The Worst Dilemma by Muhammed Sokhna
Genre: Erotic Romance, Erotica
The spark of all dilemmas is lies and deception
Just what is love? Is it just a word people use for personal gain? Is it a verb that needs creativity expression in order to understand its full meaning? Or, is it just looking in the mirror?
For Chantrelle Hayfield, love is simplicity. But, she lives in Atlanta, a complex city full of surprises. Like her chiseled, tall, and chocolate next door neighbor, Rasheed Goodmen, who could be a new love interest? But, when her best friend, Ashley Leslie, comes out about her true feelings, will Chantrelle be able to handle the convoluted feelings of others even if that means losing her simplicity?
Chantrelle’s other friends Ariel Samson and Alexis Smith could be able to guide her? But, Ariel needs to learn to be a little selfish and Alexis has to stop scheming to get by. The underworld of Atlanta will test each of these women. Because behind the spark of every dilemma, is lies and deception. Who will be able to see clearly in order to avoid tragedy?
Buy Links: Smashwords Amazon Barnes and Noble Kobo
About the Author: Throughout Mr. Sokhna life, he searched for a purpose. At the age of eighteen, he went through some tough times. His girlfriend left him, his finances were not where they needed to be, his family was struggling to make ends meet, he lost his Hope scholarship, and was desperately trying to find out what was his purpose here on earth. The depression within him started to build and lead to an attempt of suicide.
With the love and support of his family and close friends, he slowly climbed back on his feet, but there was still one remaining problem. He still didn’t know what his purpose was, until he had a vision.
Something within him told him to write down his story. There was resistance, but he followed the hunch. Five thousand words turn into ten thousand. Then ten turned into twenty thousand. Then all of a sudden, twenty thousand words turned into over forty thousand words. He recognized that he found his true passion. It was something that will challenge him. It was something he was yearning for all his life. It was something he could call “his own” and that something was writing.
Mr. Sokhna purpose is to ignite the creativity within people and help them realize that life is much more than what meets the eye. He wants his readers to know that all that we ever done and all we will ever do in this world is just the tip of this iceberg of what could have been done in this life.
The Worst Dilemma Series is one of the three ways he likes to channel his talent to the world. Being able to create erotic content that makes people blush is not only pleasing to him, but it makes him more humble to evolve the craft of literature. Mr. Sokhna will continue to strive to bring more enticing content through The Worst Dilemma Series. A series that will shed light on some of the toughest situations people go through in life, with the added bonus of erotic content.
Website www.theworstdilemmaseries.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MuhammedRSokhna
Twitter: @MuhammedSokhna
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+MuhammedSokhna
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/muhammedsokhna
Shelfari: http://www.shelfari.com/muhammedsokhna
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/MuhammedSokhna
Giveaway: $50 Amazon gift card, autographed t-shirt and a jewellery set from Candibugz (US only)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
~~~ Good luck in the giveaway ~~~
~~~ See MORE giveaways by clicking here ~~~
~~~ Don't forget to follow me on Twitter ~~~
~~~ Don't forget to ↓↓share↓↓ on Facebook ~~~
If you're commenting to enter a competition, please say something useful. Saying "hi I commented", "I hope I win" or "No opinion" is spam and it'll be deleted.
The Official Beth Owyn Blog
The Official Beth Owyn Blog, author and short-story weaver
Tuesday 18 February 2014
Tuesday 11 February 2014
After the Rain by Daisy Harris
After the Rain
by Daisy Harris
Genre: Gay Romance
Henri’s list of bad exes is as long as his arm, but nothing prepared him for his latest, heart-stomping breakup. He thought he couldn’t feel more abandoned, until his ride for a group camping trip bails, leaving him stuck driving for hours with a guy who is absolutely not his type.
After breaking up with his girlfriend of five years, firefighter Logan is working up the nerve to explore his interest in men. He knows he’s gay. He just hasn’t had the guts to do anything about it…until now.
Henri’s big-city attitude and tight jeans push every last one of Logan’s buttons, and when he and Henri have to share a tent, Logan is thrilled. He should have realized Pacific Northwest weather would get wet—forcing them to strip naked. Though the steam between them is thicker than coastal fog, Henri’s not sure he can let himself fall for another man. Not even the guy who finally treats him right.
Warning: Contains bad ex-boyfriends, even worse weather, and more than your average amount of sex in a tent. May not be suitable for those with germ phobias, outdoor aversions or fear of damp shoes.
Excerpt: Jesus fucking Christ. Henri crouched to get a sweater from his bag, and more importantly, the cigarettes out of his pocket. Hands shaking, he popped one between his lips.
His preliminary test had been negative at the health center that morning—thank sweet God in heaven above, and Henri was totally going back to church as soon as possible—but he’d been informed he needed to get tested again in three to six weeks since seroconversion so soon after exposure was rare. With the stress of that hanging over his head, Henri wasn’t up to entertaining a complete stranger for five hours.
“Warnin’ you now, no smokin’ in my truck,” Logan said in a voice that was quiet but firm.
“I’ll try and remember that.” Imperiously, Henri flicked on a lighter and sucked in a drag. The paper crinkled as it burned, and the ember flashed red right before a soothing rush of nicotine sizzled through Henri’s bloodstream. If Logan was watching him, Henri did his best to ignore it. Something about the giant, blond-haired, blue-eyed cowboy rubbed Henri the wrong way.
Buy Link (Amazon): Daisy Harris - After the Rain
About the Author: Birkenstock-wearing glamour girl and mother of two by immaculate conception, Daisy Harris still isn't sure if she writes erotica. Her romances start out innocently enough. However, her characters behave like complete sluts. Much to Miss Harris's dismay the sex tends to get completely out of hand.
She writes about fantastical creatures and about young men getting their freak on, and she's never missed an episode of The Walking Dead.
Want to learn more about new releases, general news and the latest inappropriate boy band crush? Sign up for Daisy's newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/b96xX
Daisy’s site: www.thedaisyharris.com
Daisy’s Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Daisy-Harris/185042351535537
Daisy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thedaisyharris
After the Rain on Amazon: Daisy Harris - After the Rain
Giveaway: Daisy will be awarding a $20 gift card to Amazon or Barnes and Noble to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. The more blogs you comment on, the better your chance to win! Leave your comment below (make it meaningful - things like "I commented" or "hello" or "thanks for the giveaway" will be deleted). Then check out the other blogs to increase your chances. Here's the link to the other blogs on this tour:
http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/11/virtual-book-blast-after-rain-by-daisy.html
~~~ Good luck in the giveaway ~~~
~~~ Don't forget to follow me on Twitter ~~~
If you're commenting to enter a competition, please say something useful. Saying "hi I commented" or "No opinion" is spam and it'll be deleted.
Monday 10 February 2014
The Riddle of Prague by Laura DeBruce
The Riddle of Prague by Laura DeBruce
Mystery
When 18-year-old Hana Silna travels to Prague to reclaim her family’s home, she discovers a riddle that may lead to a long-last flask.
The contents of that flask could change the fate of the world. When a ruthless enemy kidnaps her family Hana has to find the flask to rescue them. On her quest she meets a mysterious man with a penchant for poetry, a Gypsy girl with a haunting past, and Alex, an all-American boy who’s trying to save his sister from a crippling disease. It’s hard to trust anyone when the stakes are this high — especially when surrounded by experts in deception.
There’s only one flask, and Hana desperately needs to find it.
Excerpt:
The Nomad
The American girl arrives in Prague today. Finally! Finally things will happen. Everything will change.
I possess secrets—old and valuable secrets. Never mind, for now, who I am or what my name is. Those things have never mattered much. I am history’s silent witness and its victim. And I confess, here in the dark, that I am also a perpetrator of crimes. Ruthless, bloody crimes.
Straw into gold, water into wine, blood into life! I have long witnessed Prague’s obsession with alchemy. Now it is my turn! I shall become like quicksilver. I shall transform secrets into power and power into money.
The American girl arrives today, and soon terrible things will happen. At the end of it all, I will be free.
Buy Link: Amazon
About the Author: Laura DeBruce is a documentary filmmaker and writer. She grew up traveling all over the world thanks to her father’s work with the U.S. Embassy. She and her husband spent twelve years living in Europe including Prague, Paris, Amsterdam and London where she found inspiration to write The Quicksilver Legacy Series. In Prague she worked as a lawyer for the first private nationwide television station in the former Communist bloc. It was there that she fell in love with the ancient city of Prague and its legends.
She lives in the Washington, DC area with her husband and son and an unruly Golden Retriever.
Website with blog and trailer: http://theriddleofprague.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRiddleofPrague
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LauraDeBrucejk
Giveaway: The author is giving away a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card to a randomly drawn commenter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Here's the link to the other blogs on the tour:
http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/12/virtual-book-tour-riddle-of-prague-by.html
~~~ Good luck in the giveaway ~~~
~~~ See MORE giveaways by clicking here ~~~
~~~ Don't forget to ↓↓share↓↓ on Facebook ~~~
If you're commenting to enter a competition, please say something useful. Saying "hi I commented", "I hope I win" or "No opinion" is spam and it'll be deleted.
Mystery
When 18-year-old Hana Silna travels to Prague to reclaim her family’s home, she discovers a riddle that may lead to a long-last flask.
The contents of that flask could change the fate of the world. When a ruthless enemy kidnaps her family Hana has to find the flask to rescue them. On her quest she meets a mysterious man with a penchant for poetry, a Gypsy girl with a haunting past, and Alex, an all-American boy who’s trying to save his sister from a crippling disease. It’s hard to trust anyone when the stakes are this high — especially when surrounded by experts in deception.
There’s only one flask, and Hana desperately needs to find it.
Excerpt:
The Nomad
The American girl arrives in Prague today. Finally! Finally things will happen. Everything will change.
I possess secrets—old and valuable secrets. Never mind, for now, who I am or what my name is. Those things have never mattered much. I am history’s silent witness and its victim. And I confess, here in the dark, that I am also a perpetrator of crimes. Ruthless, bloody crimes.
Straw into gold, water into wine, blood into life! I have long witnessed Prague’s obsession with alchemy. Now it is my turn! I shall become like quicksilver. I shall transform secrets into power and power into money.
The American girl arrives today, and soon terrible things will happen. At the end of it all, I will be free.
Buy Link: Amazon
About the Author: Laura DeBruce is a documentary filmmaker and writer. She grew up traveling all over the world thanks to her father’s work with the U.S. Embassy. She and her husband spent twelve years living in Europe including Prague, Paris, Amsterdam and London where she found inspiration to write The Quicksilver Legacy Series. In Prague she worked as a lawyer for the first private nationwide television station in the former Communist bloc. It was there that she fell in love with the ancient city of Prague and its legends.
She lives in the Washington, DC area with her husband and son and an unruly Golden Retriever.
Website with blog and trailer: http://theriddleofprague.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRiddleofPrague
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LauraDeBrucejk
Giveaway: The author is giving away a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card to a randomly drawn commenter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Here's the link to the other blogs on the tour:
http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/12/virtual-book-tour-riddle-of-prague-by.html
~~~ Good luck in the giveaway ~~~
~~~ See MORE giveaways by clicking here ~~~
~~~ Don't forget to ↓↓share↓↓ on Facebook ~~~
If you're commenting to enter a competition, please say something useful. Saying "hi I commented", "I hope I win" or "No opinion" is spam and it'll be deleted.
Friday 7 February 2014
My Heartache Cowboy by Z. A. Maxfield
My Heartache Cowboy by Z. A. Maxfield
Genres: Contemporary, Gay Romance
Can love conquer all?
Jimmy Rafferty and Eddie Molina go way back at the J-Bar ranch. They’ve worked together, bunked together, camped out, and drank together. So how has Jimmy failed to notice that Eddie is gay? Eddie has not failed to notice that his friend has a serious drinking problem, and he’s determined to help Jimmy kick the booze cold turkey.
Taking him up to a snowbound cabin to detox, Eddie is confronted with Jimmy’s fierce denial. But the pains of withdrawal are nothing for Jimmy compared with the heartache of denying his true feelings and his deep longing…for the one man who cares for him more than anyone else on earth.
EXCERPT:
Buy Links: Amazon Barnes and Noble Kobo iBooks
About the Author: Z. A. Maxfield started writing in 2007 on a dare from her children and never looked back. Pathologically disorganized, and perennially optimistic, she writes as much as she can, reads as much as she dares, and enjoys her time with family and friends. If anyone asks her how a wife and mother of four manages to find time for a writing career, she’ll answer, “It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you give up housework.”
Her published books include Crossing Borders, Drawn Together, and the St. Nacho’s and Brothers Grime series from Loose Id, ePistols at Dawn and The Pharaoh’s Concubine from Samhain Publishing, and Notturno, Vigil, Stirring Up Trouble, and All Stirred Up from MLR Press.
Website/Blog: http://zamaxfield.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZAMaxfield
FB Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/ZAMaxfield/165809416786338
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2738500.Z_A_Maxfield
~~~ Good luck in the giveaway ~~~
~~~ See MORE giveaways by clicking here ~~~
~~~ Don't forget to ↓↓share↓↓ on Facebook ~~~
If you're commenting to enter a competition, please say something useful. Saying "hi I commented", "I hope I win" or "No opinion" is spam and it'll be deleted.
Genres: Contemporary, Gay Romance
Can love conquer all?
Jimmy Rafferty and Eddie Molina go way back at the J-Bar ranch. They’ve worked together, bunked together, camped out, and drank together. So how has Jimmy failed to notice that Eddie is gay? Eddie has not failed to notice that his friend has a serious drinking problem, and he’s determined to help Jimmy kick the booze cold turkey.
Taking him up to a snowbound cabin to detox, Eddie is confronted with Jimmy’s fierce denial. But the pains of withdrawal are nothing for Jimmy compared with the heartache of denying his true feelings and his deep longing…for the one man who cares for him more than anyone else on earth.
EXCERPT:
When I woke, I was alone and the truck wasn’t moving.
Who the hell did Eddie think he was, leaving me asleep by myself in a truck outside in the freezing cold? My pa and my older brother, Jonas, used to do that. We’d be on the road, and when I fell asleep, they’d leave me in the parking lot of some dive bar or motel—just leave me asleep outside in the dark. I’d wake up with no clue where I was, no idea if they were coming back or if I should go in and try to find them.
My first useful thought was to look for the keys, because I hadn’t forgotten what Eddie said. I hadn’t forgotten the plans him and boss Malloy made for me behind my back. It would serve them right if I up and hightailed it back to the J-Bar with Eddie’s truck and no Eddie.
No keys.
Not like that was going to stop me. Where the hell did Eddie get the idea I’d go quietly? I slid over and tore the wiring out from under the dash. Found what I needed without hardly even looking.
I hated waking up alone like that. Unwanted. Abandoned.
One twist. Two. Touch the wires together and the engine should . . .
Fuck.
Nothing.
What the hell? I checked I got the proper color-coated strands and tried again. I was frowning down at the mess of tangled wire when someone tapped on the window behind me. I glanced up and saw Eddie frowning down, no doubt pissed at what I’d done to his truck. Serves you right for leaving me like that, you prick.
“You need a working engine for that,” he told me as he opened the door. “One that has a battery.”
“Fuck you.” I spilled out of the car ready for a fistfight.
“What?” Eddie jumped back.
“Why did you have to leave me like that? What did I ever do to you?”
Eddie shook his head at me. “I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about. You were sound asleep and I thought maybe you needed it.”
I took a swing at him. “I hate waking up alone in a car like that.”
Ed plucked my fist from the air and peered at me like he was trying to see through my skin. “I didn’t know.”
“I hate that. Left behind in the car like a damn dog. Like a fucking duffel bag. You can’t be bothered to even wake me up and take me in out of the fucking snow.”
Now Eddie frowned like he was thinking about it. Now, after the fact. “I’m sorry, Jimmy. I didn’t think how you’d feel waking up alone like that. I won’t do it again.”
“Would have served you right if I took your truck and left you up here to walk back to civilization, wherever the hell that is. Would have served you right if I’d died out here.”
“All right, all right. Simmer down now.”
I glared at him. “Fuck you.”
“It’s pretty civilized inside. How about you come in with me.”
“How about you suck my fucking—”
“That’s enough.” He turned and headed toward the cabin’s welcoming front door. “I almost didn’t bother to disable the damn thing, but I thought on the off chance you knew what you were doing and could—”
“Which I did,” I pointed out.
“Come inside.” He jerked his chin toward the cabin like I was a dog and I was supposed to just follow along and yip around at his heels.
I debated making a run at him, but frankly, Eddie was a tough buzzard. He wasn’t too much older than me, just forty-two compared to my thirty-eight. But I was a lover, not a fighter, or at least that’s how I thought of myself. Back there on the road, Eddie had proved he wasn’t above using violence to get his way in this, so I went along.
You’re going to have to sleep sometime.
Eddie led me into a rustic-looking cabin that seemed awful nice for the middle of nowhere. There was a place for us to hang our hats just inside the door, over a table with a passel of pictures on it. There were old time black-and-whites of families and framed pictures of a good-looking man, a pretty woman, and some kids. There were some of the kids alone, and holy cow, there were probably a dozen pictures of Ed. He looked so young in a couple of them, they must have been from before we met.
One of Ed and the unknown man caught my eye. Something about the difference in height, the casual way they leaned together, the way they looked at each other, made me think this was Ed’s friend from the road, Don. Even though they’d both aged some since it was taken, I was almost sure of it.
No knobby hands, no weathered angel, this Don was good looking, without a doubt. He was lanky and chiseled. He had an intelligent face and a smile that drew the eye. He seemed sure of himself and charming. Whatever I’d seen in the darkness outside the car had to be a trick of the light.
Ed looked so young and earnest next to him it took my breath away. Brawny and tan, he wore a yoked Western shirt with the sleeves rolled up past well-muscled forearms and he eyed Don like he would follow him anywhere.
And that Don, he looked like he could appreciate a guy like Ed, as well.
Hadn’t I seen firsthand how much he did appreciate him?
Who the hell did Eddie think he was, leaving me asleep by myself in a truck outside in the freezing cold? My pa and my older brother, Jonas, used to do that. We’d be on the road, and when I fell asleep, they’d leave me in the parking lot of some dive bar or motel—just leave me asleep outside in the dark. I’d wake up with no clue where I was, no idea if they were coming back or if I should go in and try to find them.
My first useful thought was to look for the keys, because I hadn’t forgotten what Eddie said. I hadn’t forgotten the plans him and boss Malloy made for me behind my back. It would serve them right if I up and hightailed it back to the J-Bar with Eddie’s truck and no Eddie.
No keys.
Not like that was going to stop me. Where the hell did Eddie get the idea I’d go quietly? I slid over and tore the wiring out from under the dash. Found what I needed without hardly even looking.
I hated waking up alone like that. Unwanted. Abandoned.
One twist. Two. Touch the wires together and the engine should . . .
Fuck.
Nothing.
What the hell? I checked I got the proper color-coated strands and tried again. I was frowning down at the mess of tangled wire when someone tapped on the window behind me. I glanced up and saw Eddie frowning down, no doubt pissed at what I’d done to his truck. Serves you right for leaving me like that, you prick.
“You need a working engine for that,” he told me as he opened the door. “One that has a battery.”
“Fuck you.” I spilled out of the car ready for a fistfight.
“What?” Eddie jumped back.
“Why did you have to leave me like that? What did I ever do to you?”
Eddie shook his head at me. “I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about. You were sound asleep and I thought maybe you needed it.”
I took a swing at him. “I hate waking up alone in a car like that.”
Ed plucked my fist from the air and peered at me like he was trying to see through my skin. “I didn’t know.”
“I hate that. Left behind in the car like a damn dog. Like a fucking duffel bag. You can’t be bothered to even wake me up and take me in out of the fucking snow.”
Now Eddie frowned like he was thinking about it. Now, after the fact. “I’m sorry, Jimmy. I didn’t think how you’d feel waking up alone like that. I won’t do it again.”
“Would have served you right if I took your truck and left you up here to walk back to civilization, wherever the hell that is. Would have served you right if I’d died out here.”
“All right, all right. Simmer down now.”
I glared at him. “Fuck you.”
“It’s pretty civilized inside. How about you come in with me.”
“How about you suck my fucking—”
“That’s enough.” He turned and headed toward the cabin’s welcoming front door. “I almost didn’t bother to disable the damn thing, but I thought on the off chance you knew what you were doing and could—”
“Which I did,” I pointed out.
“Come inside.” He jerked his chin toward the cabin like I was a dog and I was supposed to just follow along and yip around at his heels.
I debated making a run at him, but frankly, Eddie was a tough buzzard. He wasn’t too much older than me, just forty-two compared to my thirty-eight. But I was a lover, not a fighter, or at least that’s how I thought of myself. Back there on the road, Eddie had proved he wasn’t above using violence to get his way in this, so I went along.
You’re going to have to sleep sometime.
Eddie led me into a rustic-looking cabin that seemed awful nice for the middle of nowhere. There was a place for us to hang our hats just inside the door, over a table with a passel of pictures on it. There were old time black-and-whites of families and framed pictures of a good-looking man, a pretty woman, and some kids. There were some of the kids alone, and holy cow, there were probably a dozen pictures of Ed. He looked so young in a couple of them, they must have been from before we met.
One of Ed and the unknown man caught my eye. Something about the difference in height, the casual way they leaned together, the way they looked at each other, made me think this was Ed’s friend from the road, Don. Even though they’d both aged some since it was taken, I was almost sure of it.
No knobby hands, no weathered angel, this Don was good looking, without a doubt. He was lanky and chiseled. He had an intelligent face and a smile that drew the eye. He seemed sure of himself and charming. Whatever I’d seen in the darkness outside the car had to be a trick of the light.
Ed looked so young and earnest next to him it took my breath away. Brawny and tan, he wore a yoked Western shirt with the sleeves rolled up past well-muscled forearms and he eyed Don like he would follow him anywhere.
And that Don, he looked like he could appreciate a guy like Ed, as well.
Hadn’t I seen firsthand how much he did appreciate him?
Buy Links: Amazon Barnes and Noble Kobo iBooks
About the Author: Z. A. Maxfield started writing in 2007 on a dare from her children and never looked back. Pathologically disorganized, and perennially optimistic, she writes as much as she can, reads as much as she dares, and enjoys her time with family and friends. If anyone asks her how a wife and mother of four manages to find time for a writing career, she’ll answer, “It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you give up housework.”
Her published books include Crossing Borders, Drawn Together, and the St. Nacho’s and Brothers Grime series from Loose Id, ePistols at Dawn and The Pharaoh’s Concubine from Samhain Publishing, and Notturno, Vigil, Stirring Up Trouble, and All Stirred Up from MLR Press.
Website/Blog: http://zamaxfield.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZAMaxfield
FB Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/ZAMaxfield/165809416786338
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2738500.Z_A_Maxfield
Giveaway: A $50 Amazon Gift Card!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
See the other tour stops here:
~~~ See MORE giveaways by clicking here ~~~
~~~ Don't forget to ↓↓share↓↓ on Facebook ~~~
If you're commenting to enter a competition, please say something useful. Saying "hi I commented", "I hope I win" or "No opinion" is spam and it'll be deleted.
Thursday 6 February 2014
Ever Hopeful by Lori Ryan + Giveaway
Ever Hopeful by Lori Ryan
Book One in the Evers, Texas Series
Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense
Combining heart-soaring contemporary romance with heart-pounding suspense is a trademark of New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lori Ryan—and in her novel Ever Hopeful she delivers spectacularly on both counts.
Two-months pregnant and trapped in a violent marriage, Laura Kensington realizes that her ruthless and powerful in-laws will never let her go, even after the strange sudden death of her abusive husband.
Fleeing far away to the Texas ranch of Cade Bishop, a strong yet tender man who believes in second chances, Laura finds herself irresistibly drawn to Cade’s gentle passion and giving heart. But there is no escaping the shadows of her past and soon danger re-enters her world, pulling Laura into a deadly web of lies, betrayals, and murder.
And only Cade Bishop’s quiet strength and unwavering love can set her free.
Excerpt:
Laura
smiled but Cade’s comment sent her thoughts in a completely
different direction. She was suddenly painfully aware that she wanted
him to see her as a woman. How totally inappropriate was that? She
was pregnant with her dead husband’s child and running from his
family. She might be a grown woman but the fact was, she’d never
been independent. She’d always been tied to a man—first her
father and then her husband. This was the time in her life when she
needed to take charge, learn to support herself, and be independent.
Yet, here she was thinking about how gorgeous the man sitting across
from her was and wondering if he liked what he saw when he looked at
her.
Cade
frowned at her. “What are you thinking? You seem like you took a
little trip in your head for a minute.”
If
only you knew.
Laura
shook her head. She needed to figure out how she was going to take
care of her baby when it came, how she would support them both. How
she was going to get away from the Kensingtons and their powerful,
seemingly endless reach. How she’d fight them if they tracked her
down and tried to take the baby from her. The last thing she should
be thinking was what it would be like to be in Cade’s arms, to
touch him and feel his mouth on her skin....
“I
was just thinking that I need to find a way to support myself and the
baby. I can’t live off you guys forever.”
“Try
telling that to Mama. I think she’s planning to adopt you,” said
Cade.
Laura
felt a sharp pain at his joke and had a feeling she probably
grimaced. What would it have been like to be born to May Bishop? To
have been raised in a place like this by someone who loved her? To
receive the unconditional love that a parent is supposed to have for
their child?
Fairy
tales…. She’d given up on things like that a long time ago. It
wasn’t useful to sit and pity herself and cry about her
circumstances. But, being so close to a family like the
Bishops...made her want to go back in time and rewrite her story. If
not rewrite who she was born to, at least change her decision to
marry Patrick.
“Well,
I’ll have to come up with something,” Laura said, but in all
honesty waiting tables was about the only thing she was qualified to
do.
She
forced a smile. She may not have ever had a mother like May Bishop,
but she’d make damn sure her child did. Her baby would know she was
loved no matter what. That nothing could ever take her mother’s
love away. If Laura was sure of one thing in her life, she was sure
of that. She would love this child with all her heart and all that
she was.
About the Author: Lori Ryan is a NY Times and USA Today bestselling author who writes contemporary romance with a twist of suspense. She lives with an extremely understanding husband, two wonderful children, two mostly-behaved dogs, and a lone little cat in Austin, Texas. It’s a bit of a zoo, but she wouldn’t change a thing.
Lori published her first novel in April of 2013 and has written three more books since then. Each of Lori’s books have made their way to the Amazon bestseller list and she quickly climbed the Amazon bestselling author list, as well. In November, 2013, Lori and a group of romantic suspense authors landed on the USA Today and NY Times bestseller lists with an anthology only eight months after the release of Lori’s first book.
Lori loves to connect with her readers. Follow her on Facebook or Twitter or subscribe to her blog. Oh, and if you’ve read Lori’s books and loved them, please consider leaving a review on Amazon.com or with the retailer of your choice. Writers live and die by their reviews and Lori promises to do a happy dance around her office every time you write one!
Twitter Facebook
Twitter Facebook
Giveaway: Lori is giving away a Kindle Paperwhite 3G!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
~~~ See MORE giveaways by clicking here ~~~
~~~ Don't forget to follow me on Twitter ~~~
~~~ Don't forget to ↓↓share↓↓ on Facebook ~~~
If you're commenting to enter a competition, please say something useful. Saying "hi I commented", "I hope I win" or "No opinion" is spam and it'll be deleted.
Tuesday 4 February 2014
Shadows of Damascus by Lilas Taha + Giveaway
Shadows of Damascus by Lilas Taha
Genres: War, Military, Contemporary
Bullet wounds, torture and oppression aren’t the only things that keep a man—or a woman—from being whole.
Debt. Honor. Pain. Solitude. These are things wounded war veteran Adam Wegener knows all about. Love—now, that he is not good at. Not when love equals a closed fist, burns, and suicide attempts. But Adam is one who keeps his word. He owes the man who saved his life in Iraq. And he doesn’t question the measure of the debt, even when it is in the form of an emotionally distant, beautiful woman.
Yasmeen agreed to become the wife of an American veteran so she could flee persecution in war-torn Syria. She counted on being in the United States for a short stay until she could return home. There was one thing she did not count on: wanting more.
Is it too late for Adam and Yasmeen?
Shadows of Damascus to be released by Soul Mate Publishing mid January, 2014.
Excerpt:
PROLOGUE
YASMEEN
Damascus, Syria
Summer 2006
The seductive fragrance of Damascus roses drifted through the open window and flirted with fifteen-year-old Yasmeen’s olfactory senses. The potent flowers in her neighbor’s yard delivered the best awakening. She loved beginnings, especially early, mid-summer mornings like these. Stretching across the bed, her imagination raced with possibilities for the promising day.
Thursday. The day her older brother’s friends visited and stayed well into the evening. Yasmeen ticked off potential visitors in her head, dashing young university students who loved to talk politics with Fadi. Today, she would do her best to discover the name of the quietest member in the group, the thin one with round-rimmed glasses. On her nightstand, the sketch she worked on during the last visit waited for his name, and more details around the eyes.
Peeling off the covers, she tip-toed to the window. Lively noises matched her optimistic mood. Nightingales sang greetings. Clanging dishes and pots resonated from surrounding houses beyond high walls. Mothers called out for their daughters to get breakfast ready. Men’s deep voices describing fresh fruits and vegetables with tempting traditional phrases drifted above hidden alleys. One vendor claimed his cucumbers were small as baby fingers, and likened his ripe apples to a virgin bride’s cheeks. Another boasted his plum peaches shed their covers without enticement, and his shy eggplants hid well in a moonless night.
Yasmeen succumbed to the enlivening chaos spilling in from her bedroom window, her own special and personal opening to the world. Tilting her head back, she exposed her face and neck to the sun, allowing its invigorating rays to paint her cheeks.
Today, her mother told her she would be allowed to take a coffee tray into Fadi’s room once all his friends arrived. What would she wear? She should tell her best friend Zainab to stop by earlier than usual to go through her wardrobe. She could help her decide. Perhaps one of Fadi’s friends would notice her. More than one? Why not?
Draping her arms on the windowsill, she looked at the neighbor’s yard, counting the blooming roses, a ritual she performed each morning since the season started. In the north corner of the largest flowerbed, two violet buds grabbed her attention, their delicate petals about to unfold. Once they came to full bloom, their deep purple color would dominate the landscape.
A knock sounded at her door.
“I am awake.”
Her father walked in. “Good. We have work to do.” He held a hammer in one hand and a couple of boards in the other. “Move aside, Yasmeen.” He approached the window.
She stepped away and pointed at the boards. “What do you need those for?”
Her father closed the windowpanes, locked them, placed one board across the frame, and hammered it in place.
“What are you doing?”
“This window is not to be opened again, child.”
She could not believe her ears. “Why?”
“Neighbors moved out last night.” Her father nailed the second board in place. “Mukhabarat took over their house.”
YASMEEN
Damascus, Syria
Summer 2006
The seductive fragrance of Damascus roses drifted through the open window and flirted with fifteen-year-old Yasmeen’s olfactory senses. The potent flowers in her neighbor’s yard delivered the best awakening. She loved beginnings, especially early, mid-summer mornings like these. Stretching across the bed, her imagination raced with possibilities for the promising day.
Thursday. The day her older brother’s friends visited and stayed well into the evening. Yasmeen ticked off potential visitors in her head, dashing young university students who loved to talk politics with Fadi. Today, she would do her best to discover the name of the quietest member in the group, the thin one with round-rimmed glasses. On her nightstand, the sketch she worked on during the last visit waited for his name, and more details around the eyes.
Peeling off the covers, she tip-toed to the window. Lively noises matched her optimistic mood. Nightingales sang greetings. Clanging dishes and pots resonated from surrounding houses beyond high walls. Mothers called out for their daughters to get breakfast ready. Men’s deep voices describing fresh fruits and vegetables with tempting traditional phrases drifted above hidden alleys. One vendor claimed his cucumbers were small as baby fingers, and likened his ripe apples to a virgin bride’s cheeks. Another boasted his plum peaches shed their covers without enticement, and his shy eggplants hid well in a moonless night.
Yasmeen succumbed to the enlivening chaos spilling in from her bedroom window, her own special and personal opening to the world. Tilting her head back, she exposed her face and neck to the sun, allowing its invigorating rays to paint her cheeks.
Today, her mother told her she would be allowed to take a coffee tray into Fadi’s room once all his friends arrived. What would she wear? She should tell her best friend Zainab to stop by earlier than usual to go through her wardrobe. She could help her decide. Perhaps one of Fadi’s friends would notice her. More than one? Why not?
Draping her arms on the windowsill, she looked at the neighbor’s yard, counting the blooming roses, a ritual she performed each morning since the season started. In the north corner of the largest flowerbed, two violet buds grabbed her attention, their delicate petals about to unfold. Once they came to full bloom, their deep purple color would dominate the landscape.
A knock sounded at her door.
“I am awake.”
Her father walked in. “Good. We have work to do.” He held a hammer in one hand and a couple of boards in the other. “Move aside, Yasmeen.” He approached the window.
She stepped away and pointed at the boards. “What do you need those for?”
Her father closed the windowpanes, locked them, placed one board across the frame, and hammered it in place.
“What are you doing?”
“This window is not to be opened again, child.”
She could not believe her ears. “Why?”
“Neighbors moved out last night.” Her father nailed the second board in place. “Mukhabarat took over their house.”
Buy Links: Amazon Kindle Soulmate Publishing
Author Bio and Links: Lilas Taha is a writer at heart, an electrical engineer by training, and an advocate for domestic abuse victims by choice. She was born in Kuwait to a Syrian mother and a Palestinian father, and immigrated to the U.S. as a result of the Gulf war in 1990. She earned a master’s degree in Human Factors Engineering from the University of Wisconsin- Madison. There, Lilas met her beloved husband and true friend, and moved with him to Sugar Land, Texas to establish a family. She is the proud mother of a daughter and a son. Instead of working in an industrial field, she applied herself to the field of social safety, working with victims of domestic violence.
Pursuing her true passion for creative writing, Lilas brings her professional interests, and her Middle Eastern background together in her debut fictional novel, Shadows of Damascus.
Website: www.lilastaha.com
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/Lilas_Taha
Author Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/LilasTahaAuthor
Facebook page for the book: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shadows-of-Damascus
Blog: http://lilastaha.blogspot.com
Twitter: Follow @LilasTaha https://twitter.com/LilasTaha
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/lilastaha
Email: info@lilastaha.com
GIVEAWAY: Lilas will be awarding one $50 and two $25 Amazon gift cards to randomly drawn commenters during the tour! Also check out the other blogs to increase your chances. Here's the link to the other blogs on this tour:
http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/12/virtual-book-tour-shadows-of-damascus.html
a Rafflecopter giveaway
~~~ Good luck in the giveaway ~~~
~~~ See MORE giveaways by clicking here ~~~
~~~ Don't forget to ↓↓share↓↓ on Facebook ~~~
If you're commenting to enter a competition, please say something useful. Saying "hi I commented", "I hope I win" or "No opinion" is spam and it'll be deleted.
Saturday 1 February 2014
Win a FREE copy of The Balcony!
A little while ago I released a flash-flash erotic story, The Balcony. :)
Flash-flash fiction pieces are super-short five-minute reads... a tasty and tantalising tease.
Excerpt: The temptress is exploring once again, her arms and hands like a searching octopus seeking out a prey to devour. Fingertips brush the waistband of weathered jeans, revelling in the success of locating the snap. Pop, zip, slide, and she makes her way in, barely concentrating in the onslaught of the lips now nibbling her earlobe. Oh, the distraction of such a sensation, interrupting her concentration and making her tremble in her boots. But oh, and then, she finds her way in, snaking her fingers inside and grabbing hold of her beautiful prize.
The reward as her fingers wrap around hot cock - moans in her ear, and hands grabbing at her hips to pull her backwards. A wriggle, a writing, and denim is freed, falling to ankles while palms massage her her buttocks and shove the skirt up to her waist. Her eyes are closed once again, savouring the feeling of rubbing together; she leans forward over the rail, pushing harder with her butt, grinding against beautiful hot hardness. And finally, achingly, the first word escapes her.
“Now.”
Buy Link (It's only 99c): http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/343972?ref=BethOwyn
My pages:
Google+: http://plus.google.com/+BethOwyn
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BethOwyn
I'm giving away five copies of The Balcony. Entry is free and open worldwide to anyone who's an adult. Lucky you!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Flash-flash fiction pieces are super-short five-minute reads... a tasty and tantalising tease.
Excerpt: The temptress is exploring once again, her arms and hands like a searching octopus seeking out a prey to devour. Fingertips brush the waistband of weathered jeans, revelling in the success of locating the snap. Pop, zip, slide, and she makes her way in, barely concentrating in the onslaught of the lips now nibbling her earlobe. Oh, the distraction of such a sensation, interrupting her concentration and making her tremble in her boots. But oh, and then, she finds her way in, snaking her fingers inside and grabbing hold of her beautiful prize.
The reward as her fingers wrap around hot cock - moans in her ear, and hands grabbing at her hips to pull her backwards. A wriggle, a writing, and denim is freed, falling to ankles while palms massage her her buttocks and shove the skirt up to her waist. Her eyes are closed once again, savouring the feeling of rubbing together; she leans forward over the rail, pushing harder with her butt, grinding against beautiful hot hardness. And finally, achingly, the first word escapes her.
“Now.”
Buy Link (It's only 99c): http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/343972?ref=BethOwyn
My pages:
Google+: http://plus.google.com/+BethOwyn
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BethOwyn
I'm giving away five copies of The Balcony. Entry is free and open worldwide to anyone who's an adult. Lucky you!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Monday 27 January 2014
Alien Bride by Brie McGill
Alien Bride by Brie McGill
Sex, Drugs, and Biopunk
Book 1
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Blurb: Ninkasi Mara didn’t plan to celebrate her university graduation entangled in a bungled kidnapping meant for her father, a corrupt senator in the pocket of Techthonic Innovations. Locked alone in the gilded tower of Chateau Bernadette, Ninkasi fears its opulent pleasures will erode her will until she collapses into the comforting arms of the mysterious masked man who frequents her chamber with vintage wines and sumptuous dinners.
For more than twenty years, Orion has plotted the perfect revenge. Manipulating the hand of an insurrectionist faction, he intends to settle a shadowy score with Techthonic Innovations, a biotech giant with a history of dubious experiments. When the faction’s amateurs fail to return with the senator, they further complicate Orion’s task by returning instead with a woman who is a painful reminder of a love lost long ago. Torn between risking the secrecy of the faction and a maelstrom of emotion, Orion secretly visits her chamber in disguise.
When Orion disappears, Ninkasi is dragged into the search and rescue mission. To find him, she must learn the truth of his secrets about his hatred for the company and the physical anomalies he tries to hide. The answers await discovery in a terrifying alternate world beneath her feet in which human sacrifice is the least of her worries.
There is a reason Orion went alone...
Buy links:
Amazon: Alien Bride (Love, Drugs, and Biopunk)
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/371639
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-alienbride-1351778-340.html
Amazon: Alien Bride (Love, Drugs, and Biopunk)
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/371639
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-alienbride-1351778-340.html
Excerpt:
Orion extinguished the butt of his hand-rolled cigarette into a skull-shaped ashtray on the nightstand beside a king-sized bed. Stripped down to a frilly cravat, tight leather pants, and silk gloves extending to the elbow—for this occasion, he wore exclusively black—he crossed his arms over his chest and observed the girl, displeased with her insolence.
A woman with an hourglass figure slipped out of a sheer lace negligee and flung it across the room with her toe.
Orion wrinkled his nose: she specifically disregarded his instructions concerning the garter belt and knee-high stockings. His invitation was not romantic—it was a scripted roleplay arrangement to enact his one fantasy in detail.
Or at least, it should have been; it was what they agreed. He suspected this one secretly harbored romantic intentions.
They all did.
He wasn't interested.
For the interim, he would forgive her, solely because she wore the waist-length, pin-straight black wig he had taken great pains to acquire. No mistress was allowed one footstep in his chamber without the wig.
“Master Orion, I beg you.” The girl fell to her knees, greedily frisking the stately erection battened by his pants. Groping at his belt, she pressed her wet lips against his body, speaking into him. “Please let us go to your bed.”
He deliberated upon her entreaty, a cool midnight breeze from the open window whipping his waist-length auburn hair.
By the flickering light of candelabras, he looked to the bed, crimson blankets of crushed velvet tucked neatly in preparation for a royal fuck. The musky fragrance of burning copal wafted through the air, conjuring distant memories. Fuchsia anaglypta wallpaper shimmered, tinged with gold. The belfry looked smashing—on the rare event he chose to clean it.
He cleaned when it was time to see a mistress. Otherwise, he didn’t care; it was a pain in the ass collecting the countless empty wine bottles beneath his bed.
Orion poked a finger between the girl's eyes and pushed her head back, appraising her beauty: her plump, pouting lips threatened to consume him; each full, round breast required more than one hand to command; her waist was narrow, with hips cresting in smooth curves, her body a landscape, a rolling testament to womanhood.
She was a beauty, surely, of world-class standards.
But none of this struck his fancy. He was a particular man.
He stared nostalgically into the girl’s eyes, fierce green eyes. He selected her for her eyes. Those fiery eyes were his one shot at climax.
It was a long shot.
But it was worth a shot.
His time between shots grew longer and longer, and thus, he procrastinated confronting an increasingly formidable armada of empty bottles beneath the bed.
She dragged her nails along his pants, scratching at his inner thighs, whispering sweet nothings into his hips.
Pulling her head away from his body, he studied her. “Do you want it?”
The girl’s face flushed and she sat back on her ankles, mashing a hand between her legs, rubbing and pounding herself, huffing ecstatically. “I want it now!”
“Get on the bed.” He snapped and pointed.
The girl scrambled, hopping onto the bed, eyes wide with excitement, drinking up his every word as if a benediction.
“Face down.” He strutted behind her, unbuttoning his pants, his every order noncommittal. “You’ll touch nothing without my command.”
“Oh, yes!” The girl tucked in her knees, face pressed against the bedding, and hoisted her hips into the air. “Yes, Master Orion, yes!”
“You will say nothing” —he unzipped his pants, relieved to discover his erection still intact, and unhooked the riding crop from his belt— “unless I command it.” He lashed at the chubbiest chunk of her ass, observing the ripple he created with a grotesque fascination, and twirled the crop in his hand, bracing himself to strike again.
The girl moaned into the sheets, wiggling her starving ass, aiming it at him.
He grimaced and whipped her again.
Glistening with immediate arousal, she cried out.
Unleashing a halfhearted series of lashes, he wondered why he did this to himself. He took a step back, dodging the ass that lurched toward him.
He did this in hope. He struck her again, ignoring the rapturous cry.
Hope that perhaps one day, he may grow as aroused as any of these women who all wept with joy at the sight of his bed.
He lashed harder, faster.
Hope that perhaps one of them would offer him a release from sadness, a delivery from the prison of his mind, a way to forget the cruelty of the world and pretend.
The girl quivered, bucking toward him. “Oh, please, Master—Oh!”
He spoke quickly, authoritatively, punctuating each word with the slap of leather across flesh. “I. Told. You. Not. To. Speak!”
She threw her head back and seized with a deranged howl, a devolved amalgamation of ‘more’ and ‘oh.’ She bounced toward him, clutching the blanket in fists. “More! Master Orion, more! Please!”
He shook his head, whipping up and down her thighs.
She moaned and whimpered with delight.
No, he did this in despair. He reflected deeply upon the dichotomy of administering pleasure while receiving none, and concluded the truth was, he did this all de profundis in despair.
“Give it to me!” The high-pitched shriek came like nails down a chalkboard. “Master Orion, give it to me, please!”
He dropped the whip. There was no more terrible moment than this, no possible deeper admission of despair: he could have all the women in the world, but he still felt nothing beyond consummate emptiness.
Despair moved him; he ignored the nagging reality that it was impossible to replace the love of another. He did it over and over again, by virtue of despair, in the doomed hope he might find someone who understood him, someone who could make him feel the same way—someone who was—well—her.
But his whole life was a fucking circus because she never loved him anyway.
He absent-mindedly entered her body.
The girl whimpered, railing her hips into him; she rubbed her cheek against the blanket, eyes fixated through the wall with an ascended haze.
He buried himself deep inside her, gliding slowly on autopilot, staring into the candelabra: the only love he once knew was wholly unrequited.
She cried out, arching her back.
She never loved him, no, not like that.
And she was dead. Orion froze mid-thrust. There would be no sex with corpses. Not on his bed.
Especially considering the time that Aleister—
“Master Orion!” The mistress panted, peering over her shoulder. “Don’t tease me!”
Some love was best left unrequited.
With his free hand, he spanked her.
She cried out with delight.
This was nothing like what he wanted. A part of him felt guilty, like his lifestyle should have provided more than he ever could have wanted—but something left him cold.
The woman collapsed on the bed, eyes rolling into the back of her head, jubilantly rocking her hips for more.
He smacked her for her slavish worship, her asinine infatuation. He spanked her because it was no good to want him so badly when she knew nothing of the revolting truth of his character.
He spanked her for allowing herself to be used by him, and for liking it.
The woman reared up on all fours, throwing her head back in ecstasy.
The wig drooped sideways, exposing her curly red hair beneath.
The momentum of his upturned hand slowed: he melted, deflated, shriveled, retreating from the woman’s voracious body.
This mistress, that mistress, Orion could only fool himself for so long before it inevitably ended this way.
The woman leapt and whirled around, tucking her knees into her chest. “Master Orion, have I displeased you?” She clutched frantically at her wig.
He ran a hand through his hair, glancing out the window; he stood and buttoned his pants. “That will be all.”
She crawled to the edge of the bed, planting a hand against his chest.
Turning away, he wandered to the other side of his room.
“Master Orion. . . Will you forgive me?” Her lip quivered.
Bowing to her, he opened the door, and extended a gloved hand, bidding her exit with a gentleman’s poise.
“I can’t believe this.” She collapsed to her knees, dragging her hands down her face. “I don’t understand!” The girl crawled toward the wall, and banged her head against the headboard, ripping off the wig. “You’re cruel! Cruel! Why are you so cruel to me?! Why can't you take me like I am?!”
Resting his forehead in his palm, he winced: it was always an awkward moment when his mistress went mad.
He pulled the last one inside after she tried to exorcise her despair by jumping through his window.
A punk kid with strawberry blonde barged into the room, interrupting them. “Lord Aleister says that—whoa.”
Orion grimaced. It was Aleister’s pet, Nero.
Nero raised his hands, taking a step back. “I didn’t mean to—”
The redhead scooped up her lingerie, dressing in a hurry.
Clenching his teeth, Orion twirled the riding crop in his hand. “Do you want me to bend you over my knee and spank you with abandon, Nero?”
Raising his arms in defense, he stumbled backward through the door. “Hell no!”
“Then you have no business in my quarters.” Orion’s nostrils flared. “None whatsoever.”
“Lord Aleister requests your presence” —he edged toward the stair, wiping sweat from his forehead— “to discuss some last-minute details of the mission!” He turned and thundered down the stairs, running for his life.
The woman exited after him, slamming the door behind her.
Orion reached into his pants and lit a hand-rolled cigarette, alone again, staring at the disheveled wig on his bed. Frankly, he didn’t get it, naked women alternately throwing themselves at his feet and over his balcony, like he was some kind of fucking legend.
All he had, in reality, was a legendary soft dick.
A woman with an hourglass figure slipped out of a sheer lace negligee and flung it across the room with her toe.
Orion wrinkled his nose: she specifically disregarded his instructions concerning the garter belt and knee-high stockings. His invitation was not romantic—it was a scripted roleplay arrangement to enact his one fantasy in detail.
Or at least, it should have been; it was what they agreed. He suspected this one secretly harbored romantic intentions.
They all did.
He wasn't interested.
For the interim, he would forgive her, solely because she wore the waist-length, pin-straight black wig he had taken great pains to acquire. No mistress was allowed one footstep in his chamber without the wig.
“Master Orion, I beg you.” The girl fell to her knees, greedily frisking the stately erection battened by his pants. Groping at his belt, she pressed her wet lips against his body, speaking into him. “Please let us go to your bed.”
He deliberated upon her entreaty, a cool midnight breeze from the open window whipping his waist-length auburn hair.
By the flickering light of candelabras, he looked to the bed, crimson blankets of crushed velvet tucked neatly in preparation for a royal fuck. The musky fragrance of burning copal wafted through the air, conjuring distant memories. Fuchsia anaglypta wallpaper shimmered, tinged with gold. The belfry looked smashing—on the rare event he chose to clean it.
He cleaned when it was time to see a mistress. Otherwise, he didn’t care; it was a pain in the ass collecting the countless empty wine bottles beneath his bed.
Orion poked a finger between the girl's eyes and pushed her head back, appraising her beauty: her plump, pouting lips threatened to consume him; each full, round breast required more than one hand to command; her waist was narrow, with hips cresting in smooth curves, her body a landscape, a rolling testament to womanhood.
She was a beauty, surely, of world-class standards.
But none of this struck his fancy. He was a particular man.
He stared nostalgically into the girl’s eyes, fierce green eyes. He selected her for her eyes. Those fiery eyes were his one shot at climax.
It was a long shot.
But it was worth a shot.
His time between shots grew longer and longer, and thus, he procrastinated confronting an increasingly formidable armada of empty bottles beneath the bed.
She dragged her nails along his pants, scratching at his inner thighs, whispering sweet nothings into his hips.
Pulling her head away from his body, he studied her. “Do you want it?”
The girl’s face flushed and she sat back on her ankles, mashing a hand between her legs, rubbing and pounding herself, huffing ecstatically. “I want it now!”
“Get on the bed.” He snapped and pointed.
The girl scrambled, hopping onto the bed, eyes wide with excitement, drinking up his every word as if a benediction.
“Face down.” He strutted behind her, unbuttoning his pants, his every order noncommittal. “You’ll touch nothing without my command.”
“Oh, yes!” The girl tucked in her knees, face pressed against the bedding, and hoisted her hips into the air. “Yes, Master Orion, yes!”
“You will say nothing” —he unzipped his pants, relieved to discover his erection still intact, and unhooked the riding crop from his belt— “unless I command it.” He lashed at the chubbiest chunk of her ass, observing the ripple he created with a grotesque fascination, and twirled the crop in his hand, bracing himself to strike again.
The girl moaned into the sheets, wiggling her starving ass, aiming it at him.
He grimaced and whipped her again.
Glistening with immediate arousal, she cried out.
Unleashing a halfhearted series of lashes, he wondered why he did this to himself. He took a step back, dodging the ass that lurched toward him.
He did this in hope. He struck her again, ignoring the rapturous cry.
Hope that perhaps one day, he may grow as aroused as any of these women who all wept with joy at the sight of his bed.
He lashed harder, faster.
Hope that perhaps one of them would offer him a release from sadness, a delivery from the prison of his mind, a way to forget the cruelty of the world and pretend.
The girl quivered, bucking toward him. “Oh, please, Master—Oh!”
He spoke quickly, authoritatively, punctuating each word with the slap of leather across flesh. “I. Told. You. Not. To. Speak!”
She threw her head back and seized with a deranged howl, a devolved amalgamation of ‘more’ and ‘oh.’ She bounced toward him, clutching the blanket in fists. “More! Master Orion, more! Please!”
He shook his head, whipping up and down her thighs.
She moaned and whimpered with delight.
No, he did this in despair. He reflected deeply upon the dichotomy of administering pleasure while receiving none, and concluded the truth was, he did this all de profundis in despair.
“Give it to me!” The high-pitched shriek came like nails down a chalkboard. “Master Orion, give it to me, please!”
He dropped the whip. There was no more terrible moment than this, no possible deeper admission of despair: he could have all the women in the world, but he still felt nothing beyond consummate emptiness.
Despair moved him; he ignored the nagging reality that it was impossible to replace the love of another. He did it over and over again, by virtue of despair, in the doomed hope he might find someone who understood him, someone who could make him feel the same way—someone who was—well—her.
But his whole life was a fucking circus because she never loved him anyway.
He absent-mindedly entered her body.
The girl whimpered, railing her hips into him; she rubbed her cheek against the blanket, eyes fixated through the wall with an ascended haze.
He buried himself deep inside her, gliding slowly on autopilot, staring into the candelabra: the only love he once knew was wholly unrequited.
She cried out, arching her back.
She never loved him, no, not like that.
And she was dead. Orion froze mid-thrust. There would be no sex with corpses. Not on his bed.
Especially considering the time that Aleister—
“Master Orion!” The mistress panted, peering over her shoulder. “Don’t tease me!”
Some love was best left unrequited.
With his free hand, he spanked her.
She cried out with delight.
This was nothing like what he wanted. A part of him felt guilty, like his lifestyle should have provided more than he ever could have wanted—but something left him cold.
The woman collapsed on the bed, eyes rolling into the back of her head, jubilantly rocking her hips for more.
He smacked her for her slavish worship, her asinine infatuation. He spanked her because it was no good to want him so badly when she knew nothing of the revolting truth of his character.
He spanked her for allowing herself to be used by him, and for liking it.
The woman reared up on all fours, throwing her head back in ecstasy.
The wig drooped sideways, exposing her curly red hair beneath.
The momentum of his upturned hand slowed: he melted, deflated, shriveled, retreating from the woman’s voracious body.
This mistress, that mistress, Orion could only fool himself for so long before it inevitably ended this way.
The woman leapt and whirled around, tucking her knees into her chest. “Master Orion, have I displeased you?” She clutched frantically at her wig.
He ran a hand through his hair, glancing out the window; he stood and buttoned his pants. “That will be all.”
She crawled to the edge of the bed, planting a hand against his chest.
Turning away, he wandered to the other side of his room.
“Master Orion. . . Will you forgive me?” Her lip quivered.
Bowing to her, he opened the door, and extended a gloved hand, bidding her exit with a gentleman’s poise.
“I can’t believe this.” She collapsed to her knees, dragging her hands down her face. “I don’t understand!” The girl crawled toward the wall, and banged her head against the headboard, ripping off the wig. “You’re cruel! Cruel! Why are you so cruel to me?! Why can't you take me like I am?!”
Resting his forehead in his palm, he winced: it was always an awkward moment when his mistress went mad.
He pulled the last one inside after she tried to exorcise her despair by jumping through his window.
A punk kid with strawberry blonde barged into the room, interrupting them. “Lord Aleister says that—whoa.”
Orion grimaced. It was Aleister’s pet, Nero.
Nero raised his hands, taking a step back. “I didn’t mean to—”
The redhead scooped up her lingerie, dressing in a hurry.
Clenching his teeth, Orion twirled the riding crop in his hand. “Do you want me to bend you over my knee and spank you with abandon, Nero?”
Raising his arms in defense, he stumbled backward through the door. “Hell no!”
“Then you have no business in my quarters.” Orion’s nostrils flared. “None whatsoever.”
“Lord Aleister requests your presence” —he edged toward the stair, wiping sweat from his forehead— “to discuss some last-minute details of the mission!” He turned and thundered down the stairs, running for his life.
The woman exited after him, slamming the door behind her.
Orion reached into his pants and lit a hand-rolled cigarette, alone again, staring at the disheveled wig on his bed. Frankly, he didn’t get it, naked women alternately throwing themselves at his feet and over his balcony, like he was some kind of fucking legend.
All he had, in reality, was a legendary soft dick.
About the Author: Doctors suspect Brie developed an overactive imagination during childhood to cope with the expansive corn maze known as rural Pennsylvania. Unable to afford an operation to have the stories surgically removed from her brain, she opted instead to write them down.
Brie lives with two devious cats, Lunar and Loki. In her spare time, she enjoys making laser sounds with her MiniKorg, channeling entities in hyperspace, and roflstomping video games from the nineties.
http://sexdrugsandcyberpunk.blogspot.ca
https://www.facebook.com/brie.mcgill
https://twitter.com/BrieMcGill
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7085769.Brie_McGill
Giveaway: 6 copies of Alien Bride!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
~~~ Don't forget to ↓↓share↓↓ on Facebook ~~~
Thursday 23 January 2014
Blood and Gold by Hawk MacKinney
Blood and Gold, Book 3 in the Craige Ingram Mystery Series by Hawk MacKinney
Genre: Thriller
Blurb: Blood and Gold, the third book in The Craige Ingram Mystery Series, once again tests the instincts and skills of retired Navy SEAL/part-time private investigator Craige Ingram. Lust, greed, body parts and unrestrained wild sex parties are what await Craige Ingram when he leaves the comforts of his South Carolina home to visit his former SEAL buddy, Detective Spinner Krespinak. Set in the Colorado underbelly of a sordid sable and faux glitz ski mecca, Detective Spinner Krespinak suspects drugs have made their way to the snowy playground that is Aspen. An Olympic ski hopeful is brutally murdered, Spinner vanishes, and Craige Ingram is shot as events spin out of control with a Catch-22 no one anticipates.
Excerpt: Wilhelm Hans “Ski” Janoski lived fast. His reckless ice-blue wildfire eyes ready for any thrill…snow-covered mountain, sunny beach, his latest bedmate, or two or three. So many bodies, so little time. He pointed his ski pole up toward the high peaks they'd traversed, “That portion across the ridge drifted more than I thought.”
She licked his neck and ears; gave him a wicked purring simper. Christy liked the fast lane; hunted any novel untried thrill…fast living…faster men. She loved the wild streak in Ski…the wilder the better. “It wouldn't have taken much for those cornices to break loose.”
“You knew those upper slopes were closed before we took those trails.”
“Sure I did.” He coughed; spit. “Why let virgin deep powder go to waste just because some college jock puts on a ski patrol parka; marks boundaries he don’t know shit about? Not the kind of skiing this Olympic gold medalist likes. Ski boundaries and groomed slopes are for weekender fat cats who sit by the fire; guzzle martinis and margaritas; fat-up on chips and guacamole dip.” Peacock bluster...Ski Janoski’s trademark. Guffed, “All their BS about avalanches…gimme a break! Even a half-assed skier can outrun an avalanche. Avalanches are nothing but big balls of snow. “No mountain ever bested hot-dogger Janoski.” Ski howled his challenge at Mother Nature. “…no mountain ever will!”
Buy Links:
Amazon: Blood and Gold - Hawk MacKinney
Barnes and Noble: Hawk MacKinney Blood and Gold
About the Author: With postgraduate degrees and faculty appointments in several medical universities, Hawk MacKinney has taught graduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem. In addition to professional articles and texts on chordate neuroembryology, Hawk has authored several works of fiction.
Hawk began writing mysteries for his school newspaper. His works of fiction, historical love stories, science fiction and mystery-thrillers are not genre-centered, but plot-character driven, and reflect his southwest upbringing in Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma. Moccasin Trace, a historical novel nominated for the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award, details the family bloodlines of his serial protagonist in the Craige Ingram Mystery Series… murder and mayhem with a touch of romance. Vault of Secrets, the first book in the Ingram series, was followed by Nymrod Resurrection, Blood and Gold, and The Lady of Corpsewood Manor. All have received national attention. Hawk’s latest release in the Ingram series is due out this fall with another mystery-thriller work out in 2014. The Bleikovat Event, the first volume in The Cairns of Sainctuarie science fiction series, was released in 2012.
www.hawkmackinney.net
"Without question, Hawk is one of the most gifted and imaginative writers I have had the pleasure to represent. His reading fans have something special to look forward to in the Craige Ingram Mystery Series. Intrigue, murder, deception and conspiracy--these are the things that take Hawk's main character, Navy ex-SEAL/part-time private investigator Craige Ingram, from his South Carolina ancestral home of Moccasin Hollow to the dirty backrooms of the nation's capital and across Europe and the Middle East."
Barbara Casey, PresidentGiveaway: Hawk will be awarding a $25 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. The more blogs you comment on, the better your chance to win! Leave your comment below (make it meaningful - things like "I commented" or "hello" or "thanks for the giveaway" will be deleted). Then check out the other blogs to increase your chances. Here's the link to the other blogs on this tour:
Barbara Casey Literary Agency
http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/12/mini-book-blast-blood-and-gold-by-hawk.html
~~~ Good luck in the giveaway ~~~
~~~ Don't forget to follow me on Twitter ~~~
~~~ Don't forget to ↓↓share↓↓ on Facebook ~~~
If you're commenting to enter a competition, please say something useful. Saying "hi I commented", "I hope I win" or "No opinion" is spam and it'll be deleted.
Wednesday 22 January 2014
Serendipity by Janet Nissenson + Giveaway
Serendipity by Janet Nissenson
Genres: Contemporary, Erotic Romance
Was meeting again an unfortunate twist of fate? Or was it just serendipity?
Julia McKinnon was convinced she’d found the one – the man of her dreams, the most seductive, experienced lover she’d ever known – and the night they’d spent together in New York was the stuff erotic fantasies were spun from. But with the dawn of a new day came only heartache and betrayal, and her dreams were snuffed out like so much fairy dust.
Nathan Atwood felt like the lowest sort of life form after seducing the incredibly beautiful girl he met in New York, only to break her tender heart with the confession that he was already involved with someone else. Leaving Julia was the hardest thing he’d ever done, and the memory of their passionate night together haunted his dreams for months afterwards.
Now fate has brought them together again, and they are forced to work alongside each other. Will Julia be able to put aside the feelings she still has for her handsome boss and forge a new life for herself in San Francisco? And how long will Nathan be able to resist the gorgeous woman he’s never really stopped thinking about or wanting?
Excerpt:
“How did you find me?”
Julia’s head swung to meet his gaze in disbelief. “Excuse me?”
Nathan leaned back in his desk chair, regarding her across the wide expanse of mahogany, with an expression of barely checked anger. “Come on, Julia. You don’t really expect me to believe that you working here is some sort of wild coincidence, do you? The only logical explanation is that you somehow found out who I was and where I worked, and was lucky enough that there was a job opening. The only real coincidence is that you happen to be an interior designer and that I co-own an architectural design firm.”
She stared back at him, appalled by his arrogance. “Are you kidding? Even assuming that I was able to figure out who you were – Mr. No Last Name, No Occupation, No City of Residence – why would you think I’d want to see you again, much less work with you?”
He shrugged, but his composure looked a bit less cocksure than it had. “Revenge, obsession. Maybe a little of both.”
Julia smirked. “Really? You think I somehow managed to find out your name – by what means I have no idea – then stalked you several thousand miles across the country because I wanted to get back at you? Or worse, because I craved another fuck? Sorry, you weren’t that good.”
Nathan’s eyes narrowed and shot out sparks of light blue fire. “That’s not what you said that night.”
Enraged, she got to her feet, leaning over his desk. “As I recall, both of us said a lot of things that night. But one of us intentionally neglected to say the one thing that would have instantly put a stop to everything else – something along the lines of ‘by the way, I’m already spoken for’.”
He winced at the angry lash of her words. “I deserve that, I suppose. But that still doesn’t explain how you found me or why you followed me cross country.”
She let out a rather undignified hoot of laughter. “For real, Nathan? You’ve still got me pegged as some Fatal Attraction-like stalker? Well, think on this one. I’m normally not a vain person, but I’m not naïve, either. I know I’m hot. Men have been telling me that since I was twelve. If I wanted a man that badly all I’d really need to do would be to walk inside the nearest bar or club or even a grocery store, and let nature take its course. It would take little to no effort on my part to get whatever man I wanted. And he sure as hell wouldn’t be one who’s already taken.”
Buy Links: Amazon Barnes and Noble iTunes Kobo Sony
Author Bio: Janet is a lifelong resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, and currently resides on the northern California coast with her husband Steve and Golden Retriever Max. She worked for more than two decades in the financial services industry before turning her focus to producing running events. She is a former long-distance runner, current avid yoga practitioner, is addicted to Pinterest, likes to travel and read. She has been writing for more than three decades but Serendipity is her first official published work. She plans five more books in the Inevitable series, with each one a standalone with new lead characters, so no cliff-hangers or waiting months to see what happens next!
Website/blog – http://www.janetnissenson.com
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7375780.Janet_Nissenson
Twitter - https://twitter.com/JNissenson
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Janet-Nissenson-Author/229816550510513
Pinterest - http://www.pinterest.com/janetnissenson/serendipity/
Author Janet Nissenson is giving away a total of six prizes! One winner will receive a $15 Amazon gift card, and five readers will get an ebook copy of Serendipity. Ends 2/20/14a Rafflecopter giveaway
~~~ Good luck in the giveaway ~~~
~~~ Don't forget to ↓↓share↓↓ on Facebook ~~~
Genres: Contemporary, Erotic Romance
Was meeting again an unfortunate twist of fate? Or was it just serendipity?
Julia McKinnon was convinced she’d found the one – the man of her dreams, the most seductive, experienced lover she’d ever known – and the night they’d spent together in New York was the stuff erotic fantasies were spun from. But with the dawn of a new day came only heartache and betrayal, and her dreams were snuffed out like so much fairy dust.
Nathan Atwood felt like the lowest sort of life form after seducing the incredibly beautiful girl he met in New York, only to break her tender heart with the confession that he was already involved with someone else. Leaving Julia was the hardest thing he’d ever done, and the memory of their passionate night together haunted his dreams for months afterwards.
Now fate has brought them together again, and they are forced to work alongside each other. Will Julia be able to put aside the feelings she still has for her handsome boss and forge a new life for herself in San Francisco? And how long will Nathan be able to resist the gorgeous woman he’s never really stopped thinking about or wanting?
Excerpt:
“How did you find me?”
Julia’s head swung to meet his gaze in disbelief. “Excuse me?”
Nathan leaned back in his desk chair, regarding her across the wide expanse of mahogany, with an expression of barely checked anger. “Come on, Julia. You don’t really expect me to believe that you working here is some sort of wild coincidence, do you? The only logical explanation is that you somehow found out who I was and where I worked, and was lucky enough that there was a job opening. The only real coincidence is that you happen to be an interior designer and that I co-own an architectural design firm.”
She stared back at him, appalled by his arrogance. “Are you kidding? Even assuming that I was able to figure out who you were – Mr. No Last Name, No Occupation, No City of Residence – why would you think I’d want to see you again, much less work with you?”
He shrugged, but his composure looked a bit less cocksure than it had. “Revenge, obsession. Maybe a little of both.”
Julia smirked. “Really? You think I somehow managed to find out your name – by what means I have no idea – then stalked you several thousand miles across the country because I wanted to get back at you? Or worse, because I craved another fuck? Sorry, you weren’t that good.”
Nathan’s eyes narrowed and shot out sparks of light blue fire. “That’s not what you said that night.”
Enraged, she got to her feet, leaning over his desk. “As I recall, both of us said a lot of things that night. But one of us intentionally neglected to say the one thing that would have instantly put a stop to everything else – something along the lines of ‘by the way, I’m already spoken for’.”
He winced at the angry lash of her words. “I deserve that, I suppose. But that still doesn’t explain how you found me or why you followed me cross country.”
She let out a rather undignified hoot of laughter. “For real, Nathan? You’ve still got me pegged as some Fatal Attraction-like stalker? Well, think on this one. I’m normally not a vain person, but I’m not naïve, either. I know I’m hot. Men have been telling me that since I was twelve. If I wanted a man that badly all I’d really need to do would be to walk inside the nearest bar or club or even a grocery store, and let nature take its course. It would take little to no effort on my part to get whatever man I wanted. And he sure as hell wouldn’t be one who’s already taken.”
Buy Links: Amazon Barnes and Noble iTunes Kobo Sony
Author Bio: Janet is a lifelong resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, and currently resides on the northern California coast with her husband Steve and Golden Retriever Max. She worked for more than two decades in the financial services industry before turning her focus to producing running events. She is a former long-distance runner, current avid yoga practitioner, is addicted to Pinterest, likes to travel and read. She has been writing for more than three decades but Serendipity is her first official published work. She plans five more books in the Inevitable series, with each one a standalone with new lead characters, so no cliff-hangers or waiting months to see what happens next!
Website/blog – http://www.janetnissenson.com
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7375780.Janet_Nissenson
Twitter - https://twitter.com/JNissenson
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Janet-Nissenson-Author/229816550510513
Pinterest - http://www.pinterest.com/janetnissenson/serendipity/
Author Janet Nissenson is giving away a total of six prizes! One winner will receive a $15 Amazon gift card, and five readers will get an ebook copy of Serendipity. Ends 2/20/14a Rafflecopter giveaway
~~~ Good luck in the giveaway ~~~
~~~ Don't forget to ↓↓share↓↓ on Facebook ~~~
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)