When enemies share a hotel room in a Boston snowstorm, things are bound to heat up…
Miami preservationist Victoria Whitmore has met her match in Alex Rivera—a devastatingly sexy developer who’s determined to tear down the historic neighborhood she’s sworn to protect. With his smoldering dark eyes and perfectly tailored suits, he’s temptation personified. Too bad he’s also her sworn enemy.
Self-made developer Alex Rivera has always gotten what he wants through hard work and determination. But proper, passionate Victoria Whitmore tests his control like no one else. When she challenges him with that aristocratic tilt of her chin, he doesn’t know whether to argue with her or kiss her senseless.
Forced to work together against a ruthless competitor, Victoria and Alex find themselves sharing a hotel room during a Boston snowstorm. One bed, two stubborn hearts, and enough chemistry to power all of Miami Beach.
BLUEPRINT FOR PASSION sizzles with forbidden attraction, forced proximity, and the undeniable heat of Miami nights. This steamy enemies-to-lovers romance proves that sometimes the best foundations are built on opposites attracting.
Content warning: Contains a Latin lover who knows exactly how to push all the right buttons, steamy scenes that will fog up your windows faster than a Miami summer day, and enough sexual tension to rival the Florida humidity.
• Powerful Hero
• Strong Professional Heroine • Slow Burn Steamy Romance
Neil Plakcy crafts engaging stories that celebrate love, identity, and found family across multiple genres. From the charming Golden Retriever mysteries to the gritty Mahu series featuring a gay Hawaiian detective, Plakcy’s work engages and delights readers. Whether penning contemporary romances or Victorian-era tales, Plakcy’s straightforward, immersive style transports readers worldwide, from Miami to London. With over two decades of experience, Plakcy invites readers to see the world through different eyes.
Excerpt:
Movement at the edge of Elder’s Landing caught her eye. A Subaru SUV pulled up to the curb and she watched with curiosity as Alex Rivera stepped out of the driver’s side. The SUV was not the flashy sports car she’d expected from Miami’s newest development golden boy.
Damn. The photos in the business journals hadn’t done him justice. Even from her balcony vantage point, she could see why the planning board had fallen for his charm offensive. Tall, easily over six feet, with a lean, athletic build.
His dark hair had a slight wave that suggested resistance to Miami’s humidity, and his olive skin spoke of Cuban heritage. The charcoal suit was perfectly tailored to highlight those broad shoulders, but it was his face that held her attention. Strong jawline, remarkable cheekbones, and eyes that managed to be both shrewd and warm at once. He moved with the contained grace of someone completely comfortable in their own skin, confident but not arrogant. When he smiled at whoever was inside the car, the expression transformed his whole face, adding a boyish charm to his otherwise serious demeanor.
He turned to open the passenger door, and Victoria absolutely refused to acknowledge the little flutter in her stomach when he smiled at whoever was inside.
Then he looked up.
For one endless moment, their gazes locked across the morning air. Victoria refused to step back, though every instinct screamed at her to retreat from the intensity of that stare. Instead, she lifted her chin slightly, a silent challenge. His answering smile was slow, appreciative, and far too knowing.
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From the deepest past in Stone Age Africa; to ancient Egypt, Sarmatia and Rome; to Medieval Europe; to modern America; to glimpses far into the future, these chronicles will amaze and tantalize.
What kinds of women could change the world? A woman disguised as a man becoming head of the Catholic church. Amazons living past the age of the Greeks and Romans. Elections, wars and more!
My own story shows what happens to the future of American business and politics when Anita Hill’s testimony on sexual harassment succeeds in defeating Clarence Thomas’s bid for a seat on the Supreme Court.
It’ll be a glorious read. Get in on it early!
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Pleasure that destroys all thought. Love that shatters all barriers.
Marked for extermination, Lukan has miraculously escaped E4’s Pleasure Palace. There, sex slaves satisfy the cravings of E2’s rulers for voyeurism, bondage, dominance, submission, punishment, and more. However, his freedom is not enough.
He left behind Arez, who once saved his life and captured his heart. Within her fragrant, heated caress, he knew everything denied him…rapture born from yearning, contentment fueled by tenderness and love. Determined to deliver Arez from certain death and have her for his own, Lukan embarks on a rescue he may not survive.
Arez has known only carnal submission and loneliness before Lukan. She aches for his strong arms, his fevered kisses. Upon his return, he offers danger and hope for a future. How can she resist? Never fully tamed, she wants Lukan more than life. But to flee from this twilight dimension to another, to find freedom and their destiny, they must first outwit this plane’s human predators and its monsters.
Excerpt:
The gentle illumination revealed the stubble on Lukan’s chin, cheeks, and upper lip, making him exceedingly male. Virile. Dangerous. Behind the shutters, night finally pressed in, the sun withdrawing.
With the windows darkened, Lukan pulled back his hood and removed his sunglasses.
Regina gaped, unable to help herself. His shoulder-length hair was thick and wavy, a light golden blond, the color warmer than Damir’s and simply beautiful, while his eyes… Given his sunglasses, she’d expected his irises to be filmy from cataracts or damaged in some way.
In the candlelight, they were a clear blue-green, similar to waters off Bermuda and other exotic locales.
Never had she seen such an exquisite and perfect man. “Who is he?”
Meelo stepped closer. “I created him, along with the others.”
He wasn’t human? He was an android or whatever they called those things?
His skin looked unbelievably real, surely soft and warm to the touch. His chest rose and fell with his quiet breathing, like someone alive rather than a machine. If that was what he was.
It didn’t seem possible, but scientifically, Nikoli’s people were far more advanced than anyone on this side. “Others?”
“Pleasure slaves.” Shame colored Mello’s explanation, surprising from someone raised to show no emotion. “Designed and born to service our government’s rulers on E4.”
So many questions swirled through Regina she couldn’t decide what to ask first. As far as she knew, robots couldn’t be born. She had no idea why Meelo would call machines slaves. Unless they weren’t machines, which led to a more disturbing conclusion. Nikoli’s rulers were even more corrupt than the various government officials on this plane. Those in power over there went beyond extramarital affairs or keeping their people in ignorance and poverty while conducting wholesale genocide. They actually created their victims and indulged in their basest desires, allowing themselves whatever they wanted while demanding order and obedience from their populace.
No wonder Nikoli wasn’t bothered at his leaders believing he’d died heroically in service to their realm. He hadn’t known about this any more than his father probably had. His tightened jaw and the disgust on his face proved as much.
“You’re saying Lukan’s real? That is, human?” For his sake, she hoped he wasn’t.
“Of course.” Damir scrunched her nose then lifted her chin. “What else?”
The woman’s quick defense, the kind a mother would show, convinced Regina there was an emotional bond, at least from Damir’s end.
Despite their discussion about him, Lukan hadn’t commented or shown any emotion. Maybe he didn’t understand English. She spoke to Meelo. “You said designed.”
“On E2, I was a genetic engineer, the same as Damir.” He tightened his fingers on his injured arm, the only indication he had difficulty controlling his feelings. Unlike Damir, who frowned with her mounting agitation, he spoke with stoic composure, the same as others on E2. “We manipulated the genetic code to produce a variety of specimens different from our people. Individuals with a wide spectrum of hair and eye color, features closer to the many races on this dimension, rather than ours. They grew in artificial wombs.”
Good God. This got worse by the second. “So they could be born and used as pleasure slaves?”
“No.” Damir narrowed her eyes. “You don’t understand.”
She matched the woman’s glare. “Actually, I do. Ever hear of Josef Mengele? He tortured countless innocents, murdering them or ruining their lives to create what he considered the perfect race.”
Color rose in Damir’s cheeks. Meelo took her hand. She pulled it away and spoke. “It was our duty to explore the infinite varieties possible within the human genome. We believed our experiments had a biological basis, so we could study and prevent any future disease. We never meant to harm anyone. In the beginning, our rulers said the babies would go to those in high office who were childless and unable to breed.”
Regina didn’t want to ask but couldn’t help herself. “Where did they go?”
Damir hung her head.
Meelo’s hard stance cracked, humiliation seeping through. “As Lukan was our first, he remained with us until he reached what you call majority on this side. We wanted to make certain he was healthy. That he would thrive. We learned later the others were taken after birth to an area within E4’s Pleasure Palace, where they were seen to by a scientific team, given the shelter and nutrition they needed.”
Not love or freedom.
Damir clutched her throat. “Too late we realized what our leaders really wanted. An endless supply of pleasure slaves, delivered to the rulers when they reached maturity. Our people didn’t know about this. Meelo and I found out by accident. By then, we weren’t able to halt the experiments.”
About Tina:
Tina’s an Amazon and international bestselling novelist who writes passionate romance for every taste – ‘heat with heart’ – for traditional publishers and indie. Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly,Romantic Times and numerous online sites have praised her work. She’s won Readers’ Choice Awards, was named a finalist in the EPIC competition, received a Book of the Year award, The Golden Nib Award, awards of merit in the RWA Holt Medallion competitions, and second place in the NEC RWA contests. She’s featured in the Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market. Before penning romances, she worked at a major Hollywood production company in Story Direction.
On a less serious note: she’s an admitted and unrepentant chocoholic, brakes for Mexican restaurants, and has been known to moan like Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally while wolfing down tostadas. She’s flown a single-engine airplane (freaking scary), rewired an old house using an ‘electricity for dummies’ book, and is horribly shy despite the hot romances she writes.
His hunger for one woman will make him a traitor to his world…
From a portal in his lab on E2, one of the five dimensions of Earth, quantum physicist Nikoli Zorr gazes on everything forbidden to him. Passion. Desire. The exquisite pleasure of running his hands over the lush curves of a young woman he should have stopped watching weeks ago.
His duty is to close the portals that keep the monsters out of E2—and never interfere with the inevitable fate of those on the other side. Yet he can’t bring himself to abandon the woman who has captured his soul.
Psychologist Regina Page is trying to focus on her client, and off the mysterious, unbearable sexual cravings that consume her when she’s alone in her bedroom. The next moment she’s attacked by vampires, then swept into another realm by Nikoli, a stranger whose touch awakens that same raw desire. Whose eyes are already filled with farewell.
Yet beneath their undeniable carnal lust, something else stirs. The beginnings of illicit love. The unexpected need to protect him. Even if it means risking body, blood, and soul to defeat the merciless horde…for a future that was never meant to be.
Thanks for being with us today. First, would you tell us a bit about yourself? What area of the country do you live in, do you have a family, pets, etc.
Hello! I am from Minneapolis, where I live with my husband and teenage daughter. We also have a son, who’s a sophomore at the University of Minnesota, a fifteen-minute drive from our house. So he’s home sometimes, mostly to see our cats (there are three of them!)
Are you a coffee fiend, or do you have another “addiction” you must have on your desk at all times?
I limit myself to one cup of coffee a day, but I can’t function without it! On my desk there are several candles which I almost never light, plus a diffuser. I just really like my space to smell good.
Is your education relevant to your writing, or have you branched off in something entirely different to create? How would you best describe your books?
My college major was in theater. I went on to get two graduate degrees, one in secondary education, and one in writing. Now I’m pursuing a certification in Adult ESL. It’s all very relevant to my books–they each have evidence of subjects I’m passionate about. My books represent a variety of genres, but there’s always a strong female protagonist, focus on personal growth, and elements of romance.
Tell us about your most recent publication/whichever book you’d like to talk about today?
The Side Project is a second-chance, contemporary romance set in Bemidji, MN. It’s about two lonely dreamers who are thrown together by circumstance and begin a “no-strings-fling.” Of course, they end up falling in love, which is complicated for multiple reasons.
What inspired you to write this story? What interesting thing did you learn or research to write it that you didn’t know before? After reading books by Emily Henry and Carly Fortune, I wanted to try writing something comparable, a romance with complex characters and elements of both drama and comedy. The female MC’s younger brother is recovering from a brain tumor, so I did a lot of research about that. Turns out that the most common type of brain tumors for a young person to have is also the easiest to recover from.
What’s your favorite thing about the book featured here today? Any special memories you have in the creation of it?
I loved setting it in Bemidji, MN, and at Bemidji State University, where both characters take a graduate fiction writing class. Bemidji State really does have a highly-respected graduate writing program, and when I first started writing, I took a summer workshop there. Years later, when I was halfway through the first draft of The Side Project, I drove up to Bemidji and stayed the night. It was so much fun, walking around the town, imagining all my characters there.
What do you most like about writing? Least like? When did you first know you wanted to be an author?
I don’t think there’s anything I dislike about writing, but I’m more likely to feel blocked during the first-draft stage. I most enjoy revisions and fine-tuning. I also like it when my characters surprise me and do something unexpected. That’s when I know I’ve found my groove.
Do you belong to any writing groups? Are there any writing websites you find particularly useful?
I’m not currently in any writing groups, but I belong to CRWA (Contemporary Romance Writers Association), and I try to be active on Bookstagram, which offers a great community of writers and book lovers. The best writing & marketing advise I’ve found is on Alessandra Torre’s website and her Inker’s Con, which is a great investment.
Is there any special music you like to listen to while writing? How does it inspire you?
I always make playlists for books I’m writing. While writing The Side Project, I listened to a lot of Taylor Swift. I was going for a Folklore or Evermore type of vibe with the book.
Do you belong to a critique group? What do you find most valuable about the experience? I’ve belonged to critique groups and when I was in my grad program, there was a lot of sharing and giving feedback on each other’s work.
To encourage those still on the path, tell us a little about your path to publication. How many books have you published? How many books did you write before selling one? What do you think was the key to selling that first book?
I self-published several books before my novel, The Standout, was a Kindle Scout Winner and published by Kindle Press. That program went away years ago, and being traditionally published wasn’t the magic pill I’d hoped for. I self-published another book, and then for my next book, I found an agent. She tried, but was unable to get me a publishing contract. So, I found a small press publisher who wanted it. I published two books with them, but then, when I wrote The Side Project, I chose to look for someone who specializes in romance, which led me to The Wild Rose Press. I think there are pros and cons to both traditional publishing and to self-publishing, and I’m not sure how I’ll pursue publication for my next book.
What are you writing now? What’s next for you?
Right now I’m working on a contemporary romance set in the fictional small town of Sugar Pine, Colorado. It’s loosely inspired by the 1980s movie Cousins, starring Ted Danson and Isabella Rosselinni, and if it goes well, I might turn it into a series.
If you like travel–and super spicy romance– then I have found the book for you!
BLURB:
In a foreign land, a woman discovers exotic new realms of the senses.
“You were born to this. You may not understand, yet. You may not believe. But I will teach you.”
When software engineer Kate O’Neill leaves her lover David to take a job in Thailand, she embarks on a sensual journey that will change her forever.
In the glittering City of Angels, Kate becomes sexually involved with two very different men—a handsome and debauched member of the Thai aristocracy, and the charismatic, dominant proprietor of a sex bar. With Anand Rajchitraprasong, she discovers her own almost unlimited capacity for erotic pleasure. Meanwhile, Gregory Marshall shows her what she has hidden from herself: a deep desire to submit, to surrender herself body and soul to someone with the power and compassion to master her.
Each lascivious adventure binds her more closely to her lovers. Then David comes to Bangkok, and Kate realizes that she must choose one of the three men who all desire her.
Long considered an erotic classic, Raw Silk chronicles one woman’s intimate voyage toward love and self-understanding. This twenty-fifth anniversary edition has been freshly edited and includes a new introduction plus a bonus chapter.
EXCERPT:
They came around a bend in the path and Katherine gasped. They had emerged onto a marble platform on the edge of a small lake. The water was perfectly still, mirroring the brilliant blue of the sky.
In the middle of this shimmering expanse, seeming to float above the surface, stood an intricate, exquisitely proportioned Thai pavilion. Five tiers of red and green tiles formed steep, overlapping layers, climbing to a central spire. Ranks of gilded columns supported the ornate roof. Sunlight flashed on the multicolored chips of mirror that decorated the peaked panels above each entrance. The whole structure was delicate, airy, almost insubstantial, an imaginary palace from some fairy tale. The scene seemed even more unreal given the other buildings Katherine saw on the opposite shore—an Italian-style villa with arches and domes, a Chinese pagoda, and a tower that reminded her of a New England lighthouse.
“Remarkable, is it not?” Anand smiled at her reaction. “This pavilion is considered to be one of the finest examples of classic Thai architecture in the kingdom. Perhaps this gives you some idea of what Ayuthaya must have been like in its day—hectare after hectare of palaces, temples and pavilions, their graceful eaves sweeping toward the earth, their golden towers pointing to the sky.
One of Kate O’Neill’s musing thoughts describes perfectly her adventure in the exotic Thailand city after she arrives. Hired to develop software for a local company, she escapes from an average life in Boston to the streets of Bangkok. But she is not ready for the sexual temptations of this bright and floral land, where very different scruples reign than in her native country. Torn between the man she left behind, the sweet loving care of an actual Prince and an arrogant demanding master, this Irish-American beauty is well indoctrinated into the loose morality of her new country.
Sarai’s prose is filled with gorgeous descriptions of the country she knows intimately, as well as the luscious menus that delight her characters and of course, the detailed, rollercoaster stories of sex in many flavors with various partners that leave Kate, her lovers, and the reader breathless. You’ll find yourself yearning for some adventures of your own long before you reach the final page.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Lisabet Sarai became addicted to words at an early age. She began reading when she was four. She wrote her first story at five years old and her first poem at seven. Since then, she has written plays, tutorials, scholarly articles, marketing brochures, software specifications, self-help books, press releases, a five-hundred page dissertation, and lots of erotica and erotic romance, in nearly every sub-genre—paranormal, scifi, ménage, BDSM, GLBT, and more.
Twenty-five years ago, Lisabet published her first novel, the exuberantly erotic romance Raw Silk. The 2024 edition of this classic introduces a new generation of readers to this intense chronicle of one woman’s sensual journey.
Lisabet lives in Southeast Asia with her husband of over forty years and several rescue cats, where she pursues an occupation completely unrelated to her literary endeavors.
You’ll find information and excerpts from all Lisabet’s books on her website, along with more than fifty free stories and lots more. At her blog Beyond Romance, she shares her philosophy and her news and hosts lots of other great authors. She’s also on Goodreads, BookBub and Twitter. Join her VIP email list here: https://btn.ymlp.com/xgjjhmhugmgh
Two men—enemies of her people—will stop at nothing to have her gift, her desire and love
The Prophecy, Book 1
Trapped in a blood feud, Liz uses her healing power to bring Zeke Neekoma from the brink of death so her clan can exploit his prophecies. During the ceremony, she drapes her nudity over his, experiencing his building strength, the stunning pleasure of his caress as he takes her without warning, using her as he wills.
His hunger for a woman he’s supposed to hate isn’t what Zeke expected, nor does he intend to deny himself. Kidnapping Liz, he’s resolved that she heal his brother Jacob ambushed by her people. At his stronghold, Zeke keeps Liz captive to his and Jacob’s desires. The brothers pleasure her without restraint and in ways she’s never known. Before, her life was filled with loneliness and wanting. Now…
Used by two powerful men, threatened by her clan’s determination to get her back, Liz risks all as she surrenders to Zeke’s and Jacob’s lust, the ecstasy of their touch and her most traitorous needs.
EXCERPT:
He lay in the center of the king-sized bed. His breaths were quiet, his eyes closed, legs sprawled, one arm draped over his head as though he was sleeping.
The bullet holes in his muscular left pec contradicted that notion.
Forcing down a swallow, Liz pulled her attention from his wounds—three perfect black circles—to his face.
Her lips parted on a quiet sigh. Rarely had she seen a man wear such a look of serenity. So unlike the terror she’d witnessed on Carreon’s features or those of his men when they’d been so close to death.
Zeke Neekoma was different. The words boyish and innocent came to mind, which Liz dismissed quickly.
Looking to be in his early thirties, he was no boy. Nor was he innocent. His size, surely six-three, his sharp, masculine features and powerful form were perfect for battle against men and pleasure with women.
Heat suffused Liz, making her limbs feel heavy and weak. She recalled what Carreon and his men had told her about Zeke, no doubt a mixture of truth and lies. Not knowing which was which, she moved deeper into the dimly lit room. Spanish-style lamps created pools of honeyed light, giving the space a sacred feel one might experience in a church. The cherry-wood four-poster dominated the sparsely furnished chamber, while a series of leather wing chairs—reserved for observers—circled the bed.
The man who’d been guarding Zeke left the room. Carreon and his men went to their seats, their weight causing the chairs’ legs to scrape against the polished hardwood floor.
For one foolish moment, Liz thought the intrusive noise would cause Zeke to open his eyes and lose his blissful expression. That he’d ask why they’d pulled him from such blessed rest and what appeared to be happiness.
This man didn’t want to be healed. Liz knew it in her soul; saw it in the upward curve of his beautiful mouth. Was he the same as her father, tired of fighting? Or was he welcoming the end so he could reunite with someone he’d loved?
His parents and siblings, perhaps…or a wife.
A new rush of warmth stung Liz’s chest.
Disturbed by the sensation and her aching loneliness—the need for a powerful yet good man at her side—Liz recalled what Carreon’s lieutenants had claimed the first night she’d come here.
“He’ll murder our women and children so our line dies out, just as his kind have always wanted.”
If that was the truth, then Zeke was no different from Carreon, who hunted the weakest, eliminating them first. Once more, she examined Zeke’s face, lingering on his mouth. Instead of a sneer or a smirk, she imagined him smiling at her, his grin honest, reaching his eyes, his wanting of her obvious and—
Stop it.
What was the matter with her, indulging in a romantic fantasy when she was well aware of their people’s conflict and unending hatred for each other? Even if Zeke wasn’t a murdering psychopath, he wasn’t likely to be stirred by a woman from an enemy clan. So why was he affecting her like this? Was it a power he had…or something else. Perhaps the truth as to who he really was?
Ignoring her persistent longing, Liz replaced it with a healthy dose of distrust. “This is Zeke Neekoma?”
“You sound surprised,” Carreon said. “Why?”
About Tina:
Tina’s an Amazon and international bestselling novelist who writes passionate romance for every taste – ‘heat with heart’ – for traditional publishers and indie. Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly,Romantic Times and numerous online sites have praised her work. She’s won Readers’ Choice Awards, was named a finalist in the EPIC competition, received a Book of the Year award, The Golden Nib Award, awards of merit in the RWA Holt Medallion competitions, and second place in the NEC RWA contests. She’s featured in the Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market. Before penning romances, she worked at a major Hollywood production company in Story Direction.
On a less serious note: she’s an admitted and unrepentant chocoholic, brakes for Mexican restaurants, and has been known to moan like Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally while wolfing down tostadas. She’s flown a single-engine airplane (freaking scary), rewired an old house using an ‘electricity for dummies’ book, and is horribly shy despite the hot romances she writes.
PLEASE WELCOME LYNDI’S ADVENTUROUS FRIEND LEE ANN SONTHEIMER MURPHY!
Sometimes an author finds a story but often a story finds the author. My recent release, The Cowboy’s Last Chance (The Wild Rose Press) is one of those tales that tracked me down, hollered in my ear until I sat down to write.
Cowboys have always intrigued me, both contemporary and in the past. Growing up in the historic city of St. Joseph, Missouri – where the short-lived Pony Express began and outlaw Jesse James met his end – the past was always nearby. I lived in a home built in the 1870’s and in our aged neighborhood, no one lived in anything new. Some of the streets were still brick and there were so many places an imaginative child could envision the past. At the age of nine, I attended a multi-generational family reunion where my great-grandfather’s brother took a liking to me. He asked if I could spend some time with him so I did. He told me tales about the family. An interesting man in his own right, the former prison guard at the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City, Missouri, shared stories of how the family headed for California in a wagon trail in 1849. They were bound for the gold fields but instead, they stopped in St. Joseph and stayed. It might have been because Elizabeth Bruce Lewis was with child. My great-great grandfather, the first Thomas Jefferson Lewis, was born in April of1850 in St. Joe.
My hometown in that era was a crossing spot for covered wagons heading west. It was also populated by cowboys, more than a few Native Americans, and other frontier characters. I grew up, despite living in town, attending rodeos and playing with horses at my dad’s friend’s farm. His name was Owen Pulley but I called him “Old Mac Owen.”
Fast forward from childhood to the present. I grew up and became an author, something I dreamed about while I was a student at Webster Elementary School. I penned my first novel, such as it was, in the fifth grade, scribbled in the back of my blue pressed cardboard binder. By the time I wrote “The Cowboy’s Last Chance”, I had multiple titles under my belt. Some were about cowboys, others about military men, and even vampires. My career began by writing sexy novels for another publisher but I had decided I’d rather tell a story than describe sex.
A bull riding cowboy came into my head. He was tall and lean and strikingly handsome. Calhoun Kelly had suffered terrible tragedy in his life. Despite close ties with his remaining brother’s family, he was lonely. Before long, my overactive imagination created a young woman who had experienced her own hardships. Vivian Blackburn returned to Southwest Missouri to pursue a career in freelance photography. Once she attends a rodeo, hoping for some action shots, and meets Calhoun, their attraction grows.
Here’s the blurb: When Vivian Blackburn, recently returned to Southwest Missouri after her grandmother suffered a health setback, sets out to shoot pictures at a rodeo, she’s not looking for a cowboy but when she meets bull rider Calhoun Kelly, she’s found one. They have an instant attraction and rapport, so much that she follows him on the rodeo circuit. When they can, they head back to Missouri to visit her grandmother. They’re compatible in every way but one – he has a strong Christian faith and she lost hers after her parents died. Still, they stay together through his bull riding lumps and bumps on the rodeo circuit. When Vivian experiences strange dreams that seem to warn Calhoun of upcoming danger, she doesn’t know what to think and when the messages spread through his family, everyone is concerned. Calhoun decides to hang up his spurs at the end of the season but before he does, he and Vivian are married. They decide they’ll settle at her grandmother’s old farmhouse but not until he rides his last rodeo. When he’s critically injured, his life hangs in the balance. Will Vivian find her faith and pray or be widowed? It’s a close call but time will tell.
Here’s a taste of how they met:
Vivian never noticed the cowboy until he stepped up beside her and spoke.
“I’d order something else if I were you.” His voice resonated voice deep and quiet with some twang. “Those chili dogs bark back.”
Vivian raised her head to him.. He stood at least six feet tall, with a lean body. His curly hair gleamed black as a moonless midnight beneath his cowboy hat and touched his shirt collar. Since he wore jeans, a burgundy paisley Western shirt, well-worn boots with spurs, leather chaps, and a protective vest, Vivian figured he planned to complete. “What do you mean, they bark back?”
He put his right hand over the center of his abdomen. “They’re likely to bring on a bellyache. I didn’t figure a pretty lady like you wanted that.”
“I don’t,” Vivian stated. His dark brown eyes met hers, deep and candid. Beneath the scruff, he turned out to be handsome. “What would you recommend?”
He laughed. “I don’t eat before I ride rough stock. I won’t eat until after the rodeo and probably somewhere in town. If I was going to eat here, I’d probably go for a funnel cake or maybe a turkey leg. I’m Calhoun Kelly, by the way.”
Readers and reviews seem to like the novel. The most recent 5-star review from NN Light’s Book Heaven says, in part, “The Cowboy’s Last Chance is a heartfelt Christian western romance. It’s a romance filled with emotional tension. The descriptive narration is detailed so every scene is vividly portrayed. The ins and outs of the rodeo circuit are peppered throughout the story. The plot moves at a good pace. The faith undercurrent is well-done and realistic. It’s the characters, though, that make The Cowboy’s Last Chance worth reading.”
The title is available in both eBook and paperback formats. In addition to these links, it can be found at Target, Walmart, Apple, Books A Million, Kobo and more.
Australians and overseas tourists love Broome where much of my novel ‘Broome Enigma’ is set. A tropical, cosmopolitan town in the Australian Outback, its isolation and colorful red cliffs, white sands and turquoise ocean evoke a primeval response in visitors.
Once seen, the reds of Gantheaume Point and the vast white sands and turquoise sea of Cable beach will stay in the mind.
When writing of Broome and of travel between Broome and Perth, I drew on personal memories of the area. My travel book ‘Exploring Outback Australia’, with photos and maps by my husband, Hartley Tobin, provided further prompts.
A goodlooking tanned young man we saw working in an Outback caravan park inspired the creation of ‘Broome Enigma’s’ hero Joe and the story. Dressed only in jeans and sandals and shifting around sprinklers, he looked as if he had just stepped off a film set about surfers. However, his personality did not match this image. He did not smile and had a ‘dampened down’ personality. Wondering how someone like him came to be working in a caravan park, I played the ‘What If…?’ game. In time answers formed and I came up with a hero whose past life was shrouded in mystery. This eventually led to a back story. He and the heroine Jodie set out to uncover the secrets of his past.
Early on, the title popped into my head. It fitted because the novel was set in Broome and the hero, a complex person, was a mystery, as were various layers of the story, such as the underbelly in Broome society I constructed.
I wanted ‘Broome Enigma’ to be a good read, in which readers shared the emotional rollercoaster experienced by the two main characters, especially the heroine as the book is through her point of view. As reader Jill Sutton, wrote, “I very much enjoyed joining all the characters in their exciting adventures.”
Even better if the book made readers feel good about themselves and about the world and maybe learned something they didn’t know before. As reader, Kathy McKean wrote, “I felt sad to finish the novel. I felt like I had lost some new friends that I had made and whose company I enjoyed.”
By spending time with pleasant people who have faced up to and overcome serious challenges, hopefully readers will also have insights into their own challenges, especially in their search for a special person with whom to share their life.
Many people have now read my book and many comment on the setting, Broome in 1986, when life was slower and mobile phones were not in use. (This was important to the unfolding of the story.) Those who have visited the area said it brings back memories, while others who haven’t been said they were inspired to visit.
On a working holiday in Australia’s cosmopolitan Outback town of Broome in 1986, Jodie, a young book designer and artist is open to romance and adventure.
At the holiday village where she is staying, she meets Joe, a young man who works there. Despite the strong attraction between them, the many unknowns about his earlier life keep them apart. To try to uncover his mysterious past, they travel to Perth and back to Broome and are drawn into not only bizarre but also dangerous situations.
Is Joe the person she thinks he is, or is he some alter ego? Can Jodie and Joe stop their relationship from developing until they have answers and know if he is free to love her?
Excerpt:
A big gust of wind rocked the van and flung Jodiehard against Joe. He pushed her off.
“Joe, it’s me, Jodie! Wake up, wake up!”
“Jodie, is that you?” He threw his arms around herand buried his head in her chest.
She brushed his hair back from his sweating face.“Take it easy, Joe. Take deep breaths. It’s okay. It’sgoing to be okay.”
He stopped shaking and pulled back from her.“What’s happening?”
“It’s the cyclone. Don’t you remember?”
Another huge gust shook the van and sent Jodiesprawling on Joe’s bunk and into the wall. “Ow, thathurt!” She picked herself up and rubbed her head.
The van rocked violently again. Joe and Jodiegrabbed for handholds.
“Quick, come into my bed with me, Joe. It will besafer there.” Tripping and feeling their way along thewall, the two made their way to the double bed andclambered in.
Her breathing coming in short spasms, she lay onher back and took deep breaths. The storm whined andscreeched about her, and the roof creaked and scraped.
“Oh, my god, the roof’s going to take off any minute!”
Joe’s arms enveloped her. “Hush, everything willbe all right. But will you be okay if we have to make arun for it?”
“Yes.” She let out a sob. “But I like our chancesbetter in here than out there.”
Joe kissed her forehead. He pulled her closer andthey lay locked against each other while the stormraged around them.
Buy links: ‘Broome Enigma’ is for sale in book stores and on over 40 websites in at least 16 countries including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, The Netherlands, Switzerland, UK and USA.
A former secondary teacher, Australian writer Meryl Brown Tobin has published 22 books, including a novel, travel book, educational puzzle books and poetry books, and hundreds of poems, puzzles, short stories, articles, cartoons and comic strips. A guest on Ch7’s children’s TV program The Book Place, she and a presenter read her children’s picture storybook LEFTY.
Apart from family and home, her interests include travel, bushwalking, conservation, current affairs and social justice issues. The Tasmanian Tiger fascinates her, and she’d love to prove it is not extinct.
“BDSM? Yuck!” I have the impression that this represents the reaction of many romance readers when someone offers them a title that includes Bondage, Discipline, Sadism, or Masochism. What is romantic about pain, suffering and humiliation? Why would anyone enjoy reading about whippings, spankings, restraints that contort the body into embarrassing and awkward positions, severe punishments that are administered in response to the tiniest lapse in obedience? My personal position is that BDSM literature (sometimes labeled D/s – Dominance and submission) can be as emotionally satisfying and erotically charged as any romance.
For me, the essence of a D/s relationship lies in the emotional bond between the dominant and the submissive. The physical trappings and conventional activities – the riding crop and the gag, the handcuffs and the nipple clamps, the whippings and the binding – are side issues, merely the methods chosen to express, explore, and strengthen the bond. Others may associate BDSM with humiliation, cruelty, abuse, and agony. In my view, BDSM is about devotion, commitment, trust, and ecstasy.
The BDSM that I write, and that I enjoy reading, focuses primarily on the connection between the characters in the “power exchange”. What do I mean by “power exchange”? This D/s jargon refers to the fact that submissive voluntarily gives up control to the dominant. In return, the dominant accepts responsibility for the submissive’s well-being and ultimately, for his or her pleasure. The sub surrenders herself to the Dom, in devotion and trust. (For now I’ll assume a female submissive. I’ve written both male- and female-dominant tales, as well as some lesbian D/s, but it gets awkward to keep using multiple pronouns!) The Dom can do whatever he wants with the sub; she has, after all, given her consent. He has the intoxicating knowledge that by taking what he desires, he will also give his sub what she most craves: the satisfaction of pleasing her master and the freedom to experience her most intimate fantasies of ravishment and abuse.
But what about the pain? Intense emotional connection, trust, devotion, that all sounds wonderful, but is it worth suffering beneath the lash, enduring the ropes biting into your flesh? I don’t particularly seek out pain, though I understand that some BDSM practitioners do. In any case, pain is a strange thing. It depends on expectations as much as on reality. I have read that native American women did not experience any pain at childbirth because their culture viewed labor and delivery as joyous and easy. (Those of you who are mothers might be skeptical.)
Personal experience has taught me that when you are unbelievably turned-on, pain does not necessarily feel bad. For one thing, elevated levels of endorphins decrease pain sensitivity levels. Whip strokes and spankings stimulate the senses; it is the mind that translates them as pleasure or pain, or sometimes both at once.
Have I convinced you that dominance and submission can be romantic? If not, perhaps you’d be interested to know that, although I live half a world away from him, and am married to another man, the man I call Master and I still send each other Valentines. And every time I write a BDSM scene, I think of him, with gratitude and love.
I am who I am, and I know what you want.
Rebecca believes in magic. She has never lost her childhood love of Halloween, when she can don a costume and step away from her boring, ordinary self. For one night, she transforms into someone else – someone mysterious, daring, sensual and seductive.
When All Hallow’s Eve finds her stranded at a seedy motel a hundred miles from her friend’s annual party, she is desperately disappointed. Then she discovers that her room is haunted by the invisible but unquestionably virile ghost of a rake who seduced local women nearly half a century earlier.
EXCERPT: (rated R)
The costume worked its magic. I was astonished at how regal I looked, and how desirable. The bodice pinched my waist to tiny dimensions, and forced my breasts upwards. The square-cut neckline drew attention to my swelling flesh, barely hiding my nipples. In fact, they were not hidden at all. Though I’d lined the top with muslin as the pattern specified, the tight nubs were clearly visible through several layers of fabric.
I cradled my breasts and used my thumbs to trace circles around those sensitive buds. With each cycle, the spring of tension in my pelvis wound tighter. A light flick of my thumbnail sent electricity down my spine and triggered spasms of pleasure. I worried briefly that the juices trickling out of my pussy would spoil the satin. But after all, what did it matter? There was no one to see me tonight, no one to please but myself.
“You certainly do look sexy. Like something right out of de Sade.”
“What? Who…?” I whirled around in confusion, my heart slamming against my ribs. The voice had been close, right next to my ear. Yet the room was empty, unchanged. The same warped walls, the same thread-bare carpet, the same rusty stains on the ceiling. The rumpled bed where I’d had my tantrum. The almost-empty glass on the dresser.
Ah, the liquor. I must be more drunk than I thought. I turned back to the mirror, searching my face for signs of intoxication, and yelped as something, someone, pinched my nipples.
“Hey! That hurts.” Indignation overwhelmed fear.
“It does, at first. But afterwards, it changes, doesn’t it? Afterwards, it feels quite delicious.” I stared at my image, mouth hanging stupidly open, as invisible hands caressed my breasts. Strong hands, gentle hands, hands that seemed to know exactly how to make me shiver with delight. “That’s what most people don’t understand about pain. It’s the gateway to the most exquisite pleasure.”
The voice was a melodious baritone, rich, deep, almost hypnotic. “You fear the pain, but that’s foolish. You must surrender to the pain. Let it move through you. Let it wash away your doubts and your inhibitions. Let it open you to ecstasy.”
Firm, unseen lips nibbled at my neck. A warm, wet tongue traced the curve from below my ear to my exposed shoulder, then down to the hollow at my throat. With each touch, extravagant new species of pleasure bloomed in my sex. I closed my eyes and let my head fall back, savoring the delicate caresses and the amazing sensations that they triggered.
Suddenly something sharp pierced the rounded flesh of my shoulder. I screamed, surprise heightening the agony that gripped me, and tore myself away from the grasp of the unseen intruder.
My reflection made me gasp in horror and wonder. Droplets of blood oozed from several wounds on my shoulder, wounds arranged in the distinctive semi-circular shape of a bite.
Lisabet Sarai became addicted to words at an early age. She began reading when she was four. She wrote her first story at five years old and her first poem at seven. Since then, she has written plays, tutorials, scholarly articles, marketing brochures, software specifications, self-help books, press releases, a five-hundred page dissertation, and lots of erotica and erotic romance – over one hundred titles, and counting, in nearly every sub-genre—paranormal, scifi, ménage, BDSM, GLBT, and more. Regardless of the genre, every one of her stories illustrates her motto: Imagination is the ultimate aphrodisiac.
THANKS FOR BEING WITH US TODAY. FIRST, WOULD YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF? WHAT AREA OF THE COUNTRY DO YOU LIVE IN, DO YOU HAVE FAMILY, PETS, ETC.
I’m a single mom of adult twin daughters. I live alone since my girls deserted me for marriage, and my cat went to kitty heaven earlier in the year. Originally, I hailed from New York City but landed on a few mountaintops and a Florida lakefront teeming with alligators before settling in Delaware with my children.
ARE YOU A COFFEE FIEND, OR DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER ADDICTION YOU MUST HAVE ON YOUR DESK AT ALL TIMES?
I am not a coffee fiend, but I require a cup to get moving in the morning. And since I’m a klutz prone to spills, you won’t find my cup on my desk. There are no must-haves on my desk, other than chaos.
IS YOUR EDUCATION RELEVANT TO YOUR WRITING, OR HAVE YOU BRANCHED OFF IN SOMETHING ENTIRELY DIFFERENT TO CREATE? HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR BOOK?
I majored in business administration, so writing was not on my radar. It has just evolved. Who Said Forever? is a sweet romance.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR MOST RECENT PUBLICATION.
Who Said Forever? follows the unexpected romantic entanglements of Cassandra, a woman not keen on men after she dumped her cheating fiancé. Her matchmaking father doesn’t make her life easy and add an out-of-town rancher to the mix, and the woman who dislikes men is suddenly up to her elbows with the male species.
I hope the message it conveys is that one broken heart isn’t a life sentence. The novel is a bit of a rom-com novel with real-life problems.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE THIS STORY? WHAT INTERESTING THING DID YOU LEARN OR RESEARCH TO WRITE IT THAT YOU DIDN’T KNOW BEFORE?
What inspired me to write at that time initially had nothing to do with this particular story. First, there was the pandemic, and then I suffered my second bout of breast cancer. To keep from going stir-crazy and doing yet another Word Search book, I sat down at the laptop. And writing a romance novel was my way of vicariously seeking a happy-ever-after in my unsuccessful world of romance.
I am a stickler for accuracy. One character is the lieutenant governor of Florida. The man needed a stately home, and I took to Zillow to find him one. Another character is a rancher from Wyoming. Knowing nothing whatsoever about ranching or Wyoming, I Googled up the specifics of cattle ranching and learned that you need to own at least 10,000 head of cattle to have a substantial ranch. Who knew? And since the novel is set in Tallahassee, Florida, it was necessary to know the logistics of air travel from Casper, Wyoming. I found out there are no direct flights. Air travel between those two cities could use some improvement.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT THE BOOK FEATURED HERE TODAY? ANY SPECIAL MEMORIES YOU HAVE IN THE CREATION OF IT?
I’m happy that I was able to write an ending that I felt did the characters and the story justice. The one readers would be most happy with.
When I started writing, Who Said Forever? I knew how and where I wanted it to begin and how it would end. What I didn’t know was what would happen in between. I was amazed by the way the story evolved and the direction the character’s lives took.
WHAT DO YOU MOST LIKE ABOUT WRITING? LEAST LIKE? WHEN DID YOU FIRST KNOW YOU WANTED TO BE AN AUTHOR?
What I like most is that I feel like I’ve been given a vacation without a return date, tour guide, or a map. I have no set timeline to return, can stop wherever I want along the way, and I am solely in charge of the journey. What I like least is the endless rewrites and edits. The writing bug hit me when I started writing poetry in high school. I began writing novels in earnest about thirty years ago, but life got in the way.
DO YOU BELONG TO ANY WRITING GROUPS? ARE THERE ANY WRITING WEBSITES YOU FIND PARTICULARLY USEFUL?
I belong to a group of writers who meet at the library once a month. There are two moderators who run workshops. I am also a member of AutoCrit, an editorial online program, and attend weekly webinars by their team on how to improve or polish your writing skills. I find both to be invaluable.
IS THERE ANY SPECIAL MUSIC YOU LIKE TO LISTEN TO WHILE WRITING?
I prefer quiet when I write. But for a change of pace, as an opera fan, I listen to LaBoheme or Madam Butterfly.
DO YOU BELONG TO A CRITIQUE GROUP?
I do not care for critique groups. They are usually not genre-specific, and the comments are like comparing apples to oranges.
TO ENCOURAGE THOSE STILL ON THE PATH, TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR PATH TO PUBLICATION. HOW MANY BOOKS HAVE YOU PUBLISHED? HOW BOOKS DID YOU WRITE BEFORE SELLING ONE?? WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS THE KEY TO SELLING THAT FIRST BOOK?
In the last three years, I wrote three manuscripts. The first two are more of a literary style. Who Said Forever? is quick-paced and contemporary.Through direct submission, I was working with a small press publisher. We parted company when the editor requested a change of style that didn’t represent my writing.Wanting to get this novel out, I chose self-publishing. Who Said Forever? is my debut novel. Since this book is self-published, perseverance, drive, and confidence in my writing were crucial in my novel making it to print.
WHAT ARE YOU WRITING NOW? WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU—WILL YOU BE MAKING PERSONAL APPEARANCES ANYWHERE OUR READERS CAN FIND YOU?
I am working on a Rom-Com. Who Said Forever? is available on Amazon in eBook and paperback, and I am in the process of working with Barnes and Noble for online publication. Book signings at local stores are a possibility in the future.
ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADD?
Like me on Facebook: Beatrice Parquet, or follow me at: Beatrice Parquet Author Get in on the ground level and watch me grow!
A gypsy by nature, Beatrice Parquet originally hailed from New York City before touching down on a few mountaintops and a Florida lakefront teeming with alligators. A “Jackie” of many occupations—Human Resources manager, high-rise building management, and the medical field—she now writes full-time from her Delaware home. She is as comfortable behind a laptop as with a chainsaw cutting down a tree.
Who Said Forever? is her debut novel and was written while undergoing treatment for her second bout of breast cancer treatment. Besides being a novelist, she is a published poet and short-story writer and a single mother of adult twin daughters.
Alana Lorens, author 