This Game’s a Trap

By Sharon Clare

I want to thank Books-n-Kisses for welcoming me as a guest today to talk about my new release Rhapsody published by Crimson Romance.

Rhapsody is a paranormal romance that revolves around a board game. Remember those? But this isn’t the kind of board game you’d find on the shelves of Walmart.

In Rhapsody, when their tropical resort disappears, Jonathan and Isabelle must play a game of seduction with magical twists and turns to win their freedom from the Elvin world where they are trapped.

I’d love to share an excerpt from a scene in Isabelle’s point of view where she and Jonathan first discover their resort has disappeared:

Isabelle was vaguely aware of the stricken expression on Jonathan’s face as her knees buckled. Only with legs clenched tight did she keep herself from tottering over.

Impossible.

The sun was a blazing half disc hovering over the horizon, the trees, an ink smudge rimming the beach. Within minutes, the shore would be chilling, isolating, disorienting, all except for this one fire-lit area.

Jonathan’s gaze rose from the bizarre note she’d found. “It’s a joke, it has to be. We have to play a game called Rhapsody to get back to the resort? That’s insane.” He peered once again at the forest where ten minutes ago the resort had stretched over a few kilometers. Not a sound came from that site now, not even wind through the trees. Besides the flicker of fire, the night was still as a corpse.

“Did you find any sign of life out there?” She forced the words out evenly to tamp her panic and keep her voice from cracking.

“No, nothing. Did you know the resort has an invisible security fence? We won’t get past it if we go through the forest.”

“That’s odd. No, I didn’t hear anything about invisible security. Whoever wrote this note is playing games with us. Do you think this is a hoax put on by the resort?” Though she didn’t wish to admit it out loud, something about this scenario seemed … unearthly. A few feet from the fire lay a carpet with over-sized pillows placed for comfort and as the note suggested — pleasurable game play. She couldn’t kid herself into believing that display had been on the beach five minutes ago. The cozy fireside retreat seemed to have appeared from under the snap of a magician’s cloak.

“I doubt it. This fire came out of nowhere. The note says we can’t escape the beach. ‘Play the game of Rhapsody to win your return to Serenity Resort.’ I don’t know who the lunatic is behind this, but we’re cut off from the hotel.” Jonathan checked his watch. As if the time mattered. With the sun sinking, it was lights out any minute.

“I don’t have time for this,” he said.

Like she did? “Late for your date with the redhead?”

He shot her a wry look. “Not tonight.”

“Triplets?”

“I’ve got them lined up for Saturday.”

His dry sense of humor had appealed to her from their first conversation. She couldn’t deny she’d behaved like his Monday night date until the redhead showed up. He’d been too easy to be with, like an old friend — they’d fit like parts clicking in perfect sequence. She could blame his good looks, the wine, the atmosphere, the conversation, but the truth was she’d gone to his room Monday night because she was too weak to keep to her relationship recovery program. But that was Monday. Today was a new day. “It’s some kind of magic trick. Mirrors?”

His gaze fell on the pillow arrangement. “I don’t think so. I see the game.”

Thanks again, Book-n-Kisses! For more information on Rhapsody, please visit: sharonclare.com

A little more about Sharon: 

Sharon Clare lives in Ontario with her husband and three wonderful grown-up kids who come and go from the nest. She fell in love with writing at the University of Toronto where she graduated with a science degree in psychology and professional writing. She writes paranormal romance and has published short stories, art reviews, newsletter and magazine articles. Her favourite place to write is outside under the maple trees beside the lily pond.

Rhapsody

is available for your Kindle here: Amazon

Isabelle plans to escape the real world when she takes a tropical vacation to work on her relationship recovery program. But escape becomes too real when she realizes Paradise Resort has disappeared. She is trapped in an immortal world where she must win her freedom by seducing her opponent, a man she labeled off limits, in a board game of seduction. Her resistance is solid, safe, and steadfast until her traitorous body decides this is a game she wants to play.

Jonathan has made seducing women an art form. His needs are simple: break down Isabelle’s resistance, seduce the panties off her, and get back to the real world fast where an emergency needs his attention. He plays to win, but when Isabelle takes a penalty and they must play out her secret fantasy, Jonathan struggles to follow the objective and keep his own arousal under control. Desire grows between them as each roll of the die reveals secrets, truths, and a greater expanse of skin, until the mastermind behind the game forces Jonathan to confront his worse fear or lose Isabelle forever.

Sensuality Level: Sensual
To thank your readers for visiting today, I’d like to offer the chance to win a small travel gift since Rhapsody takes place on a tropical vacation. Please leave a comment with your email address and tell us your favourite romantic travel destination, and I’ll randomly select one commenter.

Thank for having me here today to talk about my newest release, WE’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS. It’s the third book in my Holloway series, which takes place in the fictional town of  Holloway, West Virginia. Needless to say, it’s a holiday romance. I’m thinking the title probably gives that away.

I wrote the book back at the beginning of the summer when the holiday was the last thing on my mind.  But when it came out a few weeks ago right as all the decorations went up at stores and I started hearing Christmas music on the radio, I started thinking about my favorite things about the holiday season. Then I compared mine to the hero’s.  The lists were pretty easy. Here are a few things that came to me without thinking too long…

For me:

1.     The sense of community and family. I love getting together with people I love and eating and laughing.

2.     Love, health and happiness for me and everyone I know.

3.     Shopping. There is something so fun about matching the right gifts to the right people.

4.     Wrapping gifts. Well, I like it at first…until I get bored.

5.     The things – holiday music, shiny decorations and all the awesome food!

For my hero:

1.     Family – the ones he’s related to by blood and the ones he’s picked up throughout his life.

2.     Providing a stable living and income for his employees.

3.     Having everyone he cares about be safe and healthy.

See, Spence (my hero) isn’t a “thing” person. He’s practical and fiercely loyal. He believes in home and hard work.  But with this book he also finds Lila, his heroine.  So maybe next year he can add “happiness and love” to his list.

I hope no matter where you live or what you celebrate that you and your families have a safe and happy holiday season!

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Former cobalt addict and AKM drug counselor, Io is a male vampire known as much for his abrasive personality as for his playboy lifestyle. Life on the edge suits him, and he lives full throttle, making his own rules, damn the consequences. What he wants, he takes, and what he wants now is Miriam. If only he can find a way to see her again without getting himself killed, but her father stands in the way.

 Miriam is the daughter of the king. Strong-willed and defiant, she feels like a prisoner in her own home and struggles to break free from under her father’s oppressive hold. The king’s law surrounding Miriam is explicitly clear: No one touches her. Period. It’s a sentence that’s left Miriam to suffer from loneliness and resentment.

In a fit of rebellion, Miriam has turned to cobalt to find relief and freedom, but now she’s a prisoner to addiction as much as to her father’s strict control. What’s more, she can’t get sexy Io, who gently tended to her at the AKM facility as she recovered from her first overdose, off her mind. Will she ever see him again?

When Miriam overdoses a second time, she and Io are thrust back together, and all bets are off. Seeing each other was the one thing both wanted, and not even the king’s laws and threats of punishment will be enough to defuse their rebellious obsession with one another now that they’ve found each other again, even if the consequences are death.

Rebel Obsession, Io’s story, was a labor to write. Io and Miriam were so riddled with shame over what they had become, that neither wanted to talk, so I had to pull the story from them bit-by-bit, a little at a time. But the end product was worth the struggle. I’ve come to thoroughly enjoy the writing of this book, as hard fought as it was in the beginning, because when the characters finally opened up, they opened up big.

Why were they ashamed, you might be asking? Well, if you’ve read the previous books in the series, particularly Heart of the Warrior, you’ll see that Io was a bit of a bastard. He is notorious for being a womanizer and a bashing homophobe, and when his best friend, Arion, ended up coming out about his homosexuality in Heart of the Warrior, Io was floored. That storyline continues in Rebel Obsession, and we get to see how Io deals with the loss of his friend and watch him face the hard truth about himself: He’s a dick. I do love when characters go through hard self-realization like this. It’s fun to write.

As far as Miriam is concerned, she is ashamed that she fell victim so easily to the drecks’ drug, cobalt. She regrets taking that first hit, but now she doesn’t know how to stop. Priding herself on being smarter and stronger than that, she obviously beat herself up pretty badly throughout the entire writing of this story. There were days I felt like I was merely pulling her along in my mind. The epiphany came when it hit me: SHE’S ASHAMED! And she was confused, too, because she didn’t know who she was. After I realized that, it was easier to work with her, because I finally knew how to approach her to get her to spill her story…and I simply rode the idea that she was in the midst of an identity crisis, which helped immensely.

But Rebel Obsession isn’t all about Io and Miriam. It became clear early on that this story was a transition piece for the series, and it has a giant cast of characters, connecting the earlier books of the series to the ones still to come. In other words, if you miss this book, you will miss key components that link the early books with the ones coming after it. My editor says this is her favorite book of the series so far, and it’s definitely the biggest, coming in at 112,000 words, my upper limit for book size.

A few favorite characters see their storylines continue to develop in Rebel Obsession. Trace is obviously one of those characters. Everyone wants to know more about Trace. Well, you’ll definitely learn more about him in Rebel Obsession, and I think you’ll like what you learn. We also see Malek, who until now has been whitewashed, calm, and logical, take a turn for the worse. There’s a complicated reason for that, which we started to see in Heart of the Warrior, but you’ll have to wait until the next book, Return of the Assassin, due out in late 2013, to get his full story.

In fact, I’m drafting Malek’s piece now, and I’m in love with him. Whereas Rebel Obsession comes off as a more romantic, transitory piece, Malek’s story is taking shape to be deep, dark, and full of action and devious plotting, rife with conflict and adversity. So, stay tuned for more on his story.

We also see the introduction of several new characters in Rebel Obsession, both bad and good. Some will be pivotal to other developing storylines, while others will simply simmer along through the series.

If you haven’t read the other books in the series, yet, and want to get caught up before tackling Rebel Obsession on January 2, you can find them on Amazon with the below links. The books are also available at Barnes & Noble, All Romance ebooks, and Smashwords.

Rise of the Fallen – Book 1

Heart of the Warrior – Book 2

Micah’s Calling – Novella Supplement

If you want to keep up to date with what’s going on at AKM or with any of my other work, and also see occasional snippets of my current works in progress, you can follow me on Facebook: Author Donya Lynne or on my blog: www.donyalynne.blogspot.com

Thank you for having me on the blog today! Enjoy my boys…and their girls (or their boys, as the case may be).

Happy Reading and Writing,

Donya

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DECK THE HALLS WITH KISSES

It’s such a treat to be here today and to have the chance to chat with you about my latest release, DECK THE HALLS WITH LOVE, a Lost Lords of Pembrook novella. Since this blog site is Books-n-Kisses, it seemed appropriate that I should talk about kisses.

I love kisses and I enjoy writing about them, especially the first kiss that occurs between the hero and heroine. Sometimes they happen sooner in the story than I anticipated. Often when I start writing them they’re not exactly as I originally imagined. I’m a write-by-the-seat-of-my-pants author. I generally know where my story is headed; I’m just not always sure about everything that will happen along the journey to getting there. I will be engrossed in the midst of writing a scene and suddenly I’ll find myself writing a kiss. Sometimes the first kiss is passionate and leads to other things. Sometimes it’s a jolt. Sometimes it merely serves to awaken one of the characters so he or she truly notices the other one.

I am always amazed how the characters determine the nature of the kiss. It seems that writing a kiss would not vary overmuch, and yet when I go back and read the first kiss in any of my previous books, I realize that they only work within the context of that story. They can’t be dropped into another story. They are each unique to the characters who are engaged in the kissing.

Lady Meredith had often thought of what it might be like to be kissed by Lord Chetwyn, but he never took liberties when he was initially courting her. She had fully expected him to ask for her hand—until he proposed to someone else. Time has passed. He is no longer bound by his first proposal, but now Lady Meredith is on her way to the altar. He has very little time to convince her that he is the man for her. So when an opportunity arrived to steal a kiss, he could hardly resist.

Here is a peek at the stolen kiss in DECK THE HALLS WITH LOVE:

Pre Order here:  Amazon | B&N

Suddenly one of his hands was cupping her cheek while his fingers plowed through her hair. He somehow managed to twist and bend her slightly so she was cradled in his other arm. He lowered his head and his mouth plundered. No soft taking this. But an urgency. He ravished with his tongue as though he would die if he didn’t taste her, as though he would cease to exist if he left anything unexplored.

His guttural groans reverberated through his chest, vibrated into her. She ran her free hand through his golden locks, felt them wrapping around her fingers as though they intended to hold her captive as easily as his mouth did.

As a reader, I like to be teased a bit before that first kiss comes along. I want to desire it as much as the hero and heroine. Which authors or characters have left you with memorable kisses?

Thank you so much for joining me today and may you find yourself  beneath the mistletoe creating your own memorable kisses over the holidays.

Lorraine

For more information, visit Lorraine’s website: www.lorraineheath.com

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Thank you for joining us on the O Come All Ye Kinky virtual book tour! For two weeks, anthology editor Sarah Frantz and her merry band of authors will be stopping by some of your favorite blogs to spread kinky holiday cheer! How, you ask? Well, if you don’t know what candy caning is yet, pick up your copy of O Come All Ye Kinky from Riptide Publishing today and see how these authors get into the holiday spirit.

Whether you’ve been naughty or nice, follow our tour for the chance to win one heck of a stocking stuffer—a $100 gift card to The Stockroom, where kinky dreams come true! Leave a comment on the post below by Dec. 16 and you’ll be entered to win.  Check out the complete tour listing to see all the places we’ll be stopping by to chat about BDSM, the holidays, and all eight steamy stories, and comment on each post to earn more entries.

*Holds up mistletoe*  Look at that—our lovely host today is under the mistletoe! You know what that means—a big kiss from the entire O Come All Ye Kinky group for hosting us today! We hope everyone enjoys today’s post from Sarah Frantz, editor of the anthology.

“Pervertibles in O Come All Ye Kinky” by Sarah Frantz

The call for the O Come All Ye Kinky anthology went something like this: “The Winter Holidays are times of love, joy, family togetherness, peace and goodwill for all. They are also times of stress, strife, family feuds, pressure, and heartache. But most of all, they’re chock full of pervertibles: ornament hooks, candles, jingle bells, tape, candy canes, kinky gift giving, and more.” So my amazing authors were primed to use pervertibles in their stories.

Pervertibles are your normal, everyday items that can be perverted to kinky uses. They’re things like spatulas in the kitchen or paint stirrers in the workshop—they look innocent, until someone not-so-innocently slaps them against their thigh, eyebrow raised, smiling wickedly at their submissive. OCAYK is chock-full of pervertibles, so I thought I’d detail some of them as a way to preview some of the fun sexy-times in the volume.

Joey Hill, Alexa Snow, and Kim Dare use candles for wax play in their stories. The drops of molten wax against unprotected skin can be quite shocking and very sensual. The dominant in Joey Hill’s story takes the wax play a bit further, sticking feathers in the drying wax and turning his submissive into an angel, just in time for Christmas.

In fact, Christmas is very much on the minds of the characters in these stories, of course. The dominant in Jane Davitt’s story wraps the…um, interesting parts of his submissive in wrapping paper and uses duct tape to secure the paper…and then rips it off.  He also decorates his submissive with garland (tinsel in British English parts of the world). Dominants in the stories by Elyan Smith and Joey Hill use Christmas lights to decorate their submissives, turning them into living Christmas trees and playing with the heat of the bulbs. Both heroes of L.A. Witt’s “Candy Caning” use a candy cane: the dominant as, well, a cane, and the submissive for the heating/cooling effects of peppermint on wet skin.

Turning to New Year’s celebrations, Rachel in Katie Porter’s story uses glitter and a paddle to turn her submissive into a private fireworks display, which Kingsley of Kim Dare’s story uses champagne for breath play, ice to counteract the molten wax, and roses—and their thorns—all to great effect on his submissive.

There are non-holiday related pervertibles in these stories: carriage reins for bondage in Ava March’s Regency-set historical, clothespins and a missor in Katie Porter’s story, Lincoln Logs and stick horses in Joey Hill’s amazing story, a jingle ball cat toy in Jane Davitt’s tale. These authors—and their characters—are nothing if not inventive.

What are your favorite holiday-related pervertibles?

Happy Holidays, everyone! May they be happy and as kinky as you want them to be!

More about O Come All Ye Kinky:

Christmas is a time of love and joy, and the New Year is a time of renewal. But they are also times of stress and strife, family drama, pressure and heartache—a potent mix of high expectations and conflicted emotions. Add in power exchange relationships, kinky gift swaps, and unconventional love in a sometimes unforgiving world, and you have a formula for a sizzling anthology of stories that tug at your heart.

From Ava March’s forbidden Regency love between men, to Katie Porter’s scorching hot contemporary tale of two women discovering holiday happiness, everyone will find a favorite here. Pervertible toys abound: Lambda Literary Award finalist L.A. Witt’s candy cane, Jane Davitt’s wrapping paper and tape, and Alexa Snow’s Christmas candles all please and delight. Newcomer Elyan Smith and fan favorite Kim Dare both celebrate New Year’s Eve with romantic flair and kinky fireworks, while bestselling author Joey W. Hill’s poignant story of discovery and commitment will lead you home.

Whatever your desires, we invite you to explore new fantasies and old with these eight kinky tales of holiday happy endings.

20% of all proceeds from O Come All Ye Kinky will be donated to the Domestic Violence Project of the National Leather Association–International. (If you buy the book, digital or print, from Riptide’s website, more money goes to the charity because we’re not paying third-party vendor fees.)

You can find out more about the anthology and all the stories here.

About Sarah Frantz:

Sarah Frantz has a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Michigan. She edited two academic collections, Women Constructing Men: Female Novelists and Their Male Characters, 1750-2000 (Lexington, 2009) and New Perspectives on Popular Romance Fiction: Critical Essays (McFarland, 2012). She is President of the International Association for the Study of Popular Romance, recipient of an Academic Research Grant from the Romance Writers of America, and has published academic articles on Jane Austen, J.R. Ward, Suzanne Brockmann, Joey W. Hill, and scenes in which the romance hero breastfeeds from the heroine. Sarah reviewed romance at Dear Author for almost four years, is now an acquiring editor at Riptide Publishing, and a freelance editor at Alphabet Editing.

Christmas with the Cobras

First I’d like to say a big thank you to Kelly for welcoming myself and the Cobras for a nice, holiday visit. Since there haven’t been Christmas games in the NHL since 1971, and a big part of the Cobra’s books revolves around the game itself, we haven’t seen how the team handles the holidays. So for this visit, I thought it would be nice to take a look at one of the past Christmases with Oriana and her men.

You do recall how passionate she is about the game, right? <g>

* * * *

Oriana inhaled sharply, rubbing her hands against her jean clad thighs before pulling on her hockey gloves. Bringing the men to the Delgado Forum for Christmas had seemed like a good idea when she’d planned it all, but . . . what if they thought the idea was silly?

Damn it, things are so much easier when they’re in charge.

Shaking her head, she picked up her stick and headed to the rink, where the men waited, Sloan and Max wearing white practice jerseys, Dominik wearing a black one that matched hers. Max and Dominik were racing across the ice, suicide style, skates slicing in long, fast strides as they started from the goal line, sprinted to the blue line, then swiveled, returning to the beginning before darting to the second blue line. The energy—the sheer power they displayed—blanked her mind for several long moments. She almost forgot why she’d brought them here.

Sloan moved away from where he’d idly practice his stick handling, pulling her back against his chest and whispering in her ear. “If they wear themselves out, do I get you all to myself?”

Her pulse race. “What would you do to me?”

He chuckled in the way only he could, humor mixed with something darker. “I’m sure I can think of something. And I promise it won’t hurt. Much.”

She wet her lips, peering up at him over her shoulder. “What if I ask you to?”

The playful glint in his eyes told her he had no intention of playing nice. “I may have to show you how gentle I can be.”

Damn sadist. She rolled her eyes, gliding away from him and clearing her throat. “We have the place for two hours, so we should probably get started.” Her cheeks heated as Dominik and Max stopped racing and turned to her expectantly. “I thought maybe we could . . . umm . . . .”

“Go on, darlin’,” Max said, the warmth in his tone easing her past her uncertainty. She loved all the men, but had married Max because they shared something different. Something that made her feel like she could face anything. While Dominik and Sloan would always stand by her side, Max went a step further, letting her know he believed she was strong enough to stand alone. “You’ve had this planned for a bit, haven’t you? I knew somethin’ was up, but tried to be patient for the surprise. You ain’t gonna disappoint me now, are you, sugar?”

Inhaling deep, she shook her head. “No, but it’s not a big deal. Just a game.”

Dominik’s teeth flashed white against his dark skin as he gave her a broad smile. “A game? I like the sound of that.” He gave her a hooded look. “Are there perks to being on your team?”

“Yes and no.” She giggled as his brow lifted slightly. “You’re going to help me keep my clothes on. But if our team wins, we decide how much the losers get to play.”

“Sounds good.” Sloan smirked as he snatched a puck from the bucket by the boards. “So how we doing this.”

Oriana smirked. “Well, you put your stick on the ice and then you try to get the puck.” She pointed at the puck in his hand. “In the net.”

“Figured that much, smart ass.” Sloan gaze turned hungry as it raked over her. “What do I get when I do?”

“A piece of clothing. From either myself or Dominik.” She bit her bottom lip, knowing very well Dominik would be fully clothed by the end of the game. There really wasn’t any way around that. She continued before Sloan could point out the obvious. “Down to underwear. Then winner’s choice of . . . whatever.”

All three men nodded. They met at center ice, Dominik and Sloan facing off while Oriana and Max waited a few paces behind them for a pass. At Oriana’s ‘Go!’ Sloan snapped up the puck. Without a word, he dodged Dominik, slipping the puck to Max, knowing exactly where he was without looking.

But he crossed the blue line ahead of Max, putting himself offside.

“Penalty!” Oriana laughed as Sloan skidded to a stop. “You forfeit an item of clothing!”

Sloan blinked. “What?”

Max bent over laughing. “Her game, her rules, pal. I suppose it’s only fair that she makes ‘em up as she goes along.”

Grumbling under his breath, Sloan tossed Max his stick, then tore off his jersey. Oriana’s mouth went dry as she took in his thickly muscled arms, recalling the strength in them as he held her, as he used his hands, or whatever impact toy he had close, to give her the intense pain-pleasure she craved. Testing him like this would have consequences, whether it was here, or tonight.

Max’s Christmas gift to Sloan had been a leather riding crop. She had a feeling it would get broken in very soon.

The game continued, Sloan losing his tank top for playfully crosschecking Dominik. Then Max lost his jersey for holding Oriana while Sloan took a shot. Dominik dove to block the puck at the last second, feigning disappointment when it got by him.

Their eyes on her as she pulled off her jersey as more than enough to keep her from getting cold. She ducked her head as Max whistled under his breath. All she wore under her jersey was a red velvet, white fur lined bra. She knew after they saw it, the game wouldn’t last long.

But, still, she played hard, and both Sloan and Max were shirtless when Sloan dove to make the last goal. He shouted out a laugh as he surged to his feet, swiping moisture from his bare chest, giving himself a hard shake before skating up to her.

His lips on her throat made her shiver as he undid the top button of her jeans. He tugged them down, the skin on his cheek creasing slightly as he took in the matching panties. He glanced over at Max, then jerked his chin towards the closest goal.

Max lifted her up to sit her on the netting, holding her there while Sloan removed her skates and jeans. Goosebumps rose all over her flesh as she felt both men’s hands, firm on her body as they repositioned her, Max held her wrists in one hand, kissing her even as he bared her breasts. Sloan bit her inner thigh, rasping out a laugh as she squirmed.

“I like the height.” His lips traveled over the sensitive flesh between her hip and her thigh. “Very creative, love.”

Not her idea, but she was in no position to argue. She moaned as he used his teeth to pull her panties down.

“Would you care to join us, Dominik?” Sloan spoke with his lips close enough to her mound to tease her. Her arousal spilled hot enough to melt all the ice around them, pure liquid fire. A flick of his tongue and she almost came undone. He gave her a wicked smile. “I think I saw our little pet sneaking my toy bag out of the house. Please find it. We really need to cover those pretty nipples before they get cold.”

Dominik grinned. “I couldn’t agree more.”

While Dominik went for the bag, Sloan removed her panties, then spread her thighs. She pressed her eyes shut, expecting to feel his mouth on her. Instead, she jumped as he laid a stinging slap right on her pussy. Her back bowed and she gasped as the sweet pain burst into her core.

Sloan licked along her folds and she could hear the smile in his words. “Red is a lovely color on you, bunny.”

* * * *

 Amazon | All Romance Ebooks | Smashwords

 The first Dartmouth Cobras book GAME MISCONDUCT is currently FREE. For links to download, go here: http://www.im-no-angel.com/game-misconduct.html

For more of the Dartmouth Cobras, visit their website: www.TheDartmouthCobras.com

Author’s website: www.Im-No-Angel.com

Twitter: @BSommerland

Facebook: I’m No Angel

As a writer, when a couple sticks with you for well over two years, whispering in your ear that they demand their story to be told, you know you need to allow them their chance to be set free upon the reading world.

That was the case with the hero and heroine from His Perfect Gift, my novella that’s included in Avon Impulse’s FIVE GOLDEN RINGS Christmas anthology. The Duke of Ashton and Lady Eleanor have a most scandalous past—as in they’ve indulged in each other prior to marriage. Heated kissing and passionate embraces, the stuff of which would get a person ostracized back in their day.

But they were different people in their past—for one, Ashton wasn’t a duke then, his older brother was. Lady Eleanor was younger too, and she trusted in her (drunken, foolish) father to make the right choice for her. When he told Eleanor surely someone better would come along, she’d believed him.

Her father was terribly wrong. Lady Eleanor realizes this now but pride won’t let her admit it. Besides, why in the world would the Duke of Ashton want her after she so rudely rejected him?

That was half the fun in writing this novella. My hero is rather dogged in his pursuit of his lady. Whereas that’s not usually the case in many romances, where the hero tends to be reluctant, believing he’s not worthy, he’s not ready to settle down, etc.

Not my Ashton. He’s not only ready to settle down, he knows he wants to be with the only woman he’s ever truly cared for—Lady Eleanor. Once he sets his sights on her, he’s most determined to make her agree. In any way he can…

Here’s a quick excerpt for you to sample my hero’s pursuit of his lady. Enjoy!

“There’s no need to argue, darling.” He pressed his gloved finger to her mouth, rendering her silent. Her lips tingled at his touch, at the murmured endearment. Desolation filled her when his hand dropped away. “I will keep pursuing you until I finally wear you down.”

The man was truly mad. And she despised how easily he aroused her. “Wearing a lady down isn’t the way you should pursue her,” she tossed over her shoulder as she turned away from him, eager to escape so she could be alone with her feelings and dissect them.

“Really?” he drawled. “Then please inform me exactly how I should convince a certain female that I want her as my duchess?”

She stilled, slowly turned around to face him. He didn’t mean it. He couldn’t. “You jest.”

“Never again will I make light of your feelings. I hope you can offer me the same promise.” He touched the ribbon round her neck again, light as gossamer wings. His finger curled about the end of the bow and tugged, causing the narrow bit of silk to unravel. Pulling it from her neck slowly, the rasp of soft fabric slid across her skin like a caress. She shivered, watched helplessly as he tucked the bit of ribbon in his coat pocket. “A keepsake. To remember the color of your gown the night I declared my renewed intentions for you.”

“Henry.” Her heart stilled, and she pressed her hand to her chest. “Don’t say such things, especially if you don’t mean …”

His fingers clasped around her upper arm, and he tugged her close. “I still want you, Eleanor. You wish for me to be honest, do you not?”

Her eyes slid closed, and his index finger drew across the bared flesh of her shoulder. “Yes,” she said shakily.

“We are meant to be together as husband and wife. I will prove it to you, Lady Eleanor. Watch me.”

 Happy Holidays everyone!

Where you can find Karen: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest

 Where you can find FIVE GOLDEN RINGS: Amazon | B&N | iBookstore

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CHARACTERS WHO BANTER

When is the last time you read a book where you truly enjoyed how the hero and heroine fought back and forth with good verbal banter?

I absolutely love reading – and writing- scenes like this. Anyone who has siblings is probably familiar with banter around the dinner table. It’s like a one-two punch. Cause and effect. One person says something and then the other person responds. Each person goes back and forth hoping to have the better line, better response.

Many of us have friends who do this. As a teenager I grew up with an entire group of friends who sat around the campfire, laughing and shooting “zinger” lines at each other all night long. And when romance is involved, the banter ups the tension a hundred-fold!

I hope you enjoy the banter scene from my new novel, BET YOU’LL MARRY ME, that I have included below.  Then tell me – which books have you found that have really good banter between the characters? I would also love to hear  how you respond when someone sends a zinger line towards you. Have there been times when you just didn’t have the words but then thought about it all day and later told a friend what you should have said? Wished you had said? Still might say the next time you see that person again? I hope you all have fun with this and I look forward to hearing from you! Please leave a comment below or contact me through my website: www.darlenepanzera.com

BET YOU’LL MARRY ME

(release date December 4, 2012 Avon Books)

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In Darlene Panzera’s  BET YOU’LL MARRY ME, an entire town places a bet on just whom Jenny O’Brien will marry…and her choice surprises them all!

When tall, handsome out-of-towner Nick Chandler first sets eyes on Jenny O’Brien, she’s storming into the Bets & Burgers Café, wielding a broom and threatening the safety of every man in sight. Hey, he figures, she’s got the right to be annoyed—the whole town seems to be laying bets on Jenny’s future.

Nick’s annoyed as well. He didn’t think he’d have to propose to romance the land away from her, but to save his sister and his ill-fated business, he jumps into the fray and bets $10,000 that Jenny will marry him.

Now the only thing stopping him from seizing her land…may be his own heart.

Excerpt:

He lay face up with his eyes closed, and didn’t appear to be breathing. She had trouble breathing herself as she pressed her fingers to his throat and checked for a pulse.

Thank God, he was still alive. She recalled the new medical guidelines she’d seen on the Internet and gave him thirty hard, fast chest presses to keep his blood circulating. Then she tilted his chin up and opened his mouth with her finger. Nothing seemed to be blocking the airway. She pinched his nose closed. Took a deep breath. Lowered her mouth to his to perform CPR.

She was about to blow air into his lungs when the world rolled over, placing Chandler on top, with a very dark, calculating look in his eyes.

Jenny thrust him off to the side, pulled out her boot knife, and sprang to her feet. “You faked that fall on purpose.”

“And you,” he said, pointing to the crazed horse prancing about the field, “deliberately put me on that beast to torture me. What are you going to do now? Stab me?”

She followed his gaze to the tip of her boot knife, its sharp point glistening orange from the setting sun. What was she thinking?

“I—I’m sorry,” she said, and trembled as she sheathed the knife beneath the hem of her jeans. “You seem to bring out the worst in me.”

“Oh, well, you know what they say,” Chandler said, pulling himself off the ground.

“What?” she demanded. Had the townspeople been talking about her again? “What do they say?”

“There’s a fine line between love and hate.”

“In your case,” she said, hardening her expression, “that fine line is a brick wall.”

AUTHOR BIO:

Darlene Panzera is the winner of the “Make Your Dreams Come True” contest sponsored by Avon Books, which led her novella, THE BET, to be published with Debbie Macomber’s FAMILY AFFAIR released July 2012. The full length novel, retitled, BET YOU’LL MARRY ME, releases December 12, 2012. She is currently working on a 3 novella set for Avon Books, a division of HarperCollins, to be published May 2013 titled, THE CUPCAKE DIARIES. Darlene is a graduate of the Writer’s Digest advanced novel writing school, The Christian Writer’s Guild apprentice program, and a member of Romance Writers of America’s Greater Seattle and Peninsula chapters. Born and raised in New Jersey, Darlene is now a resident of the Pacific Northwest where she lives with her husband and three children. When not writing she enjoys spending time with her family and her two horses, and loves camping, hiking, photography, and lazy days at the lake.

Write to Darlene Panzera at : P.O. Box 1876 Belfair, WA 98528

Or visit her website:  www.darlenepanzera.com

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