UPDATE: The winner is…ButtonsMom2003!
*~*~*

I’m a huge Annabel Joseph fan. I read her Mephisto trilogy after having discovered her when I got my first e-reader. I found one of her books on sale, and I nabbed it. Then I read it, and my world expanded. Now, these books are hardcore total power exchanges. Complete submission. Yet, also very touching. The books struck a chord in me, and I wanted to explore further.

At that time, I was too scared to step out of my comfort zone. Instead of doing, I dove into reading. I read every Annabel book I could get a hold of. Then I did Joey W. Hill’s Nature of Desire series. Some Sierra Cartwright books. Some ménage books by Shayla Black and Lexi Blake. I learned. I sought. I envied.

One day – a very ordinary day – I had an image pop into my mind. A woman at a BDSM club. She was looking on at the goings-on with envy. My mind whirled. Who was she? Why was she there? And, most importantly, who was the man who would bring a smile to her face? Challenge laid before me, I sat down to write. I write by the seat of my pants (also known as a pantser), so I let the story take me where my imagination led it. Within a couple of weeks, I had Amber Eyes.

I wasn’t finished. I had so much fun that I wanted to write another book. Except I hadn’t envisioned a trilogy and so hadn’t set up the next couple. Now, I have a bible of stories – everything I’ve ever thought up that could be a book. It’s a massive beast with almost seventy-five stories. I scoured it and found a story that fit perfectly into the world I’d created. A damaged heroine, a well-meaning but arrogant hero – I sat down to write and, again, within weeks I had Beautiful Eyes.

This time, though, I did a bit of planning. I had a security guard who had now played a pivotal role in the first two books. I started wondering about her story. She had to know what went on in the condo. And since both my previous couples had moved from the condo and out of the city, there had to be a new owner. What was his story? And why would the security guard and the entrepreneur get together? And, finally, where did BDSM fit in? Another few weeks and I had Innocent Eyes.

I wanted to get the books published traditionally — with a publisher — and so I started to shop them around. Let me be honest – I didn’t know what I didn’t know and these books were raw — they needed a lot of work. Eventually, after a number of rejections, I hired a freelance editor to whip them into shape. When I ventured back out, I had better luck and found an editor at The Wild Rose Press. She snagged my manuscript because it intrigued her. To my everlasting gratitude, she decided to take a chance on Amber Eyes. We’ve worked together to get all three books to market. My cover artist did a fantastic job, and the books are now out in the world.

One last note. I found the courage to venture into the BDSM scene in Vancouver, Canada. I started by going to munches. I found a mentor. I attended conferences. I found the courage to put myself out there. This all happened while I was working with my freelance editor. I’ll admit I went back to add scenes and layers to existing story to enhance the books. In other words, some of this is taken from real life — from my own experience. I’m not going to say which parts, and for the sake of peace and harmony in my life, please don’t tell my parents.

I hope you take a chance and pick up these books. They’re dark erotic BDSM books. I put my characters through hell and make them work really hard for their happy ending — but that’s what I give them. Each book ends on a solid happily ever after. But that wasn’t good enough for me. I am launching a new series under the pen name Gabbi Powell in the new year. Several of these characters are going to make cameos and some of the secondary characters in these books are going to get their own stories. I love world building — where the characters come to life for me, and I want to tell their truths. Share their joys. Give them happily ever afters. And some of those secondary characters appear in my gay romance books written under the pen name Gabbi Grey. Every book I write can be read as a stand-alone. But if you venture into my books, there are almost always more places to poke. More places and characters to discover.

Now my gift to you! For a chance to win a $5 Amazon Gift Card, let me know, scorching, spicy, or sweet? Do you have a preferred heat level? I’ve written all three, but I’m intrigued to know where your desires fall on the spectrum. Leave a comment for a chance to win.

Thank you, Delilah for hosting me and letting me share my story.

In Their Eyes Trilogy

Amber Eyes (Book 1)

She needs a firm hand.

He needs a challenge.

School principal Gage Clayton is still grieving the death of his wife and submissive, yet he can’t ignore his Dominant needs. As he enters Club Kink, he’s inexplicably drawn to a newly released sub with an intriguing proposition and the most captivating amber eyes. But she has disturbing baggage and her expectations prove quite a challenge, one that would necessitate a commitment he’s not ready for.

Rielle Reid needs a Dom while she waits for her former Master to return. When she invites a handsome stranger to her home dungeon for a night of play, she’s surprised at his gentle dominance—and her response to it. But in the light of day, his demand for equal footing confounds her. After living four years as a twenty-four/seven slave, she has no concept of how to be anything other than property.

Gage must find a way to master Rielle to free them both from the shackles of the past.

Universal Link: https://books2read.com/u/3Ln9PX
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CZL6XBX
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/amber-eyes-gabbi-black/1137343876
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Gabbi_Black_Amber_Eyes?id=g-33DwAAQBAJ
KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/amber-eyes-11
iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/amber-eyes/id1526064524?

Beautiful Eyes (Book 2)
$0.99 cents for a limited time!

She needs redemption

He needs to demand it of her.

Entrepreneur Smith MacLean is obsessed with Alessandra Soriano, a woman he met briefly who disappeared six months ago. After a shocking reunion at Club Kink, he insists she stay with him. He means to find out where she’s been.

Alessandra walked away from her life after making a mistake that cost everything. Her self-imposed penance is living in poverty and doing questionable things with questionable people. Now she’s in Smith’s luxurious condo, under his hand, and obeying his rules.

He has thirty days to convince her to come back from limbo. She has thirty days to convince him she needs to be forgotten. Unless the flames of lust consume them first.

Universal Link: https://books2read.com/u/3n57Lx
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09C16GHCJ/
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/beautiful-eyes-gabbi-black/1139975555
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/beautiful-eyes/id1580299905
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Gabbi_Black_Beautiful_Eyes?id=BlVBEAAAQBAJ
KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/beautiful-eyes-4

Innocent Eyes Synopsis (Book 3)
Pre-release price $3.99, regular $5.99

She’s a diligent student.

He’s a masterful teacher.

Hardworking university student Tarah Peters has observed tycoon Sebastian Merrick from her security guard post for weeks. Under his gaze, she experiences desire for the first time in her life, and his unexpected proposition both daunts and intrigues her.

Sebastian doesn’t proposition women, but feels compelled to offer Tarah a place to live and money for her schooling while he introduces her to his darkly erotic world. Her naïveté calls to him, but he must maintain an emotional distance while showing her the meaning of submission.

Tarah yearns for Sebastian to admit he wants more than just a Dominant/submissive relationship, that their enthrallment is mutual. Can she convince him this might be more than just an affair?

Universal link: https://books2read.com/InnocentEyes
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BB3F6CSB
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/innocent-eyes-gabbi-black/1142024873
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/ca/book/innocent-eyes/id6443282114

About the Author

Even though Gabbi Black is a firm believer in happy endings, she makes her characters work for it in every romance she writes, no matter what the genre. From contemporary to BDSM, they are penned early in the morning in her home in beautiful British Columbia while her trusty ChinPoo dog keeps her company. She also writes gay romances as Gabbi Grey.

Website:  http://gabbiblack.com/
Newsletter sign-up: https://sendfox.com/gabbi
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/2763198834
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorgabbiblack/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GabbiAuthor

UPDATE: The winner is…Colleen C.!
*~*~*

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, let me know who your weekend book boyfriend will be!

If you haven’t already chosen your boyfriend, here’s a suggestion. 🙂
(This book is available for only $0.99 for a limited time only!)

Sometimes a hero and heroine chatter in a writer’s ear. I’ve had several over the course of my career who won’t go away once their story is written. Emmy from vampire series was talkative for many years and insisted on being included in nearly every story in that series. Lacey Jones from my original Montana Bounty Hunters series is my latest muse. When we first meet her in Dagger, we’re sure she seems flighty and vain, but as you get to know her, there’s more to this ditzy blonde than meets the eye.

For the next few days, I’ve dropped the price of Dagger because I want you to meet Lacey. I think you’ll love her! It’s a $3 savings, so be sure to get your copy now! As well, I have the first book, Reaper, available for the permanent sale price of $0.99!

In the meantime, enjoy an excerpt from Dagger…

Daniel “Dagger” Renfrew had been a lot of things—an Army Ranger, until he’d mouthed off one too many times to his CO and decided mustering out was better for his long-term aspirations than spending time in Leavenworth; a Seattle beat cop, until he’d gotten bored spending his nights sitting in a squad car in front of corner gas stations; a PI, until he’d informed the wife of the man who’d hired him that hubby was looking for the goods to violate their pre-nup, so she better sue for divorce first; and now, a bounty hunter, which, so far, suited his ADD proclivities. And, in his job, he didn’t look for the easy takedowns. He liked lying in mud or snow with his binoculars trained on a window, hoping for a glimpse of the dirtbag whose mugshot he carried in his hip pocket. If they were badasses—all the better. Dagger preferred when assholes tried to run, because then he’d have an excuse to mix it up, get physical, and blow off steam in an all-out brawl—when the situation warranted, of course.

However, he hadn’t had a job like that in a while. So, in his off-hours, he looked for cheap thrills—sweet-talking easy women out of their clothes or taking repo jobs from the local car dealership.

This morning, he was “reacquiring” a 2014 silver Nissan Altima with a fluffy steering wheel and pom-poms hanging from the rear-view mirror. After verifying the make and model, he strolled as nonchalantly as a man in black tactical pants and boots and a black GORE-TEX jacket could toward the vehicle parked in a condo driveway. Once past the driveway, he ducked low, out of sight of the bay windows in the front of the unit, and sidled up to the Nissan, close enough he could dart up, clear snow from the front windshield, and read the VIN number etched into the corner of the dashboard. After checking with the VIN in the cryptic text message from the dealership’s finance department, he ducked again and reached into his pocket for the key fob he’d picked up from Stuey Higginbotham, who’d called him about the job. He pressed the button, wincing when he accidently hit it twice, beeping the car alarm loud enough a dog in the distance began barking.

So now, stealth was out the door. Dagger cussed, hoping the woman who owned the car didn’t have a boyfriend with a shotgun beside the bed. He straightened, opened the car door, and shoved a small suitcase from the front seat to the passenger side and slid quickly into the car. Not a good move, because the woman who drove the car was obviously short, and his knees banged the dash as he felt for the sliding button to move back the seat and lower it. Seconds ticked by, and he riveted his gaze on the condo’s front door.

A curtain shifted in the window next to the door. A woman’s face, framed by something, maybe a towel, peered through the glass.

“Sorry, sweetheart.” He grinned and punched the ignition.

The door slammed open.

He pushed the gear shift into reverse, but not before he noted she wore a bathrobe that parted as she ran down the front steps, exposing well-toned legs clothed in skin-tight black leggings. Brown and cream polka dots spotted her face in a pattern. Her large blue eyes delivered a glacier glare.

Something about her…

His eyes narrowed, and his foot remained on the brake a second too long.

She slapped the hood of the car then came up beside the driver’s side window, her hands clapping against the glass. “No, you don’t, you bastard. That’s my car!”

He took a second. The towel around her head masked her long blonde hair. The creamy polka dots distracted from her lovely cheekbones and stubborn chin, but those eyes and those legs…? He hit the button to lower the window. He knew the moment she recognized him.

Her jaw sagged. “Dag? What the hell are you doing in my car?”

“Not your car anymore, Cupcake.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t call me that. And what do you mean it’s not my car?”

“It’s the dealership’s. Or the finance company’s. Don’t care which.”

“But it’s my car, Dag. You can’t take my car.” Her eyes widened.

Dag saw the shimmer of tears. But he knew that tactic. Knew how often she’d gotten out of speeding tickets and detention hall throughout high school, just flashing those big baby blues and adding a chin wobble that made most men turn to mush.

The wobble started.

At the sight, he nearly groaned. “Take it up with Stuey at Higginbotham Used Cars.”

Her hands fisted on her hips. “And just how the hell am I supposed to get there?”

He shrugged. “Not my problem.” He broke from her glare and adjusted the rearview mirror, any excuse to avoid looking at the woman who’d been the Prom Queen to his Prom King. Back then, they’d had the world at their feet.

She clutched the edge of his window in a white-knuckled grip. “Stop, you can’t leave without me. I have to talk to Stuey. Give me a minute to change.”

“No can do. I have to drop off the car then head to the day job.”

Her eyebrows rose. “This is your side gig?”

Giving a shrug, he let his foot off the brake, and the car inched backward. “Have to go, Lace.”

Her hands curled into fists, and she ran around the front of the car, circling to the passenger-side door.

Afraid he’d run over her pretty heeled boots, he stopped. She tugged on the door handle, but he stared through the glass, schooling his expression, careful not to give her a clue what he was thinking. Certainly not the fact he was enjoying the heck out of seeing her this rattled.

Again, she tried the handle, and then slapped the glass. “Let me inside!”

Maybe she saw that he wasn’t giving an inch. Again, she ran—this time to the back of the car. She spread her arms wide and leaned over the trunk, her tiny frame so short only the top of her face appeared in the rear window.

Exasperated now, Dagger glanced around the quiet street. Doors were opening.

A large man in a grimy wifebeater and jockey shorts strode out of his door, wearing a dark scowl. Read the rest of this entry »

This one’s coming out on October 18th! Have you pre-ordered your copy?

Pre-Order Here!

I looked for a scene that would best show you both Hannah’s and Edge’s personalities. Hannah’s a stubborn, independent thing and Edge is the exact same. Here there are discussing the fact she needs protection, with her brother-in-law Billy in on the conversation. BTW, Pierce is his dog. I love writing these two! ~DD

“I don’t need protection,” Hannah said, shaking her head before he even finished.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Billy said. “Hell, I better call Rebecca and let her know to stay close to home until I get there.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and stepped away to place the call.

“This is ridiculous. I have an alarm system for my studio. My apartment’s in the back. I’ll be fine.”

Edge frowned. “If these men decide on taking revenge, they’ll play for keeps, Hannah. I don’t like the idea of having to shadow you either but—”

He stopped mid-sentence because her eyebrows shot up, and her mouth pursed as though he’d offended her.

“What I mean,” he amended, “is I’m in the same boat as you. Hell, so is Pierce. We have to lay low while my team sets up surveillance to make sure they won’t harm any one of us.”

“I can’t have you hovering over me. My studio isn’t huge. My apartment is small—one damn bathroom, a tiny kitchenette, and a bed.”

“Then come stay at the lodge. There’s plenty of room, and no one in their right mind will come after you when you’re surrounded by ex-Special Forces.”

“I’m not staying at the lodge. At least at my place, I can get some work done.”

Good Lord, she was going to argue about every damn little thing. “Fine. I’ll take the couch.”

Her gaze ran from his head down to his feet then back up again. “My couch is a loveseat.”

He gritted his teeth and smiled. “Then I’ll roll out my sleeping bag on the floor.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re not going to take no for an answer, are you?”

He couldn’t help it. Her voice was rough with aggravation, and her eyebrows were arrowed downward in the center. She was cute as hell when she was mad. He smiled.

Hannah gave him a hard glare and huffed. Then she threw up her hands and marched over to her brother-in-law who was still on the phone, presumably with his wife.

An argument ensued. Hannah’s hands gestured wildly; her face turned red. Billy, for his part, kept his cool, blinking once when she pointed her finger at his chest and tapped him. He pulled the phone from his ear, passed it to Hannah, then walked away. He headed straight for Edge.

“Women,” was all he said.

Edge grunted. “Your wife as stubborn as that one?” Edge asked, jerking his chin toward Hannah.

“It runs in the family.”

For some reason, Edge looked forward to meeting the mother and the sister. He cleared his throat. “You putting your wife on lockdown, too?”

“I’ll try, same as you.” Then he grinned, and the smile wrinkled the corners of his eyes. “I’m gonna call Sandy, their mom, to make sure she heads over there and sits on Rebecca until I get there.”

“Think she’ll be on your side?”

“She’s a mama bear. The stubborn’ll work in my favor.”

Edge chuckled. “And I thought I was going to have a nice quiet weekend.”

“Yeah, and now that you’ve met a Mackey woman, you can kiss all that goodbye.”

I appreciate the opportunity to talk about romance and jumped on Delilah Devin’s invitation to guest post.

As an author, I love to toy with dark ideas in the realm of romance. It’s rooted in the characters I create. Their wounds. Their goals. Their desires. The black hole in their soul that will either be a wasteland or the road to salvation. In writing fiction, it’s fun to translate those into symbols scattered throughout the story. Touchstones. Images we give readers. There’s no better visual than Darth Vader. And the words of Yoda: Anger, fear, aggression. The dark are they.

In romance, our main characters obviously are in love or soon will be. In erotic romance, sex is a powerful vehicle and lust is the driver. How far do we take-send-deliver the character with the most at stake?

That’s a gray area.

Tapping into our emotions ~ How dark can dark go?

It depends. When it involves fictional love and not just sex, we have to start with someone in need. I write alpha male characters and they’re hungry. They have a zest and zeal for life, starting in childhood, then it explodes in adulthood, usually in a skillset and a career. Someone we’d peg as passion-infused… or obsessed?

But to feel what a character feels, we need a common language to go deep. And sometimes, we aren’t sure why some terms are a turn-on… or a turnoff.

Passion and obsession by definition:

passion (n.) In Middle English “…an ailment, disease, affliction…” also “an emotion, desire, inclination, feeling; desire to sin considered as an affliction…” (mid-13c.). The specific meaning “…intense or vehement emotion or desire…”

obsession (n.) 1510s, “…action of besieging…” (Later (c. 1600), “…hostile action of an evil spirit…” …(like possession but without the spirit actually inhabiting the body). Psychological sense “idea or image that intrudes on the mind of a person against his will” is from 1901.

[From] obsess: Of evil spirits, “to haunt,” from 1530s.

—Online Etymology Dictionary https://www.etymonline.com/

We use ‘passion’ to describe extreme emotions, while ‘obsession’ was once equated to being haunted, or nearly possessed.

Between passion and obsession lies the demarcation of what is acceptable. Who doesn’t want to feel passionate about something? What about obsessed?

If by obsessed, do we mean they’ve gone over the edge? But have they?

Crossing the line~

While writing romance, a fictional mirror of reality, I’ve played with taking a character to the very edge of obsession. In Her Forever Cowboy, Stephen McLemore, an explosives engineer, walked away from crossing the line with Jillian. Eight years prior, he was in college and she was in high school. In the backyard of her parents’ home, which was about to be sold, they shared a stolen kiss. Jillian’s parents recently died. In a moment of offering Jillian consolation and comfort, Stephen crossed the line. At that moment he realized he wanted more, much more. A taste of Jillian left this man with an open wound. An ache. A consuming hunger.

Instead of consummating a budding romance, the hero walked away. But did he? This is a story about a man who refused to cross the ultimate line into darkness, but remained rooted in the heroine’s life in ways that clearly bordered on obsessive. And it isn’t until the very end of the story that the reader and Jillian become aware of how much. For some, the story could be taken as too much. What the hero did was unacceptable. For others, it’s the sign of unrequited love. A chance to be the wind beneath another person’s wings by giving them opportunities they might not have had. And that question plagues the hero. Did he alter the heroine’s life for the better and will she forgive him?

Why do we love to hate our obsessions?

So, in writing this type of hyped existence, I skate a fine line in Her Forever Cowboy. In order to give Stephen McLemore the opportunity to heal, he has to admit he has a problem. He does, up to a point. It’s up to the reader to decide from the get-go. Is Stephen wrong in doing the things he does, given the circumstances? Wrong because all obsessive behavior is too much? Or can a human being actually circumvent free will?

We connect with romance heroes and heroines because they’re flawed. They come to terms with their complex nature and are willing to change for the sake of love. In Her Forever Cowboy, I pushed boundaries to the max. Subplots involve family dynamics, drug and alcohol addiction, money and the things people do to maintain face, how far over the edge will friends and family go to preserve the status quo, loyalty, compassion and forgiveness.

In writing dark romance, it’s always a dance of weaving love, lust, shining moments, darkness in the soul, sickness, obsessions, addictions, redemption, pain, and selflessness. Both as reader and writer, it’s like boarding the ultimate emotional roller coaster. To love dark romance, we adore the steep rise and sharp drop.

Whether it’s life and fictional romance, it’s why we do what we do again, and again, and again.

Hope to see you on the dark side. It’s so much fun to be bad!

Do you agree? What’s something you’re passionate or obsessed about, or straddle the line? What would it be like to not have this deep feeling?

*~*~*

Thank you so much for allowing me to stir the pot on dark romance and give you a taste to the backstory of Stephen McLemore. Take care and happy romance trails.

About the Writer

Susan Arden is a best-selling author of romance novels. She lives just south of Nashville and when she isn’t writing, she owns and runs a cut flower farm. Susan is releasing four new novels in 2023. Stay tuned! www.susanardenauthor.com

Her Forever Cowboy link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I48M19C

I’ve never been much of a gardener, but this week I’ve felt the urge to get out into nature. It’s early spring here in Melbourne, Australia, and every year like clockwork, I feel the need to grow things. Warm sunshine and the idea of new beginnings fill me with hope and renewed energy. But more on that later.

My husband and I chose seedlings we thought we’d be safe with. Lettuce, tomatoes, chili, chives, basil, and oregano. We’ve had an abundance of parsley from last year’s crop, so we hold hope that we’re not completely hopeless.

Amongst the rows of plants, I drift towards the plethora of colour. Fragrant roses and sunny daisies tempt me, but I had something else in mind. I’ve discovered a love for dahlias. They’re pretty to look at and I couldn’t stop myself from picking out these two beauties.

Sincerity Rose

Tropical Punch

I mentioned new beginnings. At this time of year, I find myself reflecting on the past and pondering the future. I’m proud of the two novels I’ve written during the past year, and I look forward to another productive year ahead.

Now that I’m recovering from much needed sinus surgery, I’m drawing a line against the past few months of health issues and looking towards better days.

I know this period of reflection and hope definitely has something to do with my birthday. Yes, today I am a year older but I’m treating the day like any other Sunday. Although we may splurge on getting some takeout delivered. Who doesn’t love deliveries of any kind? And who doesn’t love a FREEBIE?

Cop Hero √
High school sweethearts √
Feisty female √
Second chance of love √
Sweet with a touch of naughty √
Sweet and spicy √
Intro to the Browne brothers’ √
Browne brothers’ banter √

Book 1 The Cop is available with Amazon and KU

Kane Browne is a sexy as sin cop who is used to accommodating everyone else’s needs before his own.
Cue Jess Frost, the gorgeous woman with a sharp tongue and eyes like the ocean.

From their first roadside interaction, sparks fly but an illness has robbed Jess of her self-confidence and Kane needs to convince her he’s worth taking a chance on.

Book 2 The Athlete is FREE today and tomorrow on e–book Amazon and KU

‘Dane was easy. All he wanted, was to play footy.’

Recently, ‘The Great Dane’ Browne has been questioning whether he can return to the elite level of Australian Rules Football and more importantly, whether he wants to.

Katelyn Jennings has never really made peace with the breakup with her high school sweetheart and for good reason. Working as a nurse in the rural town of Kingston Creek, a chance encounter will put her heart and her life through the ultimate test.

They’re about to discover whether you can move on from your first love. And for Dane, it’s about discovering who he really is AWAY from the game.

Follow Deb Robinson on her official Facebook page
Follow on Twitter @DRobinsonbooks
Follow on Instagram @debrobinsonbooks

Life is constantly changing. Today things are great, then you get a phone call, and your world is turned upside down. Lately, my life has been a rollercoaster ride and I’m just trying to hang on. I have days when I feel totally overwhelmed and all I want is to hide under the covers. But I get up. I dress. I push through. I know so many of you understand moments like that. Someone once told me that when you’re feeling down, smile. Even if you don’t feel it deep inside. Eventually, your brain catches up and your mood improves, and life seems a tiny bit less daunting. Does that work? I don’t know, but I think we all have ways of dealing with stress or grief. If a latte makes your day less crappy, then get the latte. If you feel like binge-watching your favorite Netflix series because it takes your mind off your troubles, then put on the cozy sweats and grab the popcorn. The bottom line is this: life is too short to deny yourself a little innocent pleasure.

This is part of the plot of my latest story. Alice Layne discovers her beloved grandmother has been murdered. As if that’s not awful enough, the killer sets his sight on her. Her entire world is turned upside down and she finds herself delving into her grandmother’s past to get to the truth. Not a fun task. After all, no one wants to dig up their loved one’s dirty little secrets, right?

Writing this book has brought out so many emotions in me. Alice is strong and determined but dodging a knife-wielding maniac is a new kind of terrifying. It has made me think of my own grandmother. I lost her when I was young, but I still remember how awesome she was. How special she made me feel. I remember chowing down on her delicious homemade chicken and dumplings while she taught me how to play pyramid solitaire. Now that I’m a grandmother, I work very hard on building those kinds of sweet memories with my adorable grandson.

More about My Pretty Butterfly: Dangerous Entanglements Collection—Releasing December 6^th! Authors in this collection include Nicole Morgan, Krista Ames, Amber Daulton, Karen Cino, Stacy-Deanne, and Amy Stephens

A helpful stranger or a deadly trap?

When Alice Layne doesn’t receive her daily phone call from her grandmother, she knows something is off. Finding her murdered on the kitchen floor, a butcher knife sticking out of her back, is horrifying enough. The note promising to do the same to her if she doesn’t give the psychopath a mysterious necklace is the icing on the cake. Before she can even get a chance to call the police Christian Jackson, her grandmother’s mysterious next-door neighbor swoops in and offers to help. Alice is tempted to rely on the big, brooding man, but is Christian a white knight or the sinister puppet master pulling the strings?

Christian learned early in life never to trust anyone. Love is for fools. That mantra has kept him alive. Until Maude Layne came into his world. She’d taken one look at his dirty, starving, ten-year-old self and given him a job at her corner grocery store. He’d known kindness and respect for the first time in his life.  And now he’s making it his mission to avenge her death. He hadn’t counted on the beautiful Alice showing up and putting herself square in the crosshairs of the murderer. Ensuring her safety might just prove to be the easy part. Keeping his hands off her? Now that’s damned challenging.

Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Dangerous-Entanglements-Romantic-Suspense-Collection-ebook/dp/B0B51Z2YF1/
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dangerous-entanglements-nicole-morgan/1141779550
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dangerous-entanglements
iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/dangerous-entanglements/id6443158419

About the Author

Bestselling author Anne Rainey, “wastes no time getting right to the erotic heart” (Publishers Weekly). She is published by Kensington and Entangled Publishing. Her books have won numerous awards and have been translated into Italian and German. In addition, Anne has dipped her toes into self-publishing with her exciting paranormal series: The Zenarians. Anne is from the Midwest and has had a variety of odd careers, including sales associate, nail technician, chiropractic assistant, and restaurant hostess. Her love of books has opened her up to a thrilling career as a romance author. Her stories are filled with passion, love, and the sometimes-exasperating bonds of family.

Find Anne:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/annerainey
Rainey’s Readers Private Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/785284435328066/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annerainey49/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/annerainey15
Website: https://www.annerainey.com/

I have two recent releases inside Elle James’s (aka my sister’s) Brotherhood Protectors world. Haven’t read them? Or heard about them? Well, take a look!

Defending Evangeline

A sharp-edged, disgruntled former Green Beret who needs to find redemption finds himself attracted to a woman hiding dangerous secrets.

Zeke Turner still can’t get his head wrapped around the fact he’s been all but booted from the job he loved. Angry over the fact Trojan Team took the fall for their leadership’s failure, he’s relieved that he and his buddies appear to have landed on their feet, still together, having been hired by the Brotherhood Protectors, but he doesn’t trust this move will end well. Once burned, twice shy is his motto—and he was never very trusting in the first place.

His first protection job doesn’t leave him feeling any surer he made the right decision, but he’s keeping his dissatisfaction to himself, keeping his head down…until then he bumps into a dark-haired angel in Fool’s Gold, who manages to both attract and intrigue him. He knows something’s not right, that Evangeline Carré is scared and hiding secrets. With his protective instincts going into overdrive, he’s determined to unravel the mystery surrounding her while keeping her safe, even when she swears she doesn’t need or want his help.

Read an excerpt | Order your copy now!

Victoria’s Six

A former FBI agent—now, an operator in The Athena Project—goes undercover with an ex-SEAL who threatens her vow to never get involved with a partner while they protect a capricious starlet during a days-long house party at a luxury dude ranch.

Victoria Cross left the FBI, burned out after a months-long undercover operation to break up a sex trafficking ring ends with her partner being grievously wounded. Now, her best friend has roped her into joining the Brotherhood Protectors’ Colorado branch as part of their new startup team, The Athena Project, which pairs female operatives with ex-military partners and then sends them into situations only a smaller team can navigate.

Posing as a couple, Victoria and ex-SEAL, Logan Tackett, head to a days-long house party at a luxury dude ranch. It sounds like a cakewalk of an assignment—and yet both Victoria and Logan find their attention divided between the capricious star they’ve been sent to keep out of trouble and each other. Friction grows between the two operatives when Logan treats Victoria’s rule about not getting involved with partners as a challenge while she pushes against his natural, old-fashioned instinct to protect any woman in his sphere.

To complicate matters further, the woman they’re there to protect is a bit of an adrenaline junkie, and between riding ATVs at break-neck speeds through the mountains and zip-lining through the forest, they have their work cut out for them trying to keep her alive and healthy until the movie she’s scheduled to star in starts shooting, especially after mysterious accidents begin to happen.

Read an excerpt | Order your copy now!