Sliding Into Second by Ella Jade #5Stars

Posted on February 16, 2015 by S.J. Maylee

If you’re into hot, dirty-talkin’, sexy baseball heroes I may have just the thing to quench that thirst…

It certainly is special treat day! Ella Jade has just released the second book in her Kingston Heat Series. I’m in love with the first book in this series and I love Ella’s writing style. So, I tried to wait patiently for the second book. Well, it’s finally here …

Ella Jade knocks another straight out of the ball park. This second book in the Kingston Heat Series is fabulous. Her characters drew me in from page one. I have to warn you though. Once you pick this one up, you won’t be able to put it down. Nic has totally stolen my heart.

The story hits all my requirements. It was hot. Smoking Hot. The hero is truly lovable too. Swoon! He loves his heroine. You can feel it. You can feel her love for him too, but she’s been hurt. Then there’s that moment when you think they might not be able to make it. Page turner alert! This book kept me up with all its deliciousness. I can’t wait for the third book in this series.

Have you met the players?

Available now for a limited time release price of .99 cents…

Sliding Into Second

AMAZON | Barnes and Noble | Beachwalk Press

Jilted once before, now it’s her turn to level the playing field.

Hotshot sports reporter Sage Millan has been busy making a name for herself in the male dominated world of baseball. She’s just landed her dream job, and her first assignment is covering the newly crowned World Series champions, The Kingston Crushers. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. The only problem…her ex-boyfriend, and the only man she’s ever loved, is the team’s second baseman. Things ended badly between them, and she’s not sure she can put those demons to rest.

Professional baseball player Nicolas Cordova is having the time of his life. His team has just won the World Series, and with the victory comes more fame, women, and exposure than he ever could have imagined. But things are about to change for the sexy, charismatic athlete. He never expected his ex-girlfriend to walk back into his life, much less the locker room.

These days Sage is smarter, more mature, and doesn’t plan on being played a second time. Her appearance stirs old memories for Nic. She’s the one he let get away in the name of his career. He vows he can be the man she needs this time around. Will that be enough to mend her broken heart?

Content Warning: contains explicit sex and adult content

Excerpt…

“I’ll admit I’ve had many women in the past, and I can’t apologize for living. But as the years went by, my feelings for you were always someplace deep in my heart. I know that’s why I can’t settle down. Why I can’t find the peace I’ve been searching for. It doesn’t exist without you.”

“How can you say things like that? You don’t even know the woman I’ve become. I’m not that girl who relied on you, the one who would’ve followed you anywhere. I’m not her anymore, Nic. I can’t ever be her again.”

“Maybe I’m not asking for her.” He leaned closer to her face. “Maybe I want to know the woman you are today. I want another shot at this.”

“No,” she whispered.

“If you remember anything about me, I have a hard time with that word.” He tipped her chin, focusing on her lips. “I am going to kiss you. Right here and right now.”

Her knees buckled as a cool tremor swept through her. She wanted to say no. It was the only logical word to mutter, but her heart didn’t want her to say it. Her body wasn’t on board with turning him down either. The warmth that built in her stomach had moved lower, and now all she could think about was his lips on hers.

“It doesn’t sound like you’re asking,” she breathed out.

“I’m not.”

Before she could say anything else, his mouth was on hers, eager, but slow and soft. His stubble grazed along her chin as he tilted his head and deepened their bond. The sound throughout the crowded lobby seemed to fade into the background, and soon, all she could hear was her heart pumping loud between her ears. Why did he have to be such a freakin’ good kisser?

After the incredibly long connection, he pulled away, but not before stopping to kiss the bottom corner of her mouth like he used to.

“I’ve waited a long time to do that,” he said. “It was worth every lonely minute.”

“I… Nic…” She’d always had the gift of words. It was what she did for a living, but in that moment, all of her thoughts were jumbled and senseless.

“It’s okay.” He grinned as he stroked her cheek. “Let’s get something to eat and maybe figure this out. Whatever this is.”

“No.” She ran her hands along his strong chest, resting them on his shoulders.

“Don’t over analyze this, baby.” He glanced down at her hands on his body. “Let’s just go with it.”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you.” She took a breath and continued before she lost her nerve. “Take me upstairs to your room. I know how we can figure this out.”

“What are you asking?” He placed his hand on the small of her back, drawing her closer to him. “You need to be real clear.”

“I want to go upstairs with you.”

“That’s not why I kissed you.”

“Isn’t it?” She smirked. “We’re adults now, Nicky. Let’s settle this like adults.”

“I’m not looking to settle anything. That usually means it’s over, and we’re nowhere near over.” He motioned for Joe. “I’ll take care of the bar tab and then we’ll get dinner.”

“No.” She draped her arms around his neck, intoxicated by the idea of being so close to him again. He may be older now, and may have lost those boyish looks, but the man he had become suited him and drove her wild with need.

“What did I tell you about that word?”

“I can guarantee I won’t be using it once we’re in your bedroom.” She ran her tongue along her top lip. “I’m going to the ladies room. When I come out, if you’re not by the elevators waiting for me, I’ll know that kiss was nothing more than the heat of the moment and we can go on with our lives.”

“Sage?”

“Shh.” She pressed her lips to his. “Now who’s over analyzing?” She reached for her purse and coat hanging on the back of the stool. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.” I hope.

This is book 2 in the Kingston Heat Series but both books stand alone and can be read in either order.

Book One… Stealing His Heart available now.

WARNING… Pax will steal your heart

Will the bad-boy pitcher strike out when it comes to love?

Shy music teacher Sophia Ballis has sworn off men. After a bad experience with a college jock she decided it was better to be alone than to get burned again. She focused on her education and now her new job at a local private school.

Professional baseball pitcher Paxton Hughes is a player both on and off the field. He’s signed to the Kingston Crushers to bring home the coveted championship title. Nothing can get in his way. Serious relationships don’t mix with a life on the road and he never loses focus on the game. One-night stands are his specialty for a reason.

While out jogging one spring morning, the two collide, setting their course in motion. Pax is immediately drawn to the unassuming beauty. Sophia is aware of his reputation and decides one night of meaningless sex with the attractive Texas charmer is just what she needs to get over her self-imposed dry spell. Pax has more than a one-night stand on his mind, but will his bad-boy persona and demanding schedule ruin any chances of a happily ever after?

Content Warning: contains explicit sex and adult content

REVIEWS:

“Ella Jade always comes through with sexy little romps that are always entertaining” Manic Readers

“I read it in one sitting. I couldn’t put it down. It has everything I LOVE in a sexy steamy hot book.” My Daily Romance

“Very fun read.” Musings From An Addicted Reader

“This is a story that you won’t regret getting into.” Adri at Sassy Moms Say Read Romance

Amazon | Beachwalk Press

Ella Jade has been writing for as long as she can remember. As a child, she often had a notebook and pen with her, and now as an adult, the laptop is never far. The plots and dialogue have always played out in her head, but she never knew what to do with them. That all changed when she discovered the eBook industry. She started penning novels at a rapid pace and now she can’t be stopped.

Ella resides in New Jersey with her husband and two boys. When she’s not chasing after her kids, she’s busy creating sexy, domineering men and the strong women who know how to challenge them in and out of the bedroom. She hopes you’ll get lost in her words.

She loves connecting with readers. You can find her here…

FB | Twitter | Website

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Spotlight: His Boss Her Dom by Raven McAllan

Posted on February 3, 2015 by S.J. Maylee

His Boss Her Dom

by Raven McAllan

Released: January 27, 2015

Buy Links:

http://www.evernightpublishing.com/his-boss-her-dom-by-raven-mcallan/

http://www.amazon.com/His-Boss-Her-Raven-McAllan-ebook/dp/B00SRZTMPE/

Blurb:

Having a relationship with your boss is never easy, especially when it involves kink. Jamie might need to salute Eva and call her Ma’am at work, but when it’s just the two of them, he is Master to his puss.

They are determined to make their unusual situation work, but, first they have to solve the case of the shady next door neighbors.

Excerpt:

Every fiber of her subbie being wanted to kneel and ask to submit to him. But as the letter told her she was to take another week’s leave, and have a ‘dalliance’ with the new postie, she’d need to be careful. A dalliance in the name of work was one thing. A dalliance because she wanted to submit to him was another. She was still his superior officer, and in charge of this case, or whatever they chose to call it. Case was a bit of a misnomer. All she’d mentioned was a lot of very expensive top of the range cars were driving up the lane, and the same cars weren’t coming back. It seemed that had interested some people in the force, hence Jamie the new postie, who filled his uniform rather nicely.

Mind you if I remember rightly, he fills his police one to perfection as well. Shit he’s young though. Cougar is okay, right? Well it doesn’t matter in the lifestyle so sod it. But this isn’t the lifestyle or Dommissimma. She put the dog down and watched abstractedly, as he turned around in circles and settled in his basket. Then she went on with her internal argument.

Damn it, does dalliance cover a bit of subbing? Probably not, more’s the pity. And he doesn’t recognize me anyway. It was probably just as well. To be the superior to the guy who had you almost bare ass naked strapped over a spanking bench and flogging you until you flew, could cause a few problems. Best not to bring it up unless he did. Not until after. If, she thought despondently, there was any chance of an after. He might throw a wobbly because she hadn’t been open and honest with him. After all, he was a Dom, and even in the short time she’d played with him in Dommissimma, the BDSM club she went to in Glasgow whenever she got the chance—which wasn’t often—she knew damn well he was a good one.

Why is life so bloody complicated? Oh fuck it. Eva decided it was time to pull up her big girl panties and get over her mump. She’d always been a sub, never wanted to be a Domme, and was happy and comfortable with that. However that part of her was separate from her work persona where she was in charge. There she was his superior officer—even if only for the time being—and she couldn’t forget it.

Later, was later, as her cliché-ridden boss had a penchant for saying, along with, ‘now was now’, and ‘no time like the present’. As well as ‘priorities take precedent’. Which was so bloody obvious that Eva always wanted to snigger when she heard him utter it.

She rummaged in the fridge and found the ingredients to make paella. If Jamie didn’t like seafood he could have a quiche. The garlic made her pause for a second, but not to put it in, on the off chance of getting close up and personal, was stupid. It was work, not play of any kind. However, just thinking about playing with Jamie, Master Jamie, made her knickers wet. Eva gave into temptation, put the paella in the bottom, simmering oven of the Aga and took herself upstairs for a short and fast session with her bullet. It took three climaxes before she was sobbing and spent and slumped limply on the bed. The memories of his crop on her ass, and the tight nipple clamps he attached to her nubs, and linked them with a chain he attached to her clit and pulled on to apply pain, featured in most of her wet dreams and climax inducing fantasies. This had been no exception. Her pussy was soaked and her juices coated her thighs and the fingers she’d used to help her bullet, and increase stimulation. The pulse between her cunt and ass throbbed hard and with each beat, more of her juices spurted out. She hadn’t come so hard, or needed to, for many a long month. Work had been so demanding the nearest she’d had to a wet dream had been falling asleep in the bath.

Now, with the reappearance of Jamie, it seemed that her libido roared back with a vengeance. She could only hope it stayed that way, and every climax wasn’t a solo one.

Bio:

Well what can I say?

I’m growing old disgracefully and loving it.

Dh and I live on the edge of a Scottish forest, and rattle Raven around in a house much too big for us.

Our kids have grown up and flown the nest, but roll back up when they want to take a deep breath and smell the daisies so to speak.

I write in my study, which overlooks the garden and the lane. I’m often seen procrastinating, by checking out the wild life, looking—only looking—at the ironing basket and assuring tourists that indeed, I’m not the bed and breakfast. That would mean cooking fried eggs without breaking the yolks, and disturbing the dust bunnies as they procreate under the beds. Not to be thought of.

Being able to do what I love, and knowing people get pleasure from my writing is fantastic. Long may it last.

hisbossherdom1s http://www.ravenmcallan.com

http:/ /www.ravenmcallan.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/rmcallan (my page)

https://www.facebook.com/ravenmcallan (author page)

https://twitter.com/RavenMcAllan

http://www.amazon.com/Raven-McAllan/e/B00694RHJI/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Raven-McAllan/e/B00694RHJI/

Top Ten with Zee Monodee author of Before The Morning

Posted on February 2, 2015 by S.J. Maylee

Title: Before The Morning
Author: +Zee Monodee
Series: Corpus Brides Book 2: The Prequel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23598414-before-the-morning

In this stand-alone prequel to the explosive Corpus Brides romantic suspense/espionage series, found out how everything started when one of the agency’s deadliest became the target of a rogue faction.

Before the morning

…is the time of greater darkness…

A trained killer with borderline sociopathic tendencies

Rayne Cheltham traced out her life’s path when she was twelve: she would marry her best friend and bear his children, and in the process, stifle the restless edge in her. When he vows never to marry, she gives in to the darkness and becomes a clandestine agent—until the day he walks into her world again, and her carefully fabricated façade crumbles.

A former cop burned by life and his personal demons

When Ash Gilfoy meets a woman who reminds him of his childhood best friend, he starts upon a path that leads him down into the abyss once again. The day Rayne waltzes back into his life, he knows she is his second chance, and the one who will save him.

Each thinks the other is their redemption…until they discover how deep darkness goes inside both of them

The secrets between them make them sit on a keg of gunpowder with a lit fuse in their hands. Rayne’s whole life is built on a lie, and the truth is threatening to explode in their faces. But that is not the only menace they have to face. Someone is out to get Rayne, and she must disclose her secret past before it is too late.

Can Rayne and Ash survive all that’s thrown in their path? Can they hang on to the last thread of their relationship, and can they emerge, still together and still alive, in the morning after the deepest darkness?

Amazon US http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SU5Y6QQ
Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00SU5Y6QQ
Amazon CA http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00SU5Y6QQ?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
Smashwords http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/514441

Top ten facts about the book

Rayne did not exist when this series started – it wasn’t even supposed to be a series, but then it started niggling as to how it all started, and how did the Corpus come to find out? Rayne was thus ‘born’ into the ranks of the clandestine Corpus Agency, and of course, she had to be the most dangerous of them all!
This story started on a dare from Goodreads users in the Dangerous Hero Addict Support Group – all those taking part needed to write a story about a dangerous hero (that was a given!) and we had a few tropes to choose from. “Friends to lovers” sounded really interesting, so this became the main trope for this book.
Ash Gilfoy is the embodiment of ‘honour’. He had to be the character with the most beautiful yet tortured soul; still, he only wanted to do the right thing, especially with Rayne whom he believes is an innocent entrapped in the vortex of his darkness. It was a labour of love giving him his absolution along with Rayne’s.
Where Walking The Edge focused more on the ‘Nikita’ vibe, Before The Morning took on more of a ‘Burn Notice’ comedy aspect of espionage…when the families were brought in! Rayne has been trained to kill without blinking and without making any mess; she goes toe to toe with the most sociopathic of criminals out there…but tell her she has to come back into her family fold, for a wedding, no less, and she breaks into cold sweat and yearns to run away!
The book takes place even more around Europe, with a stint in Las Vegas, too, at one point. Prague in the Czech Republic features heavily in there (fyi, the image on the cover is of Prague). Then there is London, especially the Ritz and Soho, and Hastings in East Sussex on Sea, a location not usually seen in stories. There’s a hop to France, as well, to the French Provence at Arles and the Alyscamps Roman necropolis located there. Research about underground tunnels under the Thames took me to Brunel Tunnel and its grand entrance hall, where a pivotal scene is set.
The character of Anastasiya—heroine of the third and last Corpus Brides book—is introduced in this story. She is Rayne’s best friend inside the agency, a woman cloaked in secrets and made for the clandestine life…until she cuts and run. Most believe her to be behind the mutinous conspiracy to take power inside the ranks.
Corpus agent Scott makes another hefty guest appearance in this tale—an integral part of the ‘good guys’ camp, he saves Rayne’s arse on more than one occasion.
The whole story is even more a plethora of guns and danger. Makarovs, Walthers, Glocks, Micro Eagles—you name it and it’s probably in there. Proved to be fun to research (as well as giving whoever’s watching the kind of information to put this computer on the ‘to-watch list’, LOL)
Family and relationships are an integral part of the plot, as much as the danger and espionage form part of the story. Rayne has existed in her bubble as assassin Kali for half of her life—it is now time for her to reconcile with the woman, daughter, sister, and wife, inside of her…and no amount of training has prepared her for this!
Despite being the prequel to the whole series, the story stands alone and there is a definite conclusion to the romance of Rayne and Ash, all while spring-boarding the events in both Books 1 and 3 (Walking The Edge and Let Mercy Come, respectively).

Excerpt
From the front-facing window on the second floor of the Shepherd’s Close freehold, Corpus secret agent Rayne Cheltham watched the ambulance pull away from the curb.

Shivers crept up her arms, and she hugged herself tight to ward them off.

Get a grip!

She was a professional on an assignment, for God’s sake. An elite, trained operative from a clandestine agency that handled operations for governments and international forces as a stealthy left hand. Her superiors entrusted her with the most important missions—nothing should faze her.

Before today, she would’ve said that nothing could affect her when she had her eyes on a goal.

But she couldn’t be sure anymore. She’d never had her past collide with her present like a few moments ago, in the form of her childhood best friend.

Ashford Gilfoy, better known as Ash. The boy who had been there to catch her when, at six, she had slipped while climbing the chestnut tree that sat right on the border between their two houses in Hastings, two days after her family had moved there from Salisbury. The boy who had taught her how to ride a bicycle without the training wheels on the long and winding, gravel-covered lane leading to her parents’ mansion. The teenager who had smashed the nose of the first lad who had broken her heart, at thirteen, during recess in the schoolyard. The young man she had left seventeen years ago on a platform at London Waterloo, on the day she’d bid her old life goodbye.

For the first time since that day, she’d stepped back on British soil, and kismet decided Ash should cross her path.

Why now, of all times? She stood a hair’s breadth away from closing the contract on this mission. Seven months of intensive infiltration work and she remained poised to achieve her aim—neutralize Nikolai Grigorievskiy’s criminal operations before she took out the man. The Corpus always sent her for the kill, but the trick spelled that she had to make her target’s death appear self-inflicted, at the bare minimum, or an accident, in the direst of cases. Measles, as such operations were known in their clandestine world—a planned assassination not leaving any indication of the cause of death. She would then have to sanitize everything—leave no evidence, no witness, nothing to lead back to her. Unlike her other agency counterparts, she wasn’t an out-and-out black ops assassin, but a different level of highly implicated agent provocateur.

In other words, a consummate actress who got to her ends by manipulating people and circumstances. All those years of drama school, at her mother’s insistence when, obviously, she’d be too tall to become a ballerina, had come in handy. In fact, her portrayal of Lady Macbeth in the drama school’s end of year play had caught the eye of the people who had recruited her into the Corpus. Seventeen years now into the agency, fifteen of them as Kali, her operative name, a sociopath with no apparent conscience who followed her orders with diligence. Never had any one of her targets come close to figuring she could be an undercover agent. Her track record was flawless—each assignment undertaken with one hundred percent success rate and a marginal body count.

Until today, when she’d almost gotten burned.

Author, editor, smitten wife, in-over-her-head mum to a tween boy, best-buddy stepmum to a teenage lad, bookaholic, lover of all things fluffy & pink, chronic shoeholic, incompetent housewife desperate to channel Nigella Lawson (and who’ll prolly always fail at making domestic goddess status)…

Zee hails from the multicultural, rainbow-nation island of Mauritius, in the southern Indian Ocean, where she grew up on the figurative fence—one side had her ancestors’ Indian and Muslim culture; the other had modernity and the global village. When one day she realised she could dip her toes into both sides without losing her integrity, she found her identity.

This quest for ‘finding your place’ is what she attempts to bring in all her stories, across all the genres she writes. Her heroines represent today’s women trying to reconcile love, life, & relationships in a melting pot of cultures, while her heroes are Alpha men who often get put back into their rightful place by the headstrong women she writes. Love is always a winner in her stories, though; that’s a given.

**Find more about the latest on Zee and her works in her monthly newsletter http://eepurl.com/5GULr

**Read about her life & her books at her website/blog http://zeemonodee.blogspot.com/

**Friend her on Facebook (she loves to make friends & meet new people!) https://www.facebook.com/#!/zee.monodee

**Follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/ZeeMonodee

**Email her at this addy (she loves to talk…prolly too much, even!) zeemonodee@gmail.com

A visit from Jacey Holbrand author of Charmed

Posted on January 27, 2015 by S.J. Maylee

Lucky day, Jacey Holbrand is back and she’s brought her new release, Charmed. I have a feeling you’re going to enjoy her visit. 🙂

Thank you for having me on your blog! I’m happy to be here today to let your readers know about my newest release, ‘Charmed’, from my series, The Glorious Guild of Lady Windsurfer. I’m sharing a unique look into the story where the characters have to take a detour.

Excerpt

“How can you tell?” Charm asked. “They just look like really tall humans wearing long white cloaks. Kind of like Ted.”

Thorne leaned closer to her and whispered, “We can tell when we see one. But one can also spot them by their black eyes, and if you watch closely, their skin sometimes shimmers with purple undertones. And who is this Ted you speak of?”

“The trader I worked for called the Rullix who ended up chasing me Ted. Those aliens are like hydras. Do something to one and more come.”

Thorne nodded. He would have to look up what hydras were, but from the sound of it, the correlation seemed possible. He focused back on the group. Three Rullix stood outside a sex shop. Perhaps they thought they’d be able to capture women and use the Earth females for their sadistic pleasures, Thorne mused.

“Is there a fast way around?” Wade asked.

Charm surveyed the area. “I think I know where we’re at. If I’m right, the most direct route is straight ahead, but since we don’t want to say hello to those bastards, I suggest we head to the alleyway on our left. There’s a wall at the end of it, but we should be able to scale it without issue. Then we can take the back way into the mechanic’s.”

Thorne shook his head. He wasn’t comfortable with the idea of having to go over an obstacle. He didn’t like retreating from the Rullix either, but he and Wade didn’t have any weapons on them and the Rullix looked to be armed. It wouldn’t be a fair fight if they confronted them. Plus they needed to keep Charm safe. “Is that the only way? To go over a wall?”

She shrugged. “Pretty much. Otherwise we’d have to go two blocks the other way and feed around tents, broken down houses and more businesses. The Rullix seem serious about something. I don’t believe we have time to spare anymore.”

Wade bobbed his head once. “You are correct. We must make haste. The wall it is.”

“Lead the way, Charm.”

Blurb

Charm knows how to get what she wants, but when faced with opposition, she tends to make bad choices. After a plan to subdue a Rullix goes wrong, Charm forces her way into two Auraths’ lives. They have a ship after all and can help her escape Earth and the Rullix.

Step-brothers, Thorne and Wade, are discussing Earth and mates when Charm dives into their presence. Each man believes her to be the partner he’s been waiting for. The men allow her passage in their spaceship, but are shot down by the Rullix and crash in a canyon.

Charm finds them sanctuary, yet even in the middle of nowhere, she still gets into trouble. Thorne and Wade have to figure out how to travel to Aurath before Charm’s bad choices lead to their demise.

Book Information

Genres: Sci-Fi, Futuristic, Menage (MFM), Erotic, Steampunk

Heat Level: 4

Word Count: 35, 400

ISBN: 978-1-77233-153-0

Editor: Karyn White

Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

Be Warned: menage sex (MFM), anal sex

All popular e-book formats available at Evernight Publishing: http://www.evernightpublishing.com/charmed-by-jacey-holbrand/
Find Jacey Holbrand’s books at…

All Romance: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html?searchBy=author&qString=Jacey+Holbrand

BookStrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/jacey-holbrand

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Jacey-Holbrand/e/B00OE91T62

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/jacey-holbrand

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jaceyholbrand

Author Bio

Jacey Holbrand believes love comes in all forms and should be celebrated. She’s committed to her muse and writing so she can share those kinds of stories with readers.

‘Hot days. Sexy nights. Come play in her world.’

Jacey loves to hear from readers! eMail her: JaceyHolbrand@gmail.com

Author Links

Website – http://jaceyholbrand.wordpress.com

Blog – http://jaceyholbrand.wordpress.com/blog/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/JaceyHolbrand

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jacey-Holbrand-Author/584389541594430

Pinterest – http://www.pinterest.com/JaceyHolbrand/

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/Jacey_Holbrand

Book 1 in the series is ‘The Gathering’. Buy it at http://www.evernightpublishing.com/the-gathering-by-jacey-holbrand/

Inside Look with Iyana Jenna author of How Long Will I Love You … The Inspiration

Posted on January 26, 2015 by S.J. Maylee

Please help me welcome fellow Evernight Publishing author, Iyana Jenna. She’s back with her new release How Long Will I Love You. She’s sharing her inspiration behind this story, all the details, including a teaser and an excerpt. Plus, there’s a giveaway below. Enjoy!

First of all, I’d like to thank you for having me on your blog. It means a lot to me. I would like to share with you and your readers my main inspirations of this story.

One day, my dear friend Louis Stevens posted a video of a singer Gavin DeGraw on his Facebook account. It was lovely and I loved the singer’s song. Well, one of my favorite singers is Ed Sheeran and I told Louis it would be a dream come true if Ed sings together with Gavin. A moment later, voila! Louis posted a video of them both singing together! Long story short, How Long Will I Love You was born. The title of this story was from a song but it was another story altogether and it wasn’t sung by any of the men.

By the way, here is the video of Gavin and Ed performing together on stage. I totally fell in love with them. I got completely inspired. My story isn’t in any way a real story about them, though. Heh. I wish! 😀

HOW LONG WILL I LOVE YOU

by Iyana Jenna

Published by Evernight Publishing

Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance

Length: 26,950 Words

Heat Rating: 3

Blurb:

It might look weird for a musician to *fangirl* another musician, but Ed Finley didn’t give a damn. He adored and had a crush on singer and pianist, Gavin O’Malley—to the point of sticking O’Malley’s pin-ups all over the walls of his room. Ed thought his dream had come true when he was scheduled to perform together with his idol on stage.

Gavin O’Malley thought Ed was okay when they ended up being together that night. The night meant everything to Ed, while it was only another one-night stand for Gavin.

Ed decides to stay away while Gavin, after rejecting Ed, couldn’t stop thinking about the other man. Will Gavin get a chance to tell Ed his true feelings?

Excerpt:

As soon as he got to L.A., Ed realized the mistake he’d made. Everything reminded him of Gavin, especially the invites to small jam sessions and dinners with fellow artists. He’d tried to avoid them all, but Nina, his assistant, kept reminding him not to miss those occasions.

“Don’t you see that I’m a human being, too? I’m tired, okay?”

Instead of answering, Nina squinted at him before she thrust an envelope at him.

“What’s that?” Suspicion crept into his heart.

“A live awards ceremony. Music awards. Next week.”

“Oh.” He took the invitation and looked at the card. It was a national show and it was going to be aired live on a major channel. It was a big deal. He glanced back at Nina. “Am I a nominee or something?” That was impossible. He’d have found out right away if he was nominated in a category. “Or am I going to present an award? How did you get this invitation?” Nina knew very well this wasn’t his type of thing.

She chuckled softly. The traitor.

“Relax. I didn’t have to kiss someone’s ass or get down on my knees for this. You’re an online phenomenon, Ed. They knew they’d get more publicity if they had you at their show.”

Ed wasn’t particularly afraid of what Nina would do if she wanted something, though he did worry about her sometimes. She’d do anything to get the things she wanted. But this was going to be a huge event with hundreds of celebrities. It was harmless. Safe. Even if Ed saw him there, he could easily slip away and hide. He sighed.

“All right. I’ll go.”

“Yay. I’ll RSVP.”

Ed rolled his eyes as he turned his back on a delighted Nina, who was already on the phone.

The invitation ruined the plan he’d made. Without Nina’s knowledge, he’d made a reservation to rent a cabin on a vineyard resort he often went to in Northern California. He needed fresh air and a place to clear his head. He’d thought being in L.A. would help, but the feeling that he could run into Gavin in any corner of the city kept haunting him. The shame—Ed could not get rid of it. He was lucky Gavin hadn’t talked to a tabloid about how Ed Finley literally threw himself at him and thought he had a chance to be Gavin O’Malley’s boyfriend.

A week or so on the vineyard would do him good. Too bad Ed had to postpone it now. He took a shuddering breath and cooked up another plan. The minute he left the award show, he would be on his way to escape to Moonshine Valley.

****

Nina walked ahead of Ed on the red carpet. He smiled inwardly at the sight of her—a diminutive figure, yet looking confident and ready to take any action Ed needed her to. Tonight she was lit up in her small, bright red dress with her golden hair tied up into a small chignon. She was pretty, Ed would give her that. He wouldn’t mind having her as his girlfriend if he liked girls. As it was, Ed didn’t mind taking her as his date tonight, though she might have minded if he’d insisted on going in his shirt and jeans.

“Ed!”

Ed jerked his head up. “Yeah?” He had been unaware of zoning out for a second there.

Nina gestured at him impatiently, so he headed toward her. She was standing near the velvet railing with a man on the other side of it who had a microphone in his hand.

“Hi,” greeted Ed. “How’re you doing?”

“Can you believe it? Louis Montague from the blog Louis’ Notes, himself! He wants to talk to you, Ed.” Nina sounded too chirpy for his liking, and his eyes narrowed in suspicion because the girl knew him well. He turned back to the man and offered his hand. Louis accepted and shook it hard.

“Ed Finley. It’s so great to finally see you.”

“Hi, Louis. Glad to see you too. I hope you like my songs.”

“Like your songs? I love them. They’re brilliant, man.”

“Come on.” Ed felt positively embarrassed. After all this time, he still couldn’t believe people actually listened to his work. He looked around and cursed silently when he found that Nina had disappeared.

“I’m serious. They’re emotional and fans really relate to them. I can’t stop listening to them. What’s coming up next from you?”

“Um.” Ed scratched his head, then promptly removed his wandering fingers. He’d spent more time than was necessary trying to tame his red curls, and he knew Nina would scold him for ruining them. “I write songs every night or between shows. I can’t stop the ideas from coming into my head. They keep bugging me until I write them down.”

“Sounds so easy for you.”

“Oh no, not at all. They’re raw ideas and thoughts. Mostly I still have to find the right tune for them, not to mention the lyrics and the music arrangements. Half of the raw ideas I have had have ended up in the garbage bin. Only half became full songs and just one or two of them get to be produced.” Ed thought he heard Louis mutter something. “Excuse me?”

Louis shook his head. “Nah. Just—if I tried to write songs, they would all get dumped.”

Ed snickered. “You don’t know that. You should try writing someday if you get an interesting idea.”

“I’d rather listen to yours, thanks.” Louis smiled widely. “So are you going to present an award tonight?”

“No. I’ll just sit tight and sweet in the audience. My pretty Nina did a good job finding me a place in there. She—” Ed waved sideways and stopped short. He gaped and his breathing became erratic. He hadn’t expected anyone to be standing next to him, to be so close to him, like…like…

“Hi, Ed.”

Like Gavin.

Buy Links:

Evernight Publishing ~ Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ Amazon Australia ~ Amazon Canada

All Romance Ebooks ~ Bookstrand

Giveaways

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The Interview: Cara Bristol author of Reasonable Doubts

Posted on January 23, 2015 by S.J. Maylee

Today is the day I have been waiting for. She’s here. I have Cara Bristol at my ehome. *happy dances*

I’ve been a fan of hers for a bit now. I love her style and I gobble up everything she writes. The latest is Reasonable Doubts and it is amazing. My five star review can be found here. It’s paging turning hotness. Just wait until you read the excerpt she brought. You’ll want to keep reading. Remember, I warned you.

I recently asked if she’d stop by and answer a few questions. She said yes. Squee! Yes, I’m having a fan girl moment. 😀

She’s also brought something for everyone, as long as supplies last, and there’s going to be a prize drawing too. All of that is below.

Okay. Deep breaths and here we go.

SJ: Tell us something about your newest release that is NOT in the blurb.

Cara: Oh gosh, I deliberately omitted or only hinted at certain things because I didn’t want to spoil the story, such as Liz’s former boss’s identity, that Reasonable Doubts is an older woman/younger man romance (though not a huge gap, only 6 or so years), and that I killed off a character readers had met in previous books. The prologue to Reasonable Doubts came from a scene that was cut from False Pretenses (Rod and Cane book 2) during editing.

SJ: What are some of your favorite things about the Rob and Cane Erotic Romances?

Cara: How much it has grown and expanded over what I originally envisioned. The characters and the Rod and Cane Society have become real to me. Because characters reappear in different books, readers have the chance to get to know them, and each book is like visiting old friends. Yet, I think I’ve been able to write the books in such a way that one can read them as stand-alones. It’s a fun series to write; there are so many different characters and potential story lines.

SJ: All of your books are page turners for me. At the end of a scene or a chapter, I always have this need to keep reading. What are some tips or tricks you’ve picked up to keep the reader hooked through the whole story?

Cara: Thank you! That’s what an author loves to hear. I think writers are told so often that a book or a chapter has to have a beginning, a middle, and an end so that the inclination is to “wrap up” each chapter. But that’s the last thing a writer should do. A chapter should end unsettled with a mini cliffhanger, or at least with an open question. One technique I use is to end a chapter with the character believing one thing while showing the reader that the real situation is the opposite. I try to make things tense, not relaxed.

SJ: I know you and your husband like to travel. Which place would you most like to revisit? Where would you really like to go next? Have any of these trips inspired the stories you’ve written?

Cara: I would love to go to China again. It is magical, so entirely different from the Western world. When you look at what China was doing and building while North/South America was in the Stone Age, it blows your mind. China changed the way I viewed travel. Before China, traveling was for vacation, for R & R, so I tended to gravitate toward places that were familiar to me. After China, I wanted to see more of what is foreign. I’d love to go to China again and the Orient in general (I’ve also been to Thailand). That said, our next big trip will probably be a river cruise through Prague and Budapest. My trips don’t tend to inspire stories because I do go for R& R, so I’m not thinking about work. However, I did use my travel experiences as background for the Wife on the Lam story in the Coming to Terms anthology.

SJ: What have you cooked that ended up tasting a lot better than you anticipated?

Cara: I have been cooking my way through The Gourmet Slower Cooker by Lynn Alley. I decided to try Chicken Pipérade, a French dish that calls for 3 red bell peppers. I wasn’t sure if I would like that much red bell pepper (and was really worried my husband wouldn’t), but it turned out great. My husband loved it, and said it would be a good recipe to serve company.

SJ: I’ve learned so much from you these past couple of years. You’re very generous in sharing your experiences. Thank you! What gives you the most trouble in this business and has it changed over the years?

Cara: When I had my first few books published, getting noticed and getting books to sell was difficult. You work your butt off and nothing happens. Or nothing seems to happen. That has changed for me. My work sells now, and my readership is growing, but I’ve learned that you cannot rest on your laurels or coast for very long. There are peaks and valleys and some books do better than others. You have to continually produce and promote, although the latter gets easier. There is a point in an author’s career—beginning with the third book or so—when there aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything that needs to be done. You become like a crazed, frantic circus performer. You start to wonder how you can possibly keep up the pace. But that is the turning point, and if you can power past it, the craziness eases and the workload becomes manageable. But if you expect to make a career out writing, know it that it will always require full time effort.

SJ: Which one of your characters would you most like to meet in real life and why?

Cara: I would like to meet Marc DeLuca of Body Politics, although I think he would intimidate the hell out of me. I was half in love with him by the time I finished writing the book. And I would love to meet Liz Davenport. I think she and I could be great friends.

SJ: What is your greatest extravagance?

Cara: Traveling and books. My husband and I rarely eat dinner out, never go to movies, generally don’t do all the typical sorts of things that other people do for entertainment. But as you pointed out, we’ve traveled all over the world. The other extravagance is buying books without reservation. If I want one, I buy it.

SJ: What are you reading now?

Cara: Life’s Unexpected Gifts by Livia Grant.

SJ: Tell us a bit about some of the other releases you’re planning for 2015.

Cara: In March or April, I’ll publish The Goddess’s Curse, a fantasy, sci-fi story inspired by the mythological Amazon women. In my sci-fi Breeder series, the characters live in male-dominated world. In The Goddess Curse (Heartmates), I flip it around and put the women in charge—but the men are still alpha. Depending on how readers react to The Goddess’s Curse will determine whether I turn it into a series. I will also write another Rod and Cane, and this one will be Jordan Bevy’s story—he’s the disciplinary proctor. I also agreed to participate in a spanking romance boxed set with Celeste Jones, Renee Rose and Sue Lyndon. And I have some other stand-alone novel and nonfiction ideas demanding to be written. But it’s not getting crazy. Nope. Negatory. Not at all.

Reasonable Doubts Blurb

Widow Liz Davenport assumes when she begins to date, her new man will be like her late husband–a member of the Rod and Cane Society and an experienced disciplinarian who can provide her with loving guidance she requires to feel grounded and secure. So why is she attracted to Grant Davis, an ex-Naval JAG officer who works for her nemesis and has never spanked a woman in his life?

Events in his recent past have forced Grant to take stock of his life and try some new things. But spank a woman? He’s never considered that before, but with Liz’s coaching he’s willing to try.

But when the past collides with the present, will he be able to step up and become the disciplinarian Liz needs?

Reasonable Doubts Excerpt – 454 words

“If you’re seeking a fun spanking, I can accommodate you. But I can’t hit you to punish you, Liz.”

That was a common hang-up for many men who’d been taught to never raise a hand to a woman. “Not hitting. Spanking. Paddling.”

“Hit you with a paddle?” He looked aghast now.

She said, spank, and he heard hit. Liz sighed, frustrated for feeling out of her element in a situation that had been her element her entire adult life. She’d never had to broach the subject with a man. How did other women deal with the issue?

Grant curved his arm around her. Thinking he intended to hug her, she curled against his chest, but he continued to exert pressure. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“Placing you over my lap.”

Her jaw dropped. “Are you serious?”

“It’s what you want, isn’t it?”

But—but—Liz peeked at him, but he wore his courtroom face. Unreadable. Did he desire this—or was he going through the motions to please her? Did she want to be spanked this way? Not coldly, more…dispassionately. Yet heat curled in her tummy. It had been so long since she’d been spanked. The few playful swats he’d given her the other night didn’t count.

Her body decided for her by melting into a submissive puddle over Grant’s lap. He smoothed his hands across her bottom, rubbing her cheeks through her clothes. “You do have a nice ass,” he said.

Her heart migrated to her throat where it drummed a rapid beat, as a familiar excitement zinged through her.

Cool air breezed across her skin when Grant raised her skirt to her waist. Another good sign: he adjusted her clothing without her having to prompt him. With his finger, he traced the line of her panties across her lower back and the tops of her thighs. Belatedly, Liz realized she wasn’t wearing her best underwear. Not her worst, thank goodness, but beige bikinis with an elastic band of lace for adornment qualified as more functional than sexy. But how could she have known she would be spanked today?

Grant smoothed his hands over her buttocks, a patch of rough skin on his palm catching on silk. His gentle touch electrified her, created a muscle-deep ache, a longing she could taste. Liz pressed her face against the sofa cushion and closed her eyes. Please, please. She wanted him to spank her so badly, but she’d made her case, and the decision rested with him. She couldn’t force him into being a spanko. He needed to step up and take control of the situation without any more instigation from her.

He hooked a thumb into the waistband of her panties. “Lift,” he ordered.

Where you can find Reasonable Doubts

Amazon US

Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon CA

Barnes & Noble | All Romance

Where you can find Cara Bristol:

Website /blog | Amazon Author Page | Sign up for Cara’s New Release Newsletter

Facebook | Twitter | Tsu | Google+

Prizes, Prizes!

How would you like to become card-carrying member of the Rod and Cane Society? To receive a membership card, leave a comment for Cara about Reasonable Doubts or this blog AND your email address in the body of your comment. Cara will contact you to arrange to send you a membership card. This is not a drawing. Everyone who posts a comment with an email address can receive a card—as long as supplies last. In addition, by commenting on this blog and leaving an email address, you’ll be entered into a drawing for Rod and Cane coffee mug.

Mid Week Tease – Gentleman (Blue Moon House) by Angelica Dawson

Posted on January 21, 2015 by S.J. Maylee

Welcome to hump day my friends. Thank you to the amazing, Sandra Bunino for bringing us together.

I’m over the moon excited to introduce my guest for today’s Mid Week Tease, Angelica Dawson! She’s been a beta reader for me and her advice has been instrumental in getting my WIPs in shape. I’ll always be grateful to Angelica.

She is awesomesauce! 😀

Angelica has also begun participating in the Mid Week Tease. So, be sure to visit her each week. Today, she’s sharing from her brand new release and she has a giveaway below. Be sure to check out the rafflecopter. I hope you enjoy this tease from Gentleman.

Nicholas returned with a crystal decanter of pale gold liquid. He moved behind Harry’s back and Harry tried to look over his own shoulder. He felt the liquid poured over his ass, but it wasn’t until Nicholas ran his fingers through it that Harry identified it as oil, probably olive by the smell.

“Planning to roast me?” Harry asked, joking.

“Don’t make me gag you,” Nicholas said, laughter in his voice as well. “I’m hoping to get you hot, though.” He put his lips to Harry’s ear, nibbling the lobe. At the same time his fingers roamed over Harry’s ass, cupping, pulling.

Nicholas pressed one finger in and Harry rose to his toes. The whole digit must be in him because he could feel the rest of the hand on his cheeks. It had been effortless, slipping through easily. It felt good, much better than before. Nicholas pulled the finger out and slipped it back in again, stroking slowly.

Harry fell into the rhythm and leaned back into Nicholas’ hand, enjoying the feeling. His cock stiffened, longing for more bites from Nicholas, thicker fingers in his ass. The second was granted first. Nichols stood behind him and pulled Harry’s hips.

Blurb:

Harrold lives an empty life. He has no joy in his marriage, no love of his work. His only reprieve is found at the hands of the whores, the ones he pays to beat and debase him. Upon being accepted into Blue Moon House, he learns the real cost for his desires, and what underlying need is really aching to be filled.

In the third installment of her Blue Moon House series, Angelica continues to push her characters outside their comfort zones and gets right to the heart of their needs. You can find Gentleman at Naughty Nights Press, AllRomanceEbooks and Amazon.

For the month of January, you can also pick up the original Blue Moon House for only $0.99.

Bio:

Angelica Dawson is the author of Blue Moon House, which has been in the top ten best-selling titles at Naughty Nights Press for over six months. She has also written two short stories, “The Highest Bidder” and “Leave Taking” which were each included in anthologies.

She contributes flash fiction to several blogging collectives and excerpts from work in progress can also be found on her blog. She is active on Facebook and Twitter.

She has been writing for several years and having sex a lot longer than that. Angelica is a wife, mother and environmental consultant. Her love of plants and the outdoors is not diminished by the bloodsucking hoards – mosquitoes and black flies, not vampires.

Let Angelica know what you think by leaving a comment and entering a draw for a free copy.

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Thank you so much for visiting with us today, it means a lot that you took the time to visit my little place on the web. Be sure to check out all the Mid Week Teasers:

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Cover Reveal: Commanded by Stacey Kennedy

Posted on January 21, 2015 by S.J. Maylee

COMMANDED by STACEY KENNEDY

Club Sin comes alive once again in this decadent new erotic romance from USA Today bestselling author Stacey Kennedy, perfect for fans of Fifty Shades of Grey.

Title: Commanded
Series: Club Sin Author: Stacey Kennedy

Author Location: Canada

Genre: Erotic Romance (recommended for mature audiences)

Release Date: July 7, 2015

Page Count: 240

Publisher: Random House Loveswept

Format: Digital eBook ISBN: 978-1-101-88255-9

“Claimed sucked me in! Stacey Kennedy weaves together the intense BDSM lifestyle with the soft touch of a sweeter, more traditional love story in a novel with an engaging heroine at its heart.”—J. Kenner

“Desired is sexy, sensual, and totally seductive. Stacey Kennedy sure knows how to make a girl swoon.”—Tracy Wolff

Synopsis:
A dedicated cop, Sawyer Quinn blows off steam by immersing himself in his role as a Master at the hottest club in Las Vegas. But when Sawyer goes after the perp who brutally beat his sister, he teams up with Chloe Nash, a sexy private investigator who awakens a sweet new need: to keep her to himself, away from the dungeon of Club Sin. Chloe is beautiful, smart, and too innocent for the BDSM lifestyle. Sawyer’s never wanted a woman like this before. Is her love worth swearing off the one thing that keeps him sane?
There’s something different about Sawyer: a commanding strength that pulls Chloe into a vortex of heady desire. But when she learns about his double life as a Dom, she’s shocked—and afraid she could never complete him. Then he saves her life, and just like that, Chloe knows she will be able to give him anything he desires. She is his—wherever and however he wants to take her.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Additional purchasing options

Author Bio:
STACEY KENNEDY is the USA Today bestselling author of the CLUB SIN series. Growing up, Stacey’s mind wandered the path less traveled and that path most often led to love. She has always broken rules and she continues to feed off emotion – staying true to her heart. Those traits are now the bones of her stories. She lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, who puts any of the heroes in her books to shame, and their two young children. If she’s not on mom duty or plugging away at a new story, you’ll find Stacey camping in the summer, hibernating in the winter and obsessing over Penny Dreadful, Game of Thrones and Outlander.

Connect with Stacey: www.staceykennedy.com

An Interview with Muffy Wilson author of Memories and Kisses

Posted on January 20, 2015 by S.J. Maylee

It’s special treat day!! I finally got my amazing and talented friend, Muffy Wilson to stop by and chat with me. It’s my pleasure to help her promote her new book, Memories and Kisses. So fasten your seatbelts and grab your fan, we’re in for Muffy Wilson’s astonishing world of erotic fiction.

Welcome Muffy……..

SJ: I’m so glad you’re here. 🙂 Let’s dive right in. Could you reveal any personal juicy stories about you?

Muffy: Thank you, SJ, for opening your cyber-home to me. It is a pleasure to be here with you, my dear friend. Well, I was raised in a military family. My father was a USAF Colonel whose work took us to all points from Alaska to France. We moved every two or three years, so I don’t have what most would refer to as a traditional childhood, more like Leave it to Beaver meets the Jetsons. Many of my ‘firsts’ were in France as my formative years developing were north of Paris. So, my first kiss, my first taste of escargot, my first hot dog on a French baguette was at the top of the Eiffel Tower, my first bikini (I was thirteen) was on the French Riviera and I fell in love with a thirty-something lifeguard named Aldo. I thought my father was going straight to an early grave. My mother thought it charming and funny since I wound up looking like a blistered, crying lobster with the worst sun burn ever. No need to worry about Aldo. A few years later, my mother and I were shopping in Paris; it was the day she bought me an alligator handbag, a small one, with a bright red leather interior. I still have it. We were on the Champs Elysees on a corner and everyone was wailing and crying. It was 22 November 1963 and I was 14 years old. It was the day John F Kennedy was assassinated and I witnessed as the world was crushed and Camelot fell. I think I grew up a lot that day. We had to hurry home, 90 miles north. The Base was on lock-down and red alert. It was a day the world stood still yet was fiercely frantic beneath the surface.

SJ: I wasn’t yet born, but I get the chills every time I read about that day. Wow, Muffy. I know you’re a mother. I can only imagine how all those experiences have influenced you. Could you tell us about your role as a Mom?

Muffy: I met my husband in California, on a day that I was none too happy with men. I was working in San Francisco as a Sales Manager for Honeywell and my father had a heart attack in Georgia. I wanted to explore the possibilities of transferring to Georgia to be closer to the first man I ever loved. My boss, “The Silver Fox” made a pass at me and told me why bother as my dad wasn’t going to live forever. I was stunned and profoundly moved by a myriad of feelings. Funny that I should meet the two most important men in my life from that day forward on a day like that—my husband and his youngest son, then 13. It was the greatest gift. We got married three months later and the three of us honeymooned in Niagara Falls. My husband is from Buffalo, NY, and had been married twice before (his first wife died and the second, VJr’s mother ended in divorce when he was just 6). I had never been married, so they were my first. When I was very young, and in college, I got pregnant. He was my first lover and for all my worldly experience, I was still pretty naïve—even in the ‘70s. I had an abortion and dropped out of college. The gift of my husband and his son, my son, I felt was God’s way of forgiving me. So, my role as a Mom is one I cherish, given it was my second chance and my redemption. Life has been good to me because of them. He has enriched my life beyond measure.

SJ: I’m glad his risky statement paid off and that he’s been so good to you. Bless him. You have a very long list of projects consuming your time, but I would like to offer you the chance to show off and promote your writing career.

Muffy: I have three more books that will be released by March 2015, if I am lucky. Beyond that, I have a control list of about fifteen projects which will be concluded by mid-year and 25-30 projects that will require my attention. Only another Virgo will appreciate how organized I am about my work. Some refer to it as being obsessive compulsive. I can role with that.

SJ: Wow. As a Project Manager I can appreciate what it takes to manage each project. Bravo, Muffy. I knew there was a reason why I’m always so impressed by you. It’s all coming out. 🙂 When did you decide to write? And what genre and style did you prefer when you first started? What style and genre do you prefer to write currently?

Muffy: I have been in sales and marketing my entire business career. Writing was a necessity and I was good at presenting technical detail. English was a love and focus of mine throughout my education, but I only wrote proposals, technical material and project material. I really never thought about writing ‘personally’ until I met up with an old school chum, and old boyfriend. It was never a calling to me as it is for some writers. He wrote and it spurred me on. I slipped into the world of Erotica, not by choice or design, but quite by accident…and I loved it. Turns out I was pretty good at it, too, or so people commented. But, my style has changed, developed a lot since then.

SJ: That was a lucky slip for sure. You’re very good at it, Muffy. What genre, books, and authors do you like to read?

Muffy: I love crime, thrillers, edge-of-your-seat whodunits. I also love period pieces, non-fiction and autobiographies. When I was very young, when we lived in France and there was no television, I read everything, absolutely everything. I wanted to be a criminologist or a medical examiner. Or a veterinarian. As well an actress and Ella Fitzgerald! But, I do love to read good literotica. I am not a fan of jump-and-pump but a love story with great, eloquently involved sex is a real page turner for me.

SJ: Agreed. Give me the romance. Muffy, you’re so interesting. Do you have a person, real or fantasy, you would like to be?

Muffy: Barbra Streisand. I always wanted to sing. My aunt sang torch songs and played piano in smoke filled supper clubs and piano bars. I always wanted to do that.

SJ: You have experienced many adventures in your life and have lots of energy, but what would you like to do if you had any free time? Lol. If anyone can find free time, it’s Muffy.

Muffy: I would love to learn to play piano, learn Spanish and brush up on my French. But I am enjoying my life now. I work in Real Estate in SW Florida and try to find time to straighten my office. There’s that Virgo nag again.

SJ: I’d bet your office is already neatened. 🙂 Could you tell us about your new book, Memories and Kisses, and the story behind it?

Muffy: Old memories are like old red wine – all the richer for time passed. And the kisses taste sweeter too. Three romantic and very sexy stories take us back to things as they once were, and forward to the wonderful times to come. Memories & Kisses has three stories of old loves remembered; a grieving woman rescued from the sea, two childhood friends growing old friendship into passionate loving, and two long separated teenagers finding that time has mellowed them both and maturity has brought a passionate intensity they had never imagined. All three stories are of rekindled love that survived decades of longing and is now ready to burst into flame.

Blurb:

The Storm ~ a newly widowed woman unable to face the world alone and lonely, buries her husband. Overcome by grief, she walks into the rough, grinding pitiless surf in an effort to blend the gray in her heart with the gray on the horizon. She is saved from the crashing waves by a man, a bearded white haired man who brings her back to life and gives her a reason to live again.

The Park ~ two childhood friends, now adults, reunite on the eve of the dedication of their once favorite playground now slated to become a high-tech water park. The destruction of their favorite playground makes them melancholy; reliving their dreams as children in this park inspires them to greater, more passionate long buried desires they never responded to as teens, but knew existed but in their memories.

The Story of Us ~ high school friends, once nearly sweethearts, reconnect in their sixties. The Internet removes the veil of uncomfortable shyness. They are open and revealing in emails about their youthful teenaged desires for one another. They discover what we all hope is true: that love is eternal. Surviving decades, not only in the shadowed recesses of our memories, but in a kiss, a touch, a magnetic embrace love thrives.

Do you have memories of a love that once was?…of a love that was lost?…of, perhaps, a rekindled love that survived decades of longing? ……..Read More on my blog Muffy Wilson

SJ: Where can we purchase Memories and Kisses?

Muffy: Thank you for asking, I would be honored. If readers are interested, they can buy my work at:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/muffywilson

Ganxy: https://ganxy.com/i/97419/muffy-wilson/memories-kisses

XinXii: http://www.xinxii.com/en/memories-and-kisses-p-355588.html

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/memories-kisses

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/memories-and-kisses/id924012792

SJ: Do you have future writing projects you plan to publish?

Muffy: Tons. My brain explodes with ideas and always when I don’t have a pen or paper handy!

SJ: I bet! Please share your recent publications.

Released 3 October 2014:

Also featuring Muffy’s work in this anthology of of adult Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Once Upon a Menage: An Anthology of Fairy Tale Threesomes edited by Rachel Kenley (Ravenous Romance), Muffy has two erotic adaptations, The Prince, The Mermaid and The Siren (‘The Little Mermaid’) and The Prurient Puss (‘Puss and Boots’). They are sexy, just a little naughty and best of all, they are threesomes!!

Buy Link at Amazon

SJ: How may your fans contact you? Tell us the many links where you can find Muffy Wilson?

Bio:

Muffy, author of erotic, romantic stories about love, sex, hope and passion, was born in San Antonio, Texas, to traditional parents. With two older brothers, she was the youngest, the family “princess,” indulged and pampered. She adored her older brothers, following them everywhere and was surrounded by love, stimulation, and pets. Her father was a career Colonel and pilot in the U.S. Air Force which required the family to travel extensively. The family lived in most points between Alaska and France. Muffy spent her formative years in Europe and came of age in France.

Returning from France with her family, Muffy finished high school in Northern California and attended the University of California, Davis, and majored in Business Management. Muffy entered the work force, independent with a fierce work ethic, and retired at 39 from IBM as a Mid-West Regional Director in the Real Estate and Construction Division. She and her husband moved to a small Island in northern Wisconsin where they owned a historic tavern, restaurant and resort business which they since have sold. They now live a charmed life by the water in SW Florida. Muffy pretends to be a serious real estate business person but, in real life, indulges her private interest in writing sexy short stories and sensual literotica ~ Live, Laugh, Love with Passion.

Muffy: Thank you, XXXXXX, for hosting this wonderful interview. It was very kind and generous of you. I appreciate the time your fans and readers have spent with me, sharing my life, my family and work, sharing my inspirations and life.

SJ: It’s been my ultimate pleasure to have you here. I hope everyone will take some time to look at your newest release, Memories and Kisses, and all of your other books the next time they’re able to add to their TBR list. Thank you for spending some time with me today. I wish you much continued success.

(((hugs)))

Spotlight: Desperate by Athena Daniels

Posted on January 19, 2015 by S.J. Maylee

Desperate

by Athena Daniels

Publisher: Evernight Publishing

Cover: Jay Aheer

Length: 111K word

Category: Contemporary Suspense

Evernight Heat Level: 3

Blurb:

‘He was everything she needs and everything she can never have.’

Meticulous planning sees Ivy half way across the world, with a new identity. But Blake is no ordinary ex-husband, he is a corrupt private investigator with links to London’s underworld.

Eric Prescott, a handsome and successful property developer knows Ivy is hiding something, and from someone. At first Eric only wants to help, but soon finds himself falling for this beautiful woman with the haunted eyes. In one night of explosive passion, Ivy finally gives in. And discovers love, the way it’s meant to be.

Ivy finally dares to believe she is free, but soon faces losing all that she has come to love the day when her ex-husband is released from jail. She knows it is only a matter of time before he will return to serve the full force of his deadly vengeance.

Warning: Bondage

Buy Links:

Evernight Publishing: http://www.evernightpublishing.com/desperate-by-athena-daniels

Amazon (AUS): http://www.amazon.com.au/Desperate-Athena-Daniels-ebook/dp/B00S8KZ3GK

Amazon (USA): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S8KZ3GK

Amazon (CDA): http://www.amazon.ca/Desperate-Athena-Daniels-ebook/dp/B00S8KZ3GK/

Bookstrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/desperate-mf

Allromanceebooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html

Excerpt:

At precisely seven o’clock, the intercom sounds, and I press the button allowing access to the inner building. I cross the room to unlock the latches on the front door, leaving it slightly ajar.

Dashing back into my bedroom, I grab my clutch, phone and lip gloss. Quickly, I apply a light spray of my favorite perfume. When I return to the lounge, the front door is closed but the room is empty.

The picture on the wall is now hanging straight.

My heart gallops irregularly in my chest as I realize I didn’t check that it was Eric before I pressed the button.

Could Blake be here?

Breathe. In … out … in … out. I order myself to calm. The horror of my marriage with Blake returns in a single, sickening rush. What will he do when he finds me?

“Hello?” I call out, but my voice is raspy, barely a whisper.

I desperately hope for Eric’s easygoing greeting to ring out, but there is nothing but silence. My blood runs cold, and I can’t breathe.

My mobile slips from my shaking fingers. The thud as it hits the floor startles me out of shock, and I bend down to retrieve my phone. My lifeline.

Gripping my bag tightly, I estimate there are ten steps to the door. Silently I take the first few steps. On my fifth step, a shadow moves to my left, and I bolt the last distance and fling the door open with enough force that it bounces off the wall. I run to the elevator instead of the stairs, hoping it will be faster.

I jab frantically at the button. The screen indicates it has just left the ground floor.

“Ivy!”

It’s not going to arrive in time. I bounce up and down on the spot. Do I have time to take the stairs?

I’ll have to run past my front door to get there. Can I even run down the stairs in these shoes? I won’t have time to take them off; they have tiny buckles. Irrational thoughts flood through my mind, and I imagine myself stumbling and falling down the stairwell, only to land in a crumpled heap at the bottom.

Hurry up, damn it. The elevator has reached the second floor. There are six more to go.

Perhaps I should take the stairs?

“Ivy.” The voice permeates the fog of panic in my mind. It doesn’t sound like a sword being drawn out of a scabbard, sending cold shivers down my spine. It sounds soothing, like a cup of warm chocolate. The voice is calling for Ivy, not Sarah.

My mind blanks, and slowly, I turn towards the voice. The elevator rings, signaling its arrival. I can escape now. I look at Eric’s concerned face and realize there is no need to run. He puts a bottle of wine and a glass down on the ground just inside my apartment door and stands in front of me, grasping my shoulders.

“Ivy, are you okay? What is it?”

I realize how I must appear, like a wild animal that has just been through the throes of a chase from a predator. Eric pulls me to him in a powerful crush.

“Jesus, you are shaking like a leaf.” He runs a hand up and down my back, and I can hear his heartbeat, strong, calm, and reassuring through his chest.

Relief that Eric is here and not Blake, hits me with a powerful rush. Pulling away, I try to stand, but my knees wobble then buckle beneath me. When I hit the cold floor, I start to cry from the reminder that this is still far from over.

I still live with extreme fear that Blake will find me. And of what will happen when he does.

Strong arms lift me and through my sobs, and I hear the door shut. Finally, I begin to quiet enough to hear his soft, soothing words murmuring against my hair.

As my strength begins to return, I wriggle out of his arms. “Did you straighten that picture?” I demand.

Eric shrugs. “It was crooked.”

“Well, don’t … just don’t touch my things, all right?”

“Okay.” His face falls, and I immediately feel bad. He can’t possibly know that every day for years I lived with Blake’s obsessive compulsion to have things absolutely straight, and ordered the way he wanted it, right down to the cutlery in the drawer and the type of food we kept in the fridge.

I glance uneasily over to the vertical strip on the kitchen blind, and a shiver rolls down my spine. I still think I would have noticed it at some point before tonight. I have been living here for months now.

I can’t shake an instinctual feeling that he has been here, and it’s what caused my apparent over-reaction tonight. No matter how hard I try I can’t dislodge the thick and heavy sense of foreboding that has settled over me.

“Can you tell me what put that look of terror on your face and caused you to run for your life just now?”

My eyes take in the bottle of wine and empty glass on the floor. I realize Eric probably went straight to the kitchen when he arrived, casually straightening the picture on his way past. I cringe at how I must appear to him.

“You thought it was him. You thought he found you.” It wasn’t a question, but I nod anyway, not trusting myself to speak past the constriction in my throat.

“And the picture, straightening it is something he would do.”

Once again, I nod yes, and tears roll silently and unchecked down my cheeks.

“Oh Eric, I am so sorry.” A huge sob escapes, resounding loudly in the small room. I look away as embarrassment heats my cheeks.

“Sweet Jesus, what has that bastard done to you?”

Author Bio:

Athena Daniels is the pseudonym of a wife, mother and business partner who takes any opportunity she can get to disappear into the world of fantasy. When not reading she writes romantic suspense. Hot, steamy romance where complicated and damaged characters are thrown together in suspenseful drama.

One day, she hopes to fulfil her dream to write full time. In the meantime, she hopes you enjoy her debut novel, Desperate. If you follow the scent of coffee and chocolate, you will find her busy working on the sequel. Desperate: The Price of Freedom.

The first novel of a new series, Sage will be coming in 2015. It’s a steamy romantic suspense with a paranormal twist.

Website – http://www.athenadaniels.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/AthenaDaniels11

Twitter – https://twitter.com/AthenaDaniels11