Psst! You still have time to vote on Monday’s poll and enter the contest for the Amazon e-gift. I’ll close it tomorrow. ~DD

I’m honored, Delilah, to be guest blogging for you again today.

With the holiday season upon us, I started thinking about some of how my characters would celebrate Christmas. My heroine in ADDING HEAT, Giselle Sheridan, would be most likely to celebrate and decorate the way I do.

Giselle is a widow in her 40s who struggles to keep her late husband’s landscape business running and her two sons in college. She’s gutsy and determined and open to having a man in her life again, if only she had the time to search for one. So I gave her an early gift — a cougar cub of her very own.

She met CPA Conlan Trowbridge during the busiest season for them both—the week before the income tax deadline of April 15. But of course they find a way to get together.

Both Con and Giselle grew up in a semi-rural area in Pennsylvania and have traditional values. It’s important for them to have family gathered together during the holidays.

Much like in my own household, they will use traditional, indigenous decorations—fresh pine and spruce boughs and cones, holly, pyracantha and juniper berries, osage oranges and other natural elements gleaned from the acreage surrounding her home and business.

Because Giselle is in the landscaping business, their Christmas tree will, of course, be a live conifer, balled in burlap and resting in an old galvanized tub. They’ll plant the tree in the spring as a memento of their first holiday together. And I can see them starting a tradition that my own family has followed—each year giving one special ornament to the other.

Our tree was always decorated with wooden nutcrackers, hand-crocheted snowflakes, a few precious heirlooms of colored glass, sterling silver stars inscribed with meaningful dates. There’s a guy on skis, a wheelbarrow, a crocheted angel atop the tree, a needlepointed truck (yes, I actually designed and made it!). One year I received a set of Russian matryoshka dolls nested one inside the other. I treasure the tinkling glass wedding bells on a silver ribbon. We found a wooden farm couple: a man holding a rake and a woman with a pail. A replica of a steam engine and coal tender. Musical instruments. And more, but you get the idea.

Back to Giselle and Con, they aren’t always traditional, especially in the romance department *big grin*. Here’s the blurb for ADDING HEAT, a stand-alone story in the Cougar Challenge series from Ellora’s Cave.

Encouraged by friends she met at RomantiCon, widowed landscape contractor Giselle Sheridan decides she’s finally ready to take the cougar challenge and explore sex with a younger man. Except she’s too busy during planting season to go on the prowl.

CPA Conlan Trowbridge is battling the IRS deadline for his clients, but when Giselle saunters into his office with a tax question, all he can think of is sex. She’s all luscious curves and smoldering brown eyes, and he doesn’t care if she’s a dozen years older, she’s a wet dream come true.

Oh yeah, they’re both ready for some hot and heavy sex—in the tub, parking lots, their offices—anywhere and everywhere. But Giselle is afraid her age will eventually bother Con, and her longtime foreman also has designs on her, in more ways than one. When Giselle faces some hard decisions, will she ultimately be able to keep the heat?

Who is Cris Anson?

An older woman who still wants romance in her life. After my husband died in 2005, it took me a long time to come out of my grief. Because my marriage was long and happy, I wouldn’t say no to another love interest in my life. So I find myself writing cougar stories (although readers probably wouldn’t want to read about heroines as old as I am LOL). I’ve also written the four-book DANCE series for Ellora’s Cave as well as several novellas and Quickies.

Read excerpts of my books at www.crisanson.com

Find the entire Cougar Challenge series here: Cougar Challenge

You still have time to vote on yesterday’s poll and enter the contest for the Amazon e-gift. I’ll close it on Thursday.

In the meantime, are you looking for a different kind of kink? Something you haven’t tasted before? Check out my friend Amanda’s new story!

Justine Crenshaw is accident-prone. On purpose. It’s the bruises…she can’t live without them, without the pleasure and pain that closely bind her sexuality to her secret obsession. She chooses men who accept her fetish, who seek it out for their own dark designs, even if they don’t understand it. She accepts that. Justine doesn’t need them for anything but a little bruise pressure during down-and-dirty sex.

Then she meets Nathan, and her heart starts demanding more than her compulsions provide. She can’t hide her body from him forever, can’t keep him in the dark, literally. But no “normal” guy could possibly understand her multi-colored kink…could he? It might be time for Justine to shine a light on her fetish and find out.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

If they found my body tomorrow—cold and dead from some accidental food poisoning or bathtub slip—they’d suspect I was a battered wife or girlfriend for the mass of bruises, contusions and welts on my body.

They’d be wrong, whoever they are.

No one ever beats me, ties me up—or down. I never have to lie about falling accidentally, or running into door frames, or searing my forehead with a curling iron.
I’m not submissive to anyone, nor am I bound, gagged, throttled, spanked or any of those other violent verbs.

What I am is accident prone.

In the sense that I’m open to them. Accidents.

Ironically, my name is Justine, like the book.

If you don’t get the Marquis de Sade reference, don’t worry. It’s not necessary. This story is neither literary nor filled with obscure references. It’s a base little tale of private kink and Christmas.

So it’s festive, I suppose. But really not the point.
Read the rest of this entry »

Why I Write Straight from my Shameless, Outrageous, Warped Imagination
by Ashlyn Chase

I just read an article about how comedy writers should not use too much humor and how they should temper it, i.e. curb the urge to let the heroine crawl out the bathroom window. Huh? What’s wrong with that? Hey, I’ve done it myself (and I’m not just talking fiction!).

Fine. Some people aren’t comfortable letting their slips show. Isn’t that what editors are for? To reel us in when necessary? I don’t care if my Freudian slips show and it seems to be okay with my editors. Even more okay with fans. I can hardly believe that I actually have fans or that my work generates great reviews and reader mail! Maybe others are warped too, I don’t know.

What I do know is this. 1) Our world can use a few good belly-laughs and a lot of love. 2) I enjoy writing when I’m having fun with it and the more fun I have the less I care what people think. And 3) Readers can tell when words come from a place of passion and truth. My passion is making people laugh.

And truth? You might think that’s an odd word to describe a fiction writer’s goal, especially one who writes Vampire and Shapeshifter comedies. Here’s the thing…a wonderful quote I read ages ago said it best. “You must be fearless to be a writer.” I wish I could remember the fearless female’s name, but I can’t. The idea being that each writer has some sort of truth to tell, regardless of the manner in which they tell it. It takes guts to tell your own truth with your own voice. If you try to write “safe” you run the risk of boring your audience, and boredom is death to an author.

We all have words to live by. Whether positive or negative, some of these words hit a chord and stick. I’ve found some wonderful mentors along the way who’ve imparted words of wisdom I’ll never forget. My number one wise woman was my mother. She often said to me, “Nothing ventured; Nothing gained.” Yup. She was right. Well, except when great things just fall into one’s lap with absolutely no effort, but how often does that happen? It even takes faith, foresight, and effort to buy a lottery ticket.

She also said people would be jealous of me all my life. Wow, that was a trip to lay on a teenager! But she was right about that too. And you can’t let jealousy stop you. Some people will be jealous of the time you spend writing. Tough noogies. Some will be jealous that you can do something they can’t. Yay you. Who knows…some people might even be jealous that you once had the guts to climb out a bathroom window to avoid a lounge lizard who thought he could charm your pants off. So what? Be fearless enough to write about it. Whatever your gift, embrace it. Be passionate about it. Write whatever you really love and take no prisoners!

NaNo Day 23:
Viking-2—1196 words
TW—198 words 😥

I love chocolate. And vacations. But the best thing of all is vacations with chocolate.

Oh, and a delicious partner or two as well, of course.

So I guess it is not really surprising that vacations tend to run through my books. Or maybe it’s just that my characters like to go on vacation too.

In “Huldah’s Two Hikers”, Huldah, Derek, and Corey went on a three-day hike in a National Park. Then in “Double Satisfaction”, Imogen, Gage, and Liam spent a week at a luxury resort.

My latest book, “Summer Sizzle”, is not a ménage, it’s MM. But it is set on vacation. At the beach. This particular beach is one I have visited and adore. In fact, the book is dedicated to the beach, as it was the inspiration for the story. Not the characters, they just appeared in my head, demanding their story be told. But how that story would unfold so the characters could achieve their Happy Ever After? It was the beach which decided that.

Craig and Seth took one look at each and lust erupted between them.

Of course, achieving an HEA wasn’t that simple, but the beach did its utmost to ensure it happened.

Summer Sizzle

Craig and Seth are both on holidays at Two Waters beach. The lust between them is instant and fiercely hot. Sex at the beach, in the woods, in the sauna… When they take a break from having sex they discover they have many interests in common and begin to build a relationship outside the bedroom.

Their growing intimacy is interrupted when Seth is called to a meeting at the school where he teaches. Seth is shattered when he and most of his colleagues find themselves suddenly unemployed due to school consolidation. His well-ordered life has come to a crashing halt, along with his vacation—and perhaps his romance.

Buy Now

Summer Sizzle—Warning: MM

“Enough,” said Craig, standing up. “Let’s go to bed.”

“Good plan.” Casually Seth dropped his towel and let his cock lead the way out of the room.

Craig retrieved the lube and condoms from the bathroom while Seth pulled the covers down the bed. He piled the pillows up behind his back and lounged against the headboard, his legs spread, his cock pointing straight up.

“God, you look hot.” Craig had left his towel in the bathroom and was now naked. His cock was huge and hard, the head reddish purple with excitement.

“Climb up here and let me suck you. I want to play with that barbell.”

Craig slid across the bed, his arms open to pull Seth into a bear hug. They wrestled a little on the bed, each one demonstrating his muscles but both careful not to hurt the other. Seth, larger and stronger than Craig, ended up on top and sat across Craig’s hips. Then he swiveled around to lie on top of the other man, and sucked Craig’s cock deep into his mouth. His tongue played with the jewelry, rolling it and sliding all around it, then slipping into the eye of his cock to lick the tiny drop of liquid already there. Then Seth relaxed his throat and took Craig in unbelievably deep. The other man groaned loudly. “God, that’s good.”

Craig wiggled around a bit so his mouth was level with Seth’s cock and he began gently biting his way along the length. Seth let Craig pop out of his mouth for a moment to say, “Oh, yeah I like that!” before sucking Craig in again as deep as he could go.

While Seth sucked and played his tongue around the ridge and the piercing, Craig nibbled and bit, adding bites of pleasure-pain alternating with soothing sucking.

Very quickly Seth’s brain was frying with sensory overload. The cock in his mouth tasted totally delicious. It was long and hard and hot, and playing with the barbell was fun. Craig was also very sensitive along the join between cock and cock head and Seth was enjoying teasing along that line, cranking up the tension. He opened the back of his throat wide and swallowed as much of Craig as he could, taking the man impossibly deep and loving every moment of it.
Meanwhile the sensations coming from Craig’s efforts on his own cock were setting his nerves endings on fire. Seth loved a little pain with his pleasure and the nips and sucks along his cock were just the perfect blend of pleasure and pain. Sharp tugs of teeth, soothing laps of tongue.

Seth deep throated Craig again, sucking with all his might, knowing he was close to coming and guessing that Craig was too.

Craig cracked a palm hard on his ass. His body jumped as he sucked even harder on the luscious cock in his mouth.

Craig slapped him again, hard, twice in quick succession. It was enough. His cock exploded huge bursts of cum and Craig’s cock down his throat did likewise. Hastily Seth pulled his mouth back a little so he could swallow every tangy, spicy drop of cum, then sucked hard again, causing Craig to give him another spurt of delicious seed. He licked the head clean then sadly let the cock drop out of his mouth.

Craig dragged on his arm, pulling him around, and they lay together, heads on the same pillow, and cuddled. Craig reached down to pull the bedding over them and they relaxed into each other’s arms, totally satiated for the moment.

Huldah’s Two Hikers

Huldah aims to conquer the challenging three-day hike. Derek and Corey plan to conquer Huldah.

Derek is tall, dark and dominating. Golden-blond Corey is warm and caring and can turn a campfire meal into a feast. Huldah just wants to prove to herself she can navigate and hike the trail. But the two men are awfully yummy. And distracting. Besides, sex outdoors is very good, especially with two men at once.

Between them, Derek and Corey bring Huldah’s passions to the boil and the three enjoy the hottest, most innovative sex ever.

Then Derek’s bossiness starts to cause problems. What will happen when they reach the end of the trail? And will they even get there if Derek insists on doing the navigating?

Buy Now

Double Satisfaction

Imogen, Gage and Liam relax at a luxury resort for a week’s vacation and some extra-hot ménage sex. The gardens are beautiful, the meals are delicious and the facilities are excellent—swimming pools, beach, tennis and golf. The men are delicious too, and Imogen is having a wonderful time—until bossy Gage makes a few autocratic decisions that remind Imogen of her manipulative father. Imogen has to decide whether the best orgasms of her life are worth risking potential heartbreak.

Buy Now

Berengaria Brown
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NaNo Day 16:
Viking-2—1958 words
TW—1045 words

I’m super excited about the release of my first lesbian historical romance, Beguiled. Although I’ve written a few contemporary girl on girl stories, this one was really a book from the heart. I’ve always been fascinated with women who summoned the courage to break out of society’s bonds in order to discover their true selves.

After seeing a segment on the news about the alarming number of women veterans who’d been wounded in the Middle East, I was inspired to write Beguiled. I was astounded by the vast number of women returning from war after losing limbs or being told they’d never walk again. Faced with such a situation, I expected most women would harbor resentment. I was surprised to see how many had risen above their circumstances to not only thrive, but to help others in their same situation.

I wondered what would happen if a woman had been wounded while fighting during the American Civil War. How would the men have treated her when they discovered she was a woman? How would other women view her? How could she ever go back to life as a normal woman after having fought alongside men?

Growing up in the South, Civil War history is just a part of the local scenery, and while authors are often told to write what they know, I also choose to write where I know. I’ve experienced the deafening sizzle of cicadas in the trees on a sultry summer night. I’ve smelled earthy red Georgia clay and felt the stifling humidity that hangs oppressively in air so thick you can hardly breathe. I grew up playing on acres of rolling farmland and wading through the cotton stalks when the cotton bolls were so white they’d blind you in the sunlight. So I couldn’t think of a better setting for Beguiled than war-torn Georgia. And no better time than the 1860s to write about two enemies—two women—who struggle to find the strength and the courage to be together no matter what it takes.

Here’s a taste of Beguiled ~

“I have something that might fit you.” I slid off the bed to rummage in the chest of drawers. When I pulled open the bottom drawer, Dalton’s scent filled my senses. I breathed it in, longing to feel his strong arms, yearning to feel safe and sheltered again.

Missing…

A lump welled in my throat as I withdrew one of his neatly folded nightshirts. “This was…is…is my husband’s,” I said. “It should fit you.”

Again, those stormy eyes collided with mine and held. The way she studied me with that deliberate stare unnerved me. She winced as she shifted in the bed to drag her shirt out from under her bottom. At once, I moved to help her, placing Dalton’s nightshirt on the bed as I gathered up Alice’s shirt and dragged it off over her head.

I easily saw how she passed herself off as a man now. Her broad, angular shoulders looked as strong as any man’s. Muscular biceps defined the shape of her long arms. But my gaze drew magnetically to her breasts. All peaches and cream, they were small and boasted dark, velvety nipples. I swallowed thickly, realizing I couldn’t stop staring — and also realizing Alice didn’t seem to care.

Instead, she leaned back slightly as if to give me a better view. Her nipples rose as she inhaled a deep breath. If I hadn’t known any better, I would have thought she intended her pose to be provocative. Was she that shameless?

A wave of heat settled in my neck, and, hands trembling, I unfolded Dalton’s nightshirt and slipped it over Alice’s head. At the same time, we both reached for the ties at the neck. Our hands clashed once and then twice, and I let out a nervous laugh. I swatted her hands away. “Let me.”

Her hands dropped to her lap, and she watched me as I looped the thin ties into a perfect little bow. I sat beside her once more. “What was it like?” I asked. “Fighting?”

I fell utterly in love with Alice while writing Beguiled. If you’d like to read more of Alice and Belle’s love story, you can purchase the book here: Buy the book

Thanks Delilah, for allowing me to introduce your readers to my characters!

Paisley Smith ~ http://paisley-smith.com ~ Aren’t you just a little curious?

NaNo Day 14:
Viking-2—2130 words
TW—574 words

While Adele is playing here, be sure to catch me at Access Romance for a chance to win a free book! ~DD

Fast Motorcycles, Hot Cars

by Adele Dubois

I like to write about fast motorcycles and hot cars. Most of my books include a Harley-Davidson motorcycle driven by a sexy, handsome hero. My REV ME TWICE hero, Tomas, personifies the hunk on a chopper and I hope that readers love him.

My heroines tend to drive convertibles, like I do in real life. For me, there’s nothing more exhilarating than driving fast on an open road with the ragtop down. My REV ME TWICE heroine, Crystal, likes to savor the feel of the wind in her hair, the sun shining on her face and the thrilling sensation of speed.

I live vicariously through my sexy, fearless characters in REV ME TWICE and it’s stand-alone first REV ME UP. I hope you will, too. If you think my REV books are for you, please leave a comment. One reader will win a motorcycle key ring in the mail to celebrate the release of REV ME TWICE. USA residents only, please. I’ll name the winner in the comments section with instructions on how to claim your prize.
Thank you for your support!

REV ME TWICE Summary:

Crystal is a bad, bad girl in the most delicious ways. She tries to be good and is tempted to commit to her Navy MP boyfriend, Tomas, but has no experience with an exclusive relationship or healthy family structure. She likes her life as a cable TV stripping weather girl and sex party host, and resists conforming to the traditional lifestyle Tomas craves. Without her weekly ménages and wild orgies, can she become the partner Tomas wants?

When Crystal receives death threats, a media frenzy erupts. During a break-in, the threatening letters are stolen, erasing evidence that thwarts an arrest. Tomas sports Crystal away on his Harley to protect her, but a deadly crash changes everything. Faced with the choice between self-interest and self-sacrifice, Crystal must decide if she will embrace a new life with Tomas or walk away.

REV ME TWICE: Excerpt

Rose petals washed down the shower drain in whirlpool wisps of pink. Crystal shampooed her hair and glided a soapy washcloth over her nude flesh to smooth away the body paint. Leaning back, she let the warm jets splash rivulets the length of her body. Moment by moment, the steam and moisture soothed her tense muscles and eased her worried mind.

“Crystal!” The bathroom door muffled the sound of her name, but Crystal would have recognized Tomas’ voice anywhere. Footsteps rushed up the stairs and down the hall. The bathroom door burst open. Heavy shoes plunked on the floor. Clothes ruffled. The shower stall opened.

Tomas stepped naked inside the oversized square of cool, amber tiles and wrapped his arms around Crystal’s waist from behind. He kissed the curve of her shoulder and trailed his lips up the length of her neck. “I’m so glad you’re all right,” he whispered into her ear. “The police told me what happened.” He took the washcloth from her hand and draped it above the shower nozzle. “Let me do that.”

After filling his hands with liquid body wash, he smoothed his palms over her torso and up over her chest. Her nipples grew tighter at the circular movements on the slippery skin of her breasts. Tension trickled from her neck and she relaxed her head against Tomas’ shoulder. His fingers pinched and pulled her nipples, shooting pleasant sensations down into her groin. The steel-like hardness of Tomas’ cock pressed against the tip of her tailbone and between the cheeks of her ass.

While she enjoyed the feel of Tomas against her and delighted in the magic of his hands, something she’d said to the police officers brought an inward smile. She’d called Tomas her boyfriend. That was the first time she’d described him that way.

She shivered lightly after he rinsed his hands and then slid fingers between her legs and into her passage. Was it possible? Could she be… falling in love? The concept both fascinated and terrified her. What did she know about healthy relationships?

Absolutely nothing.

“I’m going to make you come. Hard.” Tomas said against her hair. “Then I’m going to fix you something to eat and put you to bed.”

Buy The Book!

*****

Adele Dubois Website
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NaNo Day 10:
Viking-2—1671 words
TW—462 words

A Reader’s Top Ten Guide for A Great Romance

by Marie Harte

Thanks, Delilah, for letting me blog here today. I wanted to write something different, so I switched hats from writer to reader. And I was off and running…

As a writer, I like to know what readers want. I’m not so much into trends. I don’t like jumping on the vampire bandwagon just because those books might be popular. If I have an actual vampire story in mind, that’s something else. I’m talking about common threads that appeal to readers. Strong heroines, alpha males, sexual tension, that kind of thing.

Then I had a thought. Hey, I’m a reader. Why not list what I’m looking for in a story? I can read a three to four hundred page book in one sitting in a few hours, easy. I can’t say how many books I read in a month or year, but during my crazy (book-obsessed) days that fluctuate from month to month in between deadlines, I can easily read two or three in a day, especially if the stories are shorter. Of course, a lot of that depends on time, too, because I do have a family and a day job writing.

From what I’ve read and seen over the years, I have a lot in common with the average Sally Reader. So here’s my top ten list of what constitutes a great romance, in no particular order.

1. Likeable characters. The hero and heroine (or hero and hero, whatever floats your boat) don’t have to be the nicest people on the planet, but at some point they have to be likeable, and not ten pages from the end. There’s nothing worse than trying to read a book about people that are either whiny, annoying, or TSTL (too stupid to live) for 350 pages.

2. Sexual tension. I write erotic romance, and I like to read it. But when the characters hop into bed on page 3, it kind of takes away my enjoyment to see them struggle for it. Now a few authors have made this work by throwing in the requisite plot problems and angst, but by and large the easy hookup doesn’t appeal to me.

3. Gratuitous sex. Yes, I feel awful for saying this. Especially since for so many years I read stories where the characters could barely hold hands before the author cut to a new scene. Erotic romance has “erotic” in the title for a reason. It involves sex. But sex for sex’s sake shows. When the physical builds the emotional, it works. You can tell when it doesn’t.

4. The right angst. I am drawn to tortured heroes and heroines. I think we all are. It’s normal to want to see people build themselves back up after being thrown down a peg or two. But when the characters suffer page after page after page, it takes away from the joy to be had in the story. And real or not, rape scenes do nothing for me. I don’t like reading about it, and I don’t even like references to it with the main characters. Then again, that’s a personal pet peeve, but we are talking fiction, a place where anything normally goes. And hey, this is my list.

5. Character growth. I find it common anymore to read a book where one of the two characters grows but the other remains stagnant. It’s like the author puts so much into making the heroine a strong woman, she forgets that the hero is more than a foil for the heroine, but an actual part of the story. Let him grow too, damn it!

6. Humor. Just because a book is dark doesn’t mean it can’t have funny moments. Fiction mirrors reality, right? Well, people do laugh at funerals. Life isn’t all one shade, but a rainbow of emotion. Throw it all in there, I say.

7. Believable conflict. There’s nothing worse than reading a story where the hero and heroine don’t get along because of a simple misunderstanding. One short conversation between the pair would eliminate all problems and make the whole story crumble. That’s not believable conflict. Layer stuff in there, make us, the readers, want to see how they solve their problems. A phone call where the heroine admits she threw out his favorite shirt, and she’s sorry, and why can’t they all just get along, doesn’t cut it.

8. Chemistry. The main characters have to have it, or the story won’t work. Just because an author creates the pair or threesome or group involved doesn’t mean they fit. And yeah, I’ve read romances where the hero seems better suited to a secondary character and the heroine should be lesbian. It’s like the author doesn’t know her characters.

9. If everyone’s special, no one’s special. One author I used to love and now can’t read anymore gives all her characters god powers. Yeah, all of them. They’re all immortal, so where’s the scare factor? Why should the characters worry when they can snap their fingers and have an HEA whenever they want? And seriously, is every character really that handsome, pretty, white, skinny-with-boobs or tall?

10. Don’t break the rules. Authors create worlds and a set of rules that go with them. So when I read about a hero who can’t do X, then thirty pages in does X, it annoys me, especially if there’s no explanation as to why he can do X. It’s like the author has forgotten her own rules. Sure there are exceptions to the rules, but if there are too many, why have the rules in the first place?

I love to read and always will. But as my budget gets tighter, my choices in what I read narrow. I might chance a new author when all my favorites have nothing out, but burn me once, and I probably won’t be back to read more. Even my favorites have only so much leeway before I’m moving on to someone new. And with the sheer breadth of choices out there, thanks to epublishing and our friend, the Internet, I don’t have to search far and wide for a new and temping read anymore.

Happy reading!

Marie
www.marieharte.com