Summer is here! It’s time to get out there and enjoy every second of it. Here’s my foolproof plan for enjoying a summer’s day at home.

Step #1

Get an adult beverage. Wine is always an excellent choice but here’s one that’s been a family favorite for years. Mix it up, put it in the freezer, and it’s a cool, refreshing drink whenever you want one.

Summer Slush

Ingredients:
1 – 12 oz can of frozen orange juice
1 – 12 oz can of frozen lemonade
¾ cup of sugar
5 cups of water
2 cups of vodka

In large freezer proof container, mix in order given and freeze.

Serve ½ glass of slush with 7 up or ginger ale.

Step #2

Snacks. There should always be snacks. Unlike winter, when I admit to going heavy on the sweets, this time of year I crave the fresh fruits of summer—apricots, cherries, watermelon, grapes. These are not always easy to get where I live. Some cheese and crackers, maybe some hummus. For dessert—because there should always be dessert—some excellent dark chocolate. These backyard picnic-style snack foods are also a great way to avoid having to cook.

Step #3

A good book. Reading is the way I relax and let go of all my worries. I live in an apartment, so I love to take my book out on my balcony, relax in my lawn chair, and enjoy a refreshing beverage—iced tea or something with a little more zip. (See Step #1)

And if you’re looking for something to read, you might want to check out the Secret Identities: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology. The great thing about an anthology is the stories are shorter and you can sample a variety of authors—perfect for a relaxing afternoon in the sun

Inside Secret Identities: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, you’ll find stories by some of the hottest romance writers out there for readers who crave mysterious, enigmatic men and women who may not be who they claim to be. Perhaps they’re the new next-door neighbor with a secret mission, an alien from a far-away galaxy looking for his fated mate, or a spy trying to catch a foreign agent. Whatever their secrets, intrigue and passion follow…

My contribution is “Perfect Stranger” – An undercover DEA agent must keep his identity secret from the woman he’s falling for, a woman he’s also investigating.

Coming July 30^th. Preorder your copy today.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D5SQ4P2P/
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/secret-identities-delilah-devlin/1145674531
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/secret-identities-8

About the Author

N.J. Walters is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who has always been a voracious reader, and now she spends her days writing novels of her own. Vampires, werewolves, dragons, assassins, time-travelers, seductive handymen, and next-door neighbors with smoldering good looks—all vie for her attention. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to live it.

Visit her at:
Website: http://www.njwalters.com
Blog: http://www.njwalters.blogspot.com
Newsletter Sign Up: http://eepurl.com/gdblg5
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/N.J.WaltersAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/njwaltersauthor
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/NJWalters
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/njwalters
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/n-j-walters

UPDATE: The winner is…Flchen!
*~*~*

Hello Delilah!  Thank you for inviting me here to share news of my new release!  Cole’s Reckoning is the second book in my Bonded By Love trilogy, and I’m thrilled to tell your readers all about it!

Initially, this trilogy began as one book—Caressa’s Homecoming. Pretty early on, though, I realized I couldn’t tell Caressa, Cole, and Michael’s story in just one book.  The best friends-to-lovers story deserved more than that.  The three grew up in horrific poverty and came from abusive homes.  Their lives diverged in huge ways—and Caressa suffered more trauma.  Trauma she never shared with her best friends.  Because of some of that, she went overseas as a nurse to volunteer with Médecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders).  She came back to Canada even more traumatized.

Her best friends saw that.  And Michael was there first—to both comfort and to admit his feelings had changed for her.  In turn, she realized her feelings for him had deepened as well.  Friends-to-lovers is a tricky trope.  The evolution has to feel like it works—like the progression is natural and was always meant to be.  I tried to portray it as accurately as I could.

Cole, however, didn’t want to be left behind.  Because when Caressa left, he realized he loved both his best friends.  He’s bisexual (although in the closet about his dalliances with men).  Michael’s straight. This set up an interesting dynamic for me to work with.  Oh, and Cole’s into BDSM—something Caressa and Michael know nothing about.  Caressa’s Homecoming ends with Caressa having discovered Cole’s dungeon and confronting Cole…after he and Michael have exchanged some pretty steamy kisses.

This second book was a challenge for me.  I needed a pivot point.  Something that would push their relationship along.  Something that wasn’t artificial.  I realized early on what that would be.  I wrote the story and then sent it out to my editor and proofreaders—asking them to read the story blind—without having read the synopsis.  All three admitted they didn’t see the twist coming.  All three admitted it made sense and, as I’d hoped, deepened the dynamic of the relationship between the members of the triad.

I’m excited to release the book because I’m hoping readers will enjoy the twist.  Will find the book isn’t the saggy middle novel of a trilogy—which can sometimes happen.  Often, readers read a trilogy and think, “That could’ve been two books instead of three.”  Now, I have a different throuple for my conclusion—so stay tuned.

Thank you, Delilah, for hosting me.  I love sharing my books, especially the ones that pushed me.  MMF definitely does that!  I’d love to give away a $5 Amazon Gift Card to a commenter chosen by random.  Have you ever read a good menage book?  One that stuck with you?  If not, is it something you would consider, or are you happy with just a couple? Let me know and you might win!

Cole’s Reckoning

Three inseparable friends—now three insatiable lovers?

Actor Cole Hamilton has finally convinced the two people he loves most in the world, Caressa Klein and Michael Dubois, to move in, join him in a throuple relationship, and set his bed on fire. But he fears his secrets—his real self—will drive them away.

Michael is stressed by his latest engineering project, but his two best friends turned hot lovers worry him more. Cole is too reckless, and Caressa keeps him guessing.

Caressa adores her two sexy men, but her past and tragedies in her nursing profession haunt her.

Can their love and friendship survive secrecy and the reopening of old wounds?

Links:
Universal Link: https://books2read.com/ColesReckoning
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Coles-Reckoning-Bonded-Love-Book-ebook/dp/B0D3KCG7QG
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/coles-reckoning-gabbi-grey/1145488881
iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/coles-reckoning/id6502349359
KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/cole-s-reckoning
Add it to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/213029211-cole-s-reckoning

About Gabbi Grey

USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.

Personal links:
Website: https://gabbigrey.com/
Newsletter sign-up:  https://sendfox.com/gabbigrey
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorgabbigrey/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GabbiGrey
Facebook (page): https://www.facebook.com/AuthorGabbiGrey
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/gabbi-grey
Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15456297.Gabbi_Grey

I’m excited to share my new release, Falling for a Star in the City. It’s a standalone book that’s part of the Stars in the City interconnected series. Each book can be read on its own, but the characters all exist in the same world in New York City. Check out the blurb:

Paige thought she had it all: a job on the soap opera Charmed Lives and a boyfriend who was trying to get discovered as a singer/songwriter. Then her part on the show is reduced to reoccurring status and her family pushes her to leave her acting dreams behind to major in journalism—what they call a “real job.” Her relationship with her wannabe pop star boyfriend, Walker, ends only for her to find out he signed a recording contract right after their breakup. Then she reads online that his new album is about their relationship.

She gets an internship in the sports department at the TV station where she meets a college hockey player named Viktor who has trust issues from a past relationship. Now with Walker’s pop star dreams taking off, it leaves her questioning her own play-it-safe tendencies, her acting career aspirations, self-worth, and relationships. Everyone else seems to have it together but her.

Paige and Viktor begin to confide in each other, which soon leaves them falling for each other, but Paige worries their worlds are too different for them to work as a couple. Plus, there’s the issue of Walker trying to back together with her, but has fame changed him?

Meanwhile, Paige has a minor accident which leaves her questioning if she ever really wanted a flashy lifestyle or if it was what she felt she was supposed to want. Now she must figure out what she really needs to be happy and fulfilled in life. Can Paige find both her purpose & true love?

***Free in Kindle Unlimited ***
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Falling-Star-City-Hockey-Romance-ebook/dp/B0CVXHF8DL
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Falling-Star-City-Hockey-Romance-ebook/dp/B0CVXHF8DL
Amazon CAN: https://www.amazon.ca/Falling-Star-City-Hockey-Romance-ebook/dp/B0CVXHF8DL
Amazon Aus: https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B0CVXHF8DL
Add it on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/208865198-falling-for-a-star-in-the-city

New review: Reviewed by Manik Chaturmutha for Readers’ Favorite

Falling for a Star in the City by Krysten Lindsay Hager follows Paige, a young woman navigating the highs and lows of her acting career and personal life in a bustling city. Paige is driven by her dreams of acting success and haunted by a recent breakup with Walker. Her journey takes an unexpected turn when she starts an internship at a TV station, initially performing menial tasks but eventually impressing the sports department. Paige faces professional and emotional challenges, encountering Viktor, a hockey player, and seeing her ex, Walker, whose music career was inspired by their split. The story captures Paige’s inner conflicts and resilience as she navigates her evolving relationships with Walker and Viktor, culminating in moments of personal growth and professional achievements. Falling for a Star in the City is rich with themes of love, career ambitions, and personal discovery.

Krysten Lindsay Hager carefully shows the ups and downs of Paige’s feelings and choices, helping readers understand her successes and failures. The writing is both engaging and straightforward and the use of humor and introspection maintains intrigue and emotional resonance. The descriptive language and relatable dialogue enhance the characters and their experiences. The setting is the vibrant backdrop of the city, and the tone is a blend of lightheartedness and emotional depth; both capture the protagonist’s optimistic yet sometimes uncertain outlook on her future. Paige is a well-rounded character. Her interactions with Walker and Viktor are key to the story, revealing different sides of her personality and helping her grow emotionally. The other characters, like her friends and coworkers, enrich the story by showing the importance of friendship and support. The title itself aptly captures the essence of the story. The word “star” hints at Paige’s acting career and her romantic interests, giving the title an intriguing double meaning. This sets the stage for the themes of love, ambition, and self-discovery that unfold. The book also gives a clear message of resilience and being true to yourself. It highlights the importance of real connections and having the courage to chase your dreams, no matter the obstacles. Falling for a Star in the City is a compelling narrative that resonates with its authentic portrayal of personal growth and relationships.

UPDATE: The winner is…Mary Preston!
*~*~*

Hello Delilah! Thank you for inviting me to join you and your readers today.  I’m super excited to share my new release with you, Husky Love.  This is the fourth book in the multi-author series, Friends of Gaynor Beach Animal Rescue set in the fictional town of Gaynor Beach, California.

I was part of the original series, The Single Dads of Gaynor Beach, with three books (because I love single dads?).  I loved writing Hugh, Anthony, and Xavier.  All three were interracial gay romances with varying degrees of angst.  I mean, a single dad’s usually got a story behind that.  Anyway, I loved writing those books, and I also loved being in a community of writers with true depth and range.  We all came from different backgrounds and even different parts of the world.  We all wanted to do something great. I think we did, and the 17-book series is now complete. Just over a year ago, someone asked about a rescue shelter in our fictional town.  Our group chat blew up and within a day, Friends of Gaynor Beach Animal Rescue was born.

I wanted to write the first book really badly and had an idea ready to go. Love Furever came out in March and readers have really loved the book.  Plus, putting a cute guy holding a bulldog puppy in his arms on the cover proved a good idea as well.  In the writing of that book, I had a scene where two secondary characters met, and I went…OMG—these two need a book!  I didn’t have any notion of how or when I would write the book…I just knew I had to.  Fast forward several months and a slot opened up in the series.  I leaped at the chance to bring Rob and Danny’s story to life.  Danny is the younger brother of James (cover guy) from Love Furever.  I had an image of Rob in my mind, but finding the right photo was tough.  In the end, I found the husky hugging the guy.  From there, all the pieces, including the double entendre, all came together.

I had a book.  I lovingly sent it to my beta reader, my editor, and my proofreader.  Finally, several weeks ago, I sent it to reviewers.  All through the process, I’ve worried whether readers would enjoy the book.  Also…this is an animal rescue book…what are the kids doing there?  Turns out I needed the kids to tell the single dad story as well as that gorgeous husky named Trouble.  And you really have to read the book to find out the evolution of Trouble’s name.  Well, my book’s out in the world.  I’ll sit back and desperately hope readers enjoy it as much as I loved writing it.  This wasn’t an easy story—Rob’s a survivor of domestic violence. This is a book about resiliency and finding another chance at love.  It’s a slow burn with moments of humor and moments of dark contemplation.  And, of course, a happy ending.  Oh, and Zeus. Must mention Zeus.

Thank you for hosting me today! I’d love to give out a $5 Amazon gift card to a random commenter.  So far, Friends of Gaynor Beach animal rescue have a couple of dogs, an amazingly talented cat who does tricks, and an iguana.  Is there an animal you would love to see rescued?  Let me know.  If inspiration hits, I might just write that book!

Husky Love

Danny

I may be young, but I’ve done a hell of a lot of growing up in the past year. I watched my big brother deal with the challenges of loving someone, went through some medical stuff myself, and changed my career plans and ultimately, my city. Gaynor Beach is smaller than where I was, but it has two attractions—my brother’s big new house, where he’s letting me live for now, and Rob Dunn. When I met Rob, just, damn. Like my brother, I wanted to help that sweet, stubborn guy and his cute kids get back on their feet. Maybe the rescue husky wasn’t the right gesture, despite Rob’s connection to her, but a dog is love on four paws, and I plan to be there to help all the way.

Rob

I fled my abusive husband with my two kids and the clothes on our backs. I’m grateful every day for the support the Gaynor Beach folks have given us…okay, I’m not sure I’m precisely grateful for the rambunctious young husky Danny Reynolds gave us, but Trouble makes my kids smile, and that’s a big win in my eyes. I’m determined to get back on my feet. I hate relying on other people to help us, but somehow it doesn’t bother me as much when it comes from Danny. It’s nice to have a real friend after all those isolated years, but do I want to keep him in the friend zone?

This slow-burn small-town gay romance novel is about fresh starts, accepting help, two sweet kids, and an adorable husky named Trouble.

Links:
Amazon US:  https://www.amazon.com/Husky-Love-Friend-Gaynor-Animal-ebook/dp/B0CT5SGK5S
Universal Book Link:  https://books2read.com/Husky
KOBO:  https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/husky-love
Apple Books:  https://books.apple.com/us/book/husky-love/id6504550093
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/husky-love-gabbi-grey/1145838658
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1579491
Add it to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/206097250-husky-love

About the Author

USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.

Personal links:
Website: https://gabbigrey.com/
Newsletter sign-up:  https://sendfox.com/gabbigrey
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorgabbigrey/
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/gabbi-grey
Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15456297.Gabbi_Grey
Amazon Author Central: https://www.amazon.com/Gabbi-Grey/e/B07SJVFX1M
Audible Profile:  https://www.audible.com/author/Gabbi-Grey/B07SJVFX1M
Facebook (page): https://www.facebook.com/AuthorGabbiGrey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GabbiGrey
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/gabbigreyauthor/
Facebook (personal): https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009821772591

Are you ready? Hmmm. This sounds like the opening to an Ole Miss football game. (If you know, you know.) Let’s try this again.

Are you ready for something different?

Like many writers, I began writing because I could not find stories I wanted to read. That doesn’t mean they didn’t exist. It means they didn’t exist where I was searching. Regardless of the reason why, I didn’t have the desired reading material which prompted me to create my own. Turns out, writing is also therapeutic. It positively filled the downtime on the bayou. But even with wonderful books to get lost in, sometimes, I got a hankering for something different.

Romance books are a lot predictable, and there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s satisfaction in knowing that a HEA or HFN awaits. The true joy is the journey there, and every book takes a different route to the destination. That is why the romance genre has stuck around for so long. That being said, some voyages are similar. Well, if you’re a reader wanting a palate cleanser, hang onto your bootstraps. I have the story for you in Demon Rodeo.

Now, I know what you’re probably thinking. “What kind of name is Demon Rodeo for a romance? It sounds more like…” If you completed that sentence with “something from a Louisiana bayou,” you’d be correct. But let me tell you about it and what makes it different.

1. Demon Rodeo is the first book in the Chasing the Buckle If you don’t like reading series, that’s okay, because Demon Rodeo can be read as a standalone. No cliffhangers, I promise.
2. It’s a mashup of several subgenres that aren’t typically seen together. I explain it as if Brokeback Mountain, 8 Seconds, Poltergeist, and Supernatural had an orgy, Demon Rodeo would be the lovechild. It is a contemporary MM paranormal spicy, friends-to-lovers sports romance.
3. The story is about modern-day bull riders, but these cowboys aren’t on a ranch or a farm. This isn’t a “western.” These are Louisiana Cajun and Creole cowboys who are competing for a national championship. Their stories take place outside of the arena as much as inside of it.
4. The characters are diverse and inclusive. Readers will definitely get a taste of the Cajun and Creole cultures as well as others.
5. It has a heat level of volcanic. It’s not for the kiddies. This is an adult guilty pleasure. The main characters have sizzling chemistry. Yet, the plot doesn’t get lost in the steam and isn’t “smut” or erotica.
6. It also isn’t horror that isn’t going to keep readers awake at night. However, if readers like a little bit of spook that will bring them to the edge of their seats, they can check that box. Think about the stories of the peculiarity and eccentricity that is rumored to occur in New Orleans.
7. The story is fast-paced. For most readers, it feels like a quick read.
8. Demon Rodeo supports healthy, nontoxic relationships between consenting adults.
9. Not everything is predictable. As in life, sometimes things just occur, and they don’t always make sense. Adjustments must be made. Life is about swiveling and pivoting. So is this story.
10. A romance is at the center of the story. Is there angst? Yes. Is there humor? For sure. Is there drama? Most definitely. Will it keep readers on their toes? That’s the intention. But in the end, it’s all about love and friendship.

So, why did I decide to write this post? It’s reveal day! I’m happy finally to be able to share the Demon Rodeo book cover. Be sure to follow me on my social media platforms because I have lots of giveaways and goodies coming soon.

Preorder
⇨ Amazon: https://readerlinks.com/l/4174852
⇨ All Stores: https://books2read.com/u/bP8RG7

So, that’s it. What did you think? What is your take on the subject of creative freedom? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section.

Until next time, happy reading and much romance. Laissez le bon temps rouler.

If you’re not following my blog, Creole Bayou, what are you waiting for? There’s always room at the bayou.

NEWSLETTER! Want to get the latest information and updates about my writing projects, giveaways, contests, and reveals first? Click here and sign up today.

Want to chat about writing, mental health, Cajun cuisine, Creole culture, or just spill some tea? If yes, let’s get connected. Follow me on one of my social links. There’s plenty to choose from.

• Facebook: Genevive Chamblee
• X (formerly Twitter): @dolynesaidso
• Instagram: genevivechambleeauthor
• Goodreads: Genevive Chamblee
• Amazon Authors: Genevive Chamblee
• BookBub: Genevive Chamblee
• TikTok: CreolegurlNola
• Bluesky: Genevive Chamblee
• Threads: Author Genevive Chamblee

Locker Room Love Series

• Out of the Penalty Box (book #1) One minute in the box or a lifetime out.
• Defending the Net (book #2) Crossing the line could cost the game.
• Ice Gladiators (book #3) When the gloves come off, the games begin.
• Penalty Kill (book #4) Let the pucker begin.
• Future Goals (book #5) The future lies between a puck and a net.

About the Author

Hi, I’m Genevive, a blogger and contemporary sports romance author. My home is in South Louisiana. If you like snark and giggles with a touch of steamy Cajun and Creole on the side, I may have your poison in my stash of books. Drop by the bayou and have a look around. The pirogues are always waiting for new visitors.

UPDATE: The winner is…Amy Fendley!
*~*~*

Born in 1815, Harriet Ann Jacobs started life as a slave in Edenton, North Carolina but died an author, school founder, “contraband” advocate, and women’s rights champion in Washington D.C. Her autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, chronicles the brutality she endured as an enslaved woman, but also demonstrates her resiliency, thanks to her family connections.

Harriet belonged to a tavern owner’s daughter who disregarded societal rules and taught six-year-old Harriet to read and write. Unfortunately, when the woman died, Harriet’s ownership transferred to John/James Norcom’s family, where Norcom sexually abused her. She began a relationship with a white lawyer named Samuel Sawyer who fathered her son Joseph and her daughter Louisa Matilda. Despite this relationship, Norcom kept sexually harassing Harriet. She ran away in 1835 and hid in her grandmother’s crawl space until she could escape to Philadelphia in 1842.

From there, she moved to New York and worked as a nanny for writer Nathaniel Parker Willis’ family. To thwart Norcom’s attempts to recapture her, the Willises sent Harriet to Massachusetts multiple times where her brother John lived and was an abolitionist.

After traveling to England with Willis and his child, Harriet lived in Rochester NY with abolitionist activist Amy Post, thanks to her brother’s connections with Frederick Douglass. She visited the Willis family back in New York City and agreed to work for them again. Since she was still a fugitive, they purchased her freedom in 1852.

Her brother and Post encouraged her to write down her life story, but Harriet refused.  However, a defense of slavery written by the wife of President John Tyler, finally broke down Harriet’s resistance. She responded to Julia Tyler’s lies that slaves were happy and well-treated with “Letter From A Fugitive Slave.” She sent the testimonial to the New York Daily Tribune, which published it on June 21, 1853. You can read the text here: https://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/jacobs/support16.html.

This letter served as the springboard for Harriet writing her autobiography.

She tried three times to find a publisher for her work here in the US and in England. After the third attempt failed, she was able to buy the plates and had the book printed herself under the pen name Linda Brent in 1861.

During the Civil War in occupied Alexandria, Harriet did relief work with contrabands—slaves who had escaped and found shelter with Union troops. She traveled north and to England several times to promote and raise financial support for this work. In January 1864, Harriet opened the Jacobs School with her daughter to teach the formerly enslaved to read and write. After Sherman’s marches, they took the Jacobs School to Georgia as well. The assassination of Abraham Lincoln and post-reconstruction violence by the Ku Klux Klan forced them to relocate North. They opened boarding houses, first in Cambridge, Massachusetts, then in Washington D.C.

She died on March 7, 1897, and is buried in Cambridge’s Mount Auburn Cemetery.

In 2004, Jean Fagan Yellin published a biography entitled Harriet Jacobs: A Life. Yellin also started the Harriet Jacobs Papers Project. which collected nearly one thousand documents written by, to and about Harriet, her brother John, and her daughter Louisa. Through her research which began in the 1980s, Yellin has used documents from various historical societies and archives to successfully defend Harriet’s work as an autobiography, not a work of fiction as some academics had claimed.

Today in the US people are still trying to whitewash the history of slavery, but slave narratives written by men and women like Harriet keep setting the record straight.

For a chance at a $10 Amazon Gift card share in the comments any thoughts this post may have raised for you.

One Breath Away
by Michal Scott

Sentenced to hang for a crime she didn’t commit, former slave Mary Hamilton was exonerated at literally the last gasp. She returns to Safe Haven, broken and resigned to live alone. She’s never been courted, cuddled or spooned, and now no man could want her, not when sexual satisfaction comes only with the thought of asphyxiation. But then the handsome stranger who saved her shows up, stealing her breath from across the room and promising so much more.

Excerpt:

Tonight, all she cared about was the pleasure she hoped to enjoy again.

Spectral fingers of steam wafted from the water, inviting her own fingers to play between her thighs. The hope of completed self-pleasure shivered agreeably along every nerve.

She closed her eyes and massaged her nether lips, tentatively then confidently. The slow coil of arousal spread from her gut to her core. Her body swooned as desire ebbed and flowed in each vaginal contraction. First her chest tightened, then her belly and finally her groin. She gasped, caught in the grip of longing.

Now. I’ll do it now.

She thumbed her clitoris. Already throbbing with eagerness, the nubbin responded immediately.

Her back arched. Her throat tensed as bliss hardened into a clawing climax. She reached for the release beckoning to her from the edges of consciousness…then fell suddenly, frighteningly onto a piercing stake of pain straight out of hell.

Buylink: https://amzn.to/2u5XQYY