minute! What about BEFORE the so called, 'olden days'?
I am Genella deGrey, historical romance author. Please allow me to present
The Evolution of the Panty
GdG:I've consulted a professional to discuss today's peek at historical underpinnings. Meet Lynda Cohen, former professor of Fashion History at Parsons School of Design.
So tell me, Lynda: At what point in history did women begin separating their outer garments with under things, specifically their neither-regions?
Lynda: The history of underpinnings, (not pronounced: Under-pine-ings) like anything fashion related, is an evolution. It reflects a combination of practicality, technology and fashionable style and how each of those things changes over time. Undergarments were worn in some form as far back as the Roman Empire (Douglas A Russell, Costume History and Style (Publisher: Prentice- Hall, Inc., New Jersey 1983, p.78-79.) However, one of the main reasons for the development of undergarments in post-medieval Europe began with the high cost of garment fabric (combined with a lack of dry cleaners and available showers). In those days, garments were often brushed to be cleaned. So, in order to keep your garments cleaner and therefore longer lasting it was important to prevent the oil and sweat of your skin from making contact with your high quality silk or wool fabrics. Enter the use of shifts (early shirts), petticoats and drawers. These were made from washable cotton or linen fabrics and for the wealthy, trimmed with lace or embroidery on any part that might be seen, like collars and cuffs.
Panties as we know them today didn’t appear until the 20th century, so let’s start with the panty’s great-great-grandmother: the drawer.
Drawers typically are defined as knee length pantaloons, with full legs that are gathered at the knee. Originally, drawers were usually only worn by women on the continent in Europe. In England, the women wore petticoats (underskirts) but otherwise they wore nothing at all until the end of the 18th century when drawers made an initial appearance.
GdG: Pantaloons, pantaletts, are there differences or is it perhaps just a particular language that defines each name?
Lynda: Pantaloons are essentially the same as Pantalettes. They differ from drawers in that they are longer, reaching to below the calf and also by the fact that unlike drawers, they were meant to be seen. When women began wearing pantaloons as undergarments in the early 19th century the name evolved into pantalettes, probably because it sounded more feminine. But this fashion for women did not continue after the 1830’s. (C. Willett and Phillis Cunnington, The History of Underclothes, (Published by Dover Publications, Inc., New York 1992, p.114.)
By the early 19th century, drawers had become an accepted part of dress, and even a necessary one. It was the style then, regardless of the impracticality of it, for women’s’ fashions to be made
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Romance October 2013 from a delicate lightweight cotton fabric and drawers were necessary to help keep women warm. (C. Willett and Phillis Cunnington, The History of Underclothes, Published by Dover Publications, Inc., New York 1992, p.148.)
There is also mention in The Handbook of the Toilet (mentioned in the Dover publication of The History of Underclothes, is unrefferenced and may have been an unpublished pamphlet C. Willett and Phillis Cunnington came acros in their research) of the importance of drawers in preventing disease. Drawers continued to be worn throughout the 19th century and they varied to reflect changes in fashionable dress; when dresses and skirts were cut full and round with lots of fabric, drawers were as well. When dresses became more form fitting, as in the late 1870’s to early 1880’s, drawers had to do the same or else risk affecting the look of the garments worn over them.
This was also the time of the industrial revolution, which led to several technological developments that affected fashion as well as underpinnings. One of the most important is dyestuffs. Towards the middle of the 19th century, new processes of creating fabric dyes were developed, leading to a wider range of new and brighter colors for fabric. Up until this time, drawers were usually made in plain white or some other light shade. (C. Willett and Phillis Cunnington, The History of Underclothes, (Dover Publications, Inc., New York 1992, p.168)
However, there is a record from the 1860’s that suggests it became fashionable for a time to wear bright red flannel drawers. (C. Willett and Phillis Cunnington, The History of Underclothes, (Dover Publications, Inc., New York 1992, p.168)
If white is typically seen as the color of purity, what might we infer from the fashion for scarlet red drawers…perhaps the Victorians were not so stuffy after all?
GdG: Can we talk for a second about the slang for drawers, 'Bloomers.' I've seen where purests say that NO ONE EVER called drawers, 'Bloomers.' How do they know this? Where they there? And how is it that we have that word and use it thusly? Back a hundred and forty years ago, they didn't implement slang into the dictionary like we do today. So did the word exist, even if it was slang? Is it a sin to have a fictional, period character call their drawers, 'Bloomers'? What are your thoughts on the matter?
Lynda: Bloomer is actually the name of a woman: Amelia Bloomer. She lived in the mid-19th century and was a champion for women’s rights (including a women’s right to have fashion be practical). She advocated a style of dress free from corsets with looser tops and shorter skirts that could be worn over a loose fitting pair of pants. Although she wore this style herself and said she had interest from many women about it, it didn’t really take off until later in the 19th century when it became acceptable for women to be more sporting; in particular for bicycle riding. This style of loose fitting pants is usually referred to as Bloomers in reference to Amelia. I’m not sure how or why Bloomer became a reference to undergarments. Perhaps as the panty evolved, the name simply referred to the older style of undergarments and over time just became a word interchangeable with any form of panty / drawer.
GdG: I remember my great-grandmother using the word, 'bloomers' when I was little. She was born in 1896.
Lynda: The industrial revolution also introduced the mass production and marketing of fashion and in particular, undergarments. Drawers were still worn through the end of the century and into the next, appearing in a wide variety of variations from trimmed to tucked, flared to fitted, but the overall design did not change much. And then there was a major change. The 1920’s saw the world celebrating the end of the war, the suffragette movement finally establishing a women’s right to vote and a general desire for simplicity and freedom. These elements clearly influenced the fashions of the day. Women chopped their hair into bobs, dresses became much softer and lighter and hemlines shrank allowing women to show off their stockings and their legs.
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Undergarments were affected in much the same way. Drawers had now evolved into the more modern knickers and were worn with a simple brasserie.
Knickers were generally shorter than drawers. Some knickers still had fullness gathered around the legs but others were cut much like modern day shorts (a style sometimes still seen today). Also helping along the transformation was the fact that undergarments were no longer needed to supply warmth as they were in previous centuries, nor did they disguise the body’s natural shape. This may be more true of panties than of brasseries and other undergarments which were still relied upon for a certain amount of figure distortion (the 1920’s fashion for boyish shapes meant that most women were in need of a corset and / or girdle)
GdG: I've heard the term, 'Step-ins' for that era/generation's answer to the drawer. Have you heard this, or is it considered slang as well?
Lynda: Yes, I have heard of this. I believe the term “step-ins” refers to the shorter knicker style of underwear (which is the 1920’s evolution of the drawer). I don’t know if the term would be considered slang or if it is more reflective of the fact that as silhouettes changed, names changed and evolved with them.
GdG: Good to know!
Lynda: It wasn’t until the 1930’s that innovation in fabric provided the final step in the evolution of the panty. Synthetic fabrics were now being introduced and women had begun to wear a form of panties made from lace, silk or rayon (in black for formal occasions). However, since these were usually worn over the girdle, they had still not evolved into the panties we know today. Rayon in particular was similar in feel to silk and could not only be dyed but also washed and did not require ironing, making it an ideal choice for lingerie. By the late 1930’s nylon, another new synthetic, was being used to create improved knitted fabrics. Knits had been around for centuries but were not necessarily considered suitable for undergarments, since they were not finely made (and therefore tended to be itchy) nor were they resilient (so they lost their shape when worn). The use of nylon for knits was the first time that a knit fabric was produced that could be dyed, washed and most importantly retain its shape, allowing for a truly form fitting design. Advertisements for women’s panties from the late 1930’s and into the 1940’s highlighted the wearability of a “high quality rayon fabric” that “stretches as you move and then snaps back into shape”. And there you have it: the panty.
The erotic association for undergarments comes not from the articles themselves (whose origins are more utilitarian) but rather in the adornment of said undergarments: why spend the extra money on a garment with purely functional purposes? Trimmings such as lace and the use of fullness in a garment were originally used as a display of wealth but that was when it was meant to be seen by everyone. Underpinnings (intimate apparel) are only viewed by the privileged few.
GdG: It would seem that underpinnings, or 'unmentionabls' were given erotic associations because that's exactly what they were: Unmentionabls. Throughout history, anything that 'society' deemed 'hands-off' became the naughty titilation of the day. Wasn't the over thirty, married woman the most sought-after for a liason and the eighteen to twenty-three year- olds looking for husbands were a dime a dozen? Once we as a civilization claimed something to be a 'no-no' it was persued all the more.
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Romance October 2013
Which is why some felt the French dance, La Chahut, also known as the Cancan, too risque. It incourporated rousing music, viggorous dancing, the raising of skirt hems and kicking of feet as high as possible. Originally done by men and women, the Chalat became more organized--and more scandalous--at the Moulin Rouge in the late 1880's as the dancers showed their drawers, stirring the patrons into a frenzie. http://www.parissweethome.com/parisrentals/art_uk.php?id=91
My book, The Art of Temptation, http://amzn.to/14K6hjs was inspired by the courtesans and dancers who worked at the Moulin Rouge.
Thank you, Lynda, for a glimpse at [the evolution of] the panty!
Lynda: Thank you so much!
Bibliography:
Willett, C. and Cunnington, Phillis 1992, The History of Underclothes, Dover Publications, Inc., New York
Other publications you may find helpful:
Russell, Douglas A. 1983, Costume History and Style, Prentice-Hall, Inc., New Jersey
Laubner, Ellie 1996, Fashions of the Roaring 20’s, Schiffer Publishing Ltd, Pennsylvania
About the Author:
Born and reared in Southern California, Genella deGrey longed to be your typical blonde, tanned, surfer girl but failed miserably. Unable to sit idle without falling asleep, she embarked upon several artistic endeavors. Makeup and set dressing for the entertainment industry, Resort Enhancement for The Walt Disney Company and writing sexy historical romance top the list of her favorite activities.
A consummate closet goth and amateur music and [red] wine enthusiast, she’s also a hopeless romantic, which goes without saying. For more information on Genella and her novels, please visit her website at genelladegrey.com
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Romance October 2013
Shadow’s Edge Jami Gray
Everyone fears what hunts in the ISBN: 9781937329150 shadows—especially the monsters… Publisher: Black Opal Books It takes a monster to hunt one, and for Publication Raine McCord, forged in the maelstrom of date: 10/29/2011 magic and science, she’s the one for the Genre: Urban Fantasy / job. In a world where the supernatural live Paranormal Suspense in a shadowy existence with the mundane, Buy Links: a series of disappearances and deaths Amazon threatens the secrecy of her kind and Barnes and Noble indicates someone knows the monsters are All Romance eBooks alive and kicking. Partnering up with the Black Opal Books sexy and tantalizing Gavin Durand proves Smashwords to be a challenge as dangerous as the prey she hunts. Jami Gray Website When the trail points back to the foundation which warped Raine’s magic as a child, her torturous past raises its ugly head. Gavin and Raine sift through a maze of lies, murder and betrayal to discover not only each other, but the emerging threat to them and the entire magical community.
The night was still clear and neither said a word as they walked back to the SUV, dodging puddles from the earlier rain. As they moved closer to the parking lot, and away from the more populated areas, the shadows increased. Soon their footsteps were the only sound on the cracked sidewalk.
They were passing two darkened buildings when the hushed sound of metal against cloth whispered through the air. It was followed by the soft sound of water squelching under a foot.
Raine didn’t falter, and neither did Gavin. A couple of steps more and she had both wrist blades in her hands. The black coated blades blended into her own dark garments, their silver runes turned in toward her body so no light would reflect off them. She shot a look at Gavin and saw his hand down by his thigh, a long darkened blade tucked close to his leg. She’d have to remember to ask where he kept that thing.
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Neither one had guns, since firearms tended to stop working without warning for those with magical means. It didn’t mean their follower couldn’t have one. She still had her trench coat with its protection spell, but she wasn’t sure how strong Gavin’s spells were. Though, short of a head shot with cold iron, they should survive.
His free hand made a series of short motions. She gave a tiny nod to let him know she understood. At the next dark opening, they would turn a corner, and she would fade into the shadows to wait. The plan was to let the mystery stalker turn the corner and continue to follow them before he realized one of them had disappeared. They were banking on the fact most people wouldn’t be able to see clearly in the inky darkness.
As they turned the corner, Raine made her move toward the shadows. Gavin continued forward. In just steps, both realized they weren’t alone in the alleyway. It seemed the bad guys were a bit more prepared than usual. Three more figures spread out from inside the alley. She spun around, putting her back to Gavin’s. She was slightly miffed when she saw that instead of one person, two individuals blocked the opening. Damn, how had she missed the second one?
From their muscular outlines, she figured they were male. They were all dressed in black with their faces hidden in the shadows. She didn’t feel any vibrations in the air, letting her know they weren’t shifters, nor did they seem to be using magic. The weak moonlight reflected off the guns in their hands—another good indication they were human. Either they didn’t know Gavin and Raine were Kyn, or they carried the typical mortal arrogance that bullets could solve any problem.
Here’s hoping their aim was off. She cleared her mind, picturing a thickening in the air around her, doing what she could to set up a protection circle to slow down the bullets once they started flying. She could feel the line of tension radiating from Gavin behind her, and then the slight thrum indicating he had put up his own protection circle. The warm line of energy told her their two circles had merged, and on some deeper level, something clicked—a key to a lock. As they waited for the bad guys to move first, she focused on their attackers. It always helped if you could honestly say the dead men struck first. Self-defense at its finest.
About the Author:
Growing up on the Arizona-Mexico border, Jami Gray was adopted at the age of 14 and suddenly became the fifth eldest of 37 children. She graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor’s in Journalism and three minors-History, English, and Theater. Shortly after marrying her techie-geek hubby (who moonlighted as her best friend in high school) she completed a Masters in Organizational Management from University of Phoenix Oregon.
Now, years later, she’s back in the Southwest where she’s outnumbered in her own home by two Star Wars obsessed boys, one Star Wars obsessed husband, and an overly-friendly, 105-pound male lab. Writing is what saves her sanity.
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Shades of Pink Anthology
Publisher: Kallysten Publication date: 10/1/2013 Available Until 11/15/2013 only Genre: Anthology (Contemporary, Fantasy, Supernatural, Historical, YA)
Buy Link
Excerpt from ONE MORE BLOOM by Vivien Dean
One of 33 short stories included in the SHADES OF PINK charity anthology
When I found myself facing the daunting prospect of choosing one (1!) excerpt to include in The Romance Reviews Ezine, I might have started to panic. Just a little. After all, I convinced 32 authors to pen a short romance story for the anthology. How could I choose one without offending the others?
After much deliberation – and with the comforting thought that excerpts for all stories can be found on my blog – I decided to offer an excerpt from One More Bloom by Vivien Dean, a sweet fantasy/magic story, for no other reason that Vivien was the first person to kindly answer my call for authors to participate in this fundraiser for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
~ Kallysten
It was a good day to die.
Springtime had come early to Washington, DC, blooming in the colors that always made it Adam Marchand’s favorite season. That bright green only found in newfound blades of grass. Whites and pinks and yellows peppering the flowerbeds like a Seurat masterpiece to create a beauty greater than its blossoms. Blue so clear and deep, he could stare up into it and get lost for the eternity he was condemned.
He wouldn’t change his mind about what was to come, but he did regret he wouldn’t have the opportunity to savor this day the way it was meant to be.
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He dressed casually, faded jeans, a plain dark T-shirt, nothing that would catch undue notice. People wouldn’t even look twice at him for the color of his skin, a gift he would never take for granted no matter how many years passed. If he got attention, it came from interested women and the occasional man. The blond valet, for instance, had flirted with him outrageously while they rode up the elevator to his room the night before. He didn’t see Adam’s Creole heritage, just someone he found attractive. Both of them would’ve been hung in Adam’s youth, but now, nobody cared.
If he had only been born in this era...how different his life would’ve been. He could’ve courted Rachel without fear, announced his devotion to her in public, even married her without stripping her away from her family. They could’ve had children by now, beautiful babies with her eyes and his smile, and he could’ve gone to bed with her nestled against him, knowing they would face the morning together.
Instead, Adam got the so-called privilege of losing her over and over again, denying her the life she should have, condemning her with ignorance even in those final moments.
No more.
The ring rested secure atop the dresser in the silk bag he’d stored it in since getting it. Though Berenice had said he could wear it, he’d only put it on once, to make sure it fit before she did her mojo. What if he lost it? Or what if the magic leeched away, rendering it useless when he needed it most? He’d searched for a way to break the curse for too long to risk sabotaging it, either via ignorance or negligence. So the ring remained locked in a strongbox he carried back from Martinique
Until now. The time had come to forget about his anxieties.
As he dumped the bag’s contents onto his palm, the russet silk glided across his skin, tickling with its teasing caress. The band itself was innocuous, thick silver etched with symbols he didn’t recognize, but he trembled as he slid it onto the ring finger of his left hand. Nobody would notice it. It looked like a wedding band. But wearing it like one felt like sacrilege, no matter what Berenice claimed about pathways, and his stomach churned at the prospect of Rachel spying it before he had the chance to touch her.
He squeezed his eyes shut. Forgive me.
Nothing to be done about it now. Scooping up his wallet and jacket, he headed out, ready to take the next step.
Though he’d chosen the Mandarin Oriental for its proximity to the Tidal Basin, he hadn’t realized when he’d arrived late last night how redolent the air would be with the scent of cherry blossoms. It saturated every breath, reminding everyone who strolled along the walks of the delicate pink flowers they came to celebrate. Rachel had been coming to the National Cherry Blossom Festival since she was a child, but this was the first time Adam had dared to venture into the city at the same time. When she’d been young, he’d watched her home in Baltimore. After she moved to DC for college, he’d resumed his search for a way to break the curse.
At that point, he only had seven years before the magic would drive them together again. Even if he hadn’t discovered Berenice, he would’ve been forced to return to Washington this summer anyway.
Others were already out, enjoying the fresh spring air. Families strolled along the basin, parents pointing out the more vibrant trees to the children who held their hands. In spite of his anxiousness to find Rachel, Adam fell into step behind one of them, an older couple with a single little girl swinging between them.
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The mother was taller than her husband, a statuesque Amazon compared to his diminutive frame. She was the one who seemed to lead the trio in their exploration, pulling laughter and smiles from both her companions, loud enough for more than a few people to glance in their direction. The image they presented was one of carefree joy, the looks they received mostly jealous admiration.
Adam broke off from the path and settled in the first patch of grass he could claim. His heart ached for the unfettered happiness they possessed. Most of the time, he went through the motions of his damned immortality without dwelling too much on the what-could-have-been. It was hard work staying unnoticed while still managing to survive in this world. But keeping such a tight rein on his emotions was exhausting, and he could only thank God the end careened closer.
No more torture about where they could’ve gone.
No more dwelling on where it had all begun.
New Orleans. 1898.
* * *
The city of his childhood had been warmer than DC, and the smells lacked the spice and smoke, but he’d spent ages on the riverfront, yearning for the day when he could hop on a steamboat and be with the woman he loved without fear. Up north or out west, they would be treated differently. The color of his skin wouldn’t doom their relationship, and he could walk proudly down the street with her on his arm instead of skulking around in the dead of night just to see her.
Not to say that the time he did get with her wasn’t worth it. Nobody had ever regarded Adam in such esteem before. He had admirers, yes, and women from all social castes were more than happy to try seducing him, but Rachel had been the first to demand he ignore his limitations. The fact that she was white, the educated daughter of one of the city’s most prominent lawyers, only made her passion for him more astonishing.
“What’s the point of having dreams if you never try to make them real?” she always said.
When he tried to use his mixed heritage as an excuse, she scowled and brushed it away. “That bird don’t fly. You are the epitome of all that is great about New Orleans.”
Though he knew the world was more black and white than she believed, he let her push him anyway. He sought more clubs to play at, even allowing her to come and watch him perform. He accepted opportunities he wouldn’t have taken before, all for the chance to see her brilliant smile in the audience, her applause afterward cheering him on.
He began to believe with her. When she was in his arms, anything truly was possible.
That had been his greatest mistake. Because he had known all along the real world wouldn’t tolerate what it couldn’t control.
Their enemies hadn’t come from Rachel’s family as he’d always feared. It came in the form of a jealous girl who had no qualms calling on the dark magic of her Caribbean uncle to punish Adam for choosing a white woman over her.
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~~~
The Shades of Pink anthology is offered as a thank you gift to all readers donating to our Breast Cancer Awareness Month fundraiser. It includes 33 short stories between 3.000 and 10.000 words, for a total number of words over 200.000 which is about 500 PDF pages. Some contributors are veteran writers, while others are new to the craft. Some stories are sweet (no adult content) and some spicier. Genres include contemporary, fantasy, supernatural, historical, and YA.
The suggested donation is $5. The fundraiser runs until November 15th only, after which date the anthology will not be available anymore. You can find all details, including more excerpts and how to participate in the fundraiser, at http://blog.kallysten.net/p/charity-anthology.html
She went to Ireland looking for a Until death—or a secret—make A Hot Time in the Old West muse, but found a mathematician them part. instead.
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FRIENDS TO LOVERS Christi Barth FRIENDS TO LOVERS is an excellent story, detailing the realistic journey of two best friends into lovers. The journey isn't smooth; it's racked with assumptions and misunderstandings as two friends try to shift the relationship to a whole new level, along with other difficulties and challenges that come their way.... Read more.
THE COUNTESS’S GROOM Emily Larkin This is a tender, heartwarming story of a mended heart and a love that transcends class differences. Through ingenious plotting, Rose and Will finally obtain their own happiness in a new place of hope and leaves the darkened halls behind. What is also satisfying is the just ending rewarded to the horrendous Earl for all of his deeds, giving spiritual victory to our hero and heroine. Don't miss this wonderful prequel novella to Emily Larkin's The Spinster's Secret, itself a lovely and healing story! …Read more.
TO ALL THE RAKES I’VE LOVED BEFORE Anne Barton This is a sweet and charming novella with two fantastic characters and a lot of humor. Anne Barton has done a fine job of crafting a wonderful novella with a fun plot and an enchanting set of characters.…Read more.
A LOVE WORTH BITING FOR Roxy Mews A LOVE WORTH BITING FOR blew me away. It's fresh, funny and completely engrossing…The plot is original, dialogue is hilarious, and the characters are completely memorable. I loved the author's voice in this, very down-to-earth while weaving an awesome storyline…Read more.
PERSONAL ASSETS Kelsey Browning I love when a book grabs you immediately and refuses to let go! That's what happened when I picked up PERSONAL ASSETS…The character development of both Allie and Cameron was also very well-written. The entire book was very satisfying for me and I cannot wait to pick up more in this series!…Read more.
PRICE OF A KISS Linda Kage I have not read a Linda Kage novel that I did not instantly love. Her books are never dull, but always addictive. She always has a unique story and it goes without saying that her characters are interesting and lovable…The prologue for PRICE OF A KISS was so eye-catching it really draws a reader's attention and doesn't let it go until the last word. And come on, when are you ever going to read about a college girl running away from a stalker ex and falling in love with the town's most popular male prostitute?…Read more.
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DANGEROUS PARADISE Debra Andrews There's nothing quite like a romantic suspense novel that keeps you glued to the page wondering how the hero and heroine will get out of the situations they find themselves in. DANGEROUS PARADISE will thrill you, chill you and make you swoon with smart dialogue, yummy sexy time, a great plot and an adventure that will have you flipping the pages as quickly as you can…Read more.
ONLY YOU Lorna Peel ONLY YOU by Lorna Peel is a fabulous romance about trust in relationships under a microscope…I also love how vulnerable Robert is with Jane and how he fights for their relationship. Best of all, none of the character development is plagued with stereotypical, melodramatic fluff that so often ruins a great novel….Overall, this was a fabulous novel! Read more.
THINGS GOOD GIRLS DON’T DO Codi Gary Sassy, touching and refreshingly different, Codi Gary's debut is a smash hit that is sure to earn her a number of fans. From the small-town setting to the wicked hero with the heart of gold to her phenomenally fun heroine, this delightful, sizzling book is a winner from start to finish.…Read more.
THE DYSFUNCTIONAL TEST Kelly Moran There are some books that are so good that my first instinct is to urge readers to put this review away and simply start reading it. THE DYSFUNCTIONAL TEST is absolutely one of those books. Funny and insightful and stunningly, achingly romantic, this is one of the most moving and exhilarating books I've read this year and has quickly become one of my all time favorites…The real magic of this book, however, is in the relationship between Cameron and Troy. They are so beautifully balanced and their connection is so touching that it becomes something absolutely transformative and unforgettable…Read more.
CHRISTMAS ON 4TH STREET Susan Mallery CHRISTMAS ON 4TH STREET is another heartwarming entry into the enchanting world of Fool's Gold. What a great story this was!... Susan Mallery is so good with her storytelling, breathing life into this town and the people who live there. She makes it all seem real; it's easy to get drawn into the drama…Read more.
ANYTHING YOU ASK Lynn Kellan ANYTHING YOU ASK is a beautifully written story about a marriage of convenience, a family's long-held dark and damaging secrets, and grabbing hold of second chances and holding on tight…Lynn Kellan's plot pulled me in and held my attention throughout and her convincing use of emotional drama, offset by warm family scenes. Read more.
*This is not a comprehensive list. For more reviews of Romance books, check out the site.
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October 2013
By Tibby Armstrong
I’ve been published for four years and in that time I’ve never been to an author/reader convention. I’ve gone the bar-con route (where you don’t purchase a ticket, but rather kibitz at the bar) for BosCon, and I’ve tagged along with an author-friend at a one-day writer workshop extravaganza, but I’ve never done the RT, RWA, DragonCon, Lori Foster, all-out, party-hard and network harder thing.
When I attended Authors After Dark (AAD) in Savannah, Georgia, from August 15th to 18th this year, I had no idea what to expect. I only knew several of my author friends went in 2012 and raved about the experience. The name of the convention threw me at first. “Authors” being part of the title meant that it was a convention primarily for authors, right? Wrong!
AAD is a small convention which allows 100 “featured” authors and 400 of their biggest fans to meet in an intimate, fun-filled setting for the better part of a week. This convention is all about the readers. Authors and event sponsors host several parties, individual author events such as ice cream socials, and panels on topics as diverse as Alpha Males in GLBT Fiction and Young Adult (YA) novel themes.
This year, USA Today and New York Times best-selling author Mary Janice Davidson was the master of ceremonies. She graced the event with a short speech at the opening ceremonies on Wednesday night. While dinner was not part of this portion of the event, goodie bags stuffed with books and swag from featured authors and sponsoring publishers were on the tables in abundance, and a embarrassment of riches were given away via random draw that evening.
Truth be told, though all I had to do was sit at a round table in a sea of other round tables, inwardly I was a nervous wreck at the opening ceremonies. I’m an author. I don’t see much of the outside world while sitting at my computer all day, so my people skills can be rusty. We received our conference schedule in our giveaway totes, and thankfully there were tips for newbies like myself on the first page. I’ll share them with you, because they really came in handy!
“Sit with different people for every event. Get to know the authors and other readers, because that’s what AAD is about.”
On the second day I attended a luncheon. Table seating was random. I picked a table where I knew no one and struck up a conversation. I met several bloggers, authors, and readers. I chatted with reader, Yolanda Smith, for quite a while about conventions she has attended and how AAD compares.
This was Yolanda’s second time at AAD. She has also attended Ellora’s Cave’s Romanticon and the Romantic Times (RT) convention. She likes Romanticon and AAD because they are smaller cons where the authors are more approachable. Yolanda attended Annabel Joseph’s ghost tour, and enjoys AAD for its author events and one-on-one focus on time between authors and readers.
Yolanda mentioned that RT is the most expensive con, and she has found that the authors there are sometimes standoffish. As she put it, she works hard for her money, and she wants a connection with authors that she gets more consistently at the smaller cons like AAD.
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October 2013 “Arrive to the meals at least 15 minutes early to get a seat and drinks before the buffets are open.”
I was usually late to the events, but I never had a trouble getting a seat. Though the conference sponsors were nice enough to give me a VIP pass when they heard I’d be writing this article, I never had to use it. Lines moved quickly and there was always enough food.
“Take as many pictures as you want!”
The costume balls and author events are wonderful, lavish affairs at AAD. Some of the best conversations I had with authors and readers were while commenting on or taking photos of the amazing costumes they came up with for the Elemental Ball and the Vampire Ball, held on two separate nights.
The ice cream social also afforded me the opportunity to ask bestselling author Jennifer Estep (Heart of Venom, #9 in the Elemental Assassins series released on August 27), what she enjoys about AAD and conventions in general. Like Yolanda, Jennifer has been to RT and RWA several times, and this was her fourth attendance at AAD.
Jennifer enjoys the connection between authors and readers as well as the more relaxed atmosphere at AAD. She has a chance to mingle and speak one-on-one more often with readers at small conferences, and enjoys the opportunity to talk with readers and other authors about books. Getting new recommendations for great reads is also a plus! As a featured author, she enjoyed the ability to sit on a panel and take reader questions in a relaxed though moderated setting.
“Don’t be shy! Everyone is here for the love of books, and very approachable! We don’t bite…much, LOL!”
I have to admit, this was the hardest part for me. I spent a great deal of time hanging out with my friends at the Riptide Publishing table. Author Brien Michaels, whom I met originally at the Rainbow Book Fair in New York City, along with publisher Rachel Haimowitz and senior editor Sarah Frantz (of Dear Author fame) staffed one of several vendor tables in the convention hall.
The table was a great place to meet other publishers (Torquere Press, Samhain), authors, and readers, many of whom dropped by the book tables on their way into the raffle room—a place where authors and publishers had left their donated baskets of goodies for attendees to enter to win—and collected swag. While there were a plethora of books being given away as prizes during the week (I bet those checked baggage fees rose on the way home!), readers also walked away with purchased copies from favorite as well as new-to-them authors.
When the ice finally broke for me was when Brien Michaels, Stephanie Grober, and I slipped over to the corset vendor’s display to try on some of their wares. I stepped outside of myself, I found, once the costume was on. The same was true when I donned my Vampire Ball dress and mingled with hundreds of macabre-clad attendees for a night of festivities. If you do nothing else at a reader convention, I recommend you go all out on the costume events, or at least bring that camera and an autograph pen.
Speaking of which…
“Looking for autographs? Don’t forget your pen!”
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October 2013 This was one rule I wish I’d heeded. Authors at AAD seemed genuinely pleased to be asked for an autograph. There were no awkward moments I witnessed. I gave away a few of my own books and was flattered when readers asked for a signature. How often in life can you hear someone whom you’ve never met say, “I know you! I loved your book!” Those are the moments we authors live for, and there were plenty to be had at AAD.
“Look for new people to stand with in line! You never know who they are going to be.”
One of the best moments of the conference for me happened when I sat down to lunch at a random table. I’ve corresponded with Nix of Scorching Reviews in the past, but I’ve never seen her photograph. We’d been trying to catch up all week, but somehow managed to keep missing one another. I might’ve gone home without ever meeting Nix, but the attendee badges the conference gives out saved me.
Nix said, “Tibby?” Then she held up her badge. I squinted across the table. My heart leaped and I bounded out of my chair to hug this amazing, wonderful woman. She was my must-meet person of the entire event. How often do you get to hug a virtual stranger on first acquaintance? The picture taken of our meeting is one of my favorite of the conference.
Last, but not least…
“Talk to everyone!”
This includes the hotel desk staff for recommendations on local cuisine and amenities such as wifi. I highly recommend staying at the conference hotel. You’d be surprised how late events run, and you don’t want to risk missing a special or impromptu event due to transportation snafus. The hotel concierge can tell you about great places to eat, and where the best tourist venues are.
If you’re in a city like Savannah for the first time, you should definitely take advantage of sightseeing opportunities. While conferences like AAD are about networking with and meeting favorite authors, everyone needs a little downtime to stay refreshed. The event sponsors saw to it that the schedule, while packed, could accommodate flexibility for personalized fun.
While I don’t know that I’ll ever be the social butterfly, I found it easier than I expected to strike up conversations with new people and do the unexpected at AAD. As one of the less expensive, more intimate conventions, it’s a great first for any reader or author looking to get the lay-of-the- land or enjoy some old and new acquaintances. I recommend going with a friend or two if you can. Buddying up saves on hotel costs and provides a fall-back for those times when you don’t feel like being extroverted. You can attend alone as well and have a great time. Just remember to follow the AAD con tips, and you’ll be having fun long after dark.
About the Author:
Romance author, Tibby Armstrong, has a lust for books and a love of travel. On the terrestrial plane, she dreams of springtime in Paris, and has journeyed across the pond to London, Oxford, and Bath. She travels more extensively, through worlds both strange and familiar, via science fiction, urban fantasy, mystery, romance, biography, and travel memoirs.
Having recently completed her MLS, when she’s not writing, Tibby works toward defying librarian stereotypes; yet, she lives with four cats, two computers, and enough books to collapse a poorly engineered house.
You can find Tibby on Facebook as Tibby Armstrong and on Twitter as TibbyArmstrong. Or, email her directly at [email protected]. Check out her website at http://tibbyarmstrong.com
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GLBT October 2013
Secret of the Wolf Sienna Matthews
Each man harbors his own secrets. Would ASIN: B00CZIS2FK this cost them their lives? Publisher: Chained Hearts Publishing Trey lives a double life. By night, he's Publication lovers with a wolf shifter in his dreams. date: 5/23/2013 By day, he pines after Jovan, who Trey Genre: Paranormal has a massive crush on. Romance, Shifters Buy Links: When he and Jovan finally become lovers, day becomes night and Trey's perfectly Amazon
balanced world comes crashing down. Sienna Matthews Website Who is the man Trey catches kissing Jovan? How is the wolf shifter involved in this? What sinister force lives in the woods?
Trey is caught in evil's grasp. Will he escape... or won't he?
Trey immediately turned sober. “I’ve never been surer of anything in my life. I want you, Jovan, and that hasn’t changed.”
“Okay.” Jovan breathed out a ragged sigh. Of relief, Trey thought. “I’ve been making preparations, and I’m really excited for tomorrow.”
“Tonight?” Trey could hardly wait.
“Tomorrow,” Jovan said firmly. “I thought we could go out to the lake and have a picnic to celebrate your birthday.”
Wait a minute. Trey’s heartbeat slowed in confusion. Had he read Jovan wrong again? “Then we’re going to bed?” he asked uncertainly.
“Beside the lake.”
Oh. “Under the sky where anyone might see us?” Interestingly, the thought intrigued and aroused him.
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Jovan chuckled. “No one will be there, but yes, under the sky.” His blue eyes smoldered. “For now though, how about another kiss?” The low, husky sound of his voice created intimacy between them, and his hand tightened around Trey’s. “It’s been too long since our last one.” For a moment, with hunger stamped on his face, he looked older, much older than his thirty years and more like a man who’d been living for a long, long time and had just found what he desperately needed.
Trey blinked. Had he seen right?
He didn’t realize he’d been staring until the uncertainty in Jovan’s voice reached him.
“Trey?”
Jovan’s vulnerability touched and warmed his heart.
“That I can do. Kiss me, please.”
It seemed Jovan was waiting for his words, because the last syllable hadn’t yet faded before his mouth was on Trey’s, soft and light, sweet and savoring, like butterfly wings. His lips flitted and teased, a nip here, a peck there. Trey growled in frustration, ready to haul him closer, when Jovan slanted his head and pressed his mouth flush against his, firm and solid, warm and dry.
Time stopped, a void wherein he couldn’t hear nor see, but could only feel Jovan’s touch and the heat of his mouth. Smell his woodsy fragrance and a unique manly scent that could only be attributed to him, the virility of the odor causing Trey’s heart to pump loud and hard. He opened his mouth and touched his tongue to his lover’s lips, and the action caused sound to rush back in. Jovan responded by tilting his face for more access, kissing him open-mouthed and with almost violent force, accompanied by fierce stabs of his tongue into Trey’s mouth. Trey thrust back, and their tongues dueled, the intimacy fueling the passion and heat arcing between them.
Restless hunger made him moan as he placed a hand on Jovan’s chest, feeling his muscles bunch as he caressed him. He ached to touch Jovan’s cock, to free it from the confines of brown trousers and feel his heat against his skin. Ached so badly, he whimpered with longing.
They broke apart, panting. Trey was gratified to see the hot gleam of lust in Jovan’s blue eyes. He was sure his eyes possessed the same look, not to mention the hard bulge of his cock pushing against his clothes. Tomorrow couldn’t come quickly enough.
As usual, Jovan took it upon himself to be the voice of reason. “We’d better stop.”
Trey gave a brisk nod, trying to hide how much the brief kiss had shaken him and made him want.
“It’s getting darker, too,” Jovan added. “Let’s go faster.”
For some reason, Trey was annoyed at Jovan’s reaction. Couldn’t Jovan show more reluctance, be more romantic? He was the one who’d suggested the kiss after all. Didn’t he want to steal some more from Trey? But Jovan was practical. He couldn’t otherwise have survived so long on his own.
Still, the sweet anticipation of tomorrow caused a simmering tension to hum between them as they continued on their way, their fingers entwined once again. That was why he couldn’t help but be alerted when Jovan’s body drew tight as they neared the edge of the woods. He glanced over to see Jovan’s eyes continuously shifting from tree to tree, assessing, weighing, seeking.
“What is it?” Trey asked, Jovan’s actions making him nervous.
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The dense forest bordered the two towns, providing a shortcut for most of the townspeople who don’t own any transportation. Trey eyed the woods in front of them and felt a sliver of fear skitter through him. The towering trees that looked so friendly and shady in the morning had turned creepy and menacing in the near darkness, bearing an almost sinister look. Something let loose a long howl, the sound eerie and haunting, raising the flesh on his arms. Long branches appeared to be reaching toward him, wishing to snag his clothes, his hair, his limbs, imprisoning him within their knotty embrace. One pinned him with its heavy stems—
A helpless scream rose and bubbled from his throat.
About the Author:
Sienna Matthews writes deliciously erotic romance and MM romance. Sometimes, a bit of erotica, too. She goes wherever the muse calls. Check out her stories which are no holds barred sinful and seductive and where anything can happen.
A 4-day weekend to Jamaica turns A murder mystery novel with a A love story between a closeted into 4 days of hot lesbian sex on a unique take on demons and cop and his barista. tropical island devils.
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TOUCH OF A GHOST L.M. Brown Amongst the hotness, teasing and snarky characters, this was a tearjerker for me. Andy and Benji fell in love but could never completely be together. They battled with this and all the problems that could come out of a relationship without anything physical, as something as small as holding hands was impossible…There wasn't anything I didn't love about TOUCH OF A GHOST. It was funny, hot, touching and an all-around great read.…Read more.
ASH & OAK Nya Rawlyns A definite 5-star read! Once again, Nya Rawlyns proves she can weave a spellbinding and poignant tale of two men finding love. I just wish it had been longer so I could have read deeper into the night instead of gobbling it up greedily like a plate of delicious sticky toffee pudding…Read more.
BLACK HURRICANE Erica Pike I really loved this book…. It was moving, incredibly emotional, very funny in a lot of places, which I love--humor always has a place in a story for me--and I was so disappointed by the time it came for me to take my leave of this amazing family of characters and the rich, entertaining story. I recommend this book without reservation and will be reading more books by Erica Pike....Read more.
MORVEA Jennifer Wright The second book entitled MORVEA, in what I hope is a long series, takes us back to the wonderful world created by Jennifer Wright in Pavarus. These are not standalone books, but must be read in order. The relationships formed in the first book continue and are expanded here; the characters are given even more depth. And the writing still flows along smoothly, story plotline has as much or more depth, the characters and their relationships get even better in this book…Read more.
THE TROUBLE WITH TONY Eli Easton Enjoyable romantic mystery with a unique setting for the plot makes this a keeper! It grabbed me from the beginning, and I didn't put it down until I was done. I loved the sense of humor surrounding the interesting mystery, the steamy sex, and the likable characters…Read more.
THE REUNION Adriana Kraft Stories written by Adriana Kraft are done with a twist on the usual plots that you find within the genre…There are secondary characters from Sarah's past that show up to complicate everyone's life. All of the characters are well-written; the sex scenes are scorching hot. The story flowed along nice and easy to read…Read more.
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STRONG ENOUGH Cardeno C. The story moved at a great pace, and I read it in one sitting…I thoroughly enjoyed this sexy and romantic story…Another fantastic treat from Cardeno C., who has quickly become one of my favorite authors…Read more.
CAPTURE & SURRENDER L.A. Witt & Aleksandr Voinov CAPTURE & SURRENDER is an amazing exploration of the emotional journey from loss of love to acceptance of loneliness to discovery of new possibilities…This story was so, so, so fantastic…The interactions between all of the characters are so honest and the emotions seemed to jump off the page at me. I laughed and cried and felt nervous and excited right along with the characters. Another victory for the Market Garden series. Keep ‘em coming! Read more.
A GILDED CAGE Joy Lynn Fielding The drama and tension leading up to the two men's ultimate choice was masterful, the characters' motivations well plotted and thought out and the emotional turmoil they all faced enough to keep you on the edge of your seat. Joy Lynn Fielding writes a tender and sensual tale of two men whose only desire is to be together, safe and loved, and to live out the rest of their days together…Read more.
*This is not a comprehensive list. For more reviews of GLBT books, check out the site.
What happens when natural A FREE read bridging Should've Lauren can’t be sure – is this love enemies suddenly become blood Known Better and Underneath It at first sight? mates? All!
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Taken by Storm Opal Carew
Jessica doesn’t like to take risks, but when she’s almost run over by a red hot rock Publication musician named Storm on his motorcycle, date: 11/5/2013 she realizes that some risks are worth Genre: Erotic Romance taking. Buy Link
TAKEN BY STORM is one of eight hot new Opal Carew Website novellas by eight bestselling authors available in a boxed set for .99 starting in November. TAKEN BY STORM is the prequel to my upcoming serial novel His to Possess, which will be available in January.
“Oh, no, no. NO. Don’t do this to me!” Jessica groaned, stomping on the gas pedal in vain.
But heedless of her words, as she reached the bottom of the hill, the car simply coasted, losing speed rapidly. She steered to the shoulder of the dark, country road and stopped the car. She turned off the ignition, then tried to start the car again, but nothing happened. She pulled the hood release and got out of the vehicle, then lifted the hood and stared at the engine. There were no streetlights this far out of town, and she could barely make out the engine in the light of the half moon.
She grabbed a flashlight from the glove compartment and shone it under the hood.
Not that she knew what to look for. She bit her lip. There was nothing smoking and no obvious broken things. And even if there had been, she wouldn’t have known what to do about it. She got back in the car and grabbed her cell phone from her purse.
Damn, no service. Most places in and around her small hometown of Brookfield had excellent cell reception, but there were still pockets where the signal was just too weak.
And I’m lucky enough to break down in one of them!
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Now what would she do? She glanced around at the isolated road lined with bushy trees, the sound of the crickets almost deafening. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, not entirely because of the coolness of the summer night and the fact she was wearing a halter dress.
She reached into the back of the car and grabbed her shawl, then wrapped it around herself.
It was at least a five mile hike back to town. She could manage the walk if she had to, but in high heels walking along a sandy shoulder it would be dicey, and walking on the paved road would be downright dangerous, especially at night.
Alternately, she could sit here in the car and hope someone would drive by and help her. But what if no one came? Or worse, what if someone scary passed by and saw her in this vulnerable position? At least if she was walking, she could dodge into the bushes if she heard a vehicle approaching.
Maybe she was being overly cautious. Accepting a ride from a stranger didn't have to end in tragedy, but why take the chance? A long walk never hurt anyone.
Except for her feet, which would certainly wind up covered in blisters. She should have listened to Mom’s sage advice to never drive in high heels.
She sighed. She didn’t want to wait around here. Better to take her fate into her own hands.
She pushed herself from the car, grabbed her purse and started to walk. She stepped off the pavement onto the sandy roadside. It was difficult walking on the uneven surface, especially since she’d chosen to wear her really high, spike heels to Sally’s engagement party.
Sally was her cousin, and her boss. She owned her own website development business and employed Jessica as office manager, and several technical people to do the actual development. Sally handled the artistic side of things.
The eerie sound of scuttling in the bushes sent shivers down her spine. She walked a little faster. She thought she heard an engine in the distance, and glanced back, but couldn’t see any lights. Of course, the slope of the hill and the trees would block her view of any vehicle until it was fairly close. The sound seemed to be getting louder, though.
She was wearing a white dress, making her fairly visible, which was great for not getting hit, but not so good for trying to stay out of sight. She walked to the far side of the shoulder, looking for a place where the ditch wasn’t too deep so she could scurry in behind the brush. She glanced back and saw the glow of headlights from the other side of the hill. The approaching vehicle seemed to be moving pretty fast. She stepped carefully down the slight incline of the ditch, watching her footing on the grassy surface.
A crackle caught her off guard, then the bushes rustled. A sharp screech escaped her throat as something leaped toward her. She jumped back, then twisted around and lurched toward the road, her heart thundering in her chest. A light flashed in her eyes—a single headlight—as her heel caught on the pavement and she tumbled forward. The animal bound across the road and tires screeched, then the approaching motorcycle swerved and spun around, barely missing her as her hands hit the ground.
The driver gained control of his bike, then leaped off it.
“Shit! What the fuck, lady? Are you fucking insane?”
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She shivered as she stared up at the tall, muscular man in jeans and a black leather jacket, silhouetted by the light of the single headlight behind him.
He offered his hand and she reached for it, then he lifted her to her feet, none too gently.
“I could have been killed. You could have been killed. What the fuck are you doing walking around in the dark?”
She just stared at him, adrenaline pumping through her, as he pulled off his helmet, revealing dark spiky hair.
Oh, God, when she’d feared someone scary would come driving by, this is exactly what she’d had in mind. Only this was worse.
What would he do once he calmed down and realized she was out here all alone. She shuddered.
* * *
Storm stared at the woman in front of him, unshed tears glazing her eyes, though he didn’t think she’d be able to hold them back much longer, and he cursed himself for swearing like a fucking sailor.
He’d been hanging around with a rough crowd lately and had picked up some bad habits. That’s why he’d decided to move on. A band in the little town of Brookfield just ahead needed a guitar player and he’d been offered the gig.
But right now, he needed to try and calm the frightened woman in front of him and see if he could help her.
“Is that your car back there?”
She nodded.
“I take it you couldn’t get it started.”
She shook her head.
He raised an eyebrow. “And you were going to walk all the way to town? Do you know how far that is?”
She nodded, and just when he thought she’d never utter a word to him, she added, “Five miles.”
“You live there?”
She nodded.
“Okay.” He walked to his Harley and opened the hard-shell compartment on the back, then retrieved the spare helmet. He offered it to her. “I’ll give you a ride.”
She shook her head. Great, back to non-verbal communication.
“What’s the problem?”
“I don’t know you. And I certainly don’t want to ride on that.”
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“Really? You’d rather stay out here on your own?”
She glanced around and he could see she was shivering, but whether it was because she was wearing that pretty little sundress, all white and sexy, or because of fear he didn’t know. Probably both.
“I’ll be okay.”
“Like hell. Lady, I’m not leaving you here alone.”
Her eyes widened at his tone and she stepped back.
He drew in a deep breath and dropped the helmets into the compartment. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He ran his hand through his hair and smiled reassuringly. “I promise I’m not going to hurt you. Okay?”
She shook her head and backed away another step. She glanced around and he was sure she was going to bolt.
He held up his hands, palms toward her. “Okay, what if we walk back to your car together and I’ll see if I can get it going again?”
He could see the car down the road, about fifty years behind them.
“I’ll walk in front if you promise not to run away. That way you’ll know exactly where I am, and I can’t sneak up behind you. Deal?”
She nodded. “Okay.”
Good. At least they were making some progress.
He pushed his bike further onto the shoulder, then turned around and started toward the abandoned car behind them. He heard her footsteps on the sandy gravel behind him. Once at the vehicle, he released the hood, then walked to the front of the car and gazed at the engine. After a quick perusal, he noticed that the serpentine belt was gone.
She peered at the engine from the other side of the car.
“The serpentine belt must have broken,” he said.
“That’s the part that drives the water pump and circulates coolant to cool the engine, the power steering pump and the alternator.”
“Could we jump start the engine to get it going again?” she asked.
“Not from my bike, and even if we could get the engine started again, it might not be safe to drive. It’ll have to be towed to a garage.”
She nodded. “Okay. Thanks anyway.”
She turned and started walking again. He started after her, then fell in step beside her. She sent him a sidelong glance, but kept on walking. He matched his pace to hers, which was slower than his natural gait. He had longer legs, and he wasn’t wearing high heels.
When they reached his bike, she kept on going.
“Really? You’re still insisting on walking?”
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He stepped ahead of her, blocking her path. “Look, let’s talk about this.”
About the Author:
Hi. I’m Opal Carew and I write erotic romance for St. Martin’s Press.
I’ve been writing since 1993, though originally I wrote futuristic, urban fantasy, science fiction, paranormal and contemporary romance. These stories are set in the present, future, or alternate realities and most of my stories are steamy. I am now republishing these under the name Amber Carew.
As Opal Carew, I write erotic romances which always have a romance and a happy ending.
So why do I like writing erotic romance? I like being able to push beyond traditional boundaries. I like dealing with a woman who is growing and evolving – questioning her sexual boundaries and pushing past them. I have been writing stories that involve multiple characters and it’s fascinating to work with the interactions between them. What fun to write a heroine choosing between two equally appealing heroes? My current project involves a group of several people who interact sexually and I find the scenario an enjoyable challenge.
I try to keep my characters real. I like to have a heroine with whom the reader can empathize. These aren’t women who just jump into bed with anyone. They find themselves in an unusual situation – something exciting and erotic – but a situation where they have to push themselves beyond their comfort level. As a result, they grow as a person. So often fear holds us back – of what others will think of us, of what we will think about ourselves – and we don’t follow our hearts. These women push past that fear.
Check www.opalcarew.com to learn more about my books!
Chance brought them together Soul-aching desire was just the Paranormal Erotic Romance Out but will love and passion be beginning! 11/15 enough to keep them joined?
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Lose Control Anna Leigh Keaton
Married for five years, Kerri and Malcolm are fully in love. They have a ISBN: 9781419945830 wonderful little boy, and both are Publisher: Ellora’s Cave successful business owners. Nothing Publication date: May could be better…except their sex life. 2013 Before Malcolm met and fell in love Genre: Erotic with his sweet, shy wife, he’d been a Contemporary Romance patron of a fetish club, and sexually Buy Links: naïve Kerri was a virgin on their Publisher Link wedding night. Amazon Barnes and Noble Kerri understands that her husband All Romance eBooks needs more from her in their marriage bed, but she doesn’t know if she can Anna Leigh Keaton Website give it. She’d been taught never to lose herself in a man sexually, and it was a lesson well learned.
But her persistent husband encourages her to experience passion, and as she edges past the terror of letting him in, a new life slowly opens. As secrets of Kerri’s past are revealed, it’s a whole new, exciting beginning to their sexual relationship. One that includes all sorts of toys and more titillating fun than she ever imagined.
Kerri Anne Shields stepped through the door and pressed her back against the wall, trying to blend into the darkened shadows. Music, not too loud but with a beat that reverberated in her chest, surrounded her.
What am I doing?
The question, or a variation of it, had repeated itself continually in her mind since she’d slipped on the silk top and skin-tight, thigh-hugging leather skirt earlier.
The dim lighting of the club wasn’t low enough, she thought as she scanned the tables and lounge areas. It was a massive room with a polished bar at one end long enough to seat twenty, bottles of expensive liquor sparkling in the glow from the recessed lighting overhead.
The small round tables, fanning out from a darkened stage, were nearly full. There were men sitting with men, women with women, couples, and some tables with three or four in every state
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Erotic Romance October 2013 of dress from casual denim to leather to…Kerri gulped. Nothing. There were women sitting at those tables, some on chairs, some perched on men’s laps, others on their knees next to the chairs, completely naked except for collars around their necks. Some were attached to leash-like things that their… Oh dear God, what am I doing here?
Owners. Masters.
She dabbed her fingers over her perspiring top lip. She wasn’t sure she could do this. Sensory overload. Tension and lust filled the air, and she fought against their grasping, invisible fingers.
Her gaze shifted to the lounges, set up a few steps higher than the tables against the long wall. These rounded booths were surrounded on three sides by high backs, which kept them private from the other booths. But from her vantage point, she could see into each one of them. Some were totally dark, others had flickering candles on the tables. All had people in them. The place was packed.
What she tried not to see, not to stare at, were the couples engaged in sexual contact. But how could she ignore such a thing when she was surrounded by it? When the curiosity nearly consumed her? These people were doing in public things she refused to do in the privacy of her own bedroom.
I can’t do this. I can’t do this. Her heart thudded too hard. Her mouth was dry. Her body tingled every time she let her gaze wander to a new scene.
Kerri eased sideways toward the exit. She needed to leave before she lost the tight hold she had on herself.
“Hey, baby.”
She stifled a yelp as Malcolm stepped out of the shadows.
“I wasn’t sure you were going to show.” He moved close to her, cupped her cheek in one big hand and lightly pressed Did she, herself, want to be his lips to hers. bound naked and watched by several dozen people? That one little touch made her shiver as visions of what went on around them clouded her mind.
When he pulled back, she searched his dark eyes. Did he really want to have sex with her in public? In front of an audience? Surely she wasn’t the only one who stared so openly.
The strange thing was, the thought didn’t disgust her. In fact, looking into Malcolm’s eyes, taking in his dark Italian complexion, she felt a tiny wave of need she tried so desperately to quash.
Kerri raised her hand and touched his chest, the silk of his shirt, smooth and warm beneath her fingers. He was the epitome of walking lust, dressed all in black. With his dark hair, dark eyes and the build of an athlete, he was an imposing figure. But she’d been with him long enough to know he was as soft as a marshmallow on the inside.
She licked her lips with a quick flick of her tongue. If he was such a marshmallow, why here and why now? The Devil’s Den wasn’t a place for a tender, gentle man. She hadn’t known the place existed a month ago. Not until Malcolm told her about it and asked her to read a couple books he’d bought for her.
Books about submission and dominance. Bondage and discipline.
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The lights dimmed even more, and a spotlight flicked on, illuminating the stage, drawing Kerri’s attention.
In the center of the stage, a woman stood, naked, attached to some kind of X-shaped contraption that kept her arms and legs spread wide.
“That’s called a Saint Andrew’s Cross,” Malcolm whispered.
His warm breath on her ear made her shiver and fist her hands to keep from touching him.
She’d read about things like the St. Andrew’s Cross. It was less elaborate than she expected. “What’s going to happen to her?”
“Watch.”
From the right entered a man dressed in all black leather vest, pants and a hood that covered everything but his eyes and mouth.
Kerri’s gut clenched, and she looked away. The figure was scary, but that wasn’t why she couldn’t watch. Kerri’s self-control was slipping, and she couldn’t let that happen. She was strong. She needed to fight the urges.
Malcolm’s gentle hand lifted her chin and turned her face toward the stage. “Watch.” His voice was firm yet soft, and she glanced up into his eyes once again.
Malcolm wrapped his arm around Kerri’s waist, his big, warm body along her side, his hand settled proprietarily at her hip. The position was common enough in their relationship, but right now, it felt different. Very possessive. Very sexual.
Those books she’d read talked about the give and take, push and pull of a discipline-submission relationship. All very technical. Scientific.
Logical.
The fact that her tummy quivered as she watched that horribly masked man fondle the woman with a hard piece of leather was definitely not discussed in those books.
The shot of excitement at seeing a naked woman spread out like that was new and a little terrifying. Kerri was one hundred percent heterosexual, but that woman, with her big breasts, small waist and flared hips, was beautiful. Tantalizing to look at. The expression of rapture on her face as the man slowly lowered the tip of the riding crop, over her belly made Kerri yearn to let go and let herself experience all she tried so hard to avoid.
Did she, herself, want to be bound naked and watched Kerri’s self-control was slipping, by several dozen people? and she couldn’t let that Kerri bit her tongue and gave her head a small shake. happen. She was strong. She needed to fight the urges. No, she was sure she did not. That was not who she was. This was not who she was. She was not leather and silk. She wasn’t a woman to submit to anyone, especially her husband. She’d worked too hard to maintain her independence, to never let her sexual needs dictate how she functioned.
When the woman’s soft moan carried to her across the room, Kerri clenched, and she had to look away.
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Tears stung her eyes and she tried to blink them back. She could not battle the urges when surrounded by so much brazen sexual conduct.
“Shh,” Malcolm whispered in her ear. “It’s okay.”
He didn’t try to make her look at the naked woman again. Instead, he stepped in front of her and laid his warm, soft lips against her temple.
“You’re not ready for this. Let’s go home, baby.”
Her heart ached; disappointment in herself weighed her down, but she nodded and turned for the door.
Malcolm needed more than she gave him. But to give him everything would ruin her. He was unsatisfied and it broke her to know it was she who kept him from being happy.
She was weak and it shamed her. She should be strong enough that she could watch such sexual congress without so much need building within her.
Malcolm held the door for her, and she stepped out into the night, sucking in the damp chill of early fall into her lungs. Malcolm slipped his hand into hers, and they walked to her car, where he held the door for her and she got behind the wheel.
Finally, Kerri looked up at him. “I’m sorry, Mal. I…”
He kissed her to silence her. “I’ll follow you home.” He kissed her again and then shut her door, smiled at her through the window and winked. He wasn’t upset with her.
He never got upset with her.
About the Author:
Anna Leigh has been reading and penning romances for as long as she can remember. After she met and married her very own real-life hero, romance took on a whole new meaning.
She now knows married life can sizzle and romance can be 'erotic,' even in her own home.
Now her writing has taken on a spicier flavor, and while hubby's off at work, she lets her imagination soar…
You can find Anna on Facebook and she also shares a blog (hers, mine and ours) with her sometimes writing partner, Madison Layle @ www.LayleKeaton.com or ask to be added to her newsletter by dropping her an email at [email protected] with SIGN ME UP! in the subject line.
She LOVES to hear from her readers!
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From Bullets to Bulls: One Author's Journey into the World of her Books
By NY Times Best Seller Cat Johnson
A computer screen. The page of a book. Both are two dimensional, but the stories written on those flat surfaces are far from it.
Those stories have a depth that goes beyond three-dimensions. One that, when written well, incorporates all the senses and transports the reader away from their life, and to another time, another place.
We, as authors, have to know everything our characters are feeling. How else can we relay that to the readers? But we also have to know the sights, the smells, the sounds surrounding them.
I'll admit it—as an author I've been guilty of looking at, shall we say, less than reliable sources of research. Namely, Google and Wikipedia. Those are fine for things I need to know for my books, such as the distance from Stillwater to Drumright, Oklahoma. Or how many students attend Oklahoma State University and what is the student to teacher ratio as compared to the size of the student body and ratio at Vassar College in New York. Seemingly mundane details, but they were necessary for my research for book one in my Oklahoma Nights series with Kensington.
The internet is fine for that kind of research, but whenever possible there really is no substitute for firsthand experience, especially for a writer. The most valuable research I've done to date has been stepping into the real worlds of my fictional characters, even if in a limited way.
What, specifically, am I talking about?
Hearing a bugle call while on the phone with one of my military consultants. Skyping with a deployed member of the military and seeing with my own eyes the inside of his mud and plywood quarters on a remote firebase in the mountains of Afghanistan. Being able to compare that to what I saw on Skype of the inside of an MWR at a major base. Having my heart clench when I see on live video camera my consultants dressed in body armor and armed with weapons that I as a civilian have never had exposure to first hand. I've used it all in writing my military scenes for my Red, Hot & Blue series with Samhain.
It all adds details and emotion to my writing that I'm not sure I could create if I hadn't had these experiences.
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The genre doesn't matter. I can be writing my military romance, or my contemporary cowboys. The real life experiences I've gathered are branded into my brain.
I'll never forget my weekend in Raleigh, North Carolina. The hours I spent behind the chutes during the NBR (National Bull Riding) Finals watching the bull rider I'd sponsored ride. Even more amazing than seeing him wear the shirt with my tag line and website embroidered on the sleeve, were the other details that have stuck with me.
I'll never forget the nuances of that visit and I've turned to them countless times while writing. Things like the smells of the arena, an interesting mix of the foods for sale by the vendors and the bulls penned behind the chutes. The sight of my bull rider's hands shaking from the adrenaline after his ride. My own feelings while watching him climb into the chute and then buck off.
The nerve-jarring clash of the metal gate as it crashed just feet from me against the metal rails of the chute. Making eye contact with the bull as it stopped its search to find the outgate when it noticed the people, me being one of them, up on the chutes. Having the cowboy standing next to me take a knee, swoop off his hat, and bow his head until the rider, flat out and unmoving on the arena dirt, finally moved and then stood, proving he was all right.
Catching sight of a rider, unaware he was being watched, reaching through the rails of the pen to scratch the back of a very happy bull, which acted more like a forty-pound dog than a half-ton bovine. And then watching another less well- behaved bull decide he took issue with the pair of chaps hanging on the rails, and decide to ram the freestanding metal pen until it shifted enough I started to fear for my safety.
All of that is part of me now, and part of my fictional stories, adding a layer of reality that I hope leads the readers on a journey deeper into the story until reality and fantasy blend into an indecipherable line.
Will I still need to Google for facts and details? Yes. There are some places I can't go. Some things I can't do. I've found there are some details my military guys can't tell me, but news articles will.
Will I still need to turn to real life people for other facts and details? Oh, hell yes. Because sometimes you just have to ask a real person things you can't find the answers to elsewhere. Athletic supporter or no? Yes, I've actually asked bull riders that. I needed to know for my Studs in Spurs series. FYI, the answer is no, they don't wear them. Aren't you glad you know that? You're welcome. ;)
About the Author:
NY Times bestselling author Cat Johnson is known for her creative marketing and research practices. Consequently, she has sponsored bull riding rodeo cowboys, owns an entire collection of cowboy boots and camouflage shoes for book signings, and a fair number of her consultants wear combat or cowboy boots for a living. She writes both full length and shorter contemporary romance in genres including military, cowboy, and ménage and is currently contracted with Kensington and Samhain. For more, visit www.CatJohnson.net.
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Lucifer’s Choice
Jianne Carlo
In order to avoid a pre-arranged marriage to one of India's most eligible bachelors, ISBN: 9781607374855 Publisher: Loose Id Nalini runs away, hiding out for two Publication years on a ship. Pirates storm the ship, date: December 2009 and Lucifer's Hades Squad rescues the Genre: Erotic Multicultural crew...all except for the one lone female Contemporary Romance engineer, who vanishes. Then Lucifer, Buy Links: aka Sax Anders, is hired to find the Amazon runaway bride, the daughter of close All Romance eBooks family friends. Barnes and Noble
Jianne Carlo Website Nalini learns Lucifer's in Santa Fe. Her teenage crush on Lucifer's never wavered even though she hasn't seen him in eight years. Now she needs to lose her virginity to avoid marriage--could the fates have been kinder?
Lucifer never loses his cool, never acts on impulse, until one sultry Santa Fe night when he beds a mysterious exotic beauty who seems vaguely familiar. Their shattering sex stuns Lucifer; he suggests another date. Nalini informs him she's engaged. He's outraged--she used him.
Sax had to rush to make the afternoon meeting at the Hades Squad’s new offices located in Amityville on Long Island. He literally bumped into Satan as he strolled through the main doorway.
“What’s up?” Satan’s features lived up to his nickname—black hair, black eyes, olive complexion, one Roman nose broken three times, and a permanent five o’clock stubble darkening his chin and jaw.
“The you know what just hit the fan. You’re not going to like this, Sax. I was broadsided too.”
The Hades Squad team never called each other by their real names. “What? Something wrong with Destiny?”
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Sinner, aka Linc Chapman, a member of the team, had recently married, and the Hades Squad had adopted his new wife, Destiny, in a heartbeat.
“No, it’s not Destiny. Much closer to home.”
“My family?” A rake could have scraped the back of his neck—his skin and hair tingled that much.
“A picture’s worth a thousand words, and all that kind of crap. Follow me. It’ll become evident only too soon.” Satan stomped through the reception area, which boasted a modular cherrywood desk sporting an oversize flat-panel LCD, an olive tartan-patterned upholstered couch, two matching chairs, and a low coffee table with a stack of magazines arranged by size.
The first person he saw upon entering the conference room was his father. He had his arm around a woman dressed in a tailored navy skirt and a crisp snowy blouse. She looked to be in her fifties and wore an exquisite pearl necklace with matching earrings and bracelet. Another man around the same age wearing a pinstriped suit Sax recognized as Savile Row tailor-made stood on the other side of the woman, holding out a mug, which the woman accepted.
Satan slapped a legal file on the table, Sax’s father raised his head, and a jolt of affection and admiration shot through Sax as his eyes met his father’s.
“Son, I’m glad to see you.”
“Dad.” Sax marched over to shake his father’s hand and give him a hug and a shoulder pat. “I hear you’ve brought us a new client.” Sax turned to face the older couple, and a déjà vu foreboding spiraled up his spine, numbing the pads of his fingers.
“You remember Dr. Haresh Marajh and his wife, Chandani.”
Sax might as well have been standing on a Norwegian fjord at the icy chill that sailed from his toes to his scalp. “Of course. You were stationed in Norway for a few years. I remember your son, Tarak. We attended the same school and were good friends. I believe you also have a daughter, Nalini.”
The woman I made love to not fifteen hours ago.
About the Author:
Award winning author, Jianne Carlo’s motto is simple: Alpha Me Please.
While strong heroines, exotic locations, and cultural differences are her forte, she goes weak in the knees for warriors and alphas. Send her a man with an attitude and she’ll find the right woman to tame him.
Jianne loves hot and spicy food, stomach-plunging park rides, and is kept on her toes by her Viking husband of thirty-five years, and three, handsome grown sons. There’s nothing she likes more than hearing from readers.
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Lisa Beth, thanks for joining us in this issue to talk about your exciting series!
Q: What inspired you to write the Of War series? Why Greek mythology?
I became enthralled with Greek Mythology in high school when we studied the Greek Tragedies. I took to it right away and felt that it was a missing piece of me. Ares inspired me to write the series. I’ve worked with Ares for many years and he’s appeared in many stories of mine, in one form or another, but he was never The Star. He wanted to be the hero. At first I thought that was a crazy idea, I mean who is ever going to buy The God of War as the hero of a novel? But he kept insisting, he wanted his story told, so we sat down and wrote The Heart of War purely for our own amusement. I never intended to publish it or offer it for public consumption beyond offering it free to read on my website. The darn thing attracted so many people—probably because it was free—that I felt I should give it a shot and publish it in a more traditional manner.
Q: Please tell us a little about the overall series arc.
The OF WAR Series is set in modern-day and it tells the tale of Ares, God of War (hence the “OF WAR” name for the series) and his lady love Magdalena MacLeod, a half-human half-Fey woman who just washes up on the shore of his island one night.
The first book relates the tale of how they met and fell in love. The reader is introduced to the Greek Pantheon and one Celtic God, Cernunnos, Alena’s would-be husband. Due to the violent death of Artemis hundreds of years before, the Olympians have been looking for Alena in the hopes she will give them answers to how and why Artemis was found by Ares in the deep forest with her head caved in. If nothing else, they believe they can use her as bait to make Cernunnos tell them what happened.
We come to see that, while they may be Gods, the Olympians are really just the most divinely dysfunctional family imaginable, each one always trying to out-do the other no matter the cost. They hate Ares with a passion so anything that makes him happy, such as, say, Alena, is fair game to them.
There’s a dark secretive past between the Olympians and the Celts—especially the Feys—that drips with blood and steams with the hate of betrayal.
Q: How intriguing! When you started this series, did you already have a clear vision of the books and characters you wanted to write about? Or did that evolve over time?
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When I wrote The Heart of War it was meant to be a standalone novel and it does stand alone. However, when I finished it, I realized there was so much more of the story to tell and that I wanted to get into. I thought it would end up being a trilogy but, when it’s finished next year, there will be 6 stories (five novels and one short story) that comprise the OF WAR Series.
Q: In the first book, The Heart of War, what is it about our heroine Magdalena “Alena” MacLeod that keeps Ares, Greek God of War, enthralled?
She’s different. He realizes right off that she’s a Fey and he hasn’t seen a Fey in hundreds of years. He also realizes she belongs to an old rival of the Olympians, Cernuunos Celtic God of the Forest. Ares wonders where she came from and how she got to his island and whether or not Cernunnos is far behind her. He understands that the tale she tells of pirates and exploding ships is a lie but he also understands Alena doesn’t realize she’s lying, she believes what she tells him. Thinking that someone has erased her memory of the events leading up to her appearing on his shore, Ares investigates her and he comes to see her as a very strong and intelligent woman, a fighter both in sprit and body. Unlike most people, Alena isn’t afraid of him, she never hesitates to zing him or cut off at the knees when he needs it. Ares respects that, in fact he likes it a lot.
Q: In the second book, Child of War – A God is Born, politics and machinations continue to abound, with Ares and Alena and their son Raven being the targets. How did these affect Ares and Alena’s relationship? How did these contribute to Raven’s development into a man?
Near the end of “Heart”, Ares strikes a bargain with his Mother, Hera, to save Alena’s life; he and Alena will move back to Olympus to raise their son, Raven. Olympus is no place for a Fey and Ares knows it but he has no other choice.
Zeus picks on Alena from the moment she steps foot on Olympus and all of the other Olympians, save Hera and Eros, shun her as well. Zeus wants nothing to do with his half-breed grandson and strikes a bargain of his own with Ares; he’ll leave Alena and Raven, even accept Raven as one of their own, and he’ll leave them alone if Ares gives him full- blooded Olympians with Aphrodite. Needless to say that didn’t sit well with Alena, especially not after Trinity, Ares’ and Aphrodite’s daughter is born.
As Raven grows, Apollo takes him under his wing and fills his head with lies about his mother. Raven grows to be a very angry young man full of rage and hate toward the one woman who truly loves him; his mother. Ares tries to undo the damage but when the true past between the Olympians and Feys is revealed, it only makes Apollo look as though he’s been telling the truth to his impressionable nephew the entire time.
Q: In the third book, Child of War – Rising Son, we see Alena going through more challenges. How have all these trials shaped Alena’s character?
Alena is a very strong woman who meets adversity head-on whenever necessary. Although she’d rather temper that adversity with diplomacy first, she never hesitates to get down and dirty when the situation calls for it. It’s in the challenges she faces where Alena’s character truly shines through. While she does break down from time to time and has her moments of weakness like we all do, in the end the challenges she faces only serve to make her stronger and wiser.
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Q: Women of War tells the story of Alena’s past and background. What makes Alena the woman she is in the first book when Ares first met her?
Her life experiences. She grew up in the Golden Lands among the trees and forest with her mother, Maven but she soon caught the attention of Cernunnos who wanted her for himself not only because she’s beautiful but because she witnessed him kill Artemis. He’s not a very likeable guy as he often comes to the little Fey Village to take his pick of the young Feys in exchange for him protecting the Golden Lands from outsiders.
Alena spent 10 years in captivity being prepared to become Cernunnos’ wife, during which time Cernunnos put a magick golden chastity belt on her. At the age of 16, just before the marriage was to take place, Alena escaped and spent the next 200 years on the run from her would-be husband. When Ares meets her, she isn’t a young chick, that’s the thing I love about her the most. She’s no 23 year-old hottie. She’s a mature woman who isn’t out to please or capture a man in any manner.
But therein lies the rub, Alena has never fallen in love. She’s never wanted to and given her history that’s understandable. When she meets Ares, she wants nothing to do with him all she wants is for him to let her off the island.
Q: What’s the most romantic moment between Ares and Alena?
I’m an old softie so I think that at least one of the most romantic moments between them is in The Heart of War where Ares first confesses that he loves Alena:
“I’d rather have one night with you here on my island than ten thousand more nights with them on Olympus.”
“Why?”
“I’m tired of being alone,” Ares confessed.
“You’re not alone. You have all of your guards and your women.”
“And still I am alone except when I’m with you. Then I am whole, no longer restless, and no longer weary.” In her arms, Ares turned around quickly, put his arms around her, and brought her down to the warm sand. Staring into those stormy eyes Ares couldn’t hold the words back any longer. “I love you, Alena.”
Alena closed her eyes as his words washed over her. “Yet you told them that you don’t love me,” Alena prodded, keeping the bulk and warmth of him close.
Ares opened his eyes as he tilted his head upward to look at her. “I don’t recall saying that. Do you?”
Alena opened her mouth to speak but then closed it once more. No, he had not told Hera that he did not love her. Ares said he had no heart. That was a lie, he had a heart, and she could feel it beating away under her hand working its way deeper and deeper into her soul with every pulse. It seemed he had quite the slippery way with words. “I see you’re an excellent strategist, my Lord.”
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“I know you think I’m a brute, an ogre, who can’t stop living in days of old when men owned their women. It’s not true,” Ares mumbled. “I don’t own the women here and I do not own you but I am charged with protecting all of you. If I hadn’t said and done the things that I did, Alena, my Family would have been able to keep you on Olympus until the day you died if that’s what they wanted. That is not what I want.”
“Very tricky, very slick,” Alena complimented. Yes, she had been scared out of her mind listening to the way Ares spoke about her, as though she were chattel and not even present in the room. Now she could see that his old chauvinistic ways had some merit, a definite method to the madness.
“I am not tricking you now, so listen to me; I love you, Magdalena, you hold my heart in your hands. I have never felt anything like this in my life. Nothing this strong and undeniable except battle. Battle is not warm, it is not soft, and it is not peaceful. I can’t bear the mere idea of being without you. Tell me you feel the same. Not because you have to, not because of some silly spell you think you live under.”
“I fell in love with you the instant I saw you.” Alena wrapped her arms around his bare torso as the faint memory of her first night on the island came to her mind. Vaguely she remembered opening her tired eyes, seeing his handsome face over her. She remembered kissing him and telling him that she loved him. “You’re everything I never knew I needed.”
“Then I am right; one night with you is worth more than ten thousand nights on Olympus without you.” She was everything he had ever wanted and more. Ares was going to enjoy taking his time in showing her all of the secrets of making love and reveling in being the only man she would ever lay with. Such a gift was rare indeed and he should treat it with great reverence. “You will never want for anything. I will lay this world at your feet and pray to all of the Gods that it is enough to keep you by my side.”
Q: How do you come up with such emotionally driven plots?
I tend to use things everyone can relate to. If you read my books closely you’ll see that most of the things actually driving the plot forward are ‘ripped from today’s headlines’ such as Ceres Agar, the refugee camp in Africa where Alena worked before she met Ares. In Rising Son, we deal with the collapse of the world economy after which anarchy reigns supreme with riots in the streets. Hot on its heels came the dreaded disease Major Falls that wipes out nearly the entire population of the earth. In Kingdoms of War, we deal with the aftermath of losing the world as we know it and struggle with what new world will arise from the ashes of the old.
Q: How do you come up with such a strong and memorable romance and love scenes?
I’d like to say I have a good imagination and leave it at that, but the truth is, I’ve led a good life in that department. Yes, it’s very adventurous. I write about it. I dramatize a little of course but in the end almost all of the sex is based on an actual experience of mine.
Q: What scene was most difficult to write, either because of its emotional intensity or level of technical difficulty?
Actually, in terms of emotional intensity, I believe I’m on the threshold of writing it now in Kingdoms of War, but up to this point, it’s the birthing scene in Child of War-A God is Born. It’s very harrowing and exceedingly intense. It took quite a while to get it right.
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As to technical difficulties I always find fighting scenes the hardest to write. I’m not a fighter in the physical sense so I end up acting out scenes with pillows and chairs in my office just to see if what I’m doing is even possible. I imagine it’s quite funny to anyone who happens to catch sight of me through the window.
Q: That is funny. Will there be more in the Of War series? Please give us a sneak peek.
The last book in the series, Kingdoms of War will release next spring.
Q: What’s up next for you?
I don’t honestly know but I have the sneaking suspicion, given the path Kingdoms of War is taking, that we haven’t heard the last of the Olympians. In fact, things may just be getting started.
How exciting! We can’t wait! Thank you for sharing with us insights into the Of War series. Now for the Fast Answer Round:
Last book you read: “Duma Key” by Stephen King Favorite vacation location: Any place in New England Favorite dessert: Anything chocolate Favorite drink: Non-Alcoholic; Coca-Cola, Alcoholic; Southern Comfort Favorite place to write: My office
About the Author, Lisa Beth Darling: All of my books and stories filled with steamy sex, hot passion, dark intrigue, and nail biting suspense. As such, all of them are intended for a Mature Audience Only this includes most of my non-fiction books.
I've been married for the last 27 years to my wonderful husband and incredibly talented musician & rockin' DJ, Roy. We live in my hometown of New London, CT where we have raised two beautiful daughters to adulthood.
My writing career began in junior high, around the 7th grade. A fact that my fellow students adored but often got me called down to the Guidance Counselor's Office to discuss the adult nature of my early stories. While the experience was never pleasant, I was not deterred by the counselors' worries I was spurred onward by them, as well as by my teachers, and my classmates, I continued to hone my craft throughout those formative years.
Through my full-length novels and series I bring conflict, passion, love, and suspense to unique couples--how about a Greek God and a Fey, a retiring military man and an aging widowed hippie, a famous writer/director and a lonely hitch-hiker, or a b-grade actor and a very lucky first-time author? Since I'm never one to shy away from the less pleasant things in life, indeed I believe that it is in the Darkness where Character is created, determined, and defined, my heroes and heroines have their love tested by demons from within and without. My books are for those who like their reading on the gritty side. They are not intended for the faint of heart or those who enjoy a sweet read.
Also, being a Pagan (which is helpful when I write about the Ancient Gods!) I've penned a few useful guides for Ritual Sex/Love Magick and for those wanting to start out exploring Magickal Herbalism.
Find Lisa Beth Darling at http://www.moonsmusings.com
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Book 1 in the Of War series
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Inside the Heart of every Warrior breathes the Soul of a Hero--even within The Heart of War.
Meet Ares God of War, the greatest Warrior the world has ever known. He's moody, grumpy, dominant, ravenously sexual, and above all, built like a Greek God.
Suspected of killing his Daughter in-Law, Psyche, and long in exile from Olympus, the solitude of Ares' secluded Greek Isle is interrupted when Magdalena MacLeod a plucky little Fey washes up on his shore after believing she's been shipwrecked. It's not mere fate that has brought the unlikely couple together yet it may be what tears them apart.
Get lost in this sweeping dark saga of lust, rage, revenge, and redemption. Battle Ancient Gods while falling in love with Ares God of War and Alena MacLeod. They share a love that will rock the world from the heights of Olympus to the Celtic moors.
The Heart of War contains scenes of graphic sex and violence. As such, this novel and the entire OF WAR Series are intended for MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY it is NOT recommended for the Faint of Heart.
Watch the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH6KtA5tIw0
Book 2 in the Of War series
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Do you remember Damien? Raven makes that kid look like an angel.
In book #2 of the OF WAR Series, Ares settles down with his wife, Alena, to await the birth of their son, Raven. As Alena struggles to enjoy what should be a blessed event, prophetic visions of an adult Raven haunt her dreams. Are they true visions or false ones implanted by Cernunnos who told her the boy would bring glory to Ares but only pain and agony to her? The strong but delicate Fey is relentlessly bombarded by hostility from the Olympians making her yearn to be back on Ares’ secluded island home, far away from all the bickering and backstabbing that makes up Life on mighty Mount Olympus.
Before Raven is even born, Zeus outwardly despises him for his Fey blood given to him by his filthy Celtic mother. With no way out and no way to keep his family safe from his father, Zeus the
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God of Gods, Ares enters into a blood pact that could cost the God of War everything he holds dear.
After a harrowing birth wherein mother and son are nearly lost to Ares, it quickly becomes clear that Raven may be the most powerful and cunning Olympian ever born despite his muddled bloodline.
As Zeus, Apollo, and Aphrodite plot against the new family by carefully planting the seeds of rage and doubt in Raven’s mind, they turn son against mother. It appears as though Alena’s visions and Cernunnos’ prophecy are coming to life as Raven grows to be a very angry young man.
As the true past between the Olympians and Celts is revealed, the battle for Raven’s mind and the ultimate control of Olympus begins. Before it’s over, the white snows of Olympus will run red with blood.
Watch the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et3HZTTVJno
Book 3 in the Of War series
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On the verge of manhood, Raven's rampage continues as he begins the difficult path to Acceptance by his fellow Olympians. Out to prove he's as good, if not better than, any of them he bests the Trials set before him by Hades and Poseidon. This isn't enough for him, in his quest to prove to his Father, Ares, that he is an Olympian, Raven preys upon the Mortals below Olympus in a time of great weakness. Settling for nothing less than Chaos, he enlists the aid of his Uncle Apollo and pushes the Mortals to pure anarchy when a global financial crisis leaves the entire world destitute, in ruins, and at each other's throats. Ready to conquer his Trials, take his place at the Counsel Table, and bring Ares the glory Cernunnos once prophesized, only one thing stands in his way--the night his Mother fell down the stairs.
Alena, her body asleep in Ares' bed for four long years, is lost deep in the clutches of a never- ending dream induced by Morpheus. After years of living an illusion and becoming Morpheus’ Wife, Alena discovers his deception and struggles to escape her prison. Morpheus has no intentions of ever letting her go. He'll fight to the death to keep her.
Apollo, ever the Man Behind the Curtain, pulls Raven's strings like a true puppet master. It's far too late when Raven realizes all he's done to please his Father actually makes Ares look guilty of destroying the Mortal World. A little Chaos and a little Anarchy aren't enough for the Golden God, in his on-going quest to destroy Ares, Apollo sets a plague loose upon the Earth. A bio-chemical weapon stolen from the United States Government at Area 51, known commonly as Major Falls. By the time the Olympians discover what's going on, twenty million people are dead with the number multiplying exponentially every day.
With only one option left to each of them, Raven and Alena turn to their unlikeliest of enemies-- Aphrodite and Apollo for help. One night in the bed of the Goddess of Love can be painful but one night in the bed of the Golden God can kill and destroy all that Ares and Alena have built and
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Watch the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-hhoBlX3_k
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Bound by Love S.E. Gilchrist
She is searching for the mortal mother who bore then abandoned her. ISBN: 9781301749454 Publisher: S.E. Gilchrist Publication He is searching for the pixie king who date: 12/27/2012 murdered his mother. Genre: Erotic Fantasy / Historical Romance She hopes to bring peace between their Buy Links: two races. Amazon Amazon Kindle He knows of no other road but the Smashwords battlefields. Barnes and Noble Kobo Brought together by vows of vengeance, they are now bound together by love. S.E. Gilchrist Website
But with war on the horizon, will the enemy destroy them both?
One last quick glance around before she crept to the door, her footsteps light as thistledown. The bar to repel intruders lay on the floor, unused. Now if only the door did not squeak when it opened then freedom would be within her grasp.
Her teeth chattered together in tune with her frantic heart beats when she grasped the knob and ever so slowly pulled the door towards her. No shouts assailed her ears, so she peered round the sturdy planked frame. A few paces down the passageway, two soldiers slumped against the wall. One with eyes shut and a slack jaw and the other staring into the distance, his expression vacant. That they expected little trouble from the prisoner was evident by their casual stance.
Fools to think she would meekly accept whatever fate the warrior chose to inflict upon her. She would best him, leave him cursing at his arrogance, such a pleasing image. Aye, already she could picture the scene and she rubbed her hands together gleefully. Perhaps it would be a good notion to remain within the fort the better to enjoy her victory? She wavered, her fingers plucking at her damp tunic until she sighed and opened her pouch. Much as she would enjoy witnessing his reaction when he found her gone, it would be best to actually be gone before he returned.
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She reached inside the small bag and took out a pinch of pixie dust before securing the strings once more. Another peep down the hall then assured her that the sentries were paying little heed to her chamber. She tossed the dust into the air. Gold, silver, emerald, ruby red and sapphire blue, the tiny crystallised dust glittered as it swirled and danced above her head. Under her breath she chanted an incantation, faster and faster until she felt the faint stirrings on the top of her hair as the dust drifted down.
Now to test whether the spell worked. A half-blooded pixie had many disadvantages, one of which was the inability to tread between two worlds and become invisible to mortal eyes. Hoping it would help keep her safe, her father had given her this pouch with its magical contents many seasons ago. Teelah clutched the edges of the bag tight in one hand. Tears stung her eyes. Her beloved father would be scouring the countryside searching for her. She must trust in his powers and make all haste to return to his side, where she belonged.
Holding her breath she stepped into the passageway. She took one step then another. Still no sound from the guards. Neither looked up as she walked closer. The spell worked.
Her chest feeling as if it were about to explode, Teelah released her breath and ran. Down the passageway, past the guards, around the corner then burst through the doorway into the hall. She tripped. Hands outstretched she fell onto a blanket wrapped bundle and rolled off onto the floor. A man flung the cloth from his shoulders, sat up and squinted in her direction.
He cannot see me, he cannot see me, she chanted under her breath. Hands clenched into fists, her heart pounding like horses’ hooves while she squatted amongst the musty straw and waited.
He grunted, lay back down and drew the cover over his head.
Her stomach swirled queasily and Teelah swallowed, waiting until the trembling in her body eased. With her legs feeling as weak as twigs she straightened and cast a cautious gaze about the room.
Only for her heart to slam upwards into her throat as her eyes met the narrowed stare of her captor who sprawled on a bench drawn close to a wooden table. Unable to look away, she stared back, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip so sharply, the sickly sweet taste of fresh blood filled her mouth. Would he tie her arms and legs with ropes and have four horses pull her body apart? Perhaps he would entomb her in a pit with venomous snakes.
“What is the matter?” asked a woman’s voice.
Teelah jerked her head aside and saw the Lady Aileen sitting soldier straight in the steward’s chair.
The demon switched his gaze to the passageway, a heavy scowl settling on his dark face.
He does not see me. Thank ye, Lady Danu. Teelah wobbled on her feet.
“‘Tis nought, but I will check on my prisoner,” he muttered as he pushed the goblet aside with a rough gesture and rose to his feet.
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“But what of Robbie? He has not returned to the hall and ye said ye would look for him,” said Aileen.
“I will see to him later.” The words sounded like they were forced past clenched teeth.
Aye, he surely looked uncommonly sour decided Teelah. She stepped over another recumbent form, heading in the opposite direction to her captor who stalked towards the doorway. How long would it take before he reached her room? She eyed the distance to the hall’s entrance. If only she had those wings Aileen thought she possessed.
Walking on tip-toe she skirted a table.
Her captor passed her.
Paused. Swung round and brows lowered, examined the hall. Silly she knew, but nought could stop her from squeezing her eyes shut as his glance swept towards where she stood. He hissed out a breath, the sound reeked of frustration and a frisson of sensation sizzled over her skin. Footsteps. She opened her eyes to see him passing through the doorway.
Moments. She had only moments before her absence was discovered.
Teelah raced through the hall. Straw rustled. Aileen looked up, her mouth dropped open but that was all Teelah noticed as she hurtled out the door.
Mud sucked at her bare feet, slowing her pace as she jogged down the rutted track holding her tunic high to her knees. Fat raindrops pattered down and dripped like sluggish snails over her face and neck. Useless to waste time searching for the stables for she had no idea in what direction they lay. Nay, best to try her luck in open countryside where nature was a pixie’s friend. And surely beyond the ditch ring, her father’s magic would protect her.
Shouts erupted from the hall. Thunder rumbled from the low lying clouds. Ahead through the gloom of the night she spied the rough outline of the archway marking the boundary of the fort. How much longer did she have before her spell waned?
Footsteps thudded before her. She risked a glance over her shoulder. The Fomorian ran in a direct line towards her. How does he know where I am? Desperation leant her extra speed. She chanted a quick spell hoping enough magic remained in the pixie dust still clinging to her, to grant her wish. There, the gates were before her, a massive burning torch atop a pole either side lighting the way. A few more strides and she would be past.
Teelah raced forward and cannoned into an invisible wall, soft as a bubble and yet as strong as any stone wall for she could not pass through. The impact bounced her backwards onto the ground. A shield spell. From behind came a bellow of triumph. Nay, caught again.
Hands closed over her waist, dragged her upwards onto her mud smeared feet. Shook her slightly so strands of her hair flopped over her eyes. There goes the last of my pixie dust mourned Teelah watching the glittering specs trickle down into a puddle.
“Not leaving us so soon, little pixie?” said Domhnall.
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She jerked her eyes upwards to meet his narrowed stare and the hard lines set into his face. Why was he so determined to keep her here?
“Is it all pixies ye wish to destroy? What have we done to make ye so vengeful?” she asked. “I know our people are enemies but I do not know why.”
Something flickered in his shadowed eyes. Could it be...regret? Sorrow? Whatever it was it had the power to affect the demon mightily for his jaw jutted forward and a pulse ticked a rapid beat near one corner of his mouth.
“Ye had best ask yer father the reason. But hear me well, little pixie, ye and all yer kin will suffer for yer crime,” he ground out through clenched white teeth.
“I have done nought to warrant such punishment.” She pulled herself away but his grip tightened over her upper arms. “And ye hear me well,” she blustered, standing on tip-toe to glare at him. “My name is Teelah. Princess to ye.”
He flung back his head and laughed. Teelah gave a slow, disbelieving shake of her head for his laughter held no derisiveness only pure amusement. Heat radiated through her chest while a tingling sensation rippled over her fingertips. It should not matter to her she had made him laugh, made him forget his black memories, but it did.
She shuffled her feet and wrenched her gaze aside, her thoughts troubled.
His laughter died.
For several moments neither spoke. The air surrounding her crackled with suppressed energy. She could feel his gaze boring into her face and wondered what was going through his head.
Certain he would make some cutting remark to diminish his reaction he confounded her by remaining silent. He released his hold of her left arm, turned round and pulled her alongside him as he marched back to the hall.
About the Author:
SE can't remember a time when she didn't have a book in her hand. Now she writes stories where her favorite words are ...'what if' and 'where'?
Having spent several years travelling around Australia, where she has lived on a cattle station, on the gem fields, beside the ocean, camped beside mountain streams and under the stars in the outback, SE now resides in the beautiful Hunter Valley. She has visited Asia and the US and has many other countries on her bucket list.
Her writing features stories in the romance genres of futuristic/sci-fi, fantasy, ancient history and post-apocalyptic. And her books tend to be on the ‘hot’ side!
SE is published by Momentum Books and Escape Publishing and is an indie author.
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Erotic Romance October 2013
Current works in progress are: more stories in the Darkon Warriors series, an Australia contemporary rural romance, an apocalyptic New Adult book and another 'Bound' historical/fantasy novella.
Possessed by evil, ruled by lust, The perfect plan destroyed by one driven by hunger. Can love defeat uninvited bite. the ancient demon and turn the darkness into light?
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SURREAL NEAL Michele Zurlo All of the characters are well written and have a depth not often found in erotic romance. As a frequent reader of ménage stories, I appreciated that each of the three main characters had an equal stake in the relationship. Too many times, one of the players feels extraneous but that didn't happen in this book. There is a LOT of sex--wicked, playful, sensual, loving, erotic sex. And it's GOOOOOD. Ms Zurlo makes the reader feel the intensity of a scene, whether kinky or vanilla…Read more.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON Sylvia Ryan Let me just start off by telling you that I.LOVED.THIS.BOOK! There's really nothing more that I can say than that. It just got to me. It was totally my kink, and I fell into the story right away. The characters were so real, I could easily identify with them and that added to how immersed I got into the story. It just spoke to me on every level: as a mom, as a wife, and a sexual woman…Read more.
TWO SIDES OF A HEARTBEAT DeLaine Roberts Wow, just freakin' mind-blowing! This was an amazing, intense read from the beginning to the very end…The pace of this story is perfect and I loved how detailed some of the scenes were. I do have to say that it was also hilarious…Read more.
AGAINST THE ROPES Sarah Castille Edgy, raw and instantly addictive, Sarah Castille's latest is a challenging and fascinating book that will appeal to fans of both sports romances and emotional erotic dramas alike. Though I personally am not a fan of many of the tropes explored in this book, I think they were handled with expert insight and compassion, making this a stand-out story from beginning to end…Read more.
SLICK RIDER Em Petrova If you like contemporary cowboy romance infused with a bit of risk and a dash of naughty, SLICK RIDER will be sure to sinfully delight you. Em Petrova's realistic and likable bad boy hero and good girl heroine make the opposites attract storyline sizzle and, as the vulnerabilities and emotional attachments between these characters develop, the tone is set for a perfectly satisfying romance novella. When an author crafts a tale that you rush to finish, yet hate to have end, that author has done their job and done it well. With SLICK RIDER, Ms. Petrova excels and has left me very anxiously awaiting her next contribution to The Quick and the Hot series…Read more.
*This is not a comprehensive list. For more reviews of Erotic Romance books, check out the site
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