Viveka Portman – Guest Blog and Giveaway

Lady Catherine Bexley is new to marriage and the marriage bed, but surely there must be more to it than this? Her husband is proper and perfunctory — treating her with careful respect but leaving her aching for more. When she witnesses a gentleman disciplining a maid at a house party, the ache explodes into ravenous desire. She finds herself no longer willing to wait for her husband’s stiff and passionless attentions — and soon develops a naughty plan to finally get what she wants.

 

 

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My Favourite Scene to Write in The Secret Diary of Lady Catherine Bexley.

My favourite scene to write in The Secret Diary of Lady Catherine Bexley is the scene in which Catherine tries (in a most lady like fashion) to understand her husband’s reticence in the bedroom, and in turn, get him to realise that she is not just a fragile, naïve woman who will break if he administers aggressively to her. My favourite scene occurs in Lady Catherine’s diary entry of Tuesday, 27^th July 1813. This was such an enjoyable scene to write because Lady Catherine, despite all appearances is actually a lusty, witty, and highly sexual being.

In this scene, the reader really gets to see just how immovable and proper Lord Joseph Bexley really is. He is older (and allegedly worldlier) than his bride and wishes only to treat her well, but, as the reader also discovers, our proper little bride is curious by nature and desperate for something more.

As I watched him, the flickering candlelight outlined his broad shoulders. I wished more than anything that he would kiss me. He so rarely kissed me. I could perhaps count on one hand the number of times his lips had met mine. He was so proper. At times I imagined him an immovable mountain of propriety.

In this scene it becomes apparent that that Lord Bexley does indeed care deeply for his young wife, but is unable or unwilling to display that affection in deference to her feminine sensibilities.

‘You are a lovely bride,’ he confessed. His cheeks darkened with a blush as he spoke.

‘Thank you,’ I nodded. I wondered then if I should reply something of a similar sentiment, but he spoke before I could.

The very awkward Lord Bexley then goes on to tell his bride how he will never treat her poorly or use her in a manner she should find discomforting, except for the brief perfunctory occasions necessary to beget an heir. His attempts at gentle consideration for her well being, however, are not exactly what our young Lady wishes to hear.

It was, dear diary, the most emotion I’d ever heard him voice, and possibly the closest thing to a confession of affection a wife in a marriage like mine is likely to hear; but for all the sentiment he showed, it distressed rather than pleased me. I don’t want him to treat me like a lady. I want him to treat me as a woman.

This scene allows Lady Catherine’s sexual frustration to become palpable and the reader is able to witness just exactly how misunderstood each character is within the marriage.

I got the idea for this story years ago, after reading about young virtuous women marrying older men during Regency times. I really wanted to know how these couples would interact together on an intimate level outside and inside the bedroom. Well, particularly inside the bedroom if truth be told.

Writing these regency diaries is a challenge. Getting the language, technology, habits, manners and social mores correct and coherent for modern readers isn’t always easy – all that being said, I really did enjoy writing every scene in this story, it was a lot of fun!

Thank you for having me on your blog!

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To find out more about Viveka and her books, visit vivekaportman.blogspot.com. And for the chance to win a digital copy of The Secret Diary of Lady Catherine Bexley, just leave a comment below.

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Ainslie Paton – Guest blog and giveaway!

A funny thing happened when I was writing Detained

I accidentally wrote a billionaire trope

I didn’t start out to write a billionaire trope when I wrote the first pivotal scene of Detained.

I had this image in my head of two strangers confined together in a waiting room.  At first they simply wait.  It’s uncomfortable.  Then they talk, politely as you would.  And then they start to notice each other.  Their talk becomes less general, more personal.  They’re attracted to each other and their conversation goes deeper, until they’re telling each other secrets in the safety that they’ll never meet again.

I thought well that’s kinda interesting – but now what?  I had this contained, yet freeing moment to play with.  But I had no idea who these people were or why they ended up waiting together—and then doing a lot more than waiting and spilling secrets.

I needed to give them compelling stories and a damn good reason for them to be wrong about being trusting.

I wanted my hero Will, to be someone who carved his success from the hardest rock, but was constrained by his shameful origins and needed rigid control to hold his life together.  I wrote Will as a man with a secret that had horrific power over him even as that secret was the catalyst behind his success.

And then surprise! I made Will a billionaire.  But one with a difference.

He’s no Christian Grey or Gideon Cross, or any of the tropes most popular members.  He just became one because it fitted.  His wealth is immaterial to the story, except that it positions him as someone with extreme determination and grit.  He’s accidentally a billionaire because that’s the life I built him from the poverty of his childhood.  It was the best way to illustrate the sheer guts and cleverness of the man to take it from one extreme to the other.

The billionaire thing was also a useful but perhaps surprising fit with the city of Shanghai, one of Asia’s most incredible cities.  It ranks ninth for the number of billionaires, beaten by the cities you’d expect: Tokyo, London, New York and Paris.

So I was seduced by writing the world that opened up.  I could have property and jets and money as no object, but I could also use those things as a foil and show them as meaningless to Will who is more comfortable in his rag bag clothes than he is in formal attire.

I could show that Will wasn’t made of his wealth but rather of deeper character traits.

With the Christians and Gideons of the billionaire trope world, wealth is magically accumulated at baby ages with blazing speed and seemingly little or no effort on their part that can’t be picked up and put down for any little romantic interruption, often in the middle of the work day.  Their extreme and seemingly unassailable wealth just is.  They’re sometimes seen doing the business end of glamour—board meetings and power lunches, takeovers and mergers.  They have minions, so they can skive off for weekends of yachting or love making in exotic destinations.

Will is older, and part of his story his how he clawed his way to a position he needs to protect.  Will works long days, does plant inspections and trouble shooting, dodges social engagements to focus on his business.  He reads complex reports and worries about shareholders.  He has minions too, but he carries the weight of responsibility for their actions.  And his wealth is not impregnable.  It can be, and is threatened.

It’s impossible to imagine Christian or Gideon without their wealth.  That magnificence of magical achievement is a huge part of who they are.  Will has to face to fact that the decisions he makes could result in defeat and disgrace, and the need to start all over again.

And if I’ve written him right that only makes him more attractive.

Christian and Gideon are modern day Princes with hurt psyches but physical perfection.  The only area of their lives in which they make mistakes is with their women.  They are otherwise omnipotent.

With his scars, Will is not so pretty.  He wears his origins proudly because they’ve made him who he is, a survivor; an underdog, who scraped and fought and made his future.  It’s that which hopefully makes him attractive, more than his fancy suits and fabulous homes.

Maybe all that’s not as romantic as magic wealth, power and position, ranked alongside impossible beauty, and inescapable attachment, but it’s a tad more realistic and I hope a lot more heroic.

Having created Will, I needed to give him a match.  And there were certain things my heroine could not be: shy, insecure, bumbling, naive.  Darcy is no Ana, no Eva.  She’s not new adult young and starting out.

I wanted Darcy to be someone who was struggling to prove her worth in an industry that penalised her for her gender, and held her to higher standards because of her family—a family who also saw her femaleness as something that should define who she was first and foremost.

She’s not been singled out for special attention.  She has to kick and scream and fight to get ahead; she has to do a better job than the men she works with just to hold her place.  She’s not looking for a hand-up, a mentor, a lover, or a saviour.  She’s trying to do a job she’s skilled at and passionate about.

Darcy isn’t attracted to the billionaire, she’s attracted to the knockabout bloke she meets in detention.  It’s a shock to discover Will’s not who she thinks he is, but once she does, she’s all business.  And that business is distrust.  In her profession—journalism, everything is open to question in pursuit of the truth.  A truth Will dangles and then just as quickly snatches away.

This is not a coming of age story for Darcy.  It’s not a story about dependence.  It’s the opposite.  Darcy’s journey is about learning to trust her own judgement and separate herself from expectations.

Will is an obstacle not a love interest.  He’s the job, not someone Darcy stumbles into and forever enchants.  For Will, Darcy is a distraction, a dalliance, and then a cause for deep seated guilt.

They don’t need each other, and bad things happen when they’re together.

Darcy doesn’t rescue Will.  She throws him to the sharks.  Will doesn’t claim Darcy.  He gives her up.

And yet, and yet, this is a romance, and from their very first detention to their last, through all the lust, anger, fear, terror and uncertainty thrown their way, they hold each other’s hearts in their hands.

I didn’t start out to write a billionaire story, but I have, and it will be up to you to judge whether it’s a poor imitation of the already available trope or a hyper-real spin that takes you some place new.

If it makes into, then to the top of your TBR I hope you’ll let me know what you think.

Facebook

Twitter: @AinsliePaton

www.ainsliepaton.com.au

 

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For a chance to win a digital copy of Detained, just leave a comment below. Good luck!

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DFRAT – Masque by Lexi Post

Rena Mills plans to turn an abandoned abbey into a haunted bed-and-breakfast to prove she can be successful without her ex-fiancé. What she finds inside is Synn MacAllistair, the distinguished, self-proclaimed Ghost Keeper. Her dreams soon fill with sexual cravings for him. But are they dreams?

Synn, born in 1828, is determined to free the souls of the resident spirits, blaming himself for bringing the Red Death that killed them. When Rena steps into the old Pleasure Palace, he’s sure he can take her through the after-midnight Pleasure Rooms and stoke her passion to complete the Masque so the souls can cross over. Her innocent fire makes him crave more, but it’s far too late for him.

As Rena begins her erotic journey, her heart becomes more involved with every sensual caress until she discovers by completing the Masque she would lose her ghosts. Synn’s betrayal wars with her compassion for her ghostly friends. Torn, she must make a choice between her financial security and freeing seventy-three trapped souls. Either way, she could lose her Synn.

 

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Excerpt

At the top, a wooden door stood open and Rena stepped outside into the fading light of day, but it wasn’t the sunset that arrested her attention. Synn stood, one foot braced on an embrasure, one hand resting on the crenellated stone of the battlement. The breeze lifted his long brown hair away from his face and off his shoulders…his very bare shoulders.

Oh shit. She hadn’t expected his back to be so broad and muscular. His biceps stood in stark relief as if he worked construction. Below his narrow waist, his firm ass and muscular thighs were outlined by his tight gray pantaloons, if she had the term right. She’d bet the boots he wore were Hessians because those were the only nineteenth-century boots she’d heard of that rose to the knee. To call the man handsome would be to belittle his sculpted perfection, and her heart increased its beat as raw, sexual attraction rifled through her limbs.

He brought his arm down, causing the muscles in his back to ripple before he turned to catch her staring.

Her gaze shifted to his eyes and for a moment they revealed such heartbreaking anguish that all sexual heat fled and her stomach tightened into a sorrowful knot. He shuttered his gaze and smirked. “Were you looking for something?”

Confused, and more than a little distracted by the man’s emotions and his highly defined pectoral muscles, one of which had a fist-sized dark spot, she grasped for logic. “Yes, the sunset.”

“Ah, then you are just in time.” He stepped to the side, bowed and swept his hand toward the battlement. “It’s ready for you, my lady.”

She searched his eyes for any sign that he made fun of her, but found only sincerity. “Thank you.”

She stepped up to the place next to him as indicated and gazed across the town. As she suspected, the ocean was a few blocks past the shops and it glittered red as the setting sun shimmered off its dark surface, its waves lifting and lowering the dazzling color as it moved.

“This is breathtaking.”

“Yes, it is.”

His tone made her glance up, and she found him staring at her. She swallowed.

He released her hair from its clip and the breeze swept it from her face. She couldn’t have looked away from his eyes even if the sun had turned green.

He cupped her jaw with his hand. “You are exquisite.”

Her breath hitched at his words, but her mouth parted as his face drew closer to hers. When their lips were but a breath away, he spoke again. “You are made for passion, Rena.”

She let her eyes close, his words shooting pure desire through her, and then his full lips were upon hers. It was not a gentle kiss, but neither was it harsh or demanding, simply controlled. The hand holding her face encouraged her to open her lips and she did.

 

 www.lexipostbooks.com

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Lexi Post is giving away a gorgeous Venetian mask made in Italy! For a chance to win, just leave a comment below. Good luck! 😀

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Lorie O’Clare – Guest blog and giveaway!

Hi Everyone!

I’m Lorie O’Clare. Many of you know me as the author of the lunewulf, as well as other shapeshifter books, including Cariboo lunewulf, Malta werewolves, leopards, black jags and owls. I also write erotic romantic suspense. A lot of you will remember my FBI series, my erotic island books, and of course, what I’m here to talk to you about today, my bounty hunter books.

Hot Pursuit releases on March 26, 2013, this Tuesday. I hope many of you pick it up once it comes out. I think you’ll really enjoy this erotic, action packed, romantic suspense. This is Ben Mercy’s story. He is recently hired on at King Fugitive Apprehension, one of the most successful bounty hunting agencies in the country.

Hopefully today I can wet your appetites and share more about HOT PURSUIT with you.

Ben Mercy has just received his private investigator’s license, which is required in the state of California to be a bounty hunter. It’s been a rough start. Ben is a felon, and although wrongfully accused of the crime, has done time in a minimal security penitentiary. It took a lot of hard, cold cash to clear his record.

Ben hates being in debt to anyone. He works hard, lives hard, and is willing to get his hands dirty to get the job done. When his best friend, Micah Jones, aka Micah Mulligan, is suddenly wanted for heinous crimes and disappears without a word to anyone, Ben doesn’t blame him for not saying goodbye first. He’s been on the inside and wouldn’t wish it on anyone—if they’re a good person.

A million dollar bounty is on Micah’s head. That’s enough to bring other bounty hunters around looking for Micah. When one of the top names in the business ransacks Ben’s apartment looking for clues as to where Micah has run, Ben knows he must warn his best friend. He heads up north to where he knows Micah had headed, Zounds, California, a northern fishing community. All is not as it appears in this picturesque town. Everyone in Zounds appears to have something to hide, including a hot little number named Zoey Cortez.

Zoey doesn’t know a lot about bounty hunters, but she’s willing to learn more about Ben Mercy. If it’s wrong to wish that he is in Zounds to take her oppressive warlord of a father to prison, then so be it. Ben won’t tell her why he is in Zounds but he is willing to take her on the ride of her life.

As the suspense thickens, the pages get hotter, and action and sensuality sizzle, Ben and Zoey learn a lot about each other, and where their paths were meant to take them. Each comes to the other with baggage they must sort through, and sometimes that is best done with someone you love. Their relationship smolders, growing hotter toward that anticipated climax. Finding Micah might save both of them, and Zounds.

HOT PURSUIT is the latest book in my bounty hunter series. There are six bounty hunter books, each about a different bounty hunter. They are: PLAY DIRTY, GET LUCKY, STAY HUNGRY, RUN WILD, SLOW HEAT and HOT PURSUIT. With these books, it doesn’t matter if they’re read in the order released. I know some people are picky about that. And I understand. If I like a book I am instantly at the author’s

website making sure if it’s part of a series I read starting from the beginning. The bounty hunters don’t need to be read in order, however, to fully understand the storyline and characters. Each book is about a different bounty hunter, all of whom work at KFA, King Fugitive Apprehension.

You can learn more about HOT PURSUIT and read the first chapter on my website. www.lorieoclare.com

I’ve included an excerpt from HOT PURSUIT below, but before scrolling down, I have a blog contest just for you. Read the excerpt below. You can click on the link to head over to my website (www.lorieoclare.com) and on the home page there is a link to read the first chapter from HOT PURSUIT. Read either, or both, and post a comment below about something that intrigued you about the book. Tell me what grabbed you and made you want to read more. Of course, be honest, if nothing sucked you in, say so. There are definitely no F’s issued for honesty. J One winner will be selected from the comments posted and win an ARC (advance readers’ copy) of HOT PURSUIT. The winner will be announced on March 30^th, this Saturday. I don’t discriminate on where you live. I’ll mail the advanced copy to the winner regardless of where he/she lives in the world.

I’m really excited about Ben’s story. I can’t wait for everyone to read it. Let me know your thoughts. They mean more to me than you know.

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Lorie O’Clare – Guest blog and giveaway!

Wow! Thanksgiving is over. I hope all of you had a wonderful time visiting with family and eating way too much food. How many of you have already shopped ‘til you dropped? I’m not even going to ask if any of you have your Christmas shopping done yet. (But if you do, come here and do mine lol.)

I wanted to drop in and chat with all of you today because tomorrow, the 27^th, SLOW HEAT, releases. I hope all of you have pre-ordered it so you’ll have it in your hands the day it comes out.

SLOW HEAT is my fifth bounty hunter book but in truth it stands alone. The first four books were about the King family, Greg King, the father, Marc and Jake King, the two sons, and Natasha King, their cousin and office manager for KFA, King Fugitive Apprehension. Now with Greg King’s two sons out on their own, and quite happy I hear with two awesome ladies, he’s hired on new bounty hunters. Micah Jones is one of them and an incredible asset to KFA.

With twenty-five years on the force as a police officer, and now seven years under his belt as a bounty hunter, Greg King is a pretty perceptive man. There’s not much you can pull past him. He notices right away that Micah isn’t like other men. To start, Micah is an incredible shot. In fact, he never misses.

There are a few other personality traits, qualities if you will, although Micah doesn’t view them as such, that King starts to notice. Micah would rather they not be discovered, and his reasons are valid. I don’t want to give too much away about this book but Micah is a man with more secrets than any man I’ve ever had the honor to write about. I think the best way to explain Micah’s story is to give you the blurb, then we can proceed with some questions.

Here is the blurb—and the cover!

In the high-risk world of bounty hunters, one falsely accused woman is searching for justice—and one truly arresting man is feeling the heat…

 

As a new employee with KFA, the King family’s bounty-hunting agency, Micah Jones feels like he’s a perfect fit. All he has to do is remember…capture, don’t kill. He also needs to keep a low profile so his past life won’t catch up with him. But his latest assignment—to bring in a night-club owner suspected of money-laundering—heats up fast when he meets the “brains” of the outfit: an irresistibly beautiful bookkeeper who’s resisting arrest. In fact, she’s so determined to prove her innocence that she tries calling 911 to report thugs posing as bounty hunters are raiding her night club. Micah wrestles her to the ground before she can make the call, which was his first big mistake. Maggie O’Malley feels a bit too good underneath his powerful body.

Held for questioning but released by police, Maggie O’Malley is still a person of interest. Maggie is interested in Micah Jones—in his services. With his iron-hard muscles and tough-guy exterior, the

Harley-riding bounty hunter is just the man Maggie needs to track down the real crook at the club. A slow-burning attraction ignites a firestorm of insatiable desire—until the secrets of Micah’s past are exposed. Explosive passion now must prove stronger than a history so terrifying it might haunt them forever…

Okay, so there you have it. That is what SLOW HEAT is about—the blurb as it appears on the back of the book. Does that give you a good idea of what this story is about? Are you intrigued?

SLOW HEAT is an action packed suspenseful novel. It’s about an assassin who is trying to start his life over, and not let anyone know who he was in his past. He thinks he’s got it covered. Life is going as planned. He’s got a new life, a new job, and no one suspects a thing. What Micah doesn’t plan on, or expect in any way, is to fall in love. So what happens when Micah finds he can’t quit thinking about Maggie O’Malley?

Micah has to decide how much he will tell Maggie about who he really is—or was. Now I have a question for you. This question plagued me as I was writing Micah’s story. When you enter into a relationship, how much of your past should you share with the person you are falling in love with? Should you be an open book and let this person know everything about you? Or does the past matter as much as the future? I’d like your input. If you had a past that was somewhat questionable, is it as important to share as who you are today, and will be in the future?

I know some folks in relationships who kept the dark secrets of their past to themselves. Their significant other doesn’t know about it. Or at least in one relationship I know of, didn’t know about until long after they were married. In the case of my friends, it all worked out okay. They were in love, in a solid relationship, and when one shared with the other something terrible about their past, their partner was sad to hear about it but it didn’t change the love they had for each other.

It got me thinking, while writing SLOW HEAT, maybe Micah shouldn’t tell Maggie who he had been. I went back and forth about this. Micah is a good man. I know…I know…you’re thinking how can an assassin be a good man? My God! He is a murderer. Can’t get around that.

Micah couldn’t have a simple past. He couldn’t make it easy for me. And truth be told, for himself. He is in one hell of a dilemma. I let my fingers tap away at the keys and was as anxious as I know you are going to be in finding out what he was going to do about Maggie.

On a side note, and I have to share this with you, with every book I write there is a process with editing. The first pass is doing the edits, making any and all changes my editor suggests. A line editor goes through it next and when I receive the book a second time, it’s formatted to go to print. I simply read over it to make sure all is good.

By this point I’ve read the book about five times. I’m well into writing my next book and really don’t like having to stop to do these final line edits. I don’t know an author who does like this stage. Most of us loathe it, in fact. LOL. (To any editors who might be reading this; of course we still do this last

stage of the editing process, and do it diligently. J ) SLOW HEAT is the first book, I think, that I’ve read—for the fifth time—and couldn’t quit reading. It was that good!

And folks, I don’t toot my own horn. I never have. Any of you who know me, know that I don’t. Because honestly I’m never sure if my books are any good or not. But SLOW HEAT, and Micah—damn!

I want to ask you again. How much should a person share about their past, a past they’re trying to bury, with the person they are in love with? Also, if you don’t mind giving me your thoughts on two questions, I’m going to brazenly ask—what do you think of SLOW HEAT from what you’ve heard so far? Think you’ll buy it? If so, why? If not, would you be honest and share why it doesn’t intrigue you?

Okay, let me know your thoughts. I’m anxious to hear what you think.

 

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For more information, visit www.lorieoclare.com. And for a chance to win a signed ARC of SLOW HEAT with comments written in the book of Lorie’s thoughts as the story progresses, just leave an answer for the above questions. Good luck!

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Katie Porter’s Amazing Race for a Kindle

A Fun Contest set up by Katie Porter.

Have you read a book by the debut co-writing team of Katie Porter? Have you told others what you think? Now’s your chance! With Kindles!

We’d love to get the word out by giving others access to the most important opinions of all: those of readers! It’s so simple. Just post a review of DOUBLE DOWN on Amazon.

Love it, hate it, think it’s worth a solid three stars…? Want to write a few lines or a treatise? We can’t wait to hear what you think. Here are the prizes.

When DOUBLE DOWN reaches 25 reviews, we’ll give away a $50 Amazon gift certificate to a randomly selected reviewer.

When DOUBLE DOWN reaches 50 reviews, we’ll give away a $119 Kindle Paperwhite.
When DOUBLE DOWN reaches 100 reviews, and for every 100 reviews after that, we’ll give away a $199 Kindle Fire HD.

You only need to enter once. One person. One voice. But your chances are never exhausted–unless you win, of course. For example, if you’re reviewer number 12, you’ll be eligible for the 25, 50, and 100+ review prizes. By encouraging other Katie Porter fans to participate, you up the prize stakes.

Fine print: No purchase necessary–coz hey, libraries and friends loan copies all the time. We’ll ship anywhere these American version Kindle devices are functional, or replace the prize with an Amazon gift card equivalent. Those who already own Kindles may choose a Amazon gift card equivalent. Your opinion will not affect your odds, as all drawings will be conducted via Random.org. Contest ends December 27, 2012. Void where prohibited..

Thank you for your enthusiasm, and best of luck in your amazing race to a Kindle!

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Have I Done This Before? by Terri Ponce

I was walking down the street the other day, doing my thing, passing other folks on New York City streets, when a strange sensation passed over me. One that felt like I’d done this before. Now, you could say “sure Terri, this isn’t anything new because you’ve walked the City streets for over a decade so of course this will feel familiar”, and you’d be right for saying it, but this felt different. This sensation definitely belonged in the déjà vu category, the place where situations aren’t what they seem but that have a lot more meaning than what we give them credit for.

 

Hi. I’m Terri Herman-Ponce and this is what I write about. Situations that have already happened, events that feel familiar, and people you meet for the first time that, for some reason, connect with you on a deeper level than those who’ve been in your life for decades.

 

I’m fascinated with past life theory and the unexplainable. I’m not sure I believe in past lives completely, but you have to admit that there’s something to be said about the very example I gave above – meeting someone for the first time and yet knowing, absolutely knowing, there’s more to your relationship with that person than that first chance encounter. How is it you can bump into someone you’ve never seen before and yet feel like you’ve known them forever?

 

I don’t know the answer to that, but part of me thinks there has to be more to life than what we see. Do we keep coming back until we get it right? Are we given second chances to right previous wrongs? Maybe. Maybe not. But boy does that give me a lot to play with. Imagine the possibilities of having the opportunity to undo a life altering past mistake, or to make life and your relationships even better because of it!

 

It all comes down to decisions and a belief in what may not be, at the outset, truly believable. And this is how I challenge the characters in my books. I put them into situations that stretch their philosophies and their relationships, sometimes almost to the breaking point, only to make them come out stronger in the end.

 

So the next time you pass someone on the street and experience that fraction of a second where you think – hey, do I know you from somewhere? – think about it a little more. You might just be surprised to realize you really did know them before. Only not in this life.

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Psychologist Lottie Morgan knows something is wrong when she starts reliving memories of a lover she’s never had. At first, she attributes them to fever-induced dreams. But when the fever disappears and the visions don’t, Lottie thinks she may need therapy of her own.

 

Then she meets Galen. Their first encounter is as intense as it is eye-opening, and Lottie is unprepared for the fire Galen arouses in her. His revelation that they shared a passionate relationship thousands of years ago explains the memories and entices Lottie into wanting to learn more about her past. Her decision, however, comes at a price. Galen may hold the answers but he’s a growing temptation as well. One that could destroy the devoted, lifelong relationship Lottie has with her current lover, David. One that could also cost her life. Someone else knows of Lottie’s past and is determined to stop her from uncovering secrets they want kept hidden.

 

As parallels between both of her lives emerge and the memories escalate, Lottie becomes caught between two lifetimes, two men and long-buried deceptions that present an opportunity to right previous wrongs. Unless Lottie repeats her past mistakes.

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Terri Herman-Poncé is a communications manager by day and a storyteller by night. Born on Long Island, New York, she absolutely adores red wine, the beach, Ancient Egypt, sunrises and the New York Yankees—though not necessarily in that order. The youngest of five children, Terri lives with her husband and son on Long Island. In her next life, if she hasn’t moved on to somewhere else, Terri wants to be an astronomer. She’s fascinated with the night skies almost as much as she’s fascinated with Ancient Egypt.

You can find In This Life on Amazon http://amzn.to/OX5y6e and on Goodreads http://bit.ly/PRzly7

You can find Terri on her website: http://terriponce.com/

And on Twitter: @TerriPonce

And on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Terri.Ponce.Author

 

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For a chance to win a digital copy of In This Life by Terri Ponce, just leave a comment below. Two winners will be announced on Sunday. Good luck! 😀

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Romance Novels and the Internet By Katie Porter

Daughter of a world-famous motocross champion, and head-on competitor with three brothers, Captain Leah “Princess” Girardi was born with a need for speed. No one tells her what to do, especially not men with chauvinistic “girls can’t be fighter pilots” attitudes.

That’s what ended her brief relationship with Captain Mike “Strap Happy” Templeton. Now, six years later, he’s been assigned to her squadron, and whoa damn, he’s filled out nicely. Plus he’s cultivated a Zen-like chill factor that pulls at her hormones.

Even after four tours, Mike’s the new kid in the 64th Aggressor Squadron. That’s not the only thing new. Since he last saw Leah, he’s learned a few things about himself. A female who outranks him still makes his teeth grind, but in the bedroom he craves the rush of pain inflicted by an adoring, powerful woman.

Their reunion is an explosive revelation. Leah is the beautiful mistress he’s been searching for, and she takes to her new role like a natural. But Leah’s aware one thing hasn’t changed. Loving him is still an all-or-nothing proposition. She’s not sure her reckless streak is wide enough to risk her career—and her heart.

Warning: This book contains a hot stud on his knees, a woman wielding a paddle, and filthy-gorgeous femdom sex. Also: dangerous rock climbing, two amazing motorcycles and some bad tequila.

 

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

Have you ever noticed that the internet barely seems to exist from within a romance novel? Not from without—authors and readers alike spend plenty of time talking about them on the web. But heroes and heroines never really seem to be aware of the internet

Leah from Hold ’Em  has a flying simulator game on her smart phone. And in Inside Bet, Jon has an iPhone. (Bet he got the iPhone 5 delivered the very first day, too. He’s just that sort of guy.) But heck, Ryan in Double Down still gets discs from Netflix. That’s practically a luddite. (I’m teasing. Completely teasing. I know excellent stuff is sometimes only available on disc.)

 

But really, how many heroines call up their dude and hear him say “I was just surfing Reddit.” When that’s totally what would happen in real life. Or how many heroes shut the ESPN ScoreCenter app to watch the hot heroine walk by for the first time. (Wait. Don’t steal that. I can work with that.)

 

So why do we writers do that? Why forget the very technology that we’re working on and through?

 

I honestly don’t know. I’ve raised a question I don’t even know the answer to in my own writing.

 

Somebody did not plan out their blog post very well…

 

Maybe it has to do with all those other little details that make up life that don’t make it into novels. We don’t mention when the heroine has to go pick up her dry cleaning—unless the dry cleaners is in the middle of being robbed and it’s the sexy, dangerous hostage negotiator she ends up with. We’re constantly teased about how morning breath doesn’t exist in Romancelandia, but really, that’s the boring stuff, isn’t it? The tedious little annoyances that we have to deal with every single morning. Who needs to read about that? When a character drives from plot point A to plot point B, we don’t describe every movement that results in the car turning on and driving.

 

Maybe the internet has pervaded our life to the point where it’s something we don’t even think about. It’s a tool, a means of communication and entertainment.

 

It’s not exactly an exciting plot point. Unless the heroine researching a bad guy. Or a blind date. Leah doesn’t have to research Captain Michael Templeton. She knows him already—in fact, she thinks she knows him too well.

 

Good thing the internet can’t warn her she’s in for a hell of a surprise.

 

***

 

Up next for Katie Porter, the co-writing team of Carrie Lofty and Lorelie Brown:

 

Now that the first three of the RT BookReviews 4½ Star Top Pick “Vegas Top Guns”  series have been released, readers can anticipate the final two installments, HARD WAY  and BARE KNUCKLE, in 2013.

 

November brings the m/m Christmas-themed CAME UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR , described as “masterful” by Publishers Weekly. In January, LEAD AND FOLLOW  will launch the five-part “Club Devant” series of erotic multi-partner romances set in a hot New York City burlesque club.

 

Where to find us:

 

http://KatiePorterBooks.com

Twitter: @MsKatiePorter

Or individually: @carrielofty and @LorelieBrown

 

We’d like to give away a copy of DOUBLE DOWN, INSIDE BET or HOLD ’EM (winner’s choice) in any format. Just answer the question: What’s the one tech thing you’re addicted to?

 

Thanks again to Novel Thoughts for featuring Katie Porter and Hold ’Em!

 

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An Interview with Jon Carlisle, hero of Inside Bet By Katie Porter

As assistant director in an accounting firm, Heather Morris is at the top of her game. Her straight-laced colleagues wouldn’t believe the secrets she hides: her wild teenage past, work-of-art tattoo and nipple ring.

Her orderly life veers off course when she’s approached at a wine tasting by an arrogant pretty boy with a dirty mind and a hardcore dangerous profession. She finds herself tempted to step outside her respectable façade for some well-deserved excitement.

Captain Jon “Tin Tin” Carlisle knows women. Loves women. One glimpse of the nipple ring under Heather’s conservative blazer lights up all his instincts. He’s stumbled upon a rare treasure: an exotic beauty with a sexy laugh and a taste for dares.

After a red-hot hour of roulette, their simmering attraction bursts into an exploration of mutual passion that tests even Jon’s erotic limits. Soon he craves something he’s never desired before. More. But for Heather, more means trusting, and trusting leads to trouble.

Now Jon must decide if the best sex of his life is worth chancing his heart on a woman who shields hers so well.

Warning: Contains hot power play featuring a fighter pilot who comes from old money but knows all about bringing the dirty. Also: a nipple ring, sex on the hood of a hella sweet sportscar, and one teensy, tiny, wickedly naughty fluid exchange.

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

(Novel Thoughts asked for an interview with the hero of Inside Bet, which is book two of the Vegas Top Guns and I ran with it, having a little fun. Enjoy!)

 

The place where Captain Jon Carlisle arranges to meet me is technically a café. But as he stands beside me and we look in the case of pastries, I know I’m out of my depth. Behind the glass are tiny, delicate creations of wheat and sugar that are elevated to a level of beauty completely surpassing the lemon loaf at your average Starbucks. I point to one blindly. Captain Carlisle orders coffee for both of us in flawless French, flirting with the old Frenchwoman behind the counter. This is not a coffee shop. It is a patisserie.

 

It is also perfectly clear that this is the type of world that Captain Carlisle belongs in. Associated with the normal world, but just a step or seven above. Fancier. He has the charm and grace to fit in here, where I feel a little awkward as a reporter for a mainstream magazine. I’ve interviewed everyone from rockstars to movie stars to politicians, but Captain Carlisle is impressive. Very.

 

As we sit down to a small table with our coffee and my plate of powdered sugar delicacy, I bobble my notebook and pen. Captain Carlisle snags the falling pen out of the air. “Whoa there,” he says with an endearing grin. “Let me help you.”

 

“Thank you, Captain Carlisle.”

 

“Please, call me Jon.”

 

I take it as my intro to begin the interview. “You’re quite the helpful type, Jon.”

 

Jon lounges in his small seat, somehow looking completely at home on the gilded thing. He wears a pale blue button down shirt, but it’s rolled back at the sleeves to display forearms corded with lean strength. Still, the grin he gives is all mischief. “It’s in my nature.”

 

“Is that why you joined the Air Force?”

 

“Certainly not.” The mischievous grin is now matched by dark eyes that narrow as his expressive eyebrows lift. “I did that for the uniforms. Women fall all over themselves for a man in uniform. Or in a three piece suit.”

 

I consult my notes, looking at the information I have on his rather recent girlfriend. “Does Heather like you better in uniform or in a suit?”

 

Something cagey fills his expression. Jon is still technically smiling, but I’m fairly sure that he’s now using that grin to mask something else. “I like keeping the important things in my life private.”

 

“So Heather Morris is important to you.”

 

“Did my mother tell you to ask about Heather?” Jon folds elegant fingers around his coffee cup. Despite his obvious distaste for the direction I’ve sent the interview, he’s perfectly polite. One might even say precisely polite. “I agreed to doing an interview under duress. I didn’t agree to unfettered access. I won’t be answering any questions about Heather.”

 

Jon’s parents are rich. Very rich. And his mother spends her time entertaining European royalty when not sponsoring charity events. Most of the tabloid press would kill to know more than the very basics about Jon Carlisle’s accountant girlfriend.

 

I don’t think I’m getting anywhere in that direction. Whatever the truth is about Heather Morris, it’s obvious Jon would protect her privacy with even more vigor than he does his own. “Tell me the real reason you joined the Air Force, then.”

 

“To fly fighter jets.” He leans forward, propping both his elbows on the small table. I swoon a little to be the focus of this man’s undivided attention. He’s magnetic. “I fly F-16s. I help teach other pilots the intricacies their multi-million dollar machines are capable of, all to help save their lives should they find themselves in combat. What isn’t to like about that?”

 

I cough a little and look down at my notebook. “Nothing,” I squeak. I find myself wondering what this man would be like in bed. What kind of power would he bring to the sheets? That force? That intensity. I push a deep breath out through my nose and redirect my thoughts. That isn’t the focus of my article. I take control back of the interview and manage to ask him about the future of his family’s wealth and empire.

 

More’s the shame.

 

~~~Lucky for you, dear reader, that Jon’s story is available! It’s out this week from Samhain Publishing. Inside Bet is the second in the Vegas Top Guns series. A young playboy pilot with an eye for kink dares and accounting VP to reveal her fantasies, but her craving for exhibitionism and breath-play pushes even his boundaries.

 

Up next for Katie Porter, the co-writing team of Carrie Lofty and Lorelie Brown:

 

Now that both RT BookReviews 4½ Star Top Picks DOUBLE DOWN  and INSIDE BET have been released, we’re looking forward to the September 25^th arrival of HOLD ‘EM , featuring wild child Leah and a surprising reunion with a fellow pilot. The final two installments of the “Vegas Top Guns” series will follow in 2013.

 

November brings the m/m Christmas-themed CAME UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR, and in January, LEAD AND FOLLOW will launch the five-part “Club Devant” series of erotic multi-partner romances set in a hot New York City burlesque club.

 

Where to find us:

 

http://KatiePorterBooks.com

Twitter: @MsKatiePorter

Or individually: @carrielofty and @LorelieBrown

 

We’d like to give away a copy of DOUBLE DOWN or INSIDE BET (winner’s choice) in any format. Just answer the question: What interview question would you ask your favorite hero?

 

Thanks again to Novel Thoughts for featuring Katie Porter and Inside Bet!

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DFRAT – The Hollow House by Janis Patterson excerpt

Mrs. Congreave was like a cat in hot ashes, trying to be gracious and prepared at the same time. Mrs. Stubbs was conspicuously genteel, chatting easily with her daughter’s guests, asking them kindly about their parents. Everything was correct and mannerly. It was dreadful, like waiting for a bomb to go off.

None of the guests seemed to sense any impending doom. Instead they seemed, in a somewhat lukewarm way, pleased to see Mrs. Stubbs. Or simply curious that she was still living and coherent.

In my quiet corner I had a chance to study the women and, frankly, was less than impressed. An entire life of being my father’s daughter, with the weight of family that simply bearing our name brought, had inculcated in me a deep sense of social priorities. Or, if you prefer, snobbery. They are much the same thing.

The air of nouveaux riches in the Congreave parlor was stifling. Fashions too up-to-date. Accents too studied and genteel. Manners applied rather than absorbed. None of these ladies would have been admitted to either home of my past. It is to my shame that I sat there and felt superior to them.

When all six of the ladies arrived, Annie brought in the tea, and it underscored the feelings of social superiority that plagued me. The service, silver of course, was so heavy and ostentatious that I wondered she could carry it. No hostess I had known in my old life would have had it in spite of the beautiful design and obvious value—it was too conspicuously new. My former mother-in-law had said repeatedly that family silver wasn’t really acceptable until it was at least three generations old.

Then I paid for my silent snobbery. With ostentatious graciousness Eula called me to pass the teacups and carry around a three-tier tray of Mrs. O’Toole’s cookies and shortbread, a chore which perfectly indicated my place in the household. Had I not been there Annie would have handled the chore before leaving the room. As it was, I got to play servitor and as a reward could have my own cup of tea and piece of shortbread.

How many times had I heedlessly called for the same service from one or another of our poor relations? I felt scalded in memory.

 

 

===============================================================

 

 

There was one lightbulb in the servants’ stair, a poor thing that gave little light. It gave more than enough, though, to show the twisted body of Annie lying in an unnatural heap on the landing, her legs lying indecently up the stairs, her head jammed against the wall at a forty-five degree angle.

I screamed.

Then the incredible happened. She blinked.

I could hear footsteps, but my entire focus was on Annie. I scrambled down the steps, maneuvering as best I could over her legs and contorted torso until I was level with her face.

I stared at Annie. She saw me, I know she did. She blinked again. Then she died. The transition from a living—however tenuously—creature to a dead one is unmistakable to anyone who has ever witnessed it. I don’t know if it is a soul, or a life force, or what, but some invisible something leaves and suddenly everything is changed forever.

Eula was shrieking.

Behind her, Mrs. O’Toole was weeping and calling on her pantheon of saints. Behind her, Dawkins, to my intense surprise, was swearing with both fluency and unrepressed emotion.

I could not take my gaze from Annie’s twisted body. Though it was almost as close to dawn as dusk, she wore her everyday pale brown uniform and the work-stained apron from earlier in the day. She was not, however, wearing shoes. Her feet, indecently stuck almost straight up, were clad in nothing but heavy socks that showed signs of darning.

There was something else.

Her arms were thrown about as if she had tried to break her fall, but from under her right hip I could see a small flash of green. I leaned forward, startled at the sight of a twenty-dollar bill. Twenty dollars in a single bill, when that was probably most, if not all, of her monthly salary.

“Should we send for a doctor?” Milton was asking. “Mrs. Brunton? Should we—”

“No,” I said softly, feeling oddly that I should keep my voice low so as not to disturb Annie. “No, she doesn’t need a doctor. I think we need to call the police.”

 

www.janissusanmay.com

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