Sue Swift's Blog: Welcome Back, Suzie!, page 15
November 7, 2012
Want to laugh? Read Waitlisted by Laurel Gans
The perfect antidote to the bygone seriousness of the elections. This charming, funny story is available in both print and digital formats.
Waitlisted by Laurel Gans
Here’s what it’s about:
Kacey Barlow had no idea it would be this hard to get into grad school. Her well-to-do family has been attending UI for generations, and admissions had been recruiting her since high school! She was a shoo-in-that is, until they gave her the boot.
She can’t tell her parents, and can’t stand the thought of her friends going off to grad school without her. Her grades are slipping. Her professors can’t remember her name, and her tutor, Taylor, won’t stop hitting on her when they’re supposed to be studying.
Okay, maybe that last one isn’t so bad. But it’s not going to help get her a seat in another school…and applications are due in two weeks…
Excerpt:
Dear Professor Harper,
Unfortunately, I will not be able to make it to microbiology lab today. My roommate was cooking (well, attempting to cook) when she set off the smoke detector. Now, our entire apartment smells of burnt grilled cheese and Febreze. We are attempting to get the smoke smell out of the carpet now so that we do not lose our deposit at the end of our lease. Thank you for your understanding.
Sincerely,
Kacey Barlow
With a little imagination and a click of the send button I have my afternoon free. I sit up on my bed with my legs crossed, the heat of my little computer warming my lap. I can’t help but wonder if the e-mail I sent needed a little more detail to be convincing. Or, perhaps, it had too much detail for a simple get-out-of-lab-free pass. Either way, it is already in the in-box of my professor across campus and I am, most importantly, a senior who is already accepted into grad school. It’s going to be a good day!
I leave my laptop on the bed and stand up to stretch my arms and legs. I haven’t left my bed yet all morning. I couldn’t help it. You try getting out of bed when there is a marathon of The Nanny on. I grab my remote and give my television a break. It’s nearly noon, but I’m still in my plaid pajama pants and faded high school T-shirt.
I leave my room and go directly into the den. It’s not a huge apartment by any means, but for my roommate and me, it’s perfect. On the coffee table are breakfast dishes from yesterday and an unfinished game of Scrabble from the night before. Off the den is a small but functional kitchen. The table is buried under piles of science books covering everything from genetics to organic chemistry. I wish I could say the apartment isn’t usually like this but I can’t. I only lie to professors.
The laminate floor in the kitchen is starting to peel from years of use, and it’s pretty clear the electrical work is not nearly up to code, but I love the place just the same. It’s mine. Well, financially it’s my parents’, but they’re an hour away.
The apartment has an almost eerie silence to it. Not even our neighbor, Noisy Nick, is living up to his well-earned title. Contrary to my little note, I have the place all to myself. My roommate, Natalie, has physics lecture, and that girl does not miss a class. OK, one time she missed a biology lecture, but it was my fault. I had told her it was canceled. I was in the class too, and I had already e-mailed the professor telling him that our apartment had a roach problem, and we needed to wait for the exterminator.
I pop some frozen waffles into the toaster and sit at the kitchen table to wait for the “ding.” Deep within the pile of papers and textbooks I can hear a low, steady hum. It pauses for a few seconds, then returns. My cell phone. I put it on vibrate last night while Natalie and I were watching a Lifetime movie about a woman having an affair with her brother-in-law who was a kleptomaniac with a drinking problem.
It was really good.
My hands crawl through the mess in search of my tiny link to the outside world. I finally
Author Laurel Gans
find it and pull it out of the turmoil. I look down at the screen. I don’t recognize the number but I know it is the campus prefix.
“Hello?”
“Hi. Is this Kacey?” a man’s voice answers back.
“Yes.”
My heart begins to pound. Please don’t let this be Professor Harper. I swear I’ll come to lab next week.
“This is Mark Boyd. Your academic advisor.”
My body relaxes. Screw next week’s lab! “Oh, hi! How are you?”
“Good, um, I need to speak with you about your academic record. Are you free this afternoon to come in?”
I sigh. There goes my afternoon off. “Sure. I can come in.”
“Great. I’ll see you in my office around two?”
“Yeah. That’s fine.”
So much for my free time. I put my phone down and turn to face the odd smell coming from behind me. Tiny waves of smoke grow from my toaster. I jump up and unplug the old machine from the wall. I drop my inedible breakfast into the garbage.
Those were my last two waffles!
The apartment begins to faintly smell of the undesirable odor of smoke. I reach into the pantry and pull out my greatest weapon, a bottle of Febreze. I can’t help but wonder if lies count as lies if they come true minutes later.
Links:
‘Like’ me on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/WaitlistedtheNovel
Follow me on Twitter! https://twitter.com/LaurelGans
Author Bio:
Laurel Gans is a graduate of Bowling Green State University where she studied Spanish. She is currently a dental student at Ohio State University with her twin sister, Stephanie. She enjoys writing, water sports and spending time with her family and friends.
Your blog hostess:
Sue Swift/Suz deMello
Best-selling, award-winning author Sue Swift, a.k.a Suz deMello, has written over fifteen novels, plus several short stories and non-fiction articles. She writes in numerous genres including romance, mystery, paranormal, historical, contemporary comedy and erotica. She’s a freelance editor who’s worked for Total-E-Bound, Ai Press, Liquid Silver Books and Etopia Press. She also takes on private clients.
Her books have been favorably reviewed in PW, Kirkus and Booklist, attained the finals of the RITA and hit several bestseller lists.
A former trial attorney, she resides in northern California. Her passion is world travel, and she’s left the US over a dozen times, including stints working overseas for many months. Right now, she’s working on her next manuscript and planning her next trip.
Find her reading picks @ReadThis4fun on Twitter, and befriend her on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/SueSwift ). Her sites are at http://www.sue-swift.com and http://www.suzdemello.com.
October 31, 2012
Immortal Hunters: a taste of the blood, anyone?
In time for your Halloween reading pleasure: a selection from Immortal Hunters,vampire erotica in FANGS, an anthology.
What’s it about?
Genre: Paranormal action-adventure.
vampire erotica
A century-old vampire, Rama is used to shadows and loneliness. She uses the name Hestia White and lives in a California coastal town working as a private investigator. If some bad guys disappear on her shift, no one cares…until John van Helsing shows up. Bearing the name of the vamps’ greatest foe, he interferes in her case and in her life.
Friend, lover or enemy?
And here’s the excerpt:
Being a vampire can suck…oops, sorry about the bad pun. Well, it’s true, it can bite….yikes, there I go again. What I mean to say is that it has its ups and downs. I’m virtually immortal, which is pretty cool. My hair and nails don’t grow, but when I awaken, they’ve been restored to the state they were in when I became undead. It’s inconvenient, since I grew up in a shithole with no running water. A mani-pedi was not merely unavailable, but unimaginable. I was an unkempt mess when I was changed, so every evening when I awaken, I devote an hour or two to personal grooming. My long, black hair is a no-brainer. Up it goes into a French twist or a braid. Nails are more difficult.
So there I was one night on surveillance, tucked into the comfy front seat of my undistinguished Camry in a dark corner of Santa Martina, contemplating the choices I faced: Mango Madness or Ruby Delite? Through my increasingly foggy windshield, I occasionally cast a glance at the crappy apartment a half-block away where I’d run my quarry to ground. Soon I’d take him, after the lights were doused and he’d fallen asleep.
I work for a private investigations firm, and my boss understands my rules. First of all, ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no lies. Second, night jobs only.
And if a bad guy or two (or three or five or seven) disappears during my shifts, nobody really cares. Operating in Santa Martina is especially convenient due to its location, the northern California coast. Offshore lies a marine mammal sanctuary. Because of the plethora of seals and otter, lots of great whites come to call. The occasional surfer gets chomped. Bodies disappear, or they may wash up on shore, drained of blood.
Get the picture?
As I was saying, there I was one night, picking at a chipped edge of the Ruby Delite flaking off my left index fingernail when someone tapped on my window.
I could see a uniform, so I unrolled. “What’s up, officer?” I asked in a pleasant tone. No sense offending the local cops, you know.
“We’ll have to ask you to move along, ma’am,” he said, an officer at his most officious.
We? I looked beyond the uniform and there he was: a suit. An undercover dick on my turf.
In gray pinstripes, he would have been as inconspicuous as I, if it weren’t for his cornpone, white bread, wheat-fed wholesome handsomeness. Blue-eyed and blond, he would have screamed farm boy in TV Land, but in California most farm workers are Hispanic or Asian immigrants.
“Well, if it isn’t John-boy Walton,” I drawled.
He drew closer, no doubt taking in my black hair, black eyes, black leather, red slash of a mouth and white, white skin. ”Well, if it isn’t Ms. Goth Barbie,” he drawled. Back atcha, honey.
I couldn’t stifle my smile. I like a man with a quick tongue–they have more than one use. “It’s Hestia, actually. Hestia White.”
“Hestia? The Greek goddess of hearth and home? That’s incongruous.”
My smile broadened. I knew few men with “incongruous” in their vocabularies, and fewer still who knew the meaning of the name I cynically used. I liked him. Shame I had to run him off.
He leaned against my door panel, ignoring the condensation wetting his elegant gray pinstriped sleeve. “Well, Ms. Hestia White, you do need to move on out. Police business.”
I lounged back into my seat. “But I kind of like it here.”
“Why? This isn’t the nicest part of Santa Martina. Completely lacks the charm of the marina or the nightlife in downtown.”
I looked into his blue, blue eyes. “I prefer down and dirty.”
He met my gaze without falter. “I could arrest you for loitering.” He leaned closer, partway into my window. “Take you in. Lock you up.”
“Oooh, handcuffs.” I shivered theatrically.
“Actually, Ms. White, we’re on the job.” His voice had gone crisp and businesslike.
“Actually, Detective Whoever, so am I.” I flipped open my wallet to flash my P.I. license.
His eyes widened. “How come I’ve never heard of you?”
I shrugged. “I keep a low profile. Safer that way. Hey, I’ve shown you mine, so why don’t you show me yours?”
I’d teased out a reluctant smile, one that reached deep inside to heat me from my brain to my box. Yes, that box. I was surprised. Mortals don’t usually turn me on.
He reached for his wallet to show me his shield and I.D. John van Helsing. A tremor ran through me, ruffling the tiny hairs on my nape and my arms. Was it chance that this detective bore the name of the most famous enemy of my kind?
“John-boy,” I said with phony delight.
Reviewers liked this story, saying:
…a highly charged, sexually stimulating and all around pleasurable trip…
Robin, MyBookCravings.com
Rating: 4.5: … terrific…Suz deMello did another awesome job…
Tara Renee, Two Lips Reviews
…cool and interesting…
Tammie King, Night Owl Reviews
Sue Swift/Suz deMello
Buy it here!
Your blog hostess:
Best-selling, award-winning author Sue Swift, a.k.a Suz deMello, has written over fifteen novels, plus several short stories and non-fiction articles. She writes in numerous genres including romance, mystery, paranormal, historical, contemporary comedy and erotica. She’s a freelance editor who’s worked for Total-E-Bound, Ai Press, Liquid Silver Books and Etopia Press. She also takes on private clients.
Her books have been favorably reviewed in PW, Kirkus and Booklist, attained the finals of the RITA and hit several bestseller lists.
A former trial attorney, she resides in northern California. Her passion is world travel, and she’s left the US over a dozen times, including stints working overseas for many months. Right now, she’s working on her next manuscript and planning her next trip.
Her blog is at http://www.fearlessfastpacedfiction.com. Find her reading picks @ReadThis4fun on Twitter, and befriend her on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/SueSwift ). Her sites are at http://www.sue-swift.com and http://www.suzdemello.com.
October 24, 2012
Biting Oz (Biting Love Book 5) Real vampires do musicals.
About Biting Oz by Mary Hughes
Gunther Marie “Junior” Stieg is stuck selling sausage for her folks in small-town Meiers Corners. Until one day she’s
Biting Oz by Mary Hughes
offered a way out—the chance to play pit orchestra for a musical headed for Broadway: Oz, Wonderful Oz.
But someone is threatening the show’s young star. To save the production, Junior must join forces with the star’s dark, secretive bodyguard, whose sapphire eyes and lyrical Welsh accent thrill her. And whose hard, muscular body sets fire to her passions.
Fierce as a warrior, enigmatic as a druid, Glynn Rhys-Jenkins has searched eight hundred years for a home. Junior’s get-out-of-Dodge attitude burns him, but everything else about her inflames him, from her petite body and sharp mind to what she can do with her hip-length braid.
Then a sensuous, insidious evil threatens not only the show, but the very foundations of Meiers Corners. To fight it, Junior and Glynn must face the truth about themselves—and the true meaning of love and home.
Warning: Cue the music, click your heels together, make a wish and get ready for one steamy vampire romance. Contains biting, multiple climaxes, embarrassing innuendos, ka-click/ka-ching violence, sausage wars and—shudder—pistachio fluff.
Here’s an excerpt:
I was late. Dinner-skipping, running with twenty tons (including a tenor sax case the size, weight and maneuverability of a dead body), panting late by the time I found the theater house doors.
Chop me into sausage. My first night with the full group and I needed to make a good impression, but I had three minutes to assemble instruments and wet reeds and find my seat and warm up and—
The tuning note sounded. Chop me into sausage and slap me on a bun. Not only was I late, when I did start playing I’d be out of tune like a fifth grade wire choir. I juggled instrumentalia to free a hand, yanked open the heavy house door and ran through—
Straight into a sea of Munchkins. Which, since I wasn’t Moses, refused to part.
Chop me, slap me and serve me with ketchup and a side of kraut fries.
Running, squirming Munchkins blocked the aisles, crawled over stinky-new seats and generally terrorized the otherwise empty auditorium. Not real Munchkins, of course, but local kids who hoped to sing and dance their way to fame and fortune in the new musical, Oz, Wonderful Oz. The inaugural production would open our brand-spanking-new Meiers Corners Marlene Dietrich Performing Arts Center. Actors and musicians had been rehearsing separately and tonight was our first time together. I was playing reed two in the pit orchestra.
If I could get to the pit, that was.
Bull my way through? At five-two, I wasn’t much bigger than the rugrats. But with the tenor sax deadweight… I eyed the sea of Munchkins and sighed. It was vital I get to my seat but not at the cost of hurting a kid.
Besides, those poor harried teenagers needed help. I sloughed my cases and music stand and went to render what aid I could.
A Lollipop Guilder, scrambling to escape the auditorium, rammed into me. I snagged him by his suspenders and plopped him into a seat. Just as I straightened, a scuffling pair of boys with missing front teeth (not from the scuffle, I hoped) rolled into me. I broke them up, rescued their hats and sat them next to the Lollipopper—who Lolli-popped out of his seat. I grabbed him, but the gap-toothed boys bubbled up, timing it like a tag team. I managed to corral all three with a bear hug and wrestled them into their seats.
I huffed to catch my breath. No wonder Mom only had the one of me.
Two giggling girls darted past and bumped me into the boys. Or into their empty seats, as they’d climbed out and were now Spidermanning into the next aisle.
“Overture, please.” Up front the pit director called the musicians to attention.
I forked fingers into my hair, forgetting my scalp-tight braid, and nearly tore out a chunk. Not only was I officially screwed, I couldn’t even corral a few kids. Cocktail weenies on a stick, could it get any worse?
Of course it could. “I’m a filly!”
Speaking of corral. A stampede of girls playing horse galloped into me, knocking me off my feet again. I fell, trampled under their small hooves. Terrific. My obituary would now read, “Gunter Marie ‘Junior’ Stieg, pit musician and sausage queen, pounded flat by a herd of size-three Mary Janes.” I braced myself for death, or at least a bad bruising.
Big, warm hands slid under my arms, drew me to my feet. “Here now,” said a musical baritone. “I’ll take care of this, babi. You sit here, out of the way.”
The hands assisted me to a plush seat. I sank in. Mmm, comfy. The city sure had gone all out remodeling the theater…babi?
I blinked. A pair of shoulders wider than a freeway waded out into the sea of kids. The leather-jacketed shoulders belonged to a man, black-haired, tall and strong-looking—but even Gulliver fell to a raging river of Lilliputians. I called out a warning too late. Kids grabbed the man’s hands, his jacket, and climbed him like a tree. He was swarmed, overwhelmed, swallowed up by the horde of prepubescent terrors. I covered my eyes.
“Sit now, younglings. All in a row, that’s it. Sit quietly until it’s your turn to have makeup.”
He had a lovely accent. I uncovered my eyes. Somehow he’d freed himself from the swarm of kids and was calmly shepherding them into the first two rows of seats, adjusting a tie here or hat there as they filed neatly by.
Holy Dr. Spock. There was a handy man to have if I ever wanted kids.
I smacked myself discreetly between the eyes. No children, at least not right now. First, make a good impression on the director of this show, turn the show into a smash hit, and go to New York.
Which meant getting into that pit before the overture started. Maybe I still could. I jumped to my feet, snatched up my Manhasset stand and corpse sax, shouldered my instrument bag and trotted down the rapidly clearing aisle.
And nearly slammed into a six-kid pileup.
The adults doing Munchkin makeup had stopped the kids from filing into the third row of seats in order to fix one Munchkin’s smears. I screeched to a stop on my toes, off-balance. My bag slipped, dropped off my shoulder, jerked me into stumbling. I nearly dropped the sax, did drop my stand, tangled feet with it and had to wrench myself backward to keep from falling.
Except the sax didn’t hear about the change in plans. Momentum carried it in my original direction, popping it from of my grip.
To my horror, the tenor case pitched straight at the kids.
The man turned instantly, as if preternaturally aware of the danger. But he was behind the kids. He’d have to hurdle like Jesse Owens to get between the deadly sax and those small bodies.
Palming the wall, he levered against it to kick up and over Munchkin heads, clearing them with incredible grace and ease, landing on my side.
On the way he snatched my tenor. Midair.
I set down my instrument bag and blew out my tension. “Wow. Thanks. I…”
Straightening to his full height of six-OMG, he faced me, emanating strength and energy. Powerful chest muscles pushed into the jacket’s gap right in front of my nose.
I gaped, realized I was starting to drool and looked up.
Sondheim shoot me. His face was all dark, dangerous planes. His eyes were twin sapphire flames that hit me in the gut. My breath punched out and none came to replace it. Bad news for a wind player.
He turned to set the sax down. I started breathing again.
A tapping caught my ear, the conductor ready to start. I needed to get into that pit now.
Half a dozen kids and two makeup adults were still in my way.
I’d have crawled over the seats myself but my joints weren’t as limber as the kids’…unless I used my black Lara Croft braid as a rope. I was desperate enough to consider it.
The man, turning back, saw my predicament. He lifted my instrument bag and music stand over kids with the same strength and grace as when he’d snatched the tenor. Then he turned to me.
And swept me up into his arms.
An instant of shock, of male heat and rock-hard muscle. A carved face right next to mine, masculine lips beautifully defined—abruptly I was set on my feet beside the pit. The sax landed next to me with a thump.
“There.” His accent was jagged, as if he were as rattled as me. “There’s your instrument.” He bounded to the back of the theater and was gone.
Like what you read? Buy this ebook at Samhain Publishing, Amazon, Barnes&Noble
Mary Hughes is the bestselling author of the Biting Love series. A musician, computer consultant, and author, she has a wonderful husband (though happily-ever-after takes a lot of hard work) and two great kids. But she thinks that with all the advances in modern medicine, childbirth should be a lot less messy.
http://www.maryhughesbooks.com; https://www.facebook.com/MaryHughesAuthor
http://www.twitter.com/MaryHughesBooks
Your blog hostess:
Sue Swift/Suz deMello
Best-selling, award-winning author Sue Swift, a.k.a Suz deMello, has written over fifteen novels, plus several short stories and non-fiction articles. She writes in numerous genres including romance, mystery, paranormal, historical, contemporary comedy and erotica. She’s a freelance editor who’s worked for Total-E-Bound, Ai Press, Liquid Silver Books and Etopia Press. She also takes on private clients.
Her books have been favorably reviewed in PW, Kirkus and Booklist, attained the finals of the RITA and hit several bestseller lists.
A former trial attorney, she resides in northern California. Her passion is world travel, and she’s left the US over a dozen times, including stints working overseas for many months. Right now, she’s working on her next manuscript and planning her next trip.
Her blog is at http://www.fearlessfastpacedfiction.com. Find her reading picks @ReadThis4fun on Twitter, and befriend her on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/SueSwift ). Her sites are at http://www.sue-swift.com and http://www.suzdemello.com.
An Open Letter to Ann Coulter
Reblogged from The World of Special Olympics:
John Franklin Stephens
The following is a guest post in the form of an open letter from Special Olympics athlete and global messenger John Franklin Stephens to Ann Coulter after this tweet during last night’s Presidential debate.
Dear Ann Coulter,
Come on Ms. Coulter, you aren’t dumb and you aren’t shallow. So why are you continually using a word like the R-word as an insult?
Well worth reading. Embarrassing for Ann Coulter--she must have put so much Clorox on her hair that it's starting to affect the brain beneath.
Ciao and namaste, everyone.
October 22, 2012
Lucy Felthouse is “Raising the Bar”
Smart and ambitious, Lucy Felthouse is building herself into one of the powerhouses of modern British erotic fiction. And now she’s given us another great story, Raising the Bar.
What it’s about:
Raising the Bar by Lucy Felthouse
When Kayleigh takes a gap year before starting University, she decides she’s going to stay away from guys and just concentrate on having fun and experiencing life. That means going through a lot of batteries, but she’s happy and satisfied.
That is, until she gets to Spain on her travels and meets her new co-worker, Luciano. The scorching hot Spaniard soon has Kayleigh’s knickers in a twist— literally—and the time they spend together seriously raises the bar for her sex life. How will any other man ever compare?
Buy links: http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk/published-works/raising-the-bar/
And here’s an excerpt:
My first shift at the restaurant passes in a blur of flirtatious glances. My pussy swells and my clit throbs, desperate for attention. It’s all I can do to resist disappearing into the bathroom for a sneaky wank. Even better, I’d like to drag Luciano in there with me and ride him until his teeth rattle. Instead, I console myself with the fact that once I get back to my apartment, I can do whatever the hell I like. And I know for a fact it’s going to involve an orgasm.
I take a taxi back to my apartment rather than walking the dark, unfamiliar streets alone. It also means I can get there quicker and relieve the tension that the sexy Spaniard has caused. I pay the driver as fast as possible then rush inside and
slam the door behind me. I heave a sigh of relief as I lock myself in.
Undressing, I drop my clothes by the washing machine and head to the bathroom, desperate to get clean. It’s not work that’s made me feel dirty, though. The flirting with Luciano have left me seriously wet. The panties I’ve just discarded in front of the washing machine are sodden.
Stepping under the shower, I groan with pleasure as the hot water caresses my fevered skin. I stand there for a few seconds, letting the heat and the water relax me. My tension slips away and runs down the plughole. I grab the shampoo and give my hair a wash, digging my fingers into my scalp and massaging it. Now I’m calmer. But by the time I’ve rinsed the suds, he’s popped into my head again. Damn him.
About Lucy:
Lucy is a graduate of the University of Derby, where she studied Creative Writing. During her first year, she was dared to write an erotic story – so she did. It went down a storm and she’s never looked back. Lucy has had stories published by Cleis Press, Constable and Robinson, Decadent Publishing, Ellora’s Cave, Evernight Publishing, House of Erotica, Ravenous Romance, Resplendence Publishing, Sweetmeats Press and Xcite Books. She is also the editor of Uniform Behaviour, Seducing the Myth, Smut by the Sea and Smut in the City. Find out more at http://www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk. Join her on Facebook and Twitter, and subscribe to her newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/gMQb9
Your blog hostess:
Best-selling, award-winning author Sue Swift, a.k.a Suz deMello, has written over fifteen novels, plus several short stories
Sue Swift/Suz deMello
and non-fiction articles. She writes in numerous genres including romance, mystery, paranormal, historical, contemporary comedy and erotica. She’s a freelance editor who’s worked for Total-E-Bound, Ai Press, Liquid Silver Books and Etopia Press. She also takes on private clients.
Her books have been favorably reviewed in PW, Kirkus and Booklist, attained the finals of the RITA and hit several bestseller lists.
A former trial attorney, she resides in northern California. Her passion is world travel, and she’s left the US over a dozen times, including stints working overseas for many months. Right now, she’s working on her next manuscript and planning her next trip.
Her blog is at http://www.fearlessfastpacedfiction.com. Find her reading picks @ReadThis4fun on Twitter, and befriend her on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/SueSwift ). Her sites are at http://www.sue-swift.com and http://www.suzdemello.com.
October 17, 2012
A taut, tense thriller: Maggie Thom’s “CAPTURED LIES”
She was kidnapped not once but twice and now someone wants her dead…
Bailey knew her upbringing wasn’t normal but she’s worked hard to stabilize her life. At 29, she finally has a good business, a stable home; her life is far different from her childhood. Then suddenly her mother dies, leaving a gaping hole
Captured Lies by Maggie Thom
in Bailey’s heart and the discovery that they may not even be related.
Then mysterious private investigator Guy shows up to tell her that her life is a lie. But how does she know if he’s friend or foe?
Using skills she learned on the streets, Bailey explores her sketchy and dangerous past to find answers and her true family while dodging bullets and death threats. To discover the facts, she’ll have to untangle a web of deceit, lies, and secrets, dating back over thirty years.
Everyone seems to have a story, but who’s telling the truth? And who wants her dead? Is Guy part of the solution? Or the problem?
Here’s an excerpt:
Passengers screamed and shouted. The stewardesses flung out instructions as they raced down the aisle, checking on everyone. “Please remain calm. We’re going through some rough weather. Stay seated and ensure your seatbelts are secure. Put your tray tables in the upright position.” The instructions were thrown out so fast they were almost incomprehensible.
More booming and cracking shook the plane like it was having a grand mal seizure. The plane dropped, nose down. They were descending. Rapidly…too rapidly. The stewardesses swayed and scrabbled, grabbing seats, staggering as they pulled themselves down the aisle heading to strap themselves in. The plane bucked. People screamed.
Mary slammed forward, smacking her head on the seat in front of her. The baby shrieked with terror. Mary forced herself back, glancing at the infant in her arms. “Shh, baby. Shhh. We’ll be all right.”
Papers flew around like frantic birds despite her seatmate’s attempt to catch and hold them. Ignoring him, she looked out
Debut author MAGGIE THOM
the window. The sky was a blur of ominous black lit up to a gun-metal grey every now and then by a flash of lightning. She wasn’t sure what dropping out of the sky looked like but she figured this was it. It reminded her of a ride at the fair, where the floor fell out from under her as she’d spun around in a drum. She’d taken that ride only once, and only because she’d been teased into it. And the ride had been hell. She’d puked her guts out when she’d gotten off. Now, the lurching of her stomach gave her the same sensation. She swallowed hard.
The grubby, green-eyed passenger turned and regarded her with a solemn gaze. “We’re going to die.” Another had started
to pray. Everyone seemed to realize what Mary was.
“I’m going to go to hell. I know it.”
About the author:
Maggie Thom made the hard decision to leave her successful, twenty year career in management to write full time. The
leap was easy, but the freefall was adventurous and very enlightening. When she’s not running her children around or spending time with her best friend, her husband, she’s writing – anywhere, anytime. Give her five free minutes and you’ll find her busy scribbling down ideas. She lives in the real world but loves to get lost in the lives of her characters. She is busy writing her second novel to be released spring of 2013.
Your blog hostess:
Sue Swift/Suz deMello
Best-selling, award-winning author Sue Swift, a.k.a Suz deMello, has written over fifteen novels, plus several short stories and non-fiction articles. She writes in numerous genres including romance, mystery, paranormal, historical, contemporary comedy and erotica. She’s a freelance editor who’s worked for Total-E-Bound, Ai Press, Liquid Silver Books and Etopia Press. She also takes on private clients.
Her books have been favorably reviewed in PW, Kirkus and Booklist, attained the finals of the RITA and hit several bestseller lists.
A former trial attorney, she resides in northern California. Her passion is world travel, and she’s left the US over a dozen times, including stints working overseas for many months. Right now, she’s working on her next manuscript and planning her next trip.
Her blog is at http://www.fearlessfastpacedfiction.com. Find her reading picks @ReadThis4fun on Twitter, and befriend her on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/SueSwift ). Her sites are at http://www.sue-swift.com and http://www.suzdemello.com.
October 13, 2012
New short story: Angel Laird, Vampire Wife
http://victoriablisse.co.uk/sunday-snog
Thanks to Victoria Blisse, I can showcase my new shortie–just put it up on Amazon yesterday. It’ll cost you a cool 99 cents or nothing at all if you’re an Amazon Prime member, and it’s enabled for lending, too.
Angel Laird, Vampire Wife is a sequel to the bestselling Temptation in Tartan, and is also a Kilburn Vampires story.
In it, we learn about the romance between Edgar, Laird MacReiver, who appeared as a boy in Temptation, and Isobel, Kier and Lydia’s first-born daughter, who had been promised to Edgar as his bride even before her birth.
But does Edgar want a wife who enjoys the taste of his blood? And does strong-willed Isobel want a mate someone else picked for her?
Only one way to find out!
Here’s their kiss…the setup is that Isobel has “borrowed” Edgar’s half-broken horse, which ran away with her before dumping her off in the forest.
He dismounted to caress his horse’s forehead before running his hands along the neck and body. Something hot and red billowed in Isobel’s chest. What was it? ‘Twas the same uncomfortable feeling she got when her younger brothers or sisters claimed too much of their parents’ attention. The same horrible emotion that overcame her when other lassies dared to flirt with Edgar…which happened more frequently than she liked.
Jealousy.
She was jealous of the attention Edgar was giving to a horse. A horse.
Bloody hell.
Removing his gloves, Edgar slid expert fingers up and down each of Ranger’s legs, paying particular attention to the delicate fetlocks.
She wondered how those long, tanned, strong fingers would feel if he touched her. When he finally touched her. So far he’d kept his distance even though they were affianced, a fact which she both liked and resented.
He straightened with a sigh. “No harm done. You were lucky this time, my girl.”
“Your girl? Since when am I your girl?”
He led the horse back to the stream and dropped the reins. Ranger drank placidly. Standing in the water with tail a’swish, he seemed completely unlike the wild beast she’d sought to tame. Dash joined him.
Edgar eyed the horses, then eyed her. “You’ve been mine since before you were born.”
“I mislike your manner, sir. I am yet unmarried. I belong to no man.”
“You belong to me.” He returned, looming over her, tall and blond and impossibly beautiful. The Angel Laird, the lassies called him. Well, they could have him.
“I willna be ordered. I willna be treated as though I’m a possession.”
He took her by the shoulders. “But you are.”
His mouth descended on hers while one hand seized the back of her head, holding her fast. She couldna resist, and didna want to, for she’d yearned for this moment…
…But would she meekly accept her fate? What right had others to predestine her life?
Edgar’s lips caressed hers and her mind emptied of everything except this new experience. She wanted to remember everything about her first kiss: the strength of his arms, the warmth of his lips followed by the wetness of his tongue as it slid slyly into her mouth.
His flavor was distinctive, a spice like nothing she’d tasted before, a toothsome relish composed of spring water, mint and honey. The scent of the forest mingled with his aroma, a fragrance that melded good male sweat with an underlying freshness that reminded her of the summer sun glittering on the sea.
His hand trailed down her back to curve over her bottom. He squeezed, and the tingling heat of passion spread from his broad warm palm to encompass all of her. A purr rose in her throat. She slid her arms beneath his and held onto his shoulders from behind.
She pulled him in tight, wanting nothing but this kiss to go on and on forever. Life had become so simple. Their mouths touching, their hands exploring, their bodies pressed against each other were everything. Nothing else mattered.
She sucked on his tongue but still wanted more. She nipped and then, tasting a new flavor, licked the tip. Was it his blood? She didna care. He was delicious.
She sucked harder. Yes, that was his blood seeping over her tongue from the tiny bite, and it was intoxicating… He was intoxicating. He groaned and his grip tightened. She became aware that his muscular body had hardened against hers.
That she’d taken his blood had stirred him, she realized with a bolt of pure lust snapping through her. He was aroused by her need and that, in turn, inflamed her. His maleness thrust blindly, seeking her warmth and heat. She pressed herself against him not only with desire but also with a sense of wonderment. She had not known how good he’d feel pressed against her.
His hands shifted, roamed, explored…he took her wrists and drew them down to the small of her back.
He pulled away but she couldn’t reach for him to bring him back. He gripped her shoulders and looked into her eyes with a peculiar intensity. His blond hair swung loose, and she realized what he’d done.
He’d bound her hands behind her back with his leather hair tie.
“What…why did ye do that?” She tried to tug her wrists apart, but he’d tethered them firmly.
***
Like what you read? There’s more at Amazon at http://t.co/bnd3q6wu
And here’s a little about me: Best-selling, award-winning author Sue Swift, a.k.a Suz deMello has written over fifteen novels, plus several short stories and non-fiction articles. She writes in numerous genres including romance, mystery,
Sue Swift/Suz deMello
paranormal, historical, contemporary comedy and erotica. She’s a freelance editor who’s worked for Total-E-Bound, Ai Press, Liquid Silver Books and Etopia Press. She also takes on private clients.
Her books have been favorably reviewed in PW, Kirkus and Booklist, attained the finals of the RITA and hit several bestseller lists.
A former trial attorney, she resides in northern California. Her passion is world travel, and she’s left the US over a dozen times, including stints working overseas for many months. Right now, she’s working on her next manuscript and planning her next trip.
Her blog is at http://www.fearlessfastpacedfiction.com. Find her reading picks @ReadThis4fun on Twitter, and befriend her on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/SueSwift ). Her sites are at http://www.sue-swift.com and http://www.suzdemello.com.
Her Amazon author pages, which list all of her books and stories, are at https://www.amazon.com/author/sueswift and https://www.amazon.com/author/suzdemello
Enjoy!
October 4, 2012
Meet Anita Philmar: her food and books
I “met” Anita Philmar as many of us meet these days–virtually. We both participated in Passionate Cooks, the free cookbook available from ARE, All Romance Ebooks. She’s giving us a bonus recipe today:
Quick and Easy Date Night Dinner
Recipe for a perfect date night dinner!
Choose your favorite wine. (Opening the bottle is something your lover can do.)
Make a quick dip by combining a mashed avocado with your favorite salsa. Stir together and you are done with a quick guacamole. Open a bag of your favorite corn chips and it’s party time!
Personally, I like to enjoy my wine and munch on the dip while I’m cooking the fajitas.
Now slice up 1 medium size onion and 1 green pepper
Sauté in non-stick pan with two tablespoons of oil
add 12 medium size shrimp (shelled and deveined)
Sprinkle with tablespoon of taco seasoning; vary this to your taste, and cook until shrimp are done.
Add some flour tortillas and dinner is served.
For dessert – might I suggest you share a hot read; any of mine should put you in the mood.
Also if you are looking for other easy date night recipes – download for free Passionate Cooks
http://www.allromanceebooks.com//product-passionatecooks-944744-174.html
Have a great evening,
Anita Philmar
***
Anita’s latest book:
Hotwired for each other…
http://www.wilderroses.com/index.php?...
When Ross Dixon is kidnapped from his office, along with the sexy lawyer who’d been busting his balls over a deal that should have been a walk in the park, he wakes to find a devotion chip surgically implanted in his brain. If that isn’t bad enough, the chip, designed to trigger emotional reactions between him and the woman lying next to him, is working overtime on his libido.
Mistaken for Ross’s flavor of the month, Kayla Michaels, a 22nd century lawyer, doesn’t have a problem spending time in Ross’s bed–or over his desk–but she wants no part in the romantic feelings the chip is provoking. She’s been down that road before and ended up burned.
Kayla and Ross struggle to find answers while coming to terms with the constant lust sizzling between them, but along the way each wonders if the emotions are real or just a side effect of being hotwired.
****
Bio for Anita Philmar
Anita Philmar likes to create stories that push the limit. A writer by day and a dreamer by night she wants her readers to see the world in a new way.
Influenced by sci-fi programs, she likes to develop places where anything can happen and where erotic moments come to life in a great read.
Naughty or Nice?
Read her books and decide.
Website: http://www.anitaphilmar.com/
Email: [email protected]
Blog: http://www.anitaphilmar.blogspot.com/
FB: www.facebook.com/anita.philmar
GR: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1329767.Anita_Philmar
****
Author Sue Swift/Suz deMello
Your blog hostess is best-selling, award-winning author Sue Swift, a.k.a Suz deMello. She has written over fifteen novels, plus several short stories and non-fiction articles. She writes in numerous genres including romance, mystery, paranormal, historical, contemporary comedy and erotica. She’s a freelance editor who’s worked for Total-E-Bound, Ai Press, Liquid Silver Books and Etopia Press. She also takes on private clients.
Her books have been favorably reviewed in PW, Kirkus and Booklist, attained the finals of the RITA and hit several bestseller lists.
A former trial attorney, she resides in northern California. Her passion is world travel, and she’s left the US over a dozen times, including stints working overseas for many months. Right now, she’s working on her next manuscript and planning her next trip.
Her blog is at http://www.fearlessfastpacedfiction.com. Find her reading picks @ReadThis4fun on Twitter, and befriend her on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/SueSwift ). Her sites are at http://www.sue-swift.com and http://www.suzdemello.com.
October 3, 2012
The Lakeland Heatwave Paranormal Erotica Series by K D Grace
The Lakeland Heatwave Paranormal Erotica Series by K D Grace
Book 1, Body Temperature and Rising is currently available for FREE on Amazon Kindle! Get yours now – offer ends 31st October.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008G6DIQ8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&
free from KD Grace!
creativeASIN=B008G6DIQ8&linkCode=as2&tag=lucyfelthouse-21
American transplant to the Lake District, MARIE WARREN, didn’t know she could unleash demons and enflesh ghosts until a voyeuristic encounter on the fells ends in sex with the charming ghost, ANDERSON, and night visits from a demon. To help her cope with her embarrassing and dangerous new abilities, Anderson brings her to the ELEMENTALS, a coven of witches who practice rare sex magic that temporarily allows needy ghosts access to the pleasures of the flesh.
DEACON, the demon Marie has unleashed, holds an ancient grudge against TARA STONE, coven high priestess, and will stop at nothing to destroy all she holds dear. Marie and her landlord, the reluctant young farmer, TIM MERIWETHER, are at the top of his list. Marie and Tim must learn to wield coven magic and the numinous power of their lust to stop Deacon’s bloody rampage before the coven is torn apart and more innocent people die.
Read an excerpt here: http://kdgrace.co.uk/books/lakeland-heatwave-book-i/
*****
Book 2, Riding the Ether is available now!
Available now!
Cassandra Larkin keeps her ravenous and dangerous sexual appetite secret until she seduces Anderson in the mysterious void of the Ether. Anderson is the sexy, insatiable ghost who can give her exactly what she needs.
But sex is dangerous in a place like the Ether…
When the treacherous demon, Deacon, discovers the truth about the origin of Cassandra’s powerful lust, he plots to use her sex magic for revenge on Tara Stone and the Elemental Coven, who practice their own brand of sex magic.
Cassandra must embrace the lust and sexuality she fears and learn to use its power. Will she stand with Anderson, Tara, and the Elemental Coven against Deacon’s wrath or suffer the loss of friendship, magic and love?
Read an excerpt here: http://kdgrace.co.uk/books/lakeland-heatwave-book-2-riding-the-ether/
*****
K D Grace believes Freud was right. In the end, it really IS all about sex, well sex and love. And nobody’s happier about that than she, cuz otherwise, what would she write about?
When she’s not writing, K D is veg gardening or walking. She walks her stories, and she’s serious about it. She and her husband recently walked the Coast to Coast route across England. For her, inspiration is directly proportionate to how quickly she wears out a pair of walking boots.
K D has erotica published with Xcite Books, Mammoth, Cleis Press, Black Lace, Erotic Review, Ravenous Romance, Scarlet Magazine, Sweetmeats Press and others.
K D’s critically acclaimed erotic romance novels include, The Initiation of Ms Holly, The Pet Shop, and her paranormal erotic novel, Body Temperature and Rising, the first book of her Lakeland Heatwave trilogy, was listed as honorable mention on Violet Blue’s Top 12 Sex Books for 2011.
Find K D Here:
Website: http://kdgrace.co.uk/
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/KDGraceAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kd_grace
*****
About this blog’s hostess:
Sue Swift/Suz deMello
Best-selling, award-winning novelist Sue Swift, a.k.a. Suz deMello, has written fifteen books plus several short stories and non-fiction articles. She writes in numerous genres including romance, mystery, paranormal, historical, contemporary comedy and erotica. She’s a freelance editor who’s worked for Total-E-Bound, Ai Press, Liquid Silver Books and Etopia Press. She also takes on private clients.
Her books have been favorably reviewed in PW, Kirkus and Booklist, attained the finals of the RITA and hit several bestseller lists.
A former trial attorney, she resides in northern California. Her passion is world travel, and she’s left the US over a dozen times, including stints working overseas for many months. Right now, she’s working on her next manuscript and planning her next trip.
Her blog is at http://www.fearlessfastpacedfiction.com. Find her reading picks @ReadThis4fun on Twitter, and befriend her on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/SueSwift ). Her sites are at http://www.sue-swift.com and http://www.suzdemello.com.
https://www.amazon.com/author/sueswift
https://www.amazon.com/author/suzdemello
October 1, 2012
Passionate Cooks! Feed Your Passion Here!
Passionate Cooks from All Romance Ebooks
I’m proud to participate in this FREE cookbook from ARE, All Romance Ebooks.
My recipe for Ridiculously Easy Bouillabaise is featured. I picked that recipe because the hero in one of my latest books, SPY GAME, prepares it for the heroine. Many if my books feature a man fixing food for a women–I think it shows that my heroes aren’t afraid to show their softer side. I also feel that food preparation can be a very loving act.
Here’s a little about the book:
Fledgling agent Ani Sharif has finally been assigned to her first undercover mission—to seduce software tycoon Richard Rexford, known as the fearsome T-Rex of Silicon Valley. He’s suspected of selling software secrets to the Chinese. Ani must succeed at her first assignment, but will handsome, clever Richard uncover her secrets and seize her heart?
And here’s an excerpt that sorta features the bouillabaise:
https://www.allromanceebooks.com/prod...
Ani swallowed, her mouth parched. She was definitely in over her head. Thinking that she could play games with Richard Rexford was crazy. She needed to get to his laptop computer and get out. She wasn’t sure how to do it, but hoped to figure that out before the end of the night. She had to minimize contact with Rexford. Another date would be insane.
She cleared her throat, which felt thick and dry. “I don’t want to like you too much.”
“You’re right.” He put the empty soup bowls onto a counter and crossed the galley to stand in front of her, mere inches away. “So why don’t we stop this right now?”
His heat radiated, igniting every cell in her body. The raw sexual tension between them, thicker than the stew she’d eaten, unnerved her. That dangerous flutter started again, but this time it made her tingle from head to toes.
She couldn’t speak. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t look away from his unfathomable blue eyes.
Taking her chin in his hand, he brushed her lips with his. He didn’t break eye contact, and neither did she. The intimacy created was unbearable, as though he’d reached inside her and caressed her soul with the gentlest of touches.
The brief kiss wasn’t nearly enough, but sharpened her appetite for him. She wanted more and took it, grabbing his shirt front and dragging bring him closer so she could flick her tongue over his lips, deliberately enticing him.
He pulled her into his arms, drawing her to his male heat. He dipped his head again to kiss her and this time, he didn’t hold back. He slid his tongue between her lips, making love to her mouth with an insistent rhythm. Desire pounded at her in waves, intense and powerful as a high tide. Her body throbbed with passionate hunger.
“It’s going to be very good between us, you know that?” he whispered into her ear.
“Mmmm, yeah.” Too good, maybe. She’d never experienced anything like Richard’s kiss. Hot and deep and all-encompassing, like a desert whirlwind, he threatened to sweep her away.
But she couldn’t let herself be swept away. She couldn’t take what he offered, no matter how much she wanted it. Linda might be able to have sex with a target without hesitation or regrets, but Ani didn’t think she was built the same way as was her sister.
Allowing caution to assert itself, Ani sighed and pulled away from him.
As if reading her mind, Richard said, “Look, I’m in no rush. I just had to know how you’d feel and, umm, taste.” He looked at the floor. A lock of blond hair fell across his forehead.
Ani wanted to stroke it, play with it … and with the rest of him. Every inch. Instead, she somehow managed to lift her brows. “Like really good fish soup, I bet.”
“Yeah, really good.”
“Even if you do say so yourself.”
They both laughed.
“But now that the first kiss is over, we can relax and enjoy the night, okay?” Richard picked up the desserts and carried them outside.
Enjoy the night. Ri-ight.
*****
Who I am:
Best-selling, award-winning novelist Sue Swift, a.k.a. Suz deMello, has written fifteen books plus several
Sue Swift/Suz deMello
short stories and non-fiction articles. She writes in numerous genres including romance, mystery, paranormal, historical, contemporary comedy and erotica. She’s a freelance editor who’s worked for Total-E-Bound, Ai Press, Liquid Silver Books and Etopia Press. She also takes on private clients.
Her books have been favorably reviewed in PW, Kirkus and Booklist, attained the finals of the RITA and hit several bestseller lists.
A former trial attorney, she resides in northern California. Her passion is world travel, and she’s left the US over a dozen times, including stints working overseas for many months. Right now, she’s working on her next manuscript and planning her next trip.
Her blog is at http://www.fearlessfastpacedfiction.com. Find her reading picks @ReadThis4fun on Twitter, and befriend her on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/SueSwift ). Her sites are at http://www.sue-swift.com and http://www.suzdemello.com.
https://www.amazon.com/author/sueswift
https://www.amazon.com/author/suzdemello
Welcome Back, Suzie!
In any event--today I'm bloggi ...more
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