Confession time. I’m getting married next week so I have wedding brain. Lots of stuff goes in but nothing stays because I have a plethora of lists floating around in there. This is my first (and hopefully only) wedding. I didn’t realize just how much stuff there was to do during the week before the big day. How do brides do all this without a wedding planner? If I could do it all over again I would hire a wedding planner to do all the work and the stressing.

Since it’s confession time I’ll make another one. I stopped writing romance years ago because I didn’t believe in it anymore. After years with frogs and duds I didn’t believe in the magic anymore. Until I met my fiancé. With him it was like magic, right out of a romance novel. Things progressed quickly after we met and we knew by date three that we’d get married. I love him more every day and can’t believe how lucky I am to have found him. I finally get romance novels and want to go back to my roots, with an erotic twist.

Story ideas come to me at the drop of a hat so of course with all of the wedding chaos going on I got an idea for a trilogy based on a wedding or the stages of a relationship. Or maybe it will be a series! So many ideas floating around now. There’s a lot of romance, stress, compromise, money that goes into a wedding. But the whole thing is very sexy to me too. And I’m not thinking just about the wedding night, though I can’t wait for that. 🙂

Eating can be a very sensual experience. There can be a lot of pleasure in eating a good meal and we took time to design a menu we hope our guests will enjoy. The wedding cake is chocolate orange sponge cake. Chocolate is very sexy.

All the events around the wedding bring to mind sexy thoughts as well. So many opportunities for a man and woman to find each other, have a good time and hopefully keep seeing each other. Parties, stags, bridal showers. Lately everything about the wedding brings sexy thoughts to mind so I’m taking notes for that trilogy (or series).

That series will be a while in coming though. First I must concentrate on getting married, then the honeymoon. In the meantime my short story collection Tempted to Sin is mostly about gratification but there is a touch of romance, especially in the last story, School Bites about high school sweethearts reunited.

In Satisfaction Guaranteed a wannabe succubus meets her match for her last assignment: The college boyfriend who broke her heart. In Scale Deep a reporter learns more than she bargained for when she discovers that dragons are real… and they walk among us. In School Bites a woman bumps into her high school crush at a reunion. Curiously he hasn’t aged a day in 15 years. When the bodies start turning up she finds out why.

I’m giving a copy of this collection to a random commenter. I’ll be back as often as I can to check replies but I am getting married next week and going on my honeymoon so I probably won’t be able to pick a winner until the last week of August. So there’s plenty of time to comment.

Bio: Keira is a former strip club bartender. Nights at the bar gave her lots of sexy ideas to work on. Working nights meant her days were free to dream up characters to put in sexy situations. Now, in the IT industry, her steamy stories are an escape from numbers and computer code. She writes thrillers, paranormals and contemporary stories, usually exploring an erotic twist. Her characters have never complained.

Her fiancé keeps her home life hot and romantic. She lives with him and their three cats.

Find Keira at: www.keirakohl.com
Follow her on Twitter: www.twitter.com/KeiraKohl
Like her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/StoriesByKeira
Sign up for her newsletter: http://keirakohl.com/newsletter/

One of the things authors are asked over and over again is, “Where  do you get your ideas?” And our response is always the same, “Everywhere.”

Let me give you an example of everywhere. Four years ago I was sitting in the spring sunshine, outside a smart French café, chilling out and people watching with my daughters. I have two daughters of marriageable age. They’re beautiful (they’d kill me if they read that, but I’m their mother so I get to say it) independent, career-oriented, super-smart… and ruthlessly… single.

And as a contemporary romance writer having my girls and their life-long besties in my life is literary ‘gold-dust’.  You would not believe the dramas about body issues, clothes, the heartbreaks, the falling madly in love with the wrong man, I’ve witnessed over the years. Anyway, we were revelling in the vibe; listening to a language spoken faster than a speeding bullet, savouring chocolate pastries, drinking coffee shots, eyeing immaculately turned out women, beautifully dressed man candy – when my eldest daughter decided to spill all about a blind date. To say we were surprised is an understatement, because she tends to keep pretty tight-lipped about this sort of thing (probably because her mother writes romance).

Apparently, one of her work colleagues had ‘the perfect man’ for her and set-up a date. Now my daughter is nobody’s fool. She knew nothing about him, but he sounded, in her own words, ‘normal’, so she thought she’d give him a chance. However, she also decided on the venue and the time, just in case the whole thing went pear-shaped.

Meanwhile, her sister and I were sitting wide-eyed listening to the tale. I was wondering if they’d put something in her coffee because she never, ever, discusses boyfriends with me. Can’t think why.

So after work, at the appointed time on the appointed day, she arrived at the busy bar of an upmarket hotel to meet her date. First impressions were not great, apparently his hair was at least one day overdue for a wash and his fingernails were not exactly clean and bitten to the quick (she has a thing about nice hands). But she soldiered on, deciding to have one drink before she let him down gently and left. He very kindly bought her a drink, a soft drink because she was driving.

And then he sat back, gave her the once-over, his eyes lingering on her breasts, and said, “Dontcha think the rooms in this place are too expensive for a quickie?”

She blinked, opened her mouth to speak, but he beat her to it.

“You’re obviously gagging for it, love. Why don’t we drink up and find somewhere cheaper.”

It’s not often my daughter is rendered speechless, she takes after me in that respect. But she kept her cool, placed her drink on the table, and excused herself to visit the restrooms.

Once there, she took off her shoes, used a stool to step onto a big glass sink to open the window, tossed out her shoes, her handbag, climbed out (she’s bendy, she does yoga and pilates), ran to her car, and left.

By this time her sister and I, visualising the creep waiting and waiting for her to return and maybe even asking bar staff to check the toilet, were howling with laughter.

Wiping my eyes, I said, ‘Good for you, baby.’

Then, looking at us with big blue eyes, she gave us the kicker.

“That’s the second time I’ve done it. I always meet my first dates there. Last time the bar staff let me leave through the kitchens in case I broke my neck climbing out of the window.”

And right there Reckless Nights In Rome was born – download it free at stores listed below.

Reckless Nights In Rome

Betrayed but unbroken, now she must fight to save her home and her heart!

…She’s lost everything. Her parents, her home, and her fiancé. It’s taken two years, but now Bronte has it all. A successful business, and a life that brings her happiness. But now the charismatic Italian, Nico Ferranti, wants to take it all.

Bronte isn’t looking for a fling, she certainly isn’t looking for love… will she be able to resist sweet temptation? Or is the pastry chef about to get burned…

GooglePlay http://smarturl.it/rnrgoogle
Smashwords http://smarturl.it/ccrnrsm
iBooks http://smarturl.it/ccrnrib
Amazon http://smarturl.it/ccrnr
Barnes and Noble http://smarturl.it/ccrnrbn
Kobo http://smarturl.it/rnrkobo

Now it’s your turn to spill the beans.

Contest

What’s the worst/best/funniest first date you or your bestie have had?

The world demands to know.

And the lovely Delilah, thank you for having me, will pick out a winner who will receive an eBook copy of my latest release, Desert Orchid.

Think Memoirs of a Geisha meets Taken.

…A young Arabian Queen must marry a wild, wicked and wilful Desert Prince to save her people from civil unrest and protect the wealth of her Kingdom…Charisse never expected to find love with a man who looked and lived like a rock star rather than a prince…But tragic events in her past threaten to destroy her Kingdom and her life, too…Can their fragile love survive…

Amazon http://smarturl.it/ccdoamaz
Barnesand Noble http://smarturl.it/dobn
GooglePlay http://smarturl.it/ccmkdogoogle
iBooks http://smarturl.it/ccdoit
Kobo http://smarturl.it/ccdokobo
Smashwords http://smarturl.it/ccdosmw

Author’s Bio

CC was fourteen when she read her first romance – ‘The Grand Sophy’ by Georgette Heyer. And right there her future as a romance author was born. Of course, it took a while. Writing romance, she was told by her teachers, does not an income make. In order to write about the lives of others, she needed to live a very full one of her own. And she did.

Fast forward a few decades later: a husband and three children and a couple of careers, she found her fourteen year old self again. And decided to follow her dream and write a contemporary romance. Five years later and Reckless Nights In Rome, book one of The Ludlow Hall series, was published. CC loves to write about deliciously handsome men and strong women. Since then Reckless has been downloaded over 450,000 times and hit the best seller lists across thirty countries. There are now five books in the series published with two more coming very soon.

CC is also working on a paranormal romance series, The Vampyre Legal Chronicles. She loves those suckers, so watch this space!

CLICK HERE To Receive News of CC’s Latest Releases 

Keep in Touch on:
Website: http://ccmackenzie.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CCMzie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CCMacKenzie1
Email: ccmackenzie@ccmackenzie.com

Anyone live in the Charlotte area? Next week, I’ll be there attending the Authors After Dark conference. For those of you planning to attend, I hope you’ll stop me if you see wandering the halls of the Westin hotel! And for those of you who are planning on being at the booksigning on Saturday from 1-4 PM, don’t be shy about saying hello! I won’t make you buy a book just to talk to me!

Yeah, I could have flown. Might have been smarter, but my daughter is attending with me, and one of our biggest joys in life is a road trip. It’s not the destination that thrills us, it’s the chance to jabber all along the way and the opportunity for discovery. You never know what those odd, alluring highway signs advertising “America’s Only Pearl Bed” or “Quigley’s Castle” or “World’s Largest Ball of Twine”—or anything with “Flea” and “Market” in the business name—will lead you to! So what would be a one day, 12-hour drive, will take us two on either side of the conference, because we have to have our journey.

So, what kind of traveler are you? Are you like my sister, Elle James, who will drive, barely taking stops to pee, to get to her destination, or are you a dawdler/explorer like my daughter and me?

Summer is in full swing and I finally made it to the beach. I’m not much for lying on the beach, but gazing out to the ocean and listening to the sounds of the waves roll in and out is so soothing for the soul, don’t you think? Almost magical, your mind is free to wonder and create. It’s an experience I tried to capture in my latest release, Dark Velvet, which is the first part of a paranormal erotic romance series set on a remote New England island. The tormented sculptor Antoine bought a castle that was built during the tech boom in the 1990s in a medieval style. Antoine established an art colony here to bring back meaning to an existence that has lost meaning. When Savannah arrives for a residency, his game of seduction unfolds, yet his plans are derailed when she discovers his dark secret.

Dark Velvet

Chateau Seductions series

Grad student Savannah Evans is thrilled to be accepted as a resident to a prestigious art colony. Where else would she be able to focus on her craft of writing poetry in a setting like that of the medieval-styled castle? The remote New England island is a respite from her hectic city life. When she meets her benefactor, a mysterious French sculptor, her expectations for carefree days writing near the ocean are distracted by unprofessional fantasies about her sponsor.

Antoine Chevalier built Les Beaux Arts on DeRoche Island to bring purpose back to an existence that has lost meaning. He’s wandered the earth for decades and finds solace in returning to art. When Savannah applies for a residency, something about her words touches him. After her arrival, a physical attraction grows between them, which he struggles against. She deserves more than someone of his kind.

Antoine proposes they become lovers during her stay. But the situation turns complicated when Savannah discovers his secret. She had suspicions about his identity, but finds the truth overwhelming. Consumed by her desire for Antoine and faced with a tough decision, she is blind to the danger that has arrived at DeRoche Island.

New adult / paranormal / erotic romance

“Dark Velvet has a dark eroticism that makes you want to be Savannah. It is a book that is a good, quick and darkly thrilling read.” – Books and Beyond Fifty Shades

“Looking for a sexy vampire novel? If so, then this is definitely a must buy!”

“…insanely hot chemistry between the female protagonist Savannah & vampire Antoine.  Their intensity starts off right away and you’re not a chapter in before it takes off like a rocket. 

~ Paranormal Romance Junkies

Buy links:

Amazon
B&N
Kobo
AllRomanceEbooks

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Artists rendition of Cahokia Mounds in 1150 A.D., Cahokia Mounds Museum Society and Art Grossman

My husband and I are going on our tenth anniversary vacation to Cahokia Mounds this week.  What fascinates me about this site is that it’s estimated between 20,000 to over 100,000 people made their homes here as recently as European contact.  It’s the most sophisticated settlement north of Mexico.  This is similar in size to South Bend, Indiana or Las Cruces, New Mexico.

I find some of the practices of the original inhabitants to be frightening: specifically, the practice of human sacrifice.  One of the burial sites has over 300 bodies mostly of young women, who may have been killed at the time of death of a ruler, who is buried nearby.  The theory is that they may have been sacrificed to serve him in the afterlife.

I’ll know more once we visit, of course, but I’m excited about seeing something like this especially this far north.  Cahokia is near St. Louis, Missouri, which is comparatively very far north from the rest of the mound building culture, (which was mostly in Mexico, as far as current knowledge goes).

What about you?  What’s your favorite vacation spot?

So many authors are at RWA this week, I’m feeling a little jealous. Especially since RWA is in San Antonio, which is my previous home town. I’m missing friends and familiar places. Ah well…

I have a question for you. Those are always fun. I love seeing your answers, but first, I want to post a few reminders…

For Writers

I have two current Calls for Submissions for short story anthologies which will be published by Cleis Press. Pay attention to those deadline dates. I am still in need of stories!

**In Vikings’ Arms — Deadline: August 10th —  find details HERE

**Rogue Hearts — Deadline: September 15th —  find details HERE

For Readers

I have two current releases. Both of which mean a lot to me. If you haven’t ordered them, please do. If you’re read them, please post a review or tell your friends. And thanks to those of you who already have! Mmmmwah!

Click to Buy

Click to Buy

The Question

If you had time, had energy, and the money to start a new hobby…
what would it be?

I’ve known Desiree for a long time—when I lived in San Antonio. So yeah, a few years. And I’d call her an old friend, but then you’d wonder if I meant a long-time friend or whether I was referring to her age. Don’t cringe. Desiree embraces her age. And believe me, she has more vitality and youthful exuberance than just about anybody I know. She has a book coming out in September with Kensington’s Lyrical Press, so I thought I’d share the news. ~DD

You can pre-order her book now at Amazon.

Sometimes life is not fair. For Julia Patterson meeting Luke Buchanan opened the door to a new life and brought her to life as a woman. In his arms she learns for the first time how real passion and emotion can enrich your life. He claims her body with the pleasure of erotic sex and his heart with unrestricted love. But Fate was laughing at Julia, just as she is about to step over the threshold into a wonderful new life. When her almost-ex-husband Charles is diagnosed with a fatal heart condition her divorce is put on hold along with the rest of her life. Turning her back on Luke and the intense passion and emotion they shared is the most difficult thing she’s ever done. But Julia has a secret, one that Charles has discovered and uses like a club. Thirteen years later when Luke walks back into her life the passion and emotion are just as explosive as ever. Will they finally have their chance at happiness or will her secret destroy it forever?

Luke put his drink down, stood up, and took her hand. “Dance with me.” He pulled her easily into his arms, nestling her head against his shoulder, their linked hands folded between them. They moved slowly, almost in place, in the same rhythm they’d been caught up in the last time.

Here in this cabin in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by snow and pine trees, warmed by the fire, and lulled by the music, she felt the world fall away. The rest of her life fell away and for the first time since her morning arrival at the airport she relaxed, tension sliding away from her body like a cloak someone thoughtfully removed.

“You smell wonderful,” Luke murmured in her ear. “I wish I could have bottled your scent and kept it with me to open every now and then.” He pressed her to him tightly. “God, you don’t know how much I’ve missed you, Julia. One night together and I couldn’t get you out of my head.”

“I missed you, too,” she said, feeling the steady thud of his heart against her.

“Did you bewitch me, Julia?” His lips moved against her hair. “Did you cast a spell?”

Her laugh was unsteady. “I’m not sure I’d know how.”

“Oh, I think with you, no knowledge is even required.”

His words made her feel giddy, excited. It was the kind of nervous energy one got from dancing on a thin wire.

Luke kissed her forehead, then her cheek, sliding his mouth until he found her lips. Gently he pressed his tongue until she opened for him and met him with her tongue. The kiss went on and on as if they were fused together, sensations of heat cascading through her body. The music drifting into the room was a counterpoint to the pounding of her pulse.

Luke slid his hands beneath the knitted band of the top, drawing a sharp breath when he realized she had not put her bra back on.

“Tempting me already?” His voice was just a tiny bit unsteady.

“Hoping to.” Hers was underscored with the same slightly shaking timbre.

He cupped her bare breasts in his warm hands, caressing the soft flesh, lightly rubbing his thumbs across the nipples. They hardened almost painfully at the contact, and the same needy ache she’d felt the first time he’d touched her sizzled through her again. He gently squeezed the flesh of those mounds, his palms bearing their weight. His touch was so exquisite she could barely stifle the tiny moan vibrating in her throat.

As they danced, he continued to stroke her breasts, rubbing them, and teasing her nipples. The fire he’d lit in the fireplace was nothing compared to the one he ignited deep inside her. He brushed tiny kisses over her forehead, down the side of her face, along the column of her neck. He moved his mouth everywhere, tasting the sensitive spot on her neck that made her nerves tingle, trailing kisses along the line of her jaw, dusting her eyelids. His swollen cock pressed against her like heated steel and desire surged through her, enveloping her in a scorching grip.

The touch of his hand as he skimmed her ribs and the flat of her tummy and slipped into the waistband of her pants liquefied her bones. His caresses were like magic, turning every part of her body into an erogenous zone. And when he cupped her buttocks, sliding his fingers into the warm cleft between the cheeks she caught her breath on a rush of need. Another moan escaped her. A sigh. The more he drew his fingers through that hot place, the more rapid her breathing grew. Every pulse point throbbed with hunger, every sensitive spot begged for his attention. She wanted his touch everywhere before she exploded with need.

When at last he moved the hand around to touch her between her legs, she gasped at the electric shock coursing through her. 

* * * * *

Known the world over as the oldest living author of erotic romance, and referred to by USA Today as the Nora Roberts of erotic romance, Desiree Holt is three times a finalist for an EPIC E-Book Award (and a winner in 2014), a nominee for a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award, winner of the first 5 Heart Sweetheart of the Year Award at The Romance Studio as well as twice a CAPA Award winner for best BDSM book of the year, and winner of the Holt Medallion for Excellence in Romance Literature. She has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and in The Village Voice, The Daily Beast, USA Today, The (London) Daily Mail, The New Delhi Times and numerous other national and international publications. “Desiree Holt is the most amazing erotica author of our time and each story is more fulfilling then the last.” (Romance Junkies)

Learn more about her and read her novels here:
www.desireeholt.com
www.desiremeonly.com
www.facebook.com/desireeholtauthor
Twitter @desireeholt
Pinterest: desiree02holt
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