Quite a few of my romances take place at Christmas-time, or over the Yule-time period. Why is that? Because Christmas is a time for families, for gifts, for beginnings, for magic. Here are my Romances at Christmas. All are for sale at Amazon and Barnes and Noble apart from 'Twelve Kisses,' and that will be appearing there soon.
Thank you for having me as a guest here today. I just had a new release come out on Monday that I would love to tell you guys about. It’s called Sweet Salvation. I wrote it because the story of Rex and Shelby needed to be told. When I finished writing Sweet Redemption, the 1st book in the Sweet Awakenings series (http://www.bookstrand.com/sweet-redemption ) there was too much left unsettled. Rex being the intense womanizer that he was needed to be brought back down to reality. Shelby also had some demons she needed to contend with. Her malicious behavior from Sweet Redemption was never quite explained. I just could feel so many avenues and possibilities I had to write it.
Thus comes the story of Rex and Shelby and their Sweet Salvation...
Blurb:
Falling in love with his best friend wasn’t what Rex had intended, but it seemed that when it came to Shelby all bets were off. After a rocky start, the two fall in love, completely unaware of the danger that lurks in the distance.
Plagued with nightmares, Shelby begins to remember memories of abuse she suffered as a teenager, which were long ago buried and forgotten. Dealing with the pain of her past brings her and Rex closer together.
Someone else wants Shelby for himself though and is determined to get her by any means necessary. As he sets his plan into motion, the question of who will survive and who will be destroyed remains unanswered as a surprise from Shelby’s past may be the key to finding Sweet Salvation.
STORY EXCERPT:
“I don’t care how hard you push me, there is no way he was safe.” Rex laughed at her.
“That’s only because you probably have that umpire in your back pocket. You would pay him off to cheat just to annoy me.”
“Hey, it’s not my fault you were rooting for the losing team. Pick a real team next time.” Pushing off her blows, he grabbed her in a bear hug and eased her back against the cushions of the couch.
After they took a moment to control their laughter, Shelby looked up at the man holding her in the crook of his arm. She was smiling up at him. He could see how happy she was. He could see the contentment in her eyes.
“This is good, Shelby. I would have missed this if we had lost it.”
“Me, too. Promise me something, Rex?” She was no longer smiling.
“Anything, you know that.” Rex replied rather hesitantly, not liking the seriousness of her expression.
“No matter what happens, promise me that you’ll never stop talking to me. Promise me that we’ll always be able to tell each other whatever we’re feeling.” Looking up at him more closely, she put her hand on his chest and continued. “Can you promise me that, Rex?”
* * * *
God, she looked so beautiful. And sweet, she looked so damn sweet. Everything inside of him was telling him to kiss her again. He wanted to taste her lips just one more time. Oh, hell. “Of course, I can promise you that. Always, we will always talk to each other. There won’t be any more days of silence. I promise.” He winked at her.
The smile she gave him squeezed at his heart. Snuggling up closer to him and bringing her feet up underneath her on the couch, she got comfy. It was a way that they had spent many nights together in comfortable silence. Never once in all the months they had stayed in and watched TV in this position had it ever bothered him. But now, he was suddenly all too aware of how snugly her body fit with his. How good it felt to hold her against him? Damn it! What the hell was wrong with him? He tried to recite baseball statistics as they flashed on the screen, hoping that would get his mind back on track.
He watched the remainder of the extra-inning game in silence. He knew she had fallen asleep. She always loved it when games went into extra innings. He would have woken her, but she was sleeping so peacefully, and he had the sneaking suspicion she didn’t get much sleep last night. He had, but only thanks to his buddy Jack Daniels. He didn’t want to move her, but they had fallen asleep on her couch too many times before. He knew that if they both stayed like this, they would both wake up sore and cranky.
Gently, he began to get up as he let her body lie on the couch where he was sitting. Going to her bedroom, he pulled down her covers and got things ready for her. Coming back into the living room, he decided to pick up the mess they had made from dinner. After he had loaded their dishes in the dishwasher and discarded their trash, he went back to get the sleeping beauty.
His intention was to pick her up and carry her to bed, but something stopped him. He sat on the coffee table and just stared at her. He had an ache in his heart that was killing him. He didn’t know what it meant, but he knew it centered on Shelby. Truth be told, he didn’t understand any of this. How could they have been such close friends for this long without this desire that was consuming him now? He wanted so much to touch her, kiss her, and hold her. Only not like a friend.
He wanted to bury himself in her. Basking in what he was sure would be the sweetest hot vise of wet pleasure. Showing her that their bodies intertwined was what their destiny was. He wanted to make her–hell, he didn’t know. He just knew things were different now. He was going to have to fight very hard to keep these feelings locked away. Besides their friendship, he knew she wasn’t ready for a relationship. She had been through so much. There was no way he would take advantage of her again. He couldn’t. Just as the last thought left his mind, she opened her eyes and looked straight at him.
She smiled. “Are you leaving?”
God, I hope not.
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Ok, not sure yet - try the following HOT Adult Excerpt:
“Rex? Is there something wrong? You’re so quiet.” She gave him a triumphant smile. “Penny for your thoughts.” She continued to taunt him as she walked toward the bed.
He stared at her. She did it! He couldn’t believe it. She had shaved all the hairs from her sweet, succulent pussy. All that stood in between him and her glistening, swollen flesh was her smooth, creamy skin. “Jesus, baby. You are so damn gorgeous. Come over here and let me taste you.”
She laughed. “Rex, did you forget the rules? I’m in charge right now. You do as I say, not the other way around.”
He threw his head back in frustration. He wanted so badly to touch her there and to taste her.
He brought his head back up when he felt the bed move. She was getting on top of him but not the way that he would expect. She was facing the other direction. He was ready to bless her for her ingenuity when he found himself wanting to curse her. She had purposely positioned herself right in front of him, but just barely out of reach. His tongue darted out but couldn’t reach her. She was at least six inches away from his mouth. And the sight. Jesus, the sight of her was amazing.
She raised her bottom up higher and sank her mouth down on top of him. It happened so fast he hadn’t been expecting it. He let out a groan as she took him deep and fast. Clasping her lips tightly around his shaft. He was dying underneath the aggression she was unleashing on him. Just when he thought he would scream at her and demand more, she inched herself further back and allowed him access to what he had been craving.
“Mmm, God, you’re fucking sweet, honey.” He could barely reach her with his tongue and was using it to stroke her glistening folds. He couldn’t reach her clit but from her rocking hips knew it would only be a matter of time before she gave him a taste of that, too. He knew that if he had full access to her, he would be able to take her over the edge within seconds.
* * * *
She was starting to move more than her hips. Her entire body was starting to buck and rock back and forth. As much as she loved what she was doing to him, she was also driving herself insane from wanting him so bad. She loved the taste of him in her mouth. His protruding veins were a sensual contradiction to the smooth skin of his head. And the sensation of his tongue on her smooth skin was indescribable. It was like there were new nerve endings that were exposed. Had they always been there? She wondered to herself as she heard a deep, pleading moan and had to bite back her laughter. She rather liked knowing that she was driving him as crazy as he drove her.
“Shelby, damn it, come closer to me. Let me taste all of you.”
She did as he asked. She liked it when he was a little demanding.
“That’s it. Mmm, you taste so damn good. I could make a meal out of you. I could survive on nothing but the taste of your pussy for the rest of my life.” He kept licking and sucking every inch of her as he continued. “Your smooth skin feels so good under my tongue. You’re so hot, baby. Your juices are like flowing lava. So damn hot. Jesus, do you have any idea what you’re doing to me? If you don’t stop, I’m going to lose it.”
She knew what he meant, and she didn’t care. She wanted all of him. She didn’t stop. She increased her movements. She was no longer just trying to tease him. She was now a woman on a mission, and she was desperate to get to the release that the thick, pulsating length of him was promising her. She wanted to swallow all of him, just like she had on their way home from the restaurant.
She knew he wouldn’t be able to hold back much longer. If she didn’t pull back, he was going to come before he even had a chance to send her over the edge.
“Baby, I want you to come for me, just like this. While I’m licking your smooth shaven pussy. I want to lick up all of your sweet syrup as it drips from you, covering my face.”
His words had her moving faster now. Her breathing becoming more rapid. She was getting close.
“Rex, I–” She moaned.
“Yeah, babe, that’s it. Give me all of your nectar. Let me drink the proof of your passion. Let me
swallow it all up.”
Sweating yet? Go ahead and BUY NOW
Nicole
http://nicolemorgan1.webs.com/
I love Yorkshire as a place to live. It's where most of my family are. I love the landscape and the people. Yet, in my writing, I find I am most excited by the glamour of the different. For me, the grass over the other side of the fence really is greener!
Having studied European history, I tend to be drawn to the lands of the classical Greeks and Romans. The light and dry heat of Greece always amazes me and the wild-flowers and ruins and the fiercely passionate people all inspire me. Italy is a country I love for its culture, food, mix of ancient and modern and sense of family. Both places to me seem ripe for romance and adventure: their men folk are often impossibly handsome and open and engaging. Very appealing!
I wrote about the Greek island of Rhodes in my sweet romance, A Secret Treasure and about Italy and especially Italian bread and sweets in my newly published Holiday in Bologna. This Christmas we are having panettone as a cake, probably with soft Italian cheese. Delicious!
Do you read stories set in far away places? What inspires you in your fiction?
Lindsay
http://www.lindsaytownsend.net
Happily Ever After… having just walked with yet another couple on their journey as they search for everything summed up in these three little words, I’m quite astonished at what our characters have to go through to get there! And my hero and heroine in A Thick Black Line have their own fair share of “stuff” to get through, and around, and past. But they made release day (yay!!) and I’m sure they’re celebrating today along with me – though they’re laying low, having been bullied, cajoled and rewritten any number of times over the last month or so!
It never ceases to amaze me how many variations, convolutions, twists and turns have to be negotiated, and how often the characters themselves seem to get in their own way. I suppose book are like life – complicated, most of the time, with any number of the things that we’d have happily written out of the script if we’d had a say in it…
Still, it’s having “life” in books that brings them to life (no pun intended!) and helps us as readers to relate. And not just life as we see it either – I found it fascinating to discover the “life” beneath the surface, the sinister undertones in the storyline that added the suspense factor and gave the outward life a new dimension altogether. New conflicts, new questions, new catalysts… it was a wholly intriguing journey…
Here’s the blurb and a short excerpt, and you can view more at: http://www.bookstrand.com/product-athickblackline-13953-330.html
Blurb:
Bo Carmichael has drawn a thick black line around her heart, and with good reason. She has worked hard to overcome the anguish of betrayal and the devastation it wreaked in her family's lives, and she's now close to realizing her dreams. There simply isn't place in this equation for emotional entanglements, especially not with Nic Sinclaire, the only man who has the ability to breach her defenses.
From their first encounter, an impossible chemistry rages between them – a crackling heat that threatens to melt the ice surrounding her.
A bizarre twist makes Nic a constant companion and self-appointed protector. As Bo's barriers shift and crumble, she can no longer ignore the powerful emotions his proximity evokes…
“Don’t do it,” he said. Instinct told somehow him that she had started to shut down, that this might be his only chance, and though he didn’t want to push he knew that he had to.
Bo rounded on him, defensive, oddly pleading. “Don’t do what?”
“Walk away.”
Her laugh broke, short and infinitely bitter. “As if I could. Today was a case in point, wasn’t it? There are some things we just can’t seem to walk away from, no matter how hard we try.”
The enormity of it, the truth of it, hit home and she sagged, so visibly defeated that something inside him was stirred to anger. At himself. At Dario. Even at life.
“So face it.” It seemed inadequate, but was the only thing he could think of to say.
“Do you really think it’s that simple?” Bo realised that she’d raised her voice. She hadn’t meant to. She turned and moved towards the patio.
“No, it’s not.” He paced the stone terrace, his voice laced with frustration. “I know that I don’t know the whole story, but some things at least are beginning to make sense.”
“Nothing makes sense. I’ve lived it. Lived with it. Don’t you think I’ve done everything I can to actually lay this whole ugly mess to rest?” There was a faint note of desperation underlying the words, an edge of something huge and almost out of control.
“That’s maybe the problem,” he said, trying to be reasonable but somehow managing to sound harsh. He backtracked, took a slow breath. “You lived with it. Inside. Shut away. Along with that other side of you that you’re so determined not to let out. Well, like you said, today was proof that it hasn’t worked.”
He was right, but she didn’t want to admit it. But it stood out, clear and unavoidable, that he also had no intention of backing off. Weary, the fight all drained out of her, she accepted the inevitable.
Have fun everyone, and I’ll see you soon. I’m off to celebrate!
Jude
http://www.judahraine.com
I'm delighted to say that Ecataromance, the electronic publishing arm of Catanetworks, have given A Secret Treasure one of their Reviewers' Choice Awards for 2008. I'm really pleased with this, because A Secret Treasure is one of my quieter, sweeter stories.
In it I tried to weave a romance appropriate for the 1930s into a story growing out of the real tensions of living on an idyllic island (Rhodes) occupied by a foreign country (Italy). Agatha Christie set a Hercule Poirot whodunit on Rhodes in the same period (Triangle at Rhodes, a short story from 1936).
Details of A Secret Treasure are here.
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