Thanks for having be back, Delilah! I love visiting your blog to talk about the inspiration for my latest story. This one is the second in my Eden series titled Unexpected Eden.

I write erotic romance inspired by the classics. I know, sounds strange, but it so works. Believe it or not, the Eden series started when I read an Emily Dickinson poem. Yup. Instead of the typical death, nature, or religious subject matter, the poem “Wild Nights. Wild Nights!” was very passionate and that caught my attention because she was known as a recluse and a spinster. What fascinated me was a reference to Eden in a nontraditional way and so I created the planet Eden. There are some basics for every reader to know about Eden.

On Eden only males are born.

No one wears clothes as that would be an insult.

It’s a minimum of two men to every woman.

And each Edenist is born with an ability related to his Kindred which is obvious by his birthmark.

Unexpected Eden was actually inspired by a Dickinson poem titled “Come slowly Eden.” This is another passionate poem that focuses on a bee and a flower but in a rather sexual context. So in my story, the flower is Serena, a pyrotechnic expert who works on sci-fi movies, and the bees are a couple of Edenists, Jahl and Khaos. Though the men would like to go slowly when it comes to convincing Serena to stay and be their beloved, they only have a week, so slow can’t be in their plan. However, Serena is a pretty confident woman with strong ties to her family, so staying on Eden for a vacation is fine but more than that is a problem.

Will there be more to the series? Oh yeah. Dickinson wrote over 2,000 poems, so I’m guessing there’s a good dozen that reveal this inner passion that is so at odds with what we know about the poet. I may just have to explore every one of those particular poems through Eden!

Always, Lexi

For a chance to win the first book in the series, Cruise into Eden, enter the rafflecopter below.

Unexpected Eden Blurb (Coming April 24 – up for pre-order):

Serena Upton wonders if she’s been transported into one of the science fiction movies she works on with her pyrotechnics skill. It certainly seems so when she’s rescued by three hot, naked men from another planet. She’s whisked away to Loraleaf, their home in the jungle of Eden, with the expectation that she will become their beloved. As they cater to her in every way, she begins to understand what it means to be their chosen one.

Jahl and Khaos risked everything, even the brother of their heart, to bring Serena home, but grief and self-doubt, etched in stone by their own families, seems insurmountable. Their only hope is that she can fill the void in their lives. They succeed in sweeping her up in their erotic passion, but they are unable to capture her heart.

Though Serena cares for Jahl and Khaos, she’s convinced she’s not the answer to their damaged souls. It’s better that she return to her family on Earth before she cares too much. That is, if she doesn’t already.

Pre-order Link

Unexpected Eden Excerpt:

Jahl stood there, his face and body hard but his heart a scarred mess. She wanted to comfort him, tell him he was worth so much more, but his pain was so old. What made her think she could make a difference. “I don’t know what to say.”

“There’s nothing to say. It’s history. You are the future.”

“Me, why me?” She backed up another step, Jahl’s gaze too focused on her.

He moved covering the space between them in two strides. His hands grasped her shoulders, but not roughly. “Because you are our chosen one. We want you for our beloved.” Read the rest of this entry »

POSSESSING THE WITCH is my Harlequin Nocturne releasing April 1st! What a great book to release on April Fool’s Day. The second in my Dark Lord Series following THE WITCH’S INITIATION.

This story is another twist on Beauty and the Beast. Did you watch the television show Beauty and the Beast back in the late 80’s with Ron Pearlman and Linda Hamilton? I loved it! It was dark, edgy and full of romantic tension. I’ve given a different take on this story with the Chicago underground tunnels that were built back in the early 1900’s to deliver goods to merchants in the downtown area. It was not all they’d hoped it would be and soon the tunnels fell into disrepair and were shut off to the public.

 Or were they?

In my world, the misfits and mutants found their way into the tunnels and made them home. My hero, Gryph Leone, is a shifter, raised in below Chicago. Given the best education by his adopted father, he learned to make a very good living despite his location.

Selene Chattox is one of five sisters who live in Chicago and help fight paranormal crime because they are gifted witches. Dive into their world and take a walk along the dangerous tunnels beneath the city of Chicago. You never know who or what you will find!

****For a chance to win a $5 Gift card***

Join my newsletter and come post a comment here letting me know you did and tell me about your favorite paranormal show, series or movie.

Possessing the Witch
Amazon | Nook | Kobo
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A spirit witch and a recluse unite to save their city 

Gryph Leone keeps a low profile because he considers himself a freak of nature. But when his powerful senses detect a woman in distress, his lion takes over. Before he knows it, he’s in a losing battle with a wolf shifter. And then a beautiful woman with bewitching eyes and her own secrets finds him.

Selene Chattox didn’t know what—or who—she’d find when she followed her premonition to the river’s edge. When she discovers Gryph, the spirit witch brings the injured stranger home, determined to resist the intense desire he evokes in her. But as he heals, they know fate has brought them together as they track a ruthless killer through the tunnels of Chicago. And as their passion ignites, so does the danger…

About the Author:

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author ELLE JAMES also writing as MYLA JACKSON is a former IT professional and retired Army and Air Force Reservist. She writes romantic suspense, mysteries and paranormal romance that keeps her readers on the edges of their seats to the very end of every book. When she’s not at her computer, she’s traveling to exotic and wonderful places, snow-skiing, boating, or riding her four-wheeler, dreaming up new stories.

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads | Newsletter | Amazon Author Page

Here’s hoping you’ve gotten your copy and are happily reading it! If you have time, I hope you’ll post a review somewhere. Help another reader decide whether it’s worth their time and money! And if you haven’t bought your copy—the time’s now! It’s only $0.99, but that price won’t last long.

True love bites!

Emmy Harris knows she’s not perfect. She has a little extra padding and isn’t the brightest bulb, but you’d think she was a sexy rock star the way everyone at a certain night club treats her from the moment she walks through the door. In fact, the two sexiest men there can’t seem to keep their hands off her, until one of them sweeps her away to his private domain. A girl like her isn’t going to waste a chance like that! So he’s a little rough and likes to take a nibble or two while he pleasures her. For a girl who didn’t know she’d never experienced a full-blown orgasm before, Dylan’s eccentricities are delicious!

Dylan O’Hara only wants a night of passion to slake his lusts, but finds Emmy is a full-bodied, red-blooded siren whose innocence and humor draw this Master vampire like a moth to a red-hot flame. When Emmy attracts the attention of a serial-killing vampire, Dylan vows to protect her, but he fears he’ll lose Emmy once she discovers he’s not quite human…

Buy at Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

You already know I have a new sexy shorty out (The Long Road Home) and a new Vampire book coming tomorrow (Sm{B}itten), so I won’t belabor the point that you should be reading or anticipating reading—besides, I’ll be sending out a newsletter tomorrow, talking both of them up!! 🙂

Instead, I’d love for you to share your passions. You can talk about them or send me a picture to post here. I’ll check throughout the day for new entries!

My new passion (besides jewelry making and altered art dominoes) is painting. I’m not very good at it. But I don’t care. I get a very warm feeling in my gut when I finish something new. And it’s sooooo portable! I have a mini-watercolor set, a small watercolor notebook—both of which I can cram into a purse, my Blackwing pencils, and off I go—just add water! And when I paint something ugly—like that pear to the right—I do my Zentangle scribbles all over it.

So, you’re turn: What are your passions?

From Angel Shaw

Thank you to Delilah Devlin for hosting me again today; I’m excited to be back.  I figured I’d share something a little different and share our upcoming release, Emerald Keep, available April 8th from Torquere Press.

So first, the little different:  the picture above is a lovely boy I found at the Milwaukee Discovery World.  They have a neat facility, including an enormous model of the Great Lakes and its weather, but what I truly loved was the aquarium.  They have the usual tanks and displays, but they’ve also got an enormous pool you can walk over!

I am tickled that my snap of the giant lionfish, Pterois.  He’s a carnivore, folks, that means he’s a terror in the tank.  He didn’t randomly eat anybody while we were there, but he prowled around the tank like he was on a mission.  I don’t have a camera that’s well-suited to taking tank pictures, but I was able to catch this.

Quick tip – turn off your flash when taking indoor pictures where there’s glass or Lucite between you and your subject.  Otherwise, the light of the flash will bloom in the picture and overwhelm your image.

What about you, Dear Reader? 

What’s your favorite photographic tip, or your favorite aquarium?

Now, for Emerald Keep.  Rachel and I are excited to share that Book 2 in the Persis Chronicles is available April 8^th.  What’s more, we’re holding a contest!  We’ll be giving away a handknit scarf, a hand-crocheted scarf, and some handmade calligraphy bookmarks.  We hope you’ll stop by; the official Rafflecopter opens April 1st but if you comment here at Chez Delilah, I’ll make sure you’re included in the drawing – just be sure to leave your email address for me (write the word “AT” instead of the @ symbol).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A. Cathering Noon
**New** SEALED BY FIRE is an All Romance eBooks Bestseller!

The Chicagoland Shifters series:
Book 1 BURNING BRIGHT
Book 2 TIGER TIGER, an All Romance eBooks Bestseller!
**Coming Soon!** Watch for Book 3, CAT’S CRADLE, out Summer 2015!

The Persis Chronicles:
Book 1 EMERALD FIRE
**Coming Soon!** Watch for Book 2, EMERALD KEEP, out April 2015!

UPDATE: The winner is…Elaine Swinney!

* * * * *

There are all kinds of ways for a man to be a hero. He can save a child’s beloved cat, save a person, save a town, save the nation.

Or … he can save a woman from self-doubt, uncertainty about her attractiveness, her sexuality. He can show her that she’s worth his time, his closest attention. That she’s worth breaking down barriers between them to worship her body and her soul the way she deserves.

Great sex is about risk. Daring to trust another person, or persons, with our deepest desires. Trusting that they not only won’t ridicule us, but that they will concentrate on fulfilling our dreams. Showing us that it’s perfectly okay to cherish that secret wish … even if it is a little kinky.

I wrote the Club 3 BDSM series to portray strong men who dare to give their all to special women struggling to break free of their pasts, and bloom into their most passionate selves. Not that these men don’t issues of their own to break free of–that’s part of being human, right? Nobody said a Dom has to be perfect. But he does have to be a hero, a sexy one.

And if he’s a cop who’s made a career out of keeping his town safe, that can’t hurt, right? Unless he must do anything to keep his public and private lives separate. Then being a Dom and being a hero may be polar opposites.

Here’s Club 3, Bk. 4, She’s Worth It All…

He’s a hometown hero with a secret. She has a broken heart only a strong man can heal. Will he risk everything to show her she’s worth it all?

Mase Barnett is a cop, a hero who nearly died to keep his small town safe. The eyes of his hometown are always on him. But he’s also a man with a dark secret—one he takes across the river to the big city. Inside the private walls of Club 3, he’s free to be what he is … a Dom. And a man who likes it hot and public.

After the highly public breakup of her marriage, Natalie Cusco is back in town, but not everyone is happy to see her. She just wants to keep her head down while she makes a new life for herself, running the bar that’s her dream. Now if her tormentors will just leave her alone …

She yearns to give this hero what he wants—her body and her submission. But will the brash, cocky cop help mend her damaged heart or break it again, this time forever?

Here’s an excerpt …

‘So here she was in the inky shadows of the back porch, with one last drink and some country singer urging her to put her party light on. Natalie grinned wryly to herself. She was lit, floating on a warm buzz. Not drunk by any means, but not completely sober.

Still leaning on the railing, Nat moved her hips to the music. She’d just give herself a minute before she rejoined the party. She’d chat and laugh like she was having the time of her life. Maybe that would make it come true. Self-fulfilling prophecy, like the pop psychology articles that her mother swore by.

And she would not think about Mase. Jeez, she really would swear she could smell his woodsy scent back here.

“Now that’s a fine sight,” drawled his raspy voice behind her.

Nat continued to move, putting a little extra shake and shimmy into it. Because he could look, but after ignoring her all evening, he sure as heck wasn’t touching.

“Nothin’ to say, Natalie?” he asked, his voice closer, and warm with amusement.

“Yeah. Bite me.” She ignored her shiver of awareness at his nearness and took another drink.

He laughed, a low, infectious sound. “Baby, I thought you’d never ask.”

His bare arms brushed hers, his skin warm and smooth as he planted his hands on either side of her on the railing and leaned over her. “Don’t stop dancin’ on my account.”

“Wasn’t going to,” she retorted, still moving as if her ass wasn’t rubbing against his jean-clad groin and thighs, hard and warm. But it was, and oh dear God, was that—?

Yup, it was. Mase was hard as a pole. The stiff shape in his pants generated heat she could feel through layers of clothing. He had a woody—for her.

Guess she’d get to tease him a little. Payback was suh-weet.

“Keep on moving. That’s good.” His voice echoed her thoughts as he leaned even closer. A thrill of sheer lust shot through her as his warm lips and sexy ‘stache brushed the shell of her ear. Thank God she’d tucked her hair back. Wait, no. That was bad. She was teasing him, not the other way around. Only he didn’t seem to get that.

“I loved watchin’ your sweet ass in motion,” he went on, in that lazy drawl. “It feels even better than it looks.”

It took her a moment to answer coherently. Mostly because he was now tracing the shape of her ear with his lips. The soft, moist caress turned her spine and her resolve into hot liquid, like warm jello pouring into shot glasses.

“You c-can’t see anything out here,” she managed. “Certainly not my ass.”

Not when he was so close behind her, and she was arching into him, pressing her jello in his mold. Every time she moved, that long hard shape pressed into the crevice of her ass. So close, so very close to where she wanted it—inside her.

“Wrong. I’ve been watching you move all night.” He nipped her ear lobe, just behind her dangle earring. “If you fuck anything like you dance, a man could die happy.”

She should be indignant that he was speaking to her this way, not smiling to herself. But somehow his words, delivered with rough honesty, were even headier than the alcohol swimming in her system. He found her attractive—very attractive.

“You have a dirty mouth,” she accused.

He flexed his hips, pressing his erection more firmly into the furrow of her ass. Natalie slipped one hand down between her legs to placate the growing ache there. A tiny, sober part of her stood off to one side, eyes wide, shaking her head. Nat ignored the prude. Lot of good behaving had done her. Two years without real sex, that was all.

Mm-mm, oh, right there. Her finger found her clit, already swollen as if it had just been waiting for Mase to show up.

“I do, baby,” he agreed, his mouth moving down to nibble on the hinge of her jaw and the side of her throat. “I have a filthy mouth. And it wants to be right … here.”

He cupped his hand over hers.’

What constitutes a hero in your booki? Leave a comment, and I’ll enter you to win a FREE copy of Club 3, Bk 1, She’s All In.

best,

Cathryn Cade
Goodreads, My Website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest,  My Blog,

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Some of the sexiest men I know live between the covers of a romance novel, contemporary or historical.  These heroes don’t come any sexier than the men who ride rough and herd cattle and work the land.

Sometimes, these cowboys are also the hardest to get close to, because beneath their strong outer armor, they can be surprisingly vulnerable.  In my romance novels, the heroine finds what that hero needs fixin’ and offers him understanding, healing, love—all things he’ll never ask for.  All things he will never admit he needs.

What does the hero offer the heroine and us, as readers?

A man who keeps his promises, stands up for what’s right, and takes pride in what he does.  A man who is tolerant and understanding of others and is kind to his elders, children, and animals—unless of course, the animal is a bull looking to buck him.

The cowboy hero offers us a man who is tough but fair and who lives by the Golden Rule.

And of course, a cowboy—at least in my books—always offers us some great-looking eye candy, as follows (from my latest release, The Cowboy’s Little Surprise):

In one startled, reflexive sweep, she took in almost everything about Cole Slater. The light brown hair showing beneath the brim of his battered hat. The firm mouth and jaw. Broad shoulders. Narrow hips. The well-worn jeans, silver belt buckle, and scuffed boots. In the next reluctant second, she turned her gaze to the one feature she had deliberately skipped over the first time.

A pair of blue eyes that made her think instantly of her son…

Yes, this is a secret baby story, one of my favorites.

But it’s also a lot of my favorite eye candy, all wrapped up in one package.  😉

~~~

Readers, I’m happy to chat!

And I’m giving away a book.  To be entered to win a copy of one of my available backlist titles, tell me:  what’s your favorite type of hero and why? 

Note:  the winner will receive an autographed print copy of the book.  Due to postal regulations and international restrictions, the giveaway is open to entrants with US mailing addresses only.  The winner’s name will be drawn from comments left here through March 29 and will be posted in a comment here on April 1—no foolin’!  : )

~~~

Barbara White Daille lives with her husband in the sunny Southwest.  Though they love the warm winters and the lizards in their front yard, they haven’t gotten used to the scorpions in the bathroom.

Barbara’s thrilled to share news about the debut of a brand-new series, The Hitching Post Hotel, about a matchmaking grandpa determined to see his three granddaughters wed.  The series begins in April 2015 with The Cowboy’s Little Surprise, followed by A Rancher of Her Own in July and a third as-yet-untitled book in December.

Find Barbara at the following locations:

Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Newsletter ~ Blog ~ Amazon ~ Harlequin ~ Goodreads

The Cowboy’s Little Surprise – Barbara White Daille – April 2015

THE LONG WAY HOME

A guy like Cole Slater is hard to forget. Tina Sanchez should know—for years since high school she’s tried to bury the pain of Cole’s cruel betrayal. But it’s impossible to ignore the man she sees reflected in her young son’s eyes now that Cole is back in her life—and about to meet the child he never knew he had.

Returning home to New Mexico, Cole is determined to put his playboy reputation to rest. Especially now that he knows there’s a little boy looking up to him. And seeing Tina again reignites all the feelings Cole ran from as a teen. Despite his fear that he can’t be the man Tina deserves, he’s determined to try. For his son’s sake—and his own.

Excerpt:

She should have known better than to fall for Cole Slater. At the tender age of seven, she had already heard about his reputation as a sweet-talker. By junior high, he had progressed to a real player. And by senior high, he had turned love-‘em-and-leave-‘em into an art form, changing girlfriends as often as she replaced guest towels here at the Hitching Post.

Too bad she hadn’t remembered all that when he had finally turned his attention her way.

He shoved his hands into his back pockets, which pulled his shirt taut against his chest. Now, she felt herself flushing as she recalled the one and only time—

No, she wasn’t going there…

(end)