Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Sex-Position Gumby and Unmasked Secrets


TinkNCognito and I just returned from a funtastic time at the annual Wild Wicked Weekend in San Antonio.  I can't wait to tell you all about it.  One of our favorite programs is Sex-Position Gumby.  Authors read scenes from their novels and people act them out.  By people I mean an audience member and her chosen hottie host (male dancers and cover models).  And despite Dalton Diaz's reminder of the "1 inch" rule, it gets pretty crazy.




This year two of the hottest scenes came from Brenna Zinn's recently released novel Unmasked Secrets, a standalone read in the Strip Club for Women series, which follows the employees of Austin's male strip club Iron Rods as they find their HEA.  In this second book, the male stripper is a teacher trying to raise money for his school's drama program when his ball buster principal visits the club.  His Dom persona is just what Hannah needs to relax.  Can she explore her BDSM fantasies with this masked stranger?  Can he risk discovery? 

In the Gumby game, the role of masked Mack was portrayed by 6,4" real life stripper Blake.  Oh is he yummy!  Now Mack uses this really bad Scottish accent to hide his identity, which helps to lighten his serious Dom persona.  The first scene covered their meeting in the club, and the second followed them to a rendezvous.  This is a fun and seriously sexy hot read!!!  It just released 10 days ago, so get it while it's hot off the press. 



And while you're at it, grab the 1st book in the series Iron Rods.  You'll love the dance between bar owner and manager. During the golden age of Austin, Texas, women came from miles around to mix fantasy with flesh at Iron Rods strip club. But time moved on, leaving the club in disrepair and the dancers in sorry shape. Bennett Truitt, estranged son of the club’s aging and half-crazy owner, wants to replace the local landmark with shiny new condos against his father’s wishes. His Trojan horse is feisty Tatum Reynolds, his new hire as manager of the failing establishment. He’s sure she’s the train wreck he needs to run the business into its grave, but never underestimate the stubborn determination of a down-on-her-luck Texas woman.

After another rejection letter, Tatum stares fate in the eye and realizes she’ll never be a professional dancer on or off Broadway. Out of options, she accepts Bennett’s job offer to manage the strip club and is determined to return the run-down Iron Rods to its glory days, no matter what or who stands in her way – even if it means going toe-to-toe with the boss’ son.


Can't wait to see what sexy scenes will be read at next year's Sex-Position Gumby at Wild Wicked Weekend. Thanks to authors Brenna Zinn, Dalton Diaz, Desiree Holt, Samantha Cayto, and Elle James for a great weekend getaway!  Is 2018 registration open yet?

Monday, February 27, 2017

Desserts spelled backwards is Stressed


That moment when you see yourself in a book.

I may have disappeared from the internet, but not from reading.  Over the last few months I've been reading a few series.  I haven't always had time to read a whole series, even though I loved the initial book I had read.  But over the last few months I have read several series. 



I was drawn to a particularly dark series with a completely decadent hero: an assassin for a crime lord.  Yummy stuff!  Zeth defines Tall, Dark, and Deadly.  An awesome physique.  and Dayummmm can the man F#$@* like a beast.  Deviant is the first book in The Blood & Roses series by Callie Hart.  In the series, Zeth is drawn to Sloane, who is searching for her missing sister.  The journey includes various encounters within the underworld.  Sloane is an ER doctor at the local hospital.  Her sister disappeared while she was in medical school.  Zeth is her connection to the mystery, but he is also the only thing that makes Sloane feel alive. 



Sloane looks around herself one day to realize that her life has become going to work and going home.  No hobbies, No friends, No happy hours with co-workers.  The stress of residency coupled with the stress of the search for her sister has narrowed her focus so much that she doesn't even notice the world continuing to live around her.  When Sloane looked up one day and realized how narrowed her life has become, I felt like I was looking in a mirror.  My life at home and work had become so stressful, I had cut everything and everyone else out of my life.  Watching Sloane wake up encouraged me to look at my life.  I saw how some of the stressful things in my life had actually improved and began to smooth out.  I was able to breath and start adding some more to my plate.

Of course, my friends are incredibly supportive people and welcomed me back.  But I should have taken better care of myself.  The first step is recognizing when you are becoming overwhelmed.  By shutting out my friends, I was losing an important support network.  Books are great sources of escape, but they don't listen to you vent.  I'm glad to have both in my life.  I can't imagine coping with stress without good friends and books. 

Zeth is drawn to Sloane because he sees himself mirrored in her eyes.  Together they are able to provide each other with support and understanding.  So if you have someone to help you through the hard times, even if it's just to lend an ear or a hug, hang on to them with both hands.  Thanks to my friends TinkNCognito and the ladies at OBC (Outlander Book Club) who keep me sane. 



BLOOD & ROSES SERIES












BLOOD AND ROSES BOX SET - All Six Books

1.DEVIANT
2.FRACTURE
3.BURN
4.FALLEN
5.TWISTED
6.COLLATERAL

BUY HERE










Book One of the BLOOD & ROSES SERIES
DEVIANT
BUY HERE











Book Two of the BLOOD & ROSES SERIES
FRACTURE
BUY HERE
Burn












Book Three of the BLOOD & ROSES SERIES
BURN
BUY HERE
Fallen













Book Four of the BLOOD & ROSES SERIES
FALLEN
BUY HERE
Twisted











Book Five of the BLOOD & ROSES SERIES
TWISTED










  
Book Six of the BLOOD & ROSES SERIES
COLLATERAL
BUY HERE

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Lying in Shadows by Sofia Grey







Lying in Shadows is the first in the Event Horizon series of contemp romantic suspense stories. Some of the characters may already be familiar to readers, from the Talisman series, and the standalones Perfect Stranger and Pole Position.

It’s as much romance as it is suspense, set in a high-tech global company, where good people sometimes do bad things. Just like real life.

P.S. – Event Horizon are a rock band. This could be a whole new genre – hot rocker romantic suspense?

Title: Lying in Shadows

Series: Event Horizon, #1

Genre: Romantic suspense

Heat level: Light

Author: Sofia Grey

Release date: 24 February 2017

Publisher: Acelette Press

Pricing: $0.99 for pre-order period, rising to $3.99 on release



Goodreads link:

Pinterest page:

Spotify playlist: Spotify

Link to Launch Giveaway form: https://goo.gl/forms/xKr5QaodQlej4IWG3
(open until 4-March)

Tagline: Good people sometimes do bad things

Blurb


Marianne needs to find who's leaking secrets from her company, before they lose another major contract. What she doesn't need is an affair with her married boss. Even worse, to fall in love with him.

She discovers the security leak is more than a case of commercial espionage: someone is lying in the shadows, playing games with them. Now more than her heart and career are at stake—her life is on the line.




Author links:





Twitter: @SofiaGreyAuthor   https://twitter.com/SofiaGreyAuthor  

Amazon author profile page: https://www.amazon.com/author/sofiagrey






Author bio:

Romance author Sofia Grey spends her days managing projects in the corporate world and her nights hanging out with wolf shifters and alpha males. She devours pretty much anything in the fiction line, but she prefers her romances to be hot, and her heroes to have hidden depths. When writing, she enjoys peeling back the layers to expose her characters’ flaws and always makes them work hard for their happy endings.

Music is interwoven so tightly into my writing that I can’t untangle the two. Either I’m listening to a playlist on my iPod, have music seeping from my laptop speakers, or there’s a song playing in my head – sometimes on auto-repeat.

Check out my image collections on Pinterest and my music playlists on Spotify.






Short Excerpt


Marcus was just so damned nice. Marianne had almost forgotten what good company he was and how easily they slipped back into being friends. She sensed there was something he wasn’t telling her. He’d lost weight in the past year, and had new worry lines on his forehead and shadows under his eyes. She almost asked if the rumours about him and Louisa were true, but managed to stop herself in time.
Was this the right moment to ask if his wife was on the verge of leaving him? Was there ever a good time?
“Thank you for walking me back.” It was all of two blocks, but she enjoyed having him at her side.
“Sleep well.” He made no move to leave.
Silence hung between them. Marianne should turn on her heel and walk into the apartment building, but she didn’t. What was it about Marcus that drew her so much? He was a complication she couldn’t afford.
“You too.” The quick hug she gave him was impulsive. Air-kissing cheeks was as close as they’d been up to now. The squeeze he gave her made her pulse quicken, but she moved. Stepped free. “Goodnight, Marcus.” She didn’t look back at him. She couldn’t.



Longer Excerpt


Marcus faced her. Now the night was ending, he felt more awake and alive than he had in a long time. “Yeah. It was good.” He spoke slowly and looked her in the eyes. “Thank you. For all of it.” He was transfixed by a puff of her breath on the freezing night air. Her perfume, sweet and woody at the same time, teased his senses. It suited her perfectly.
They were inches apart. He wouldn’t have to move far, to close the distance between them. He gazed at her lips, unable to tear himself away. Everything about Marianne called to him and always had. He’d allowed himself to become friends with her, knowing it was dangerous. Wanting Marianne was wrong. He had to think of Louisa.
Marianne ran a hand through her pixie-cut hair and leaned against him. “It’s so pretty here, but it’s freaking cold. What the hell was I thinking?”
Wrapping one arm around her shoulders was instinctive. His yearning to kiss her roared back into life, and he tried to ignore it. “It is pretty, but you’re beautiful.”
“Sweet talker,” she murmured. She made no move, and Marcus held her closer.
Jesus. Marianne filled all his senses. All his needs.
One taste—that was all he wanted. One hint of this beautiful, sassy woman. It would have to be enough. He couldn’t offer anything else.
He lifted his hand and cupped her cold cheek, brushing a pattern over the soft skin with his thumb. The air felt charged. He gazed into her eyes, waiting for a sign. Waiting for her to tell him to fuck off.
She didn’t.
Did she want him? He had to know. Need coursed through his veins, and he dropped his head and brushed his lips over hers. His world shrank to the bench in Trafalgar Square.
She didn’t retreat, so he moved in again, with another fleeting kiss that grazed her lips. He was crazy to think one taste would be enough. He wanted to gorge on her.  
Marianne pulled back, opening a cool space between them. “This is wrong.” Her voice was husky. “We shouldn’t be doing this. You’ll hate me and yourself.”
She was right. He was behaving like an ass, but he still didn’t want to stop.
It took a superhuman effort, but he disentangled himself from her and stood. He took a step away and turned to face the empty square. His heart raced, as if he’d run a marathon. He tried to get his body under control.
“I’m sorry,” he rasped, his mouth as dry as a gravel path. He couldn’t look at her. Didn’t dare to.
She huffed a breath behind him. “I can’t be your lover, Marcus, but I can be your friend.”
No. He wanted more, and that scared him. He had to fix things with Louisa, not get caught up in a flirtation going nowhere. He should be beating himself up with guilt right now, but he wasn’t. Instead, he felt panic at losing the chance of a stolen afternoon with Marianne. “Are we still going out tomorrow?”