Sex, blood and betrayal: it’s all in a day’s work.

I strip for the fun of it. Don’t let anyone tell you different. It’s not the money. I could make nearly as much working at the mill and keep my clothes on, but then I’d have to suck up to the bosses. Up on stage, I’m the one in charge, and I like it that way.

Tony Pinelli hired me for a private dance. I was determined to give him his money’s worth. I didn’t expect to be caught in the cross-fire of a double murder. When his widow shows up at my door, I know I’m in way over my head. Now I’m everyone’s target. I can’t trust anyone – not even the police detective who was sweet on me in high school. My only chance at survival is to shift through the lies and expose the truth.

Play It Again, Lisabet

I’ve been a published author since 1999. Although writing is not my primary occupation, that’s enough time for me to have produced a large number of books. I’d guess I have over a hundred titles to my credit. In fact, it’s a bit difficult to enumerate them, because I’ve seen many of them go “out of print” multiple times.

In twenty-three years, I’ve survived quite a few publishers. In fact, almost every company with whom I’ve worked ultimately closed their doors. It’s not me, I swear – I’m not a jinx! It’s just tough to turn indie publishing into a sustainable business.

When your publisher decides to throw in the towel, your book rights revert to you – but the books themselves become unavailable. If you want readers to be able to appreciate your hard work, you’ve got to get those titles back on the shelves. This can be a challenge; many publishers don’t want to  bring out re-prints.

Fortunately, self-publishing has removed at least that obstacle. Furthermore, if you’re creating a new edition of a book, you can spruce it up in a variety of ways: better editing, bonus content, new cover and blurb, maybe even a new title. If you’re lucky, you may be able to attract new readers who never noticed you before.

Anyway, I’ve been busy re-publishing a lot of my back list books, many of which were orphaned by a publisher folding last year. My latest release, Exposure, is actually a fourth edition. This erotic suspense novel was first published by Phaze Books in 2010. For the current release, I’ve done some significant editing to make my heroine more believable. I’ve also added a sub-title which I hope conveys the genre: Urban Erotic Noir.

If you’ve already read Exposure, I don’t know if it’s worth a second pass. If you haven’t though – why not give it a try? You’re one of those readers I’m hoping to entice by publishing it – yet again.

EXCERPT:

My next stop is the Fourth Precinct police station. It’s not in my neighborhood, and it’s not near the Hyatt, but I know someone there. I limp in, trying to look dignified, and ask for Detective James Ostermann. The huge grin that lights up his face when he sees me makes me feel better than I have all day.

“Stella! What a treat!” He pumps my hand with boyish enthusiasm. “What have I done to deserve this honor?”

Jimmy and I went to school together. There’s always been some kind of sexual tension between us, though we never did anything about it. He was one of the few guys who respected me, who didn’t try to get into my pants. Last time I saw him, at our fifth reunion, he had just been promoted from beat cop to detective. Then just six months ago I read an article in the paper about him heading up a new task force against organized crime. That’s how I knew where to find him.

“Hello, Jimmy.” I return his smile. “I wish I could tell you that this was just a social call, but in fact I’ve got something pretty serious to discuss with you. Can we talk in private?”

“Always a pleasure,” he teases, but his face takes on a professional expression as he leads me into his office. “Bill, would you mind taking a walk?” he asks his partner, a hefty black man that I haven’t met before.

“Sure, Jim, no problem. Give a yell if you need me.”

Jimmy closes the door and seats himself behind his desk. I sit across from my old friend. There’s a newspaper on the surface between us, the headlines screaming about the double gangland murder that claimed the mayoral candidate and his aide. Jimmy notices my glance.

“Hear about what happened to Tony Pinelli?”

I nod and swallow my nervousness. “Yeah. I was there.”

“What?”

“That’s right. There at the Hyatt, Room 422, last night around eight forty-five.”

He looks grim as I relate my tale. Shakes his head when I describe Mr. Clean’s attack and Tony’s reaction. I don’t tell him my theory, though, about me being the target. I’ve got no evidence, and anyway, this morning it seems kind of crazy.

“So you didn’t see anyone else, other than Pinelli and Henderson?”

“No—though I guess there might have been somebody else in the bedroom of the suite. It had a separate door out to the hall.”

“How long after the shooting was it that you checked the bedroom?”

“I’m not sure. I was kind of in shock. Five minutes. Maybe ten.”

“Was the dead bolt on that bedroom door thrown?”

“I didn’t notice. I don’t know. I could hardly think straight.”

“And the corridor was empty when you left?”

“I think so. I was in a hurry to get out.”

My voice stays calm through my original story, but now, being grilled, I’m trembling. His questions bring it all back, all the fear and the blood.

“Did you go out the front door of the hotel?”

“Yeah.”

“And how’d you get home?”

“I took a cab…” My voice is shaking. “Look, this is really hard for me. I’ve told you what I know. If I think of any other details, I’ll call you.”

Jimmy looks up from his notepad. He suddenly sees how upset I am.

“Jeez, I’m sorry, Stella. Just doing my job. I get carried away.”

“That’s okay. It’s just—I really don’t like to think about it.”

Jimmy comes around to my side of the desk. “I’m so sorry. God, Stella, it must have been horrible.” He gives me a brotherly hug.

His strength feels wonderful. I relax a little and let him soothe me.

He strokes my hair back from my face, murmuring nonsense into my ear. “Poor girl, I’m so glad that you came to me. I’m sorry to be such a dolt. If there’s anything I can do…” Nothing has changed, but for a moment it seems as though the weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders.

Then I notice two things. First, his arm is around me and his fingers are brushing against the side of my breast. It’s casual, almost unconscious, but my nipples contract and throb in response. Second, there’s a hard protrusion pressed against my thigh, conflicting with the supposedly innocent nature of this embrace.

I’m tempted to give in and accept more intimate comfort, but I have a feeling that would be a mistake, at least right now. Gently, I push him away, glancing down at his tented trousers as I do so. A blush creeps over his blunt features.

“Thanks for your support, Jimmy. The main thing that you can do for me is to keep me out of this as much as possible. Keep it quiet. If Joey from the Peacock found out, he might not be too crazy about having me work there.”

“There’ll be an investigation. There might be a trial. Will you testify?”

“If I have to. But I hope that it won’t be necessary.”

“I’ll do what I can, Stella.” He notes my limp as I stand up to leave, and grabs my hand. “Hey, are you hurt?”

“I’ll be okay, Jimmy. Hazards of the profession.” He doesn’t let go of my hand, and I see that his erection has not subsided. I melt a bit at the sight. “Thanks for everything.”

“Thank you, for coming out about this. You’ve made things a lot easier for us.”

There’s an awkward silence. He’s squeezing my fingers, hard, but I don’t think he realizes it.

“You look fantastic, Stella.”

“Thanks, Jim…”

“Maybe we could get together some night, for dinner, or something? Catch up? Or talk about old times? I feel bad that we haven’t kept in closer touch.”

I pull my hand away. Simultaneously, I lean over and kiss him lightly on the cheek. “Maybe. You could always come by the Peacock and catch my show.” He blushes again, mottled crimson. “Or maybe I can arrange a special performance.”

“Stella!”

“Just teasing, Jimmy! I’ll see you around.”

I hobble out of his office, knowing that he’s watching my hips roll beneath my skirt. Sweet Jimmy.

Buy Links (Ebook)

Kinky Literature: https://www.kinkyliterature.com/book/100-exposure-urban-erotic-noir/

Amazon US:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09V19MLDR

Amazon UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09V19MLDR

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/exposure-lisabet-sarai/1141122670?ean=2940165803093

Smashwords:  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1136224

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/exposure-urban-erotic-noir

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60574045-exposure

Buy Links (Audio Book)

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Exposure-An-Erotic-Murder-Mystery/dp/B079K627T3 Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Exposure-Audiobook/B079K2828J

About Lisabet Sarai

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 – more than 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.

You’ll find information and excerpts from all Lisabet’s books on her website (https://www.lisabetsarai.com/books.html), along with more than fifty free stories and lots more. At her blog Beyond Romance (https://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com), 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 and get a free ebook, plus exclusive contents and other benefits: https://btn.ymlp.com/xgjjhmhugmgh

Dark erotic suspense (Five flames, MF and FF)

Approximately 65,000 words, 218 pages

#EroticSuspense #EroticNoir #Pittsburgh #Stripper #ExoticDancer #DirtyPolitics #Lesbian #Dominance #UrbanSuspense #Murder #Mystery #GreekHeroine #HighSchoolSweetheart

SECOND CHANCES is the second book in the Pittsburgh Lady Lawyers series. Inessa Regan, a curvy, insecure, forty-something attorney finds herself without a job after failing to make partner at a Pittsburgh firm. She also finds herself in love with a man half her age–a man who’s dying of cancer. Can we find her a HAPPILY EVER AFTER?

***********

“I want you,” Kurt whispered, breath hot in her ear. “Come upstairs with me.”

Inessa nodded and reached shakily for her purse.

Keeping one of her hands firmly in his, Kurt picked up the half-empty bottle.

“I want to make sure you don’t get away this time,” he said. “I’ve got the door. You get the lights.”

The switch clicked off at a touch of her finger, reducing the room to darkness. He took the moment to steal another kiss, sidling closer until her back was against the wall and she could feel every inch of him pressed against her.

After several lingering moments of lip-locked fervor, he stepped back and pulled her into the foyer and through the front door, locking the door behind them.

Buoyed on a dizzy cloud of bliss, she let him guide her around the corner and up the stairs. The lights of the city echoed the starry skies, and she felt transported to a new world, a different world, where everything might not be just as it seemed.

He turned to her on the small landing, the lights reflecting off his face giving him the visage of an angel. She reached for him, and he caught her in his arms, the two of them seeming suspended in mid-air, high above the street, halfway to the moon.

“I need you,” she whispered, and she realized it was true.

“It’s about time!” He nuzzled her neck and drew her inside.

Both of them burning like randy teenagers, they inched toward Kurt’s bedroom in the dark, peeling off clothing as they went. He steered her to the bed, his hands warm on her flushed body. By the time they hit the mattress, she pulled him on top, desperate to have him inside her, and their intense momentum built until it hit the flash point.

After a few euphoric moments in a protracted, simmering haze, and a final kiss from his still-hot lips to her forehead, he tenderly disentangled himself. Both of them breathless, they lay on their backs side by side, only gradually able to make out features of the room as their eyes adjusted to the dim light from outside.

Inessa couldn’t recall the act ever feeling like that before, even when she had been thinner, younger and more agile. She couldn’t move. Languor set in as the warmth of their encounter began to fade.

“Wow,” she said.

A soft laugh came from the darkness.

“Really, counselor. Sixteen years of education, an English minor and that’s the best you can do? Wow?”

“Sorry! My mind’s been blown, okay? I’m afraid someone’s short-circuited my superlatives.”

“Did I ever tell you I’m one hell of a good electrician?”

She knew if she could see his face, she’d see a wicked light playing in his eyes. She smiled.

“Do you want anything? Tea? Wine? I can just turn the light on and—”

“No! Leave it dark.”

Her voice cracked with frantic desperation. Her insecurities about her body, now naked and exposed on Kurt’s bed, sprang into defensive mode as the urges of the moment passed. Nerves tingling, she tried not to stiffen or pull away.

“Hush, now. You’ve got no worries with me, Nessa.”

BACK COVER:

When Inessa Regan gets a pink slip, laid off from her law firm at the age of 42, without prospects she’s sure her life is over. She hides from the world, until her neighbor brings her a client, a young Iraq war veteran dying of cancer.

Kurt Lowdon only wants to make sure his affairs are in order should the worst happen, but meeting Inessa gives him encouragement on the road to recovery. His quest to help her realize her self-worth leads them into dangers they never expected, as horrors from the war and long-hidden family secrets come back to haunt them.

https://alana-lorens.com/the-pittsburgh-lady-lawyers/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008CVY09Q/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2

   Barnes and Noble     Kobo

Book trailer: Book trailer here

https://www.linkytools.com/basic_linky_include.aspx?id=305831

MM Paranormal erotic romance (Five flames)

Approximately 47,000 words, 170 pages

HEA ending

ISBN: 9781005435004

ASIN: B09QQG683R

Keywords/Hashtags

#Paranormal #PsychicTalents #MMRomance #GayRomance #Sorcerer #Witch #Ritual #Telepathy #Precognition #Worcester #QuabbinValley #AgeGapRomance #Schizophrenia                                     

Tag Line

Both power and love can lead to madness

Blurb

Nineteen year old Kyle sees visions of disasters, visions that tear his world apart. Everyone assumes that he is schizophrenic, but Rob, the cop who picks him up off the street, knows better.

Rob’s own experience has taught him that psychic powers are real, and potentially devastating. Since his telepathic sister’s brutal murder, Rob wants nothing to do with “gifted” individuals like Kyle. Yet he can’t deny his  attraction to the beautiful, tortured young man – an attraction that appears to be mutual.

When a brilliant, sadistic practitioner of the black arts lures Kyle into his clutches, Rob faces the possibility that once again he may lose the person he loves most to the forces of darkness.

Note: This novel was previously published by Totally Bound under the title Necessary Madness. It has been revised and reformatted for this edition.

Valley of Stories

Near the center of Massachusetts, the huge, butterfly-shaped Quabbin Reservoir practically divides the state in two. Constructed in the nineteen thirties to satisfy the thirst of the Boston metropolitan area, Quabbin figuratively divided the state as well, pitting the rural inhabitants of the Swift River Valley against the city dwellers in the state capitol. Four towns – Dana, Enfield, Greenwich and Prescott – were drowned by Quabbin’s advancing waters. The houses of their inhabitants were dismantled and relocated on higher ground. Bodies were exhumed from their graves and reburied elsewhere. Forests were leveled in order to reduce the amount of degrading biological material that would pollute the reservoir. The land that had belonged to Dana and its unfortunate fellows was allocated to neighboring towns.  Communities which had prospered in the valley since the seventeen hundreds ceased to exist.

Needless to say, the Swift River Valley is haunted. Even if you don’t know the history, you can’t escape  the sense of mystery as you drive the winding length of Route 202, which hugs the west end of the reservoir.  The evergreens that were planted to protect the watershed have grown tall now, shadowing the road.  The woods around the man-made lake are home to bears, bald eagles, wildcats and perhaps stranger, more secret beings. On the eastern shore, overgrown dirt lanes meander through the village of Petersham, sending tentative fingers toward the still water.

Ghosts of the dispossessed inhabitants from the flooded towns still seem to hover in the area. They’re joined by older creatures from the earlier times when the Algonkian natives fished in the Swift River, grew their corn along the banks, and worshiped the spirits of the forest.

I’m not the only individual to feel that the Swift River Valley is full of supernatural stories. The movie version of Stephen King’s Dreamcatcher features the reservoir as a prominent plot element. The cult horror author H.P. Lovecraft explicitly set his now-classic tale “The Color Out of Space” in the valley before its flooding. A variety of other authors and singers have been touched by the mystery that seems to permeate the place.

My MM paranormal romance At the Margins of Madness is partially set in the Quabbin Valley. The book revolves around various psychic powers – precognition, telepathy and the like. I used to live near Quabbin, and had friends in Petersham. It seemed like a natural place for the home of a consulting witch who helps individuals with psi talents to understand and control their abilities.

Buy Links

Kinky Literature: https://www.kinkyliterature.com/book/917-at-the-margins-of-madness-a-tale-of-power-and-love/

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QQG683R/

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09QQG683R

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/at-the-margins-of-madness-lisabet-sarai/1140911192?ean=2940165754531

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1127718

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/at-the-margins-of-madness-a-tale-of-power-and-love

Add on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60179575-at-the-margins-of-madness

Excerpt – Rated R

Kyle was close, too. For a moment, he allowed himself to really feel Rob’s talented fingers, pulling, massaging, every touch sending waves of delicious sensation surging through him. The man was so strong, so sure of himself, despite his earlier reticence. It has been so terribly long since anyone cared about Kyle’s pleasure.

Dizziness fluttered through him. The world lurched a little. No, not now, Kyle pleaded hopelessly. He felt the pressure build. He hung on the edge. Reality tilted, shimmered. No, no, no…

“Rob,” he moaned. “Look at me. Please…”

The cop heard, even through the fog of his lust. His eyes shot open and Kyle let himself go, falling into those luminous pools of blue. His cock exploded, his cum shooting out over both of their bellies. A train whistle wailed in Kyle’s head, but the world held, long enough for Kyle to feel Rob’s cock convulse and spew hot liquid all over Kyle’s fingers.

“Oh, baby,” Rob panted, fastening his mouth on Kyle’s. Kyle wallowed in the wonderful sensations. Heat and wetness, above and below. Rob’s tongue, Rob’s taste, Rob’s hard body pressed against him.

Then a black void swallowed him. No light. No feeling. No sound except for Kyle’s own heartbeat, loud in his ears.

The words appeared as letters of fire, hanging in the emptiness. ‘Dawson Street Holden’. As Kyle watched, they loomed closer, then disintegrated in a shower of sparks, leaving him in darkness.

“Kyle? Kyle!” Rob was shaking him so hard that Kyle’s teeth rattled. “Come back!” The vision fled as swiftly as it had arrived. “Are you all right?”

Rob’s brows were knitted in worry. Kyle tried to produce a reassuring smile. “Yeah, I think so. How long was I gone?”

“Ten seconds, maybe. I could tell exactly when it happened. One instant I was kissing you, and you were kissing me back. The next instant—it was as though you were an empty shell. No reaction. Nobody there. It was the weirdest thing.”

“Well, I remember the kiss.” Kyle lay back on the pillows, overwhelmed by an unaccustomed sense of well-being. “It was really something.” He extended his arms. “Why don’t you lie down and we can try it again.”

Online excerpt (X-rated)

https://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com/2022/01/sizzling-sunday-new-mm-paranormal.html

Quote Tweets

“You can’t have it both ways, you know. Either I’m prescient, or I’m insane.” At the Margins of Madness, @LisabetSarai’s riveting paranormal tale of power and love. #MMRomance https://amzn.to/35g8gHz

“One instant I was kissing you, and you were kissing me back. The next instant—it was as though you were an empty shell.” At the Margins of Madness, @LisabetSarai’s riveting paranormal tale of power and love. #MMRomance https://amzn.to/35g8gHz

About Lisabet Sarai

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 – more than 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.

You’ll find information and excerpts from all Lisabet’s books on her website (https://www.lisabetsarai.com/books.html), along with more than fifty free stories and lots more. At her blog Beyond Romance (https://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com), 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 and get a free ebook, plus exclusive contents and other benefits: https://btn.ymlp.com/xgjjhmhugmgh