BLURB

Nina Santangeles has decided to give her lovers, Cameron Easton and Alex Gable, their ultimate fantasy. Dressed in a red plaid skirt, cotton blouse, bobby socks, and saddle shoes, she surprises them during a presentation they’re giving for architecture and design students at a university lecture hall, causing quite a stir.

When her men take her back to their hotel suite with the intention of punishing her for the naughty behavior as part of their role play fantasy, how far will she let them go?

ADULT EXCERPT

They each held one of her hands in the hallway. Alex barely closed and locked the door to their hotel suite behind them before he lunged for her, covering her mouth in a hot kiss that surprised her. Her men were always on fire for her, but this was different. Their reaction was off the charts hot, and she had to assume it was the role playing.

She raked her hands over his back and tight ass, moaning into his open mouth. Pushing her hips against him, she wasn’t surprised to find his erection rock-hard. Behind her, Cameron reached under her skirt and grabbed her ass, groaning. Alex’s mouth released hers, and he nipped at her neck.

Nina started to unzip her skirt, but Cameron stopped her. “No. Leave it on, but take off the panties.”

Alex let go of her long enough to allow Nina to remove her panties and step out of them. Cameron took them from her, and she glanced over her shoulder to watch him bring them to his nose. It was so damn sexy she couldn’t stop the moan.

Nina turned her attention back to Alex and removed his tie, then unbuttoned his shirt. She peeled it off to reveal broad shoulders and fine dark hairs dusting his muscled chest. She loved their bodies. Both men were so damn gorgeous she could never get enough of them. “You work out, Mr. Gable.”

“Yeah. I do.”

“We both do,” said Cameron.

She ran her teeth over Alex’s nipples as she reached for his pants, unfastening the button above the zipper.

Behind her, Cameron grabbed her ass again. “Oh Christ … Nina …”

“Tell me what you both want,” she said, lifting her gaze to Alex’s eyes.

Alex swallowed hard. “I want to fuck you. Fuck you fucking silly.”

Cameron reached around and grasped her breasts through the cotton top. “I want to fill each of your holes, baby, all night long.” He let go of her breasts and smacked her ass, hard. Nina moaned. “I want to spank you for being such a bad girl. You interrupted a very important presentation for us, you know.”

He smacked her ass cheeks again, and she nearly came. “I know I did.”

“Now we need to punish you for it, and we need to fuck you hard for it.”

She giggled, tossing her hair. “Oh, you can fuck me, but I’m not so sure about the spanking part.” She had to pretend to protest something, after all. That had been part of their fantasy, but it was very difficult to get into the role now that she was alone in a beautiful hotel suite with them.

Alex turned her around so fast she nearly fell. He enveloped her in a bear hug from behind that was more sweet than lustful. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”

Nina rubbed her ass against Alex’s erection, aching for his dick to fill her, as he nuzzled her neck. “I like you, too, Alex. I like both of you. Let’s get these clothes off you two and see what you have in your pants.”

“In a minute.” Alex nibbled at her neck and reached under her blouse to unhook her bra. Cameron helped him ease the straps off her shoulders under the fabric, and then Alex tossed the bra on the floor. He grasped her breasts, and Nina moaned loudly.

“Oh God, I love your tits.” Alex’s breath was warm in her ear, and the sensation of his hands on her breasts and his erection rubbing against her ass nearly brought her to orgasm.

Cameron shoved his hand under her skirt and rubbed her clit with his expert fingers, then pushed one inside her pussy. She was so damn wet they wouldn’t need lube. “I love wet pussies.”

Nina closed her eyes and absorbed the sensations of Alex kneading her breasts, his thumbs playing with her nipples, while Cameron finger-fucked her and rubbed her clit with his thumb. Her climax was so close it was ridiculous.

Having just lost his mother to cancer, eighteen year old, Blueford “Blue” Mason returned to their hometown of Danville, Texas to live with his reticent grandmother, Alma. The two struggle to bond while Blue undergoes a metamorphosis into manhood, discovering new things about himself, his sexuality, life, love and even heartbreak.

After leaving his former fire department due to intolerance of his sexuality, twenty-three year old, Jack West moved to Danville to work as an EMT for his uncle’s small fire department. He’d resigned himself to living a quiet life alone until Blue came along and turned his world upside-down.

Will the young lovers find acceptance in Danville or will shameful secrets from the distant past set this town ablaze when the people around them are forced to face their own shortcomings?

Heaven’s just a sin away for everyone, especially when every sin is created equally.

Excerpt:

Goddamn. What the hell am I doing? Despite his first inclination to get up and leave the room as fast as his legs could carry him, Jack gave into Blue’s persistent movement. “Goddamn, Blue.” He was huge. Even through clothes, Jack could feel every inch of the thick, stiff shaft. He wanted so badly to unzip Blue’s pants and suck out every drop of cum he had to offer. He couldn’t though. Not like this. Not so soon.

Jack shook off the dizzying argument complicating his thoughts.

The way Blue looked up at him, Jack couldn’t ignore the desperate plea darkening those fucking bottomless sapphire-blue orbs. “What is it?” Concern nipped at the nerves along the base of Jack’s skull.

“I’ve never…” He pressed his lips together, his gaze cutting away.

What? He’s never… Jack’s mind instantly blanked as the revelation sank in. Holy shit. He’d suspected, but—Damn.

Despite knowing better, Jack moved his hand up and down, kneading Blue’s cock through his pants. He’d become even hotter in some twisted, erotic way. “Never?”

Blue slowly shook his head. “Never even been kissed until now.”

Jack had absolutely lost his mind. Nothing was more exhilarating or more dangerous than being someone’s first. But being someone’s first kiss, first jerk-off and possibly first everything else all in one fell swoop was riskier than running into an exploding high-rise inferno. Someone would definitely get burned before this was over. Jack knew it deep in his gut.

Blue put his hand on top of Jack’s and pushed down, encouraging him. “Don’t stop.” He jammed the back of his head into the sofa cushion with a deep, sensual moan as his body shuddered beneath Jack’s touch.

Jack couldn’t help it. He ground his groin into Blue’s thigh. He had to know. He had to feel each tremor, each twitch. Nothing else mattered in that moment other than witnessing this thing of beauty unravel under his touch.

Blue bucked upward, and that was it. That was all it took.

Jack rubbed harder, faster. “God, you’re fucking killing me here.” He memorized the blue-green veins protruding from the strained muscles in Blue’s neck and the bob of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed. The subtle way his lips puckered and the way his brow hardened from what Jack knew was that erotic ache that takes over when on the brink of orgasm. “Give it to me.” He’d never wanted anything more.

Blue bit his bottom lip and grimaced, prompting Jack to forget all about his own pending explosion and focus on what Blue was about to experience. Jack searched Blue’s eyes. “You want this bad, don’t you?”

Blue nodded, his brows creasing even deeper until he squeezed his eyelids shut.

Jack kissed and suckled the curve of Blue’s neck then whispered in his ear, “Come for me.”

Blue thrust his groin upward and arched his back, lifting himself off the couch and up against Jack’s body. “Oh fuck.”

His body jerked, and Jack instantly felt the heat from inside Blue’s still buttoned khakis.

“Ung.” Blue gripped Jack tightly around the neck and fell back onto the cushions, dragging Jack with him.

Almost there, Jack only needed a few seconds more. He continued to grind into Blue’s leg, but Blue nudged him back and cupped Jack’s cock through his jeans. They both looked down and watched as Jack fucked the concave curve of Blue’s open hand.

Blue’s persistence surprised Jack. Maybe he had more experience than he’d led Jack to believe. Blue rubbed up and down, and Jack held his breath until—his balls drew up and a delicious tremor zinged across his body like a tiny earthquake, intensified by the young man beneath him and the way Blue so eagerly finished him off.

Buy Links:

Evernight | Amazon | All Romance eBooks

Author Links:

Website/Blog | Evernight Author Page | Amazon Author Page

Author Bio:

Tyler Robbins, a.k.a. Robin Badillo, is a down to earth mother of four, born and raised in a small Texas town where she still resides with her nearly grown kids and a pack of spoiled dogs.

After years of being a wife and mom, complete with company picnics and fundraisers for the P.T.A., Robin found herself starting over when her husband of fifteen years suddenly passed away in 2006. With no particular skills to speak of, Robin took the advice of friends and family, and followed her heart and passion for writing into the publishing world.

A fan of paranormal and southern romance novels, Robin does her best to offer up a plethora of tasty morsels to satisfy her reader’s appetite. Whether mainstream and/or paranormal erotic romance or Tyler’s LGBT romance line, Robin strives to create characters who are endearing and relatable.

Adversity is Robin’s motivation, which explains why she’s a true believer that grey hair is simply God’s graffiti.

Blurb:

Streak politics, and differences in opinions forced Kurt Owens to choose his own path. While it may be outside of the law in many regards he sees it as ensuring justice for the true victims of crimes when the system fails them. It’s his way of seeing the guilty pay, and keeping his own inner beast in check with the violence, and blood it craves.

Everyone thinks having a super power would be great. Alexa Harold would beg to differ. She’s been cursed to see ghosts, the dead not yet having gone to their final resting place, or judgment, or wherever they belong. They track her down, and harass her until she’s ready to go mad. Learning early in life what she needs to avoid has been the only saving grace in keeping her sanity intact.

Then she sees a man who couldn’t possibly be real. It was just her luck that such a prime specimen would in fact be deceased. Only he isn’t, and he’s taking notice of her. With a little temptation, some mystery, and a taunt he leaves her wanting more.

Kurt never thought he’d find his mate outside of the streak, or streak functions. While those of a supernatural inclination aren’t exactly rare, they have had to be careful and keep their population down. Alexa is the woman for him the only one he could ever want or need. And when her life is put in danger by his own past Kurt won’t stop until everyone understands to get to this tiger’s mate, they’ll have to get through him.

Excerpt:

Wrapping his hand around the fresh longneck the bartender slid his way, Kurt lifted it to his lips to take a long drink. His contact was late. Never a good sign when the guy who did all his go-between work wasn’t on time. Especially when it was payday.

Kurt would give the man another half hour before hunting his ass down. Any longer than that and the ditzy blonde at the other end of the bar might garner up some courage to come talk to him. Her friends had been daring her to since they’d caught sight of him. So far she’d resisted their urging despite the number of hungry looks she’d sent his way.

While he had zero problems hooking up with some random, preferably nameless, chick in a bar, that one looked like serious trouble. He could have given anyone a multitude of reasons why. Namely he knew she was trouble by the two thousand dollar shoes, one and a half thou handbag, and he didn’t even want to tally up her outfit. Kurt wasn’t a connoisseur of fashion, not even close, but he’d been around enough to start to recognize the brand names. He had to be observant in what he did, as otherwise he’d end up dead.

He took another long pull from the bottle, camouflaging his perusal of the group so that they wouldn’t perceive it as interest. The blonde was downing shots. Freaking fan-fucking-tastic. If she put enough down, she’d likely get up the courage to actually wobble over in her overpriced stilettos. Not what he wanted tonight. He was here to get paid for the job he’d completed, and then he was going to find a place where no one knew him to crash for many hours of peaceful slumber.

Tensing, he felt someone getting close he let out a breath. Only the waitress. He’d chosen the end of the bar with the wall to his back so he could see the entire place, and so no one could get too close without him knowing. While it sucked if he had to bail, it was tactically the wisest location in case trouble came calling.

And blonde bimbo was making her move. Son of a fucking bitch. She tottered across the bar, closing the distance between them as he waved the bartender over for another cold one. Relief crashed through him as his contact slid onto the empty seat at Kurt’s side.

“Sorry, man, fucking accident six blocks over fucked me right up. I’m late. I sincerely apologize. Didn’t know it was there until I was in the thick of the shit. It’s truly amazing how perfectly decent human beings turn into the Grim fucking Reaper when there’s a DOA at a crash. Couldn’t get a single one of them to move enough to let me through. Fuckers all looked at me like I was the douchebag.”

Lenny signaled the bartender when he’d finished his spiel. Kurt gave the man a few moments to take a drink before he acknowledged him. “No worries,” he said quietly. He didn’t bother mentioning he’d been mere minutes from heading out to hunt his scrawny ass down. No reason to upset the little guy unduly. Besides, Lenny knew what Kurt would do to him if the man didn’t show up for a meet.

“I tucked it into the usual spot,” Lenny said. Which meant Kurt’s payment was secured in Kurt’s truck in the lockbox in the back. “I may have another gig for you. I’ll need to do some background, and check a few of the less clear details, but I should know something in a couple of days.”

Kurt gave a slow nod. The blonde was back at the table of idiotic sorority types downing more shots. “Shoot me a text for a meet when you feel confident about it.”

While Lenny might give the impression of being the unreliable sort, Kurt did trust him. To a degree. The man brokered all the deals, kept Kurt out of it all, and ensured Kurt got paid for what he did. Doing what he did, it wasn’t like Kurt could set up a web page and advertise. That was just begging for a one way ticket to a ten by eight cell for life, if not the chair.

Tipping his beer up he did another visual sweep of the place. Movement from the end of the bar near the girls caught his attention. Son of a … bikers, why the hell is it always bikers? Most were good guys even if they did shit that had the law on their asses most of the time. Then there were the wannabes who acted tough, blew smoke, and basically started shit. The guys making lewd gestures to one another about the sorority sisters were very definitely in the second category.

Big, scary looking, and assholes. They’d also been drinking so it was a situation ripe, and ready to explode. Setting his beer down Kurt turned slightly. “You may want to finish that up, and clear out. There’s about to be trouble in here.”

Kurt was itching for a fight. His last job had gone smoothly, too smoothly for him. He was a hands-on sort that liked to get good and bloody. The biker assholes might finally give him a way to let off a bit of steam. And if he happened to break a few of their bones or faces, all the better in his mind. While Kurt’s conscience didn’t pipe up all that often, there was no way he’d risk the guy that was his go-to man.

“Uh, shit, right.” Lenny chugged the last of his beer quickly. He reached to his pocket.

“I got it, go.” Kurt pulled off a couple of bills to pay for his beers and Lenny’s. The man took a cut off every job Kurt completed, which was all of them because he was that fucking good, but Kurt still paid for his drinks at every meet.

“One of these days I will pay for a drink, you know.”

“You can try, but we both know who has the better and faster moves. Now go. You’re no use to me in a hospital.”

“The love and concern for my wellbeing I feel pouring off you warms my heart.”

Hearing the sarcasm Kurt turned his eyes on the other man, and growled. Not some pissy ass sound a human could make, but a sound only a born predator could pull from the bowels of his gut.

Tiger’s Mate is part of the Bad Alpha anthology published with Evernight Publishing. I am honored to be part of this anthology with these other amazing authors. Simply fabulous men and women.

J.R. Gray

Khloe Wren

Moira Callahan

April Zyon (me!)

Elyzabeth M. Valey

Lynn Burke

Jocelyn Dex

Ashlynn Monroe

Harper Shaddock

Buy Links:

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013XTFJK0/

Amazon CA: http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B013XTFJK0/

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B013XTFJK0/

Author Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/april.zyon.author

Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/april.zyon.fan.page

Facebook Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/moirahonor.readergroup/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/aprilzyon

Tsu: http://www.tsu.co/aprilzyon

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/aprilzyon/

BLURB

Angela Davidson lands her dream job with Greco Communications, but quickly learns her new boss, the enigmatic Dominic Greco, has a dark secret he works hard to conceal. Angela understands secrets because she’s been hiding one of her own for sixteen years and if it’s discovered, she will end up dead.

Dominic is part of a group of friends financing the efforts to put a stop to The Madeline Project. The program now has a mind of its own, thanks to a virus called Tommy Twister. These men have power, resources, and money, but they’re as ruthless and possessive as the storms ravaging Earth.

They call themselves the Weathermen…

ADULT EXCERPT

Angela moaned loudly into Dominic’s open mouth as his tongue parted her lips. Holy fuck this man can kiss! Her pussy was soaked, and every inch of her skin ached to touch him. She forgot where they were and pushed closer to his warm, hard body, going so far as to rub her abdomen across his erection. Holy shit. This was nothing like she’d imagined it would be, and she didn’t care if he was her brand new boss, or that they’d just had a two and a half hour lunch. She wanted to be horizontal with him in the worst fucking way.

She’d even take semi-upright. She’d bend over this table and lift her skirt if that’s what he wanted. Fuck it all. It had been way, way too long since she’d been kissed and held, and no man had ever moved his lips and tongue over hers like he was doing now. She wanted more. So much more.

When he released her mouth, she stared at him until he finally picked up her purse and handed it to her. Then he took her hand, and she simply walked, letting him lead the way. Her legs felt like jelly. His hand was so warm it made her entire body hot. She could only imagine what the rest of his skin would feel like next to hers.

They said nothing on the walk back, but she felt the lust and heat coming off him in waves. Inside the elevator, they were alone, and this was the same private elevator she’d taken before her interview. He keyed in a code, and then the floor she now worked on. It wouldn’t stop for anyone else. They had it all to themselves.

He turned toward her, and then he cupped her face and stared into her eyes with so much intensity she thought her heart would stop. “This is madness,” he whispered. “But I can’t stop.”
She didn’t have a chance to ask him what his cryptic comment about this being madness meant because he pushed her up against the wall of the car and kissed her like he might never do so again. She reached for his hair, and he caught her wrists, pinning her arms overhead. The gesture was so damn sexy and dominant that she nearly came. He moved closer to her, grinding his bulge against her body until she was so damn wet she knew she’d need to change her panties.

Hey all! Today I have the distinct pleasure of introducing my dear friend and writing partner’s droolworthy character Dwayne Gonzalez from her latest release Intimate Fear.

First, a little about the book (and isn’t that gorgeous cover something to drool on, too?):

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Publisher: Evernight Publishing

Date of Publication: 06/19/15

ISBN: 978-1-77233-392-3

ASIN: B00ZZ7S9YW

Number of pages: 256

Word Count: 86,150

Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

Book description:

Dwayne Gonzalez has always had a thing for the beautiful Brooke Mason, but she married another man, had his child, and started her life without him. Now, years and a divorce later, he’s still on the sidelines, yet in Brooke’s and her daughter, Hailey’s life, but not in the way he wants.

A drug investigation brings Dwayne on the front step of Brooke’s life. With his attention distracted, Hailey is kidnapped and engulfed in a human trafficking ring. Dwayne marches in and toes the line between the right side of the law, and in it, pursues his heart’s desire.

Book trailer:

Find INTIMATE FEAR on:

Evernight | Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | ARe | Bookstrand

Hot excerpt:

Worried about Hailey, exhausted to the bone, and slightly swaying, Brooke clung to Dwayne, took strength from this solid, very real protector. She would have to be dead not to notice his firm body beneath her fingertips, the hardness of his chest pressed to her breasts, and the wicked, clean scent drifting from his skin. While they were no longer hugging, but more her clinging to him, she didn’t want to turn away, couldn’t find the power to do so. How easy would it have been to end up with this man? She’d caught the looks he had given her before. But that had all been in the past, a separate life for them both.

She had become a mother, someone who dedicated her entire being to making sure her daughter was well-rounded, cared for, and knowingly loved. Not only that, but she wasn’t a young pup any longer, and from the few women she’d seen Dwayne with, his type seemed to have a list of traits all very similar: young, perky breasts, tight asses, single, and free of major responsibilities.

His hand tightened on her back and she held her breath, waiting to see if he would push her away.

Just a few more minutes, please.

She needed him, this close contact with another being. It had been so damn long.

Hailey refused to slow down to cuddle on the couch as she had once done as a young girl. Her daughter had her own life now, one currently held in peril, but Brooke had faith they would find her. They had to. Failure wasn’t an option.

Dwayne trailed his hand up her back and pressed a palm to her head, his other arm tightening around her waist. She went with the direction, pressed her face into his warm neck, and breathed. His skin emitted heat rivaling the summer’s sun. She grasped the back of his suit jacket, wishing she could be closer. He shifted their bodies, and her aggravation spun to something else. His lips brushed her temple, and moist air fanned across the side of her face. He hovered there. So close, all she had to do was turn her face and take his mouth. She knew he would let her, too.

So near to him, starved for human contact, she wanted to get lost for a while. She trailed her nose along his neck, took another deep breath, and pressed closer.

He grumbled something unintelligible, the sound coming from his chest more than his mouth. His hand at her waist laid flat on the small of her back and urged her closer still.

The situation was moving fast out of control. Tendrils unraveled, but she was helpless to stop it. This strong male held her as if she were a treasure. He had the power and ability to make her forget everything, to make all the stresses and danger go away.

His hand slipped beneath the back of her shirt and made direct contact with her skin. They both hissed and his breath pushed her hair from her face. His cruel yet sensual mouth continued to drift in a teasing caress across her temple. She turned her head, like molasses on a cold day, up and toward him. Her lips tingled in anticipation, waiting for his kiss. She brushed her mouth across the line of his jaw, a hairsbreadth from his skin.

His heart thudded against hers, a matching hammer between their bodies, telling her he was just as affected. The hand at the back of her head tightened. She trailed the caress over his cheek; his lips were right there, centimeters away.

The rest of their surroundings faded. She didn’t know if it was because of this man drawing her absolute attention, or because of her exhaustion.

She touched the side of her mouth to his and thought she’d be prepared for the rush of desire.

She was so wrong.

And now, who’s this Dwayne everybody is talking about? D.C. tells it all:

His name is Dwayne Gonzalez, and he’s a Nyack Police Department Detective.

When I created Dwayne, I wanted someone a bit different from the others in the series, seeing as eventually I was going to have seven books, all with different couples. Dwayne stood out to me right from the beginning, even though his book wasn’t first. He chooses what he wants, and doesn’t care about anything else. He dresses impeccably, has a fun sense of humor, and approaches life with the same style.

BB (Before Brooke), Dwayne was known for all of this, and for being the town’s playboy. He has an aura that many just can’t turn away from, and combined with his serious moments, one you can’t ignore.

Despite his past, Dwayne is well on his way to building a strong and loving future. He just needs to get through this last challenge…

Some favorites for Dwayne:

Color: Metallic Blue

Number: 8

Football Team: New York Giants

Baseball Team: New York Yankees

Quote: “Tell a lie once makes all your truths questionable.”

Food: Anything Italian

If he hadn’t been a cop, he would have been:  a teacher

Chocolate or vanilla: Vanilla….that is, if we’re talking food.

Photo Inspiration for Dwayne. (All pictures have been purchased for use by author)

Meet the lovely Author:

D.C. “Desi” Stone is a best-selling romance author and full-time fraud investigator. She lives in the northeast with her incredibly supporting husband, two kids, and the ever-growing family of cats.

After serving eight years of service with the United States Air Force, she went on to transition into the world of financial crimes and became a lead investigator for many years.

Reading has always been a passion of hers, getting lost in a good, steamy romance is one of her favorite past times. She soon after discovered her own love for writing and recreating stories and characters in her head. Her writing concentrates on romantic with specifics in paranormal, suspense, and erotica.

Now, when she isn’t trying to solve a new puzzle in the world of fraud, she is engulfed with coffee, her laptop, and all those crazy characters in her head. She is a member of the Romance Writers of America, Hudson Valley Romance Writers, New Jersey Romance Writers, RomVets, RWA Kiss of Death, and the Liberty State Fiction Writers. She served as the 2014 NJRW Vice President and Conference Chair. Come stop by on Facebook, Twitter, or her website and say hello!

Facebook PAGE | Facebook PROFILE | Twitter | Website

There’s a tour giveaway, too!

The prizes are:

• 2 ebook copies of Intimate Fear
• 5 ebook copies of Intimate Danger, book 1 in the series.

For a chance to win, enter the Rafflecopter giveaway.

BLURB:

Living Victorious, 1

Jennifer Mitchell has only one goal in mind—she must get an interview with the band, Victorious. It’s a task many journalists have attempted over the last ten years, only to be shot down by the band’s manager. The fact she desperately wants to meet their drummer has absolutely nothing to do with it.

Being the drummer for Victorious allows Lance West to remain out of the spotlight, and still have an important role in creating the music their fans clamor for. Then he meets Jennifer. While she may be focused on an exclusive interview, Lance has other ideas for the sexy woman.

Screaming fans and thunderous applause might warm his blood, but Lance only wants one woman to warm his bed night after night. She is everything to him, the rhythm that soothes his scarred soul, and he’ll do whatever it takes to prove it.

EXCERPT:

His hand moved to wrap around her throat forcing her chin up. She didn’t feel threatened. It had her knees wobbling, and her pussy throbbing in need. “I actually do need to say them, Jennifer. It’s a driving need to try and explain to you what I’m thinking and feeling.” He stroked his thumb over her pulse tenderly while staring down at her.

Swallowing, she pressed her hands lightly to his chest, her fingers stroking over the tight muscle until she settled them on the waist of his jeans. “Why?” she asked. She wasn’t entirely sure what she was asking either. Popping the top button loose, she worked her way down the line of buttons until his jeans gaped open. She quickly discovered he was going commando under his jeans when she rubbed a finger to the short curls at his groin.

At her throat, his hand flexed. His pupils dilated, and his breathing turned sharper. “Because we’re connected. On a level I can’t begin to describe, in a way I’m not sure I can comprehend. All I know is that you are important and that means you need to know exactly how I feel about you. All of you.”

His words hit her hard. No one had said anything of the sort to her before. There was a deeper meaning behind them. She wasn’t ready to dissect them yet, but later she knew she would. All she could do right then was fist the front of his jeans and push to her toes to kiss him. She didn’t have any words to give back, her mind, and tongue too tied in knots to try. But she could maybe make him understand that she got it with a kiss.

The hand at her throat slid around into her hair as he deepened the kiss. His tongue slid over hers to tangle with it. Moaning into the kiss, she pushed at his jeans until gravity took over.

She felt him shift to kick them away, and then his body was pressed up tight against hers. With the hand in her hair and the other that landed on her ass, he began to move her. Until she felt the bed at the backs of her legs, she hadn’t cared where he was guiding her. In that moment, she needed him with a growing ferocity that scared her.

Twisting, she pushed him to his back on the mattress. A knee next to his hip helped her up to straddle him. Then their mouths were fused together again. Another moan tore from her as he rolled, and pushed them further up on the bed. The sensations bombarding her when he settled his body to hers nearly had her coming apart at the seams.

It had been too long since she’d had the intimate touch of a man. But never, not once, had she truly felt this in tune with another person as she did with Lance. Both a terrifying and extremely liberating sensation. Now if only she could convince him to move things along.

BUY LINKS:

EVERNIGHT | AMAZON (US) | AMAZON (CA)

AUTHOR BIO:

Moira Callahan is a Canadian born and raised author. She loves to write, and only has a few select criteria that have to be in each of her books. A great story, steamy romance, and a HEA ending. The sub-genre isn’t as important to her as making whatever she writes feel real, and in the moment to her readers.

To that end she insists her characters be as real as everyday folks, even if they are blessed with a little fictional fairy dust to make them anyone’s personal fantasy. They must have faults, they must have a weakness, and they must have soul. To that end she writes her characters with a mixture of traits – a dash from herself, and something borrowed from a friend. This way the character is as perfectly imperfect as any other person on the planet.

AUTHOR LINKS:

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | TSU | AMAZON | EVERNIGHT

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Poseidon, God of the Sea, has spent millennia alone due to a single terrible act. His consort Amphitrite has sworn never to forgive him, and he’s forced to live with the knowledge that he drove an innocent girl to her doom.

But when one of the Olympic Cove cottages gets an occupant with an all-too-familiar soul, Poseidon discovers that the Fates have given him a second chance. Now he must try to right the wrongs of the past and win back both his beloved consort and the mate he betrayed.

Assuming, of course, that the Mad Nereid Thetis doesn’t interfere…

BUY LINKS:

Evernight | Amazon | All Romance eBooks | Bookstrand 

CHARACTER INTERVIEW:

What brought you to Olympic Cove?

Griffin: Would you believe I clicked on the wrong listing? You know how you open a website, and suddenly an ad pops up at the top and shoves everything down just as you’re clicking on a link? That’s what happened to me. I was originally looking at places near Cocoa Beach, but I wound up clicking the Atlantic Rentals listing instead.

Finding out you’re living next to gods and mermen must have come as a bit of a shock.

Griffin: Gods, yes, very much so. Mermen…well, let’s just say that all it did was corroborate something I already knew.

What was it like, learning that you’re the reincarnation of a famous figure from Greek mythology.

Griffin: Could’ve knocked me over with a feather. And Christ, I was a gorgeous bird back then. (grins) Is it politically correct if I say that about a former life? Whatever. Now I just have to get a handle on what this all means.

EXCERPT: 

Feeling like he was in another one of his dreams, Griffin let himself be eased onto the beach blanket. He stretched out, wiggling a bit to get comfortable as Dunn followed him and did the same. Overhead, the Floridian night was heavily spangled with stars.

“This is nice. Should’ve done this the first night I got here.” He glanced at Dunn. The man was a shadowy form stretched out at length, hands clasped placidly on his middle. “Comfortable?”

“Very,” Dunn said, staring up at the stars. “You’re right. This is quite lovely.”

“Yeah.” Griffin swallowed. He had no idea what to do next.

Except to be honest. “Dunn, I need to say something.”

“Mm?”

“I hope this doesn’t offend you because I really don’t want to do that, and to be honest I don’t know why I feel this way but…” He swallowed, hearing his throat click. “I really want to kiss you right now. If you don’t want to, it’s fine, I understand, but I thought I’d ask.”

“Ah.” Dunn’s head turned towards him. “Well, then, if we’re being honest, I’d like to kiss you as well.”

Something electric shot through Griffin, swamping the fear. “Oh. I didn’t … I mean, I thought—”

“That I prefer women? I do, as I suspect you do. But I’ve been known to make exceptions.” The other man chuckled softly. “I believe the term is heteroflexible.”

My God, has he done this before? That’s not bad, though. At least one of us knows what he’s doing. “Okay, good. Um…”

“Shall I come over there?”

“Please.”

Griffin rolled onto his side and Dunn mirrored him. A hand came up and cupped his cheek, warm against the soft coolness of the evening breeze.

He closed his eyes as Dunn leaned forward. Lips brushed against his, delicately intent. His lips tingled under the soft pressure, and he could feel the prickle of Dunn’s mustache and beard, something he’d never felt before, at least not during a kiss.

It was weird and slightly scary. It was also fucking terrific. “Do that again,” he whispered when Dunn pulled back.

“Eagerness. I like that in a man.”

They kissed again, and Griffin let his lips open. The tip of Dunn’s tongue traced along them with that same delicacy. The sensation sizzled across his nerve endings, poking his dormant libido right where it counted.

Dunn pulled back a bit. “If you want to stop at any time, say so,” he said, his voice rough.

“Right, got it. Now kiss me again.”

He did, tongue slipping into Griffin’s mouth with deft skill. Griffin gave himself over to it, enjoying the sensation. It was similar to kissing a woman but with a different undertone to it, hungrier somehow. He felt like he didn’t have to hold back, that anything he threw at Dunn the other man could take.

And then Dunn’s tongue licked along the roof of his mouth, sending sparks of desire shooting through him. He couldn’t help moaning in unabashed pleasure.

Dunn took that as a signal to roll closer, fitting himself along Griffin’s body. It was like the kiss, scary and exciting at the same time. Dunn slid an arm around him, a hand coming to rest in the small of his back as his mouth continued to duel sweetly with Griffin’s.

After a bit Griffin felt something poking him in the thigh. It dawned on him what was happening. He broke the kiss with a gasp, sucking in air. “Fuck. You’re hard.”

“Well, yes, that does happen.” Dunn sounded amused. “Does it bother you?”

Griffin gulped. It should, he knew that. And yet all he wanted to do was do a wicked little shimmy against Dunn, make the other man moan for once. “No. It’s fine.”

But Dunn paused, his hand lightening on Griffin’s back. “You’re not aroused.”

He shook his head. “It was the last round of radiation. Haven’t been able to get it up since.”

“Oh.” Dunn’s hand came to rest again, but now it was on his waist. “Am I hurting you? Doing this, I mean?”

“If you’re asking me if you’re giving me blue balls, yeah, a little.” He swallowed again. “If you’re asking me if I want to stop, the answer’s no. Just don’t expect me to be poking you back.”

He wasn’t sure, but he could have sworn he saw Dunn smile. “All right.”

BIO: 

Nicola Cameron is an expatriate Chicagoan who has lived in England, Canada, Holland, and Sweden, and keeps a confusing amalgamation of languages in her head as a result. Currently located in the clavicle of Texas, she has finally mastered the proper use of “y’all,” much to her Chicago family’s dismay.

Despite a healthy interest in sex since puberty, it wasn’t until 2012 that Nicola decided to try writing about it. As it turned out, the skills she picked up during her SF writing career transferred rather nicely to erotic romance. When not writing, she wrangles cats, smooches her husband, makes dolls of dubious and questionable identity, and thanks almighty Cthulhu that she doesn’t have to work for a major telecommunications company any more (because there’s BDSM, and then there’s just plain torture…).

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon | Goodreads

Title: Claimed by the Bad Boy

Series: Bad Boy Fever (Book 2)

Author: London Saint James

Publisher: Decadent Publishing

Release Date: August 11, 2015

Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance, BDSM, Multiple Partners, Suspense
Heat level: 5

Word count – 53k
Cover art by Mina Carter

Blurb:

Something always brings him back to her…

Ryker Cage is a rough guy, with very particular tastes when it comes to sex. Rough, hard, and dirty is the extent of his repertoire. Never soft. He doesn’t have a clue about connecting with his sensitive side in the bedroom, or that find-your-inner-femininity bullshit. He fears nothing, except—his feelings for the sweet and innocent Molly Monroe.

The bad boy who lived next door claimed Molly’s heart long ago. Crazy, or not, she loves him. Always has. No matter what he does to push her away, nor how far he runs, Ryker is the one man she’ll never stop loving.

When Ryker finally finds his way back home, will he find the courage to claim what’s always been his? Or, will he be destined for heartache when someone threatens to take everything away? 

Excerpt:

“Fuck,” Ryker said in a gruff grumble, staring down at the smoking-hot, red-headed bartender on her knees, polishing his dick with her tongue stud—her shorts unzipped, her right hand tucked inside—rubbing herself. Let’s just say, when he ordered a deep throat, this wasn’t what he had in mind.

“You’re-so-big,” she managed between long licks. “Just look at you.”

He was a big guy, so hearing what she thought he wanted, wasn’t a turn on. What was? The way Red nibbled down his length and fondled his balls.

He sucked a breath through his teeth. The little vixen teabagged him.

“Sweet.” His head went back when she trailed her tongue up his sack, between his testicles, continued up his shaft, swirled the metal piercing of hers across the winking slit of his cock before wrapping those lips around the broad head—sucking him hard. “There you go.”

“Do you like that?” she asked.

“Definitely.”

The bar-babe picked up the pace, using her left hand to grip the base of him, alternating between jacking and sucking.

“Keep it up, and I’ll come, baby,” he said.

Ryker had no idea what she said her name was. Why? Easy. He’d been too busy eyeing her round ass jiggle in those skin-tight daisy dukes when he escorted her to the back door of The Cherry Bomb for a cigarette, although he didn’t smoke. And when she rubbed up against him—supple breasts to muscled chest—whispering things like, “Suck,” and “You,” and “Down the back of my throat” into his ear, they’d taken a quick detour.

He wasn’t what one would consider sensitive when it came to the opposite sex. Rough, hard, and dirty was the extent of his repertoire. Never soft. He supposed his tastes were very particular. And, he didn’t have a clue about connecting with his softer side, or that find-your-inner-femininity bullshit his free-spirited aunt Dali spouted to him and his brother every chance she got.

The bombshell scraped her teeth up his shaft and he groaned low in his throat, muscles flexing, fingers splaying wide on the two, steel-sidewalls of the stall—calves hitting the front of the toilet.

“Mmm….” The little hum she did sent a satisfying vibration down the length of him.

The shine from the overhead light bounced off the top of her head, setting a sunset blaze as she bobbed up and down on his cock. She was eager. Focused. Determined to have him bust a nut. He growled at the sight. She reminded him of a porn star by the sounds she made. And the suctioned pull of her mouth on him with the twist at the tip, along with the hand-tug at the root—freaking brilliant. But when she changed things up and twirled her tongue around the under-edge of his flared head, good God, the combination was shiver inducing. Having been the happy recipient of a lot of differing techniques in his almost thirty-two years, Ryker figured she hadn’t learned to do that without plenty of practice.

Shit. She did the combo thing again. Red had him there. Ready.

“I’m going to come,” he warned.

She popped her plump lips from his throbbing dick. “Mm, yes,” she uttered in a breathy voice. A second later, he exploded, warm jizz covering her manicured fingers and silky-smooth palm, while she shook—her other hand still shoved down the front of her shorts—climaxing.

Ryker closed his eyes for a moment reveling in the extraordinary haze of nothingness. No thoughts. No guilt. Nothing but the slowing of his breaths until they drifted into quietness.

“Good?” she asked, disrupting the silence.

His eyelids lifted and he glanced down into her face. “Great, baby.”

She took on an eye-twinkling, pleased expression, then Red slipped her fingers free, reached for the toilet paper, and wiped her cum-covered appendages.

“I’m off in a couple of hours.” She smiled up at him—a dimple creasing the right side of her cheek.

Ignoring the comment, Ryker righted himself and tucked his softening cock back into his pants in an efficient manner. Here was the part he detested the most. He hadn’t thought Red would be a clinger. He figured she’d be well versed in the rules of a random hook-up. But he also understood what her last statement was leading to. She wanted more, and he didn’t.

When Red stood up, his gaze shifted to her. She reached around him and tossed the TP in the toilet, zipped up, turned, unlocked the slider on the stall door, and stepped out. They were the only two in the restroom. He was glad they didn’t have an audience awaiting their exit.

“Want to hang around for a while?” she asked. “We can go back to my place when I clock out.”

They both cleaned up at the sinks. No need to wait. He wouldn’t be going to her place.

“Can’t.” He added soap from the dispenser to his palm. “Early morning.”

“Hmm,” she mumbled while washing her hands.

Jesus. He hoped she wasn’t going to make a fuss. He hated those pouty, I-can’t-believe-I-blew-you, you bastard, scenes. But when her green-eyed gaze met his sea-blue one in the mirror, she appeared fine. No frown. No pursed lips. No tears threatening to overflow. She didn’t look as if she were going to go all fatal attraction on his ass.

She asked, “Do you want my digits?”

Ryker rinsed and dried his hands. He might be an epic asshole at times, nonetheless taking her number, and acting as though he would call, wasn’t something he’d do.

“I think we both know I won’t be calling.” Being as upfront as he could be, he strived not to sound too douchebaggery.

She shrugged. “I thought I’d at least give it a shot.” Red sauntered to the restroom door. Glancing over her shoulder at him she said, “Thanks for taking a ciggy break with me.”

“Sure thing, although I should be the one thanking you.” She grinned. “So, thank you.” No reason not to be polite. After all, Red did all the work, and even got herself off in the doing. He’d just been along for the joy ride.

“I guess I’ll see you around the club, Ryker.”

“Yeah.”

He stared after her. Something about the way she said “I’ll see you around” in a soft, almost remorseful tone, reminded him of—

“Don’t,” he reprimanded and scrubbed his palm down the back of his neck.

Fan-fucking-tastic. He was talking to himself now.

He pulled his cell from the top pocket of his shirt, gripping too hard.

Letting up before he broke his phone, he brushed his thumb across the black screen, bringing it to life, and gritted his teeth. Ryker detested this. He despised a lot of things when it came to his desires he supposed, and this ache for something he couldn’t have kept him traveling so much over the past year, taking on software security jobs, which took him away from home. Far from….

Damn.

So much for the bliss of oblivion, which was, let’s face it, always fleeting. Chasing that short-lived minute was part of the reason for his extracurricular activities. To stop thinking. Forget. Lose himself. And here he was, minutes after his latest quickie, contemplating a conversation better left alone. Nothing good would ever come from what he was considering.

Ryker glanced down at the phone—finger poised.

“Screw it.”

He typed in his text. Paused. Thumb hovering for a long moment, reading those four words over and over. And, then, unable to do anything else, he pressed—send. 

Add on Goodreads  

Buy Links: Amazon.com | Amazon.uk | All Romance eBooks | Bookstrand | iTunes

Author Bio & Links:

London Saint James has lived in many places, but never felt “at home” until she met the real-life man of her dreams and settled down in the beautiful Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. London lives with her husband and their fat cat who thinks he owns them.

As an award-winning, bestselling, multi-published author, London is living her childhood dream. She knew all the scribbling she did, that big imagination of hers, and all those clamoring characters running around in her head would pay off someday.

Web | Blog | Twitter | FB Group | Bad Boy Fever FB Fan Page 

***Giveaway***

(From Aug 11^th  to Aug 31^st )

An ebook or audiobook of Spanked by the Bad Boy (Winners Choice)

and $10.00 Amazon Gift Card

To participate, enter a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hi there, everyone! I’m Michelle Roth and I’m here to introduce my latest release, Trouble Walked In [The Forsaken Few 1]. This story started as a submission for the Bad Alpha Anthology but quickly grew out of control with regards to word count. There was no way I was going to be able to tell the story I wanted to in a measly 10,000 words!

Once that was clear, I decided the book was more important than the anthology. It became MUCH easier from then on! Rather than just a wolf shifter story, I decided that I would make this about something larger. Lorelei, Florida was born.

Each forsaken by their own kind, a small community of shifters from all walks of life have come together to form an unbreakable bond that defies the laws of nature. Both the hunters and the hunted stand side by side to protect themselves from all who would threaten their way of life.

This is Ronan and Moira’s story…

The moment Moira Devereaux walks into his bar, Shapeshifter Ronan Kelly knows she’s going to be trouble. No matter how tempting she is, he won’t risk the safety of his makeshift pack. He has every intention of sending her on her way until he hears her compelling story.

When Moira’s father, the mayor of Lorelei, tries to force her to wed a man she doesn’t know, she runs to one place he won’t follow. The local shifter bar. Nothing could have prepared her for the immediate attraction she feels for the owner, Ronan.

In a moment of weakness, Ronan offers her a job and a place to stay despite his misgivings. No one is more shocked than he is when he discovers that she’s his mate. Will he be able to convince her that he’s worth taking a risk on or will he be forced to let her go?

Buy Links:

Amazon  Amazon UK  Amazon CA  All Romance  Evernight  Bookstrand

Adult Excerpt:

Twenty minutes later, his energy restored, he wandered into the kitchen. He grinned when he found Moira making a sandwich. “Hey, gorgeous,” he said, feeling lighter than he had in a very long time. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her neck.“Hungry?” she asked, tilting her head to the side. When he continued to press light kisses against her skin, she set the package of cold cuts down on the counter. Seconds later, she leaned back against him and gave a soft hum of pleasure.“Not for food,” he murmured, nipping at the soft bit of skin just below her earlobe.

Moira pressed her hips back against him and playfully asked, “What are you hungry for then?”

He grabbed her and held her back against him. Then he moved his mouth so that it hovered just above her ear. “You know exactly what I want, cupcake. And you’re gonna give it to me.”

“Oh, am I?” she teased, moaning softly when he began to rock his hips against hers. “What if I just wanted to eat this sandwich and go to bed?”

His hands slipped up to cup her breasts through the thin cotton tank top she wore. Stroking her nipples, he waited until she shivered against him. “I’ll make you a deal.”

The voice trembled with need when she asked, “What kind of deal?”

“If I reach down into your panties, and I don’t find you soaking wet,” he said, his hands trailing down her belly to work at the button of her jean shorts. “Then, by all means, have your sandwich and go to bed.”

“Okay,” she agreed, rocking her hips back against him, her feigned disinterest long gone.

“But if I do find your pussy as soaked as I think I’m gonna,” he continued, “then I own this body for the rest of the night. Sound fair?”

Moira gave a needy whimper in response. “Fair enough.”

“You sure about that, cupcake?” he asked, his own voice rough with need. “I’m not going to go easy on you.”

No longer able to manage the pretense of disinterest, Moira whispered, “I don’t want you to.”

“You don’t know what you’re asking for.” He groaned, his fingers slowly dragging the zipper of her shorts down. At her shuddering breath, he slipped his hand inside her panties and said, “As I suspected. Cupcake, you’re not going to sleep any time soon. You better have the sandwich, though. You might need your strength.”

About Michelle:

Michelle Roth is a novelist from the Great White North (Toronto, ON). When she’s not disappearing into foreign lands, or making two perfect strangers that she invented fall in love, she’s probably curled up somewhere with a glass of wine and a good book.

In her spare time she is typically hanging out with her awesome boyfriend and their two equally awesome cats. She likes taking road trips to nowhere in particular, cooking elaborate meals then making other people do the dishes, and being nerdy on the internet. Her books are currently available on Amazon, Nook, Kobo, and any other place that sells absolutely filthy romance novels.

Contact Info:

Twitter: @mroth_author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mrothauthor

Website: http://www.michelleroth.net

Newsletter: http://michelleroth.net/mailing-list/

GooglePlus: http://google.com/+MichelleRothAuthor

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8178847.Michelle_Roth

Amazon Author: http://www.amazon.com/Michelle-Roth/e/B00KQNZOAW

Email: michelle@michelleroth.net

Thank you for inviting me to your lovely blog today to talk about my new release with Siren Publishing, ‘Surprising the Alpha’, an erotic, paranormal romance.

Blurb

The town is dying after a new highway takes its previous through traffic and custom away from shops, cafes, the bars and tourist attractions. The Venn wolf-shifter pack and alpha, Joshua Venn, are suffering. They’ve lived happily in the town as humans and like it, but now they’re threatened with slinking back to a woodland den with their tails between their legs.

One day Dani Cruz and her brother Jason hit town. They’re entrepreneurs whose business is urban regeneration and they intend to save this town. Only one person resents their arrival, alpha wolf-shifter Joshua. Will his determination to be the only one who saves his pack drive the town to ruin? Or will something happen that changes his life forever?

Joshua Venn is looking for answers. It’s one hot summer and someone hides a secret.

This alpha is in for more than one surprise.

About the story:

Surprising the Alpha was originally written for an anthology, but then ultimately developed into a full-length story, and the first in ‘The Venn Pack in Love’ series.

Joshua Venn is particularly dear to me as a character. He’s sexy, an alpha, but vulnerable, and as he falls in love with Dani Cruz, the heroine, he has to accept he’s not the big bad alpha he hoped to be.

We get a glimpse of the whole Venn pack and meet the character who features in the second Venn Pack story, an erotic paranormal suspense, ‘Wolf Bond’.

I wanted this wolf-shifter pack to be different and have none of the sometimes hackneyed

wolf-lore found in this type of story. The series has a third story already in the pipeline and each story features one of the pack, in love, of course. (Smiles)

Read an excerpt:

Her feminine perfume surrounded him. Her heartbeat echoed in his ears. Her golden-green eyes flashed as she spoke. Her long hair flicked around her shoulders and swept the tops of her pretty arms as she spoke. Her mouth enticed him. The way her bottom lip stuck out as she stared up at him bravely sent lust speeding through him. Hardly knowing what he was doing, he grabbed her face and sank his mouth on hers. The second he kissed her every muscle in his tightly strung body relaxed.

Soft lips parted under his. Her delicate hands slipped across his chest to hold him tight.

He floated in sensation. His cock hardened deliciously. With a low growl, he let her go and stepped away, shocked not only at his needs, but also at her passionate response.

With a soft sound, Dani followed to be close to him again. “What did you think of my offer to you?”

Joshua’s hackles rose. He pushed her away, saw her unbalance, and caught her. He crushed her to his body.

She molded to him and tilted her face to his.

Joshua gazed into her eyes and saw desire, pure sexual need. His mind emptied of everything but the softness of her ass cupped in his hand. He rammed his erection against her, a low growl escaping before he kissed her so hard she whimpered. Joshua tore her shirt off, sucking her neck hungrily.

Copyright Elodie Parkes 2015 Siren Publishing August 11, 2015 release on Siren September on other eBook sites.

Surprising the Alpha is on special price until August 18 only. Buy now from Siren and get the file that suits your e-Reader

http://www.bookstrand.com/surprising-the-alpha

About Elodie:

Elodie Parkes writes romance, erotic, contemporary, and often with a twist of mystery, paranormal, fantasy, or suspense. Her books are always steamy. Her tag is, “Cool stories: Hot love scenes.”

Elodie currently lives in rural Canterbury with her two dogs. She works in an antique shop by day and writes at night, loving the cloak of silent darkness that descends on the rural countryside around her home.

Elodie only ever wears boots (yes, even in summer). She has three bachelor degrees because she couldn’t make up her mind what she wanted to do, and even then, she got two Grad Dips in different subjects, naughty Elodie. Elodie loves: music (her nickname at work is Melody Elodie because she’s often singing), the countryside, animals,gorgeous men, technology, art, garter belts and stockings, and potatoes—in any order.

Thank you for inviting me onto your blog.

I consider myself very lucky.

I write what I love, Evernight publish it, and people buy it and (hopefully) read it.

What more can I ask for?

I couldn’t not write and I especially love to write Regency Romance. And oh yes, Evernight lets me.

So we have the Cursed Treasure series.

A family whose fortune is cursed.

A family whose fortune is almost gone, and have to manage very carefully.

A family whose grown up children decide to ignore the curse and make their fortune grow once more. They don’t want to be a burden.

Strangely (or not) this isn’t a paranormal story. Only the treasure is said to be cursed.

As the parchment with it says…

The heart of ye child be lifting the curse—dare ye risk it…

(the prequel, Compromised, tells how Mijo escapes from France with the treasure, it’s a free read.)

www.evernightpublishing.com/compromised-by-raven-mcallan/

Lord Suitor is Tessa’s story.

A smuggler and an aristocrat. Who should Tessa chose?

Both professed their love for her, both intrigued her. How could she pick one over the other?

When Tessa was accosted by a smuggler her life took a turn for the better. Or so she thought. Until Nathaniel, Lord Fenniston indicated his interest in her. She had to marry to help her family, but her loyalties are torn.

Either man could be the one, but how can she decide? Torn between them, Tessa must think hard and fast.

Luckily, fate has it’s own way of deciding, and Tessa had no option but to do as it dictates.

A wee tease…

Her one night of bliss, her initiation, as she thought of it, had given her a very definite opinion of what she wanted, expected, from any marriage. However, and there was the rub, how could she say to someone, I’ll only marry you if you satisfy me in the way my smuggler did? You need to make my skin tingle, my insides quiver, and my body react in a way I never thought possible, so I shout and scream my release and beg you for more? Oh and your body, when it gains its own satisfaction inside me, has to react in the same way? It was not something she could introduce into everyday conversation. It wasn’t something most men would appreciate hearing. Men were such touchy creatures they wouldn’t see it as a compliment on their prowess, just the opposite.

Tessa stirred uneasily in her chair. During those long hours of enforced darkness, her highwayman had taught her some very interesting ways to satisfy herself. After the first few fumbling—and embarrassed at her temerity—attempts, she was happy with how to touch and tease herself until she was panting and sated. However, it wasn’t the same. It is not him.

Tonight though, she knew nothing she did would ease the ache deep inside her. The unexpected offer from Lord Fenniston had thrown her somewhat.

Why her? Oh, they were neighbors in Devon, but he had never shown any interest in her. In fact she hadn’t noticed him singling her out in any way, exactly the opposite. One occasional country dance did not show a partiality for anyone. They’d never waltzed, he’d never asked for her hand into supper, and never solicited her company at a picnic or to the theater. No, if anything, she would have thought he preferred Lady Elizabeth Cantor or Frederica Stowe. Nor did Tessa think he chose to spend time with those ladies as a smokescreen for his desire to have her as a wife. They were both too much all woman for that, and she was well aware neither would put up with such cavalier behavior.

Nor would I.

Somehow, Tessa accepted, as she stirred the glowing coals back into flames, Nathaniel Fenniston was not the sort of man to dissemble in that way. It wouldn’t be kind to either lady, and she didn’t think he would ever be deliberately unkind. No, he was an honorable man, but did that mean he was the man for her? Somehow, she needed to find out. On that sobering and complicated thought, she put the fireguard in place and took herself to bed.

Yet again she dreamed of her smuggler. She felt his hands on her as he showed her how to please both him and herself. Heard his voice as he praised her efforts and moaned his appreciation. Recalled and recreated in her dreams how his body stiffened and he shouted out his completion as he spilled onto her skin. Shivered and writhed as his lips met her quim and sucked on the soft flesh there and then drew the hard nub into his mouth. She gasped as her juices gathered, ready to help her fall over the edge of sanity and reason.

Tessa woke with a gasp to see the thin light of dawn creep around her curtains, and to feel the warmth and dampness of her arousal slick her skin. Her body tingled with awareness. Should she?

A quick glance at the timepiece on the mantel told her she had time enough to assuage her needs.

Tessa stretched out to fumble in her nearby sewing basket, to retrieve something she had secreted there.

A few days after her encounter with the smuggler she’d found a package in her bedside cabinet. She had no idea where it had come from, or who had placed it where she would see it so readily. The outside wrapper merely had her name on, and the cryptic message “for your eyes only.”

Puzzled she ripped the paper and unwrapped the fine lawn material that covered the contents. It was a smooth, wooden darning mushroom, with a note attached to it.

When she read the words, Tessa didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Inscribed in a very elegant hand it said: Close your eyes and run your fingers over this. Now imagine what it feels like and use it accordingly until we meet again.

Intrigued, Tessa had done as directed and discovered it was the perfect facsimile of a male staff. “Pego” her smuggler had called it as he taught her how to fondle and taste. At first she’d held it and stroked it, until her mind played games on her. A few nights later, her dreams included him, his pego, and his hands showing her how indeed a humble darning mushroom was the perfect substitute for a man. No, not perfect, she amended, adequate.

Links:

Evernight | Amazon.com | Amazon.uk

You can find me at www.ravenmcallan.com

Happy Reading

Love  R x

Emma Banciu dreams about her novels taking on a life of their own. Thanks to a centuries old Gypsy curse, they tend to do just that. Writing with pen and paper she brings things to life, and hell hath no fury like an antagonist scorned. Now she’s on the run from Kyrin, an evil demon warlord who surfaced from one of her first manuscripts. And the only way to get rid of him is to destroy the manuscript.

Enter JG1988, her long-time online friend. He knows nothing of the curse nor the magick Emma possesses. His only wish is to finally meet her in person and take their relationship to the next level. He reveals a surprise of his own when he shows up at Emma’s door as international recording artist Jake Griffin.

Destroying the manuscript will not only get rid of Kyrin, but also end her relationship with Jake. But keeping secrets from him may end up doing just that. In order to survive they’ll resort to love, lies, and a little Gypsy magick.

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Jake lead her into the adjoining room where a baby grand piano sat in the corner.

Turning the piano bench sideways, he sat back and motioned for her to sit in front of him. His arms slid alongside her shoulders as he reached out for the ivory bars, and he tightened his legs against her outer thighs. The heat radiating off him surrounded Emma like a blanket of safety. She snuggled up against his chest as his fingers tickled the keys.

Succumbing to the enchanting melody, her eyes fell closed. His chest pressed against her back, rising and falling as he sang out the verses he wrote just for her, simply titled, Emma’s Song. The words took her breath away how he spoke so lovingly of her through song. Each refrain more passion filled than the one before, pouring his heart out with each note. The emotions welling up inside confused her, as she let herself become entranced by his baritone voice. Fear and happiness pooled in her eyes, releasing in tears that slid over her cheeks.

They met for the first time tonight in person yet it felt like they had known each other all their lives. Their electronic relationship manifesting into something real and tangible excited her, but also scared her to death.

The keys stopped dancing, and the room held a silence marred only by the heaving of Jake’s breath. Reopening her eyes, Emma turned her head toward him. His fingertips pressed against her jaw line, guiding her head as he leaned in. Their lips met with a cautious tenderness. She swung her body around on the seat, raising her hands to encompass his neck. He pulled her closer, parting her lips as he swept his tongue over hers. An innate ache pulsed through her, taking over her self-control. His very touch tingled every nerve along the way.

She slipped her fingers through the back of his wavy hair, massaging his head in rhythm with their exploratory kisses. His breathing grew heavier, as he cradled her in his arms. A startling mixture of sharp chords rang out through the air as her back landed against the keys.

Soft laughter danced through their kiss as Jake picked her up by the hips off the bench and placed her on top of the baby grand. Her chest heaved in succession with the thumping of her heart. He stared at her with such intent she’d never seen. His intense eyes hypnotized her, holding her gaze.

“I’ve pictured this a thousand times, but nothing compares to the actual taste of your lips,” he whispered as he laid her back, brushing the chestnut locks of hair from her face. Lush lips caressed her neck, kissing the delicate skin down the plunging neckline of her dress.

Words made no sense. They circulated in her head, jumbled by the emotions coursing through her. Her body ached for him to take her completely as his hands caressed the length of her body, exploring every inch of her, memorizing every curve.

She dreamed about this moment. He wanted her as much as she wanted him. Her head screamed no, she’d only hurt him. But her heart shouted louder as she let her fingers ride up the length of his forearms, pressing against the hard muscle.

“As breathtaking as you look sprawled across my piano, I have a better idea,” he whispered.

Pulling her to him, he slid her off the piano. She wrapped her arms and legs around him as he carried her to the sofa, laying her beneath him.Carefully, he slid the silken dress above her hips, exposing her stomach where he decorated her skin with the warmth of his tongue and lips. A shiver climbed her spine releasing itself in a vocal aching of want and need.

In celebration of ELUDING ILLUSIONS release, I’m going to give away a digital copy of VEXED, my other recently released novel. Click below to get entered!

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Vodou stole her life. A gay ghost stole her boots. And the man who stole her heart stole her memories. Kena plans to get it all back.

Ex-cop Kena’s life is filled with regret, beer, and Cheetos. That is, until her ghostly roomie sends her dumpster diving, leading her to a sexy stranger named Luc and a fate she’d rather not remember. As Kena’s memories resurface, so do her feelings for Luc, the man she’s secretly been in love with for the last thousand years. And he needs her for more than a stroll down memory lane.

Vodou spirits, known as Loa, have been trapped in human form, and are trying to make their way back to the spirit world. But Luc’s brother is possessed by a vengeance demon conjured at the hands of NOLA’s crime syndicate kingpin. Saving him means damning herself to a spirit prison in a loveless, arranged union with the very man she’s supposed to rescue. But not helping Luc’s brother sentences him to death, leaving New Orleans in the hands of black magick, and losing Luc forever.

Wren Michaels hails from the frozen tundra of Wisconsin where beer and cheese are their own food groups. But a cowboy swept her off her feet, and carried her away below the Mason-Dixon line where she promptly lost all tolerance for snow and cold. They decided they’d make beautiful babies together and they got it right on the first try. Now Wren lives happily ever after in the real world and in the worlds of her making, where she creates book boyfriends for the masses to crave.

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A million thanks for having me on your blog to talk about Opportunity Knocks! This release means so much to me since, not only is it the first novel in my Laissez Faire series, it’s actually my FIRST novel (why start small with a standalone, when you can jump right in with a series, right?).

The Laissez Faire, itself, was inspired by an actual music and art festival that takes place in Northern Ontario each summer; and my main characters, Gill and Tommy, are based on two lads I encountered at said festival. When the fictional versions of these two sprang to life in my head, they brought friends, family, and roommates along with them and I knew from the very beginning that Tommy & Gill’s story wasn’t the only one that needed  to be told.

I hope people enjoy reading their tale as much as I had writing it 🙂

Opportunity Knocks (Laissez Faire #1) by L.D. Blakeley
Available: August 5, 2015
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-77233-450-0

BLURB

Small-town security guard, Gill Martin, has lived in Mystique Pointe his entire life. His dating prospects are non-existent and he doesn’t particularly like his job, but at least it’s better than unemployment. Besides, he hasn’t got any better ideas.

Big-city artist, Tommy Hearne, knows exactly what he wants out of life: a successful art career and a successful relationship. He also knows that living in Liberty City is his best chance for pursuing both. Unfortunately, for him, neither of these pursuits seem to be panning out quite to his liking.

When Tommy and his misfit band of friends roll into town for the Laissez Faire, Mystique Pointe’s annual music & art festival, worlds definitely collide. A fiery tryst sparks more than just a lust connection, but what happens when the weekend is over?

EXCERPT

Tommy followed closely behind Gill as they made their way out to the parking lot. He did a quick head count and realized that there were only five of them and that lap-sitting wasn’t going to be on the menu after all. But when Kat took out her keys to trigger the unlock remote and Tommy saw the responding lights on a tiny Fiat 500, he almost cheered. There was barely room for two grown men in the back seat. Good thing he was willing to make the sacrifice and let the others ride in comfort.

“Amy, why don’t you sit up front?” Kat had opened the driver-side door and was about to climb in when she added, “You can pull the seat forward and let the two leggy boys have a bit more room. Sorry, Tommy—looks like you’re gonna have to squeeze in on top.”

Tommy had never been so happy to be the short man out. He waited to see which side of the car Alec chose, and made sure he was at the opposite door. And when Gill climbed in, his T-shirt rucked up slightly, giving Tommy the most delicious glimpse of skin above the most perfect denim-clad bubble butt he’d ever seen. Oh, thank goodness for well-lit parking lots.

“You getting in?” Gill had an expression on his face Tommy was unable to read. Although, if it they’d been working with a bit more than car lot lights, he was sure he’d be able to see another blush staining that handsome face.

Poking his head inside the car, he carefully leaned across Gill’s lap and braced himself on Alec’s leg before climbing in entirely and sitting carefully on top of Gill. There really wasn’t a lot of room in Kat’s car. Despite only being five-foot-eight, Tommy still had to keep his head ducked down to avoid bashing his skull against the roof. He also used it as more excuse to snuggle down closer to Gill. But, hey—not my fault the girl drives a Fiat!

“Sorry it’s such close quarters guys. The car was a graduation gift from my grandparents. I wouldn’t have picked it, but who says no to a free car, right?” Kat caught Tommy’s eye in the rearview mirror and winked. Yeah. Definitely not his girlfriend. Tommy didn’t get the feeling she was upset about his crawling all over Gill. Potential matchmaker, maybe? “Luckily the campground isn’t that far, so you won’t have to suffer long.”

“I don’t mind. Really.” Tommy wriggled slightly and rested his fingers at the back of Gill’s neck. It couldn’t be classed as a grope. He still wasn’t a hundred percent sure if that would even be welcomed. But it was a touch, and a delicate one at that. And it was enough for Tommy to feel the shiver that it elicited from Gill.

“Sorry, Gill. Hope I’m not crushing you.”

“Oh. No. You’re fine.” Gill’s voice was low and slightly hitched. His glasses had started to creep down his nose and Tommy reached up, without thinking, to adjust them.

“Don’t want to lose those.” They were so close that, had it been a colder night, Tommy’s breath would have fogged Gill’s lenses. And, fuck, didn’t that send indecent thoughts straight to his groin. Images of fogging up the car windows with Gill or, to be precise, images of what they might be doing in order to cause said situation, sent a message straight to Tommy’s dick. He fidgeted slightly, not wanting to reach down and adjust the hard-on he’d hoped he could keep at bay.

He was about to fidget again when the sound of Gill clearing his throat distracted him slightly from the problem at hand. And alerted him to another. Of course, describing the feeling of Gill’s answering erection under his ass as a problem couldn’t have been further from wrong. Gloriously, heroically magnificent, perhaps. But not a problem.

Tommy turned slightly to make eye contact with Gill but found the other man uncomfortably looking in the other direction. He twisted slightly, making sure his ass did a slow grind into Gill’s crotch as he did so. Yep. That got his attention.

WHERE TO BUY

Amazon Canada
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Evernight Publishing

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A pragmatist with a romantic soul & a dirty mind, L.D. is a fan of horror movies, hot sex, and Happily Ever Afters. Easily distracted by shiny things, she’s a slightly neurotic, highly ambitious dreamer who enjoys dabbling in photography & pretending she can carry a tune.

In another life, L.D. was a newspaper reporter, an entertainment & music writer, travel writer, website content editor, and a marketing shill. Now she prefers to spend her time writing hot, steamy fiction (with a healthy dose of romance) about intriguing, sexy men. Of course, whether these pretty boys end up between the sheets with other gorgeous lads or up against a wall with a spicy and spirited heroine, all depends on which direction her imagination takes her on any given day.

Although she dreams of living some place isolated with an endless supply of wine and an infinite number of titles on her eReader, she currently lives in down-town Toronto with her husband and their rock star cat.

You can find her online pretty much everywhere: Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Goodreads, her Amazon Author page, her blog, and her official website.

Heath abandoned Ellie Scott thirteen years ago, disgusted and betrayed. He’s now reluctantly back for his father’s—count ’em—fourth wedding because he promised his little sister. Mia wants him to make up with their dad—and she’s never stopped talking about Ellie. 

Ellie never got over Heath Granger. She had no idea why he left, only that it cut to the bone. She’s doing the flowers for his father’s wedding so they are bound to meet.

Thrown together again, Ellie learns why Heath abandoned her. Like father, like son, except she quite likes Mr. Granger. Heath, not so much, considering how quick he was to believe a lie—and think the worst of her. 

Faced with the truth, Heath is ashamed of his actions. He can walk away again, or man up and make amends. But will Ellie forgive and forget? Will they come full circle? 

Teaser Excerpt:

Ellie buried her head in her hands and silently screamed, frustrated by the situation Mia had put her in. When she looked back up she saw him. His dark hair was a tad too long for convention, but it suited him. For half a second she let herself imagine what it would feel like to run her fingers through the thick mane. The simple touch used to bring her so much pleasure, but then that thought forced her to remember their last time together and that was enough to bring her back to present time. She couldn’t ignore his same strong, handsome features. Heath gave off an air of command even at this distance, and he wasn’t soft at all from his desk job. So probably not staid either. Of course, he looked more mature, but still like Heath.

A white buttoned up shirt tucked into a pair of dark slacks was anchored with a thin belt. The first two buttons on his shirt were left unattended to, giving him a more casual, cool look. His slick, black dress shoes were the only part of his attire that stood out to her though. And if Heath being beyond sexy wasn’t enough to knock her off balance, him not being alone was. As she had somehow already suspected, a blonde bombshell in a sleek, blue dress hung on Heath’s side, as if claiming him and warding off all other women. High heels showcased her long, tan legs. Ellie became insecure in her simple, flowered sundress paired with white sandals. If this was what he was into… No, Ellie, don’t you dare do that to yourself.

Mia saw them about the same time. Leaping to her feet, she about tumbled over her chair, trying to reach Heath. In that moment, seeing how happy her friend was, Ellie figured all the discomfort that was bound to happen tonight would be worth it.

Mia pulled her brother into a tight hug. “Heath, you’re here!”

A smile spread across his perfectly shaped lips as he took his sister into his arms. He looked genuinely happy. “It’s good to see you, little sis.”

Mr. Roy beamed. “It’s wonderful seeing my kids together again. I’ve missed this.”

Renee acknowledged Ellie first. “I didn’t know you would be here.”

“Yeah, Mia’s full of surprises. It seems she didn’t tell anyone I was coming tonight,” she said, looking in Heath’s general direction.

Mr. Roy left his children’s side, and Ellie stood, accepting his bear hug. “It’s good to see you, Ellie.”

“You too, Mr. Roy.”

The only other person left to greet—well, two people—was Heath and his date.

Heath was first to break the awkward silence. Extending a hand, he leaned into her. At that very moment she made the mistake of inhaling, taking in his fresh smelling cologne. “Ellie.” His voice came out low. And that did funny things to her stomach. The flip flops only got worse as he swept his eyes down her body, from her face to her painted toes and back up to her flaming red cheeks. Damn him.

“Hi” she said, clearing her throat, clearly not as unfazed by their meeting as he appeared.

His stare set her body on fire. He made no attempt to move and she became aware she’d failed to shake his hand. She’d taken it into hers, and lord help her. His hand was rough and strong, making her want to shiver. She also couldn’t ignore his eyes as they bore into her, dangerously dark, sending a jolt of excitement to her core. This couldn’t be happening. After all these years, he still had the same effect on her. And then it seemed the connection broke his calm and collected exterior because he didn’t let go immediately. Instead, he raised one beautifully arched eyebrow at her.

His touch, his smell sent her back to a time when things were just as complicated. Except then she welcomed the complication he brought into her life. His lips, warm and moving over hers. His tongue swirling with hers, sending little jolts of electricity to her sex. His body rubbing against her. The feel of his—

“Heath, darling, who is this?” Blondie was now back on his side, running her manicured fingers up and down his forearm.

A cold dose of reality put out the fire that had sparked between her thighs. It was going to be a really long night.

Heath cleared his throat and collected himself. She wondered if he’d allowed himself to go back to that place too. “This is Mia’s best friend, Ellie Scott. Ellie, this is Melissa Adams.”

Voice just above a whisper—audible to only Heath and Ellie—Melissa said, “I’m Heath’s lover.”

Ellie stared back in horror. Was she supposed to have a response to that? No wonder they’d never worked out, if this was the type of woman he’d been waiting for.

Buy links: 

Evernight | Amazon

Author Bios:

Peri Elizabeth Scott lives in Manitoba, Canada. She and her husband have a wonderful son, and a houseful of animals. She closed her part time private practice as a social worker and child play therapist to spend more time with her husband. Peri has written for years, mostly short stories and poetry, and reads everything she can lay her hands on. She more recently turned to penning contemporary romance, although has published dark erotica under another pen name.

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Jennifer Simpkins has always been an avid reader, but it wasn’t until she became a stay-at-home mom did she start to read romance. Her passion of reading romance turned into another passion she had as a child—writing. One late night of writing about sexy heroes and strong-willed heroines turned into two nights, until seven months later she had written her first novel.

She lives in a small, North Carolina town with her supportive husband (whose dream is to be on the cover of one of her books), a beautiful daughter, and two dogs who can’t seem to get along. If she’s not writing you can find her reading, hanging out with her family, or cheering on the New York Yankees.

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Blurb:

Family kept them apart, fate brought them together.

Bracken Kauller has been unlucky in love. Not that his family doesn’t stop trying to push proper women his way. He’s found it easiest to stay on his ship, and out of their path. When trouble starts to brew on his vessel he needs an expert he can trust.

Sadie Monterey is smart, driven, and successful. But she doesn’t have it all. The only person she’s ever loved has seemingly made it his life mission to avoid her with the help of his family. Then circumstances throw them together in a life or death situation.

The threats are mounting against them, and time is running out. With only one move left to make, Bracken throws his heart on the line. He’ll do anything necessary to be Sadie’s mate.

Purchase Links:

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sadie039smate-1859750-147.html

Amazon (US) – http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0131KPW8U/

Amazon (CA) – http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0131KPW8U/

Amazon (UK) – http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0131KPW8U/

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/april-zyon

Bookstrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/sadies-mate-mf

Evernight Page: http://www.evernightpublishing.com/sadies-mate-by-april-zyon

iTunes Page: https://www.itunes.apple.com/us/artist/april-zyon/id916028407?mt=11

Smashwords Page: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/565529

Author Social Media Links:

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Excerpt:

Sadie sat in Bracken’s office with the packet that was for her eyes only in her lap and waited, not so patiently. She looked once more at the timepiece and saw that it was now forty-five minutes since she spoke to him last. She needed him to hurry. The power supply for the facial film wasn’t one that was everlasting and it was also bloody damn well hot as well. She shifted once more. Five more minutes, that was all she was giving him until she left and let him come to find her.

The door from the command deck slid open to reveal utter chaos, then slid shut to silence the noise. “Apologies for the delay,” he said. He moved to the desk and practically fell into the chair behind it. Rubbing his hands over his face, he leaned forward to prop his arms on the desktop. “What’s going on, Sadie?”

“You and your friend, Fintan, have been playing loose with the rules. Since he wed the Imarian woman, the marshal’s office have placed spies on his ship.” She passed the package over to him. “They want to bring you all down. They’re trying to find who all is with you. I never once thought to ensure that his destroyer was protected as well. Sure I’ve hidden the telemetry on his ship when I could, but I didn’t think about scouring it clean the way that I did yours.”

Bracken waved off her concern as he looked over the pieces of the package she’d been left. Reaching out, he pressed a button. “Draven, get Fintan for me, please,” he said, then released the button. “They really are starting to get desperate,” he muttered, shaking his head slowly.

She shrugged and leaned back once more. If he wasn’t concerned, why should she be? It was likely time she stopped protecting him as much as she did. “If you have nothing else to say, I should go back to my quarters. It’s been a very long and trying day.” Especially since she had been shoved onto the one ship in the universe she didn’t want to be. Not because she hated Bracken, but because she cared far too much for him.

“Don’t move,” he said sharply. A beep sounded, and the screen to her left lit up.

“Bracken, what’s going…oh, hello.”

“Fintan, meet Doctor Sadie Monterey, friend of the family. Mainly the sisters but we’re forgiving her for her horrid taste in friends. Sadie, meet General Fintan Daykin. The marshal’s office is stepping things up, Fintan. They’re into planting evidence now, and moles.”

“I know. I caught two just this morning who are now crammed into an escape pod with three others that will be jettisoned sometime in the next hour. I’m sweeping through the crew, looking for the others they thought they could slip past me.”

“Good. I already have Draven looking into our crew as well. They actually think we don’t know each and every member by name and face.”

“Well the offices are being run by an egotistical ass who wants to make a mark by wiping out the Imarians once and for all.”

Bracken shot her a look and snorted. “They’re not above getting rid of those that could discover their plans, either. Where are you at?”

Fintan leaned to the side with a frown. “About a day out from your position. Why?”

“Because we’ve been sabotaged and I’m pretty damn sure they have a plan to ignite this war, and we’re the fucking suckers about to be splattered across the galaxy.”

“I’ll get Markus to encourage the engine room to run in the red for a while. Keep me apprised of the situation. And Bracken.”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t get dead.”

“Copy that, General. See you soon.” The screen went black as Bracken turned his chair to face her once more.

“So you’ve known what’s been happening for a while now I take it?” she asked as she leaned back, tapping her finger to the arm of the chair in her telltale nervous fashion. “What I don’t get, though, is why assure that I’m on board? I’m the one who designed the AI’s and without me they will all go dormant. There is a kill switch that’s encoded with my DNA, so making me dead is a good way to kill all of the Craegin destroyers, so why?”

He lifted a brow and stared at her. “Come on, Sadie. Think about it. They have a whole new line of destroyers that are ready to be put into place if not for the fact we’re not at war and don’t need that many out here. All with a different AI system to run them. Kill all of us off with a fake Imarian fleet, and they can roll out their new ships with commanders in place who do as they are told, and don’t bother to think for themselves.”

She shook her head and leaned forward. “You really don’t know me as well as you think that you do.” Sure, everyone was certain that the new, top-of-the-line destroyers were all clearly based upon a new design, but she was a chameleon. She could change her looks at whim and did so often so that she could ensure Bracken was safe. She hid the true self that she was, the scarred woman that men only wanted for a title and money. No, Sadie was no one’s fool. Not now, not ever. “Why do you think you know me as well as you do? Yes, I’ve been friends with your sisters for as long as I can recall but you don’t really know me. No one does.” No one had ever truly tried to know her. Not after she had been disfigured. Sure she had been sought after, but they didn’t want her just the prestige of being her husband.

“You may have put in the initial systems, but they were all changed out on the sly a year ago,” he said quietly. Digging into his desk, he tossed a file onto the top near her. “We’ve been suspicious for a couple of years now, but the instant they did that we all started to cover our asses. We have enough dirt on several politicians to bury them for centuries. But we don’t yet have the one key piece. The why of it all. You’re as expendable as the rest of us, Sadie. Why do you think you were forced onto this ship with us? Especially if we’re such threats to the current government. You could have kept watch from Craegin remotely. You have access to everything here. Why put you on this ship now?”

“Don’t know.” Oh she knew all right but she wasn’t saying. “Well since you have absolutely everything figured out you really don’t need me now, do you? You can assign one of the tramps to take me back or drop me at one of the moon bases.” It pissed her off that someone was putting her shit out there. It bothered her even more that Bracken felt he knew more about her and what was happening in her life than she did. A lot.

“And leave you unprotected? Hardly,” he said, adding on a snort for good measure, she was sure. Bloody irritating was what it actually was. He looked ready to say something else to her when another beep sounded. Snarling a heap of swear words under his breath, he hit the button. “Yeah? What? When?” he asked. Then he let loose with another string of curses, some used in a rather creative manner. “Get us there as quick as you can. Alert Fintan that we’re diverting. Son of a bitch,” he complained as he got to his feet. When he reached her side he tugged on the shoulder of her shirt lightly. “Come on, doc. You’re going to want to see the evidence for yourself.”

“If you say so.” Said said as she rose to her feet and adjusted her suit. It was clear by the rigidness of her stance that the woman hated being led around on a string, but what was worse was she would do anything for this man. She was Craegin through and through; she was passionate, but she was also submissive if the right man ever came along. He never had, however, not since the right man sat before her and never once looked at her as if he wanted anything to do with her at all.

He put a hand on the small of her back as they stepped onto the command deck. The volume was intense on the deck, though it lowered for a moment as Bracken entered. Several nods came their way before everyone returned to their work.

She moved so that she had her back to the wall and simply surveyed the controlled chaos that was happening on the command deck.

Bracken went over to his first officer. She watched as he listened to the man. It was his expression she noticed the most, what she could see of it, that was. He started frowning, but slowly it melted off until she could practically feel the rage wanting to let loose. Bracken took the data pad the man passed him and came slowly toward her as he viewed what was on it.

“So, what’s happening?” she asked, shifting to better see the data pad and so that no one could possibly get behind her. She had been there before and now there were very few people she allowed at her back. “What has you looking so angry?”

“You watch and tell me what you see.” He passed over the data pad and moved so his back was to the wall at her side. Leaning his head back, he closed his eyes. In a brief flash she saw how tired he was before he masked it all under a neutral look.

Sadie took the data pad and watched the horror unfold and gasped. “Holy mother,” she whispered, then touched the pad, increasing the size of the screen and replaying what was in it. “Wait.” She squeezed in closer and shook her head. “They have the Imarian insignias wrong. Look.” She turned to him. “They’re trying to make this look like Imarian, but they screwed up the insignia.” She had studied the insignias at great detail, mostly so that she could write a script into the coding of the AI’s that would recognize anything to do with an Imarian ship.

“I know. It’s begun,” he muttered. Someone called to him, and he gave a nod. Pressing his hand to his ear, he let out a sigh. “I’m guessing you’ve seen the footage so far? Yeah, we saw that here too. Better let our friend know the next step is likely already underway for the retribution. Right, let me know when you hear something. Sorry,” he said, looking to her again. “We’ll be pairing up from here out. Fintan’s going to be riding not far from us for the next while, and all those who are against our government’s tactics have been warned to do the same. It’ll stretch us a little, but the hope is that we can keep one another safe with the tactic since command won’t be expecting two ships when they start to try picking us off.”

“You need to ensure that the hidden codes inside of your communications panels are disabled. Each ship is built with a minimum of fifteen hidden codes to report back to command. I need for you to take me to engineering first, communications and then the armory. I’ll do what I can to help you. When the general’s ship is in range I’ll go to his ship and do the same.”

He stared at her long enough to make her mildly uncomfortable. “Thank you, Sadie,” he said in a low, intimate tone. Reaching out, he took the data pad from her fingers to pass off to a junior officer. “Let’s get going. We need to do this quickly because I have a feeling we’re going to need every damn advantage we can get.”

“Yes, you are.” She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. Going through her mind was everything she needed to do. “And if they are using the new class of ships there is a kill switch that I hid inside of them. They don’t know about it. Not even the people on my team know about the kill codes. It’s something that I put into place with everything that I’ve designed for the last fifteen years.” She had been a child prodigy, able to create programs for ships for as long as she could recall. It had been the one and only way to escape the machinations of her mother to try to get her sold off, married off, whatever.

“Let’s keep that as a last resort. I’m not putting you in any more danger than you already are, Sadie. I wasn’t kidding when I said I wanted to keep you here and safe. Putting you on a moon base is just begging for an assassin to take you out when you’re not looking. Not even you can watch your back every moment of every day, no matter how much you would wish otherwise.”

“I’ve learned a lot over the years. I’ve learned how to protect myself and hide in plain sight.” She’d been doing it for the last six years, since she had been attacked and permanently disfigured. “Your sisters have the gift of being able to go about in the world without a care. I’m not. I never have been.” She was one of the original families’ descendants, one of the few Craegin that still had diluted Imarian blood in her veins, her family having intermarried far more often than not over the generations. Not something she was proud of and likely why her father had been as crazy as he was. “I don’t need a moon base for the kill switch. I just need to be within range and an amplifier dish.”

“If I had a bloody opinion on those females I’d lock them up in a dungeon and keep them from wreaking havoc on the world. Unfortunately only my father sides with me. Mother doesn’t see it as an issue.” He put his hand on her back as they walked through the corridors at a quick pace. In the lift he keyed in their destination before turning to look at her. “Once you’ve done this we need to have a talk. Frank, open, no more hiding, Sadie. You up for it?”

“Depends on what exactly it is that you wish to discuss. If it’s to lecture me, again, then I believe I’ll pass on that conversation if you don’t mind.” There was only so much that she could take before her heart would break. “Your sisters are only on your case as much as they are because your mother and father have forbade them from marrying until you have married. Just saying.”

“Which is utter crap,” he said. “I don’t lecture, Sadie. I pass out useful pieces of information that I believe someone could use. But to put your mind at ease, this isn’t a lecture of any sort. Truths, and nothing but truths. That’s it. I’ll tell you some truths I know, and you try and come up with excuses and blow me off yet again.” He gave her a tight smile and spun as the doors opened. Stepping to the side, he waved her out into the corridor.

He really didn’t know her at all. That much was far more apparent with each moment she spent with him. Perhaps her heart and soul were wrong; they had to be. People who belonged together didn’t act as they did to each other.

Once more his hand landed on her back to guide her through the ship to do what needed to be done to keep him and his crew safe. When they reached engineering he stayed close but didn’t crowd her. Bracken did ensure that none of the crew came wandering over to see what she was up to, mainly by planting his rather large frame between her and everyone else.

Settling into the seat before the console, Sadie pulled open the backdoor she had built into the systems and began to go through the programming. Finding the key code she needed, she just smiled. “There you are,” she said and removed the line of coding that would communicate back to the home world. “There.” She turned and looked up at Bracken. “Armory next, please. Then communications, medical and the science labs. That should take everything out so that they can no longer eavesdrop upon you or your ship.”

And so it went with each area that she had told him about. Together they traveled the ship from end to end, her removing codes as she did so. Once that was finished they were outside of hydroponics. “Now what?”

“Now we talk.” His hand landed on her arm, this time in a firm grip. Hard enough to hold her but not to bruise. Apparently he wasn’t taking any chances in her going anywhere but where he wanted.

It was the stupidest thing ever, and she chastised herself immensely when his hand landed upon her arm. The moment that he squeezed she felt her panties get wet. The touch was firm but not painful. It was the touch she had craved from him all of her life, oddly enough. She allowed him to lead her. She allowed him to take her through the ship as he wished.

If you would like to read more about Space Wars, please pick up the first book. Here is a link for Adira’s Mate so that you can read about the book that started it all.

Blurb for Adira’s Mate:

If you had one shot at a love beyond anything you’ve ever known, would you take it? What if it meant leaving behind everything you’ve ever known? Adira Lora never thought the love of her life would be a prisoner of war who kidnaps her at gunpoint. When Craegin General Fintan Daykin forces her to help him escape from an Imarian prison, Adira finds herself ripped away from the only home she’s ever known. All of a sudden she is the captive, bound for a world where the men were born to rule…and dominance is a way of life. She never expects to realize the Craegins are not the barbarians her people have made them out to be, and soon finds herself falling for the large, strong warrior.

Okay, I admit it…I fell in love with Spartacus as played by Andy Whitfield in the Starz adaptation.  How horrible that he succumbed to non-Hodgkin lymphoma shortly after wrapping up the first season. During the second season, the producers decided to introduce a new gladiator which, in my opinion, was one hot hunk to watch!  So when the third season came back, with a new lead to play Spartacus, it didn’t seem such a sad departure from Andy.

I became fascinated by the dynamics of the politics behind the gladiator games.  The origin of gladiatorial combat is open to debate. There is evidence of it in funeral rites during the Punic Wars of the 3rd century BC, and thereafter it rapidly became an essential feature of politics and social life in the Roman world. Its popularity led to its use in ever more lavish and costly games. The gladiator games lasted for nearly a thousand years. (Thanks, Wikipedia!)

The Alpha Gladiator was actually written to be part of an anthology, but it came out as too sci-fi, so I switched it to the novella story line, Romance on the Go, for Evernight Publishing.  The Spartacus story might have provided the idea, but I moved everything into a futuristic slash paranormal setting.   The next story I have planned in this line features more of the slave and gladiator dynamics, not quite so paranormal but still within the realms of mystical.  Hopefully that will be written soon, after I wrap up a few other series.

Ravage is the fierce Alpha of his people, the Lycans.  During the mating celebration, while their guards are down, his people are attacked and twelve are captured for the gladiator games of Kappuah, including Aleirah, the woman Ravage wants above all others. 

He tries to resist, but he’s unwilling to see his men and his female harmed by the ruthless tyrants of the games.  He must make the ultimate sacrifice of taking lives if he’s to protect his people. 

But there is one secret no one knows, and Ravage is more than willing to show how some myths are based in truth, by letting his inner wolf come out to destroy all those who enslaved them.

Buy links: 

Evernight | Amazon | All Romance Ebooks

Excerpt:

“I remember.”  He looked around.  “You are a compassionate woman.  Caring and kind.  You would make me a great mate.”

Her mouth dropped open. “Excuse me?”

“A mate.  I have been waiting for you to enter the mating ceremony for ten years, Aleirah.  Surly you knew that?”

She shook her head.  “No.  I … ah … no.  I don’t think I would make a very good mate for an Alpha.”

“Why would you think that?” he asked, a bit vexed.  Ravage was fast learning she could be a little stubborn.

“I’m…” She paused and cleared her throat.  “I just don’t think I would.”

“I beg to differ, and I hope you allow me to change your mind.”  He stepped closer to her and her breath hitched in her throat.  He tilted her face up and her mouth dropped open on a breathless little sigh.  The he offered her his elbow.  “Would you take a walk with me through the night?”

She bit her bottom lip with her top teeth, and the action had an interesting effect on his dick, which jumped to attention.  Ravage could just imagine her sinking her teeth into his shoulder as he thrust into her beautiful body.  Hesitantly, she took his arm and as soon as she touched him, he placed his hand on top of hers, trapping her by his side.  Now that he had her, he wasn’t about to let her get away.

He pulled her away from both bonfires, into the woods, letting the darkness shroud them.  Sometimes it was easier to let go of secrets and fears when the other person was cloaked in shadow.  The night had always been a friend of the Lycanis people, so Ravage used the moon to his advantage.

“I remember you from when we were children,” he murmured.

“I remember you too,” she said softly.

He grinned, pleased with her answer.  She may deny that she wanted to be his mate, but the pheromones coming off her body indicated otherwise.  Aleirah found him desirable.  Whether or not she wanted to be his mate, her body had already begun changing to accept his claiming bite.  Now, he just had to get her to admit it, and he wasn’t above using seduction on his part.

Author Bio and Info:

I like writing about the very ordinary girl thrust into extraordinary circumstances, so my heroines will probably never be lawyers, doctors or corporate highrollers.  I try to write characters who aren’t cookie cutters and push myself to write complicated situations that I have no idea how to resolve, forcing me to think outside the box.  I love writing characters who are real, complex and full of flaws, heroes and heroines who find redemption through love. I love to hear from readers so I’ve made it really easy to find me on the web:

Twitter | Facebook | Tsu | Website | Blog | Amazon author page

The 5 writing pet peeves that simply drive me insane.

1. Homework. As soon as my son gets home from school, it’s all about homework. The kid was in third grade and is doing algebra.  Seriously, I pulled my hair out every day.  It’s a wonder I’m not bald.
2. The dog. I think she’s able to read minds because the moment I’m concentrating and the words are flowing, that’s when she brings her leash, barking for a walk.
3. Facebook. I spend too much damn time looking at all the funny memes and sexy pictures my fellow authors like to put up.
4. My muse. I’m hard at work trying to write out a complicated and scene and she’s like “Wait! I’ve got this awesome idea for another story!” Most of the time she wakes me up at three am.  Bitch.
5. Character changes. Most of the time I can envision the beginning and ending to a story, but every once in a while the ending slips away, due to the direction of where the characters take me. When that happens I struggle a lot to maintain the plot.  I’ve shelved some great stories because of this.

On the second day of release, #GirlCode has hit the bestsellers list. It ranks #20 on Amazon’s bestsellers list Romance > Erotica > Collections and Anthologies!