Category Archives: Guest Blogger

Justine Elyot’s Novel, Meeting Her Match — Wicked, Unnatural, Delicious

I’m elated to welcome back one of my very favourite writers, Justine Elyot, here on her blog tour to promote the hot new JE novel we’ve been waiting for, Meeting Her Match. Tell us details, Justine, details!

Wicked and Unnatural

It’s lovely to be back here at K D’s gracious place. Her hospitality is second to none, so I’d like to thank her for hosting me today.

I’m a fan of K D’s and, on reading her latest terrific novel, The Pet Shop, it occurred to me that, in some ways, we are opposite sides of a coin. I thought it might be interesting to elaborate on that a little.

K D’s work gets deep down in the organic nature of the human sex drive, finding that primitive pulse within us all that urges us to scratch our sensual itches. A dedicated gardener and keen walker, she’s a writer who sees how we are linked with all of nature around us and she expresses this eloquently and very erotically in her stories!

I’m on the other side of the (man-made) fence. I’m fascinated by how humans try to impose their own ideals and tastes on the natural order. How our relationships and experiences impact on our sexuality, how we create rituals around it, and how those rituals evolve as time passes and cultural perspectives shift.

Meeting Her Match concerns the exploration of perhaps the most ritualistic of all sexual practices, BDSM. Although the dominant/submissive dynamic is found all over the place in nature, the cerebral and ceremonial aspects that make it so thrilling are entirely human. Some kinksters would argue that the sex itself is almost the cherry on the cake – what makes the pulse race and the blood rush is everything else that accompanies and precedes the meeting of genitals. Above all, it takes place in the mind – getting hit with sticks is only sexy if your mind is telling you so.

But enough of my blether. I assure you, the book is much sexier than I’m making it sound. Want to try an excerpt?

Excerpt:

The egg timer buzzed and my pulse raced. I wasn’t ready to come out of the corner and face my fate. I needed to stand there for longer, letting the dread seep into my pores and permeate my being. But he would be waiting for me, so I padded over to the computer and typed in the words, “I’m ready, Sir,” even though I wasn’t.

“Good. Did you behave yourself in the corner?”

“Yes, Sir! I thought about…doing things…but I didn’t.”

“Good. I won’t enquire…So? Your thoughts? What might your just desserts be?”

I almost typed ‘trifle’ but I held back, knowing that this would hardly be in the spirit of contrition SecretSadist had hoped to instil.

“I’m not sure. Maybe I should get sent to bed without supper.”

“Maybe.”

Ugh, no. Not sexy. Don’t do that!

“Or…”

“???”

“Something embarrassing…I can’t say it…”

“Say it. Go on.”

“If you were here…”

“If I were there…”

“You could put me over your knee…”

“And?”

“Give me what I deserve.”

“Which is?”

“Argh! Don’t make me say it!”

“I’m not. This is typeface. I’ll make you say it when we meet, though, make no mistake. So? I’m waiting. It’ll be worse for you if you make me hang on much longer.”

“Damn it! You could spank me.”

“Language, young lady! Yes, I certainly think you’ve earned a spanking. If only I were there, I’d have you over my knee right now.”

“…”

“I’d pull your scanty silky knickers down to your knees, Miss, and then I’d smack your bare bottom hard until it glowed redder than fire.”

“Ouch.”

“And if you weren’t sorry, I’d make you fetch your hairbrush and I’d apply it to your stinging rump until you begged for mercy. And then I’d spank you some more.”

“I’ll bear it in mind.”

“You’ll bear it on your bottom. Your bare bottom. One day. Soon.”

“Eek. (Can’t wait).”

And if you can’t wait to find out what happens next, here’s some more detail:

In the internet age, it should be easy for like-minded fetishists to find and connect with each other. Or so Cherry thought. Her decision to enter the wild and wonderful world of BDSM leads her to some interesting and unexpected places. She soon finds herself on ‘the scene’ and her insatiable curiosity takes her to orgies, slave auctions and mansion houses full of trainee submissives, but where will she find her perfect dom? Will Cherry ever meet her match?

Buy in paperback: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Meeting-Her-Match-Justine-Elyot/dp/1908086157/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_3

And on Kindle: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Meeting-Her-Match-ebook/dp/B006C4C3SK/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=A3TVV12T0I6NSM

Justine Elyot is the UK bestselling author of On Demand, The Business of Pleasure and Erotic Amusements. When she isn’t buried under a pile of new projects, you can find her waving at the world from her website http://justineelyot.com/ or gassing about trivialities on Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/JustineElyot.

 

 

 

 

Busted Boobies or Titting Around with Cover Art

My guest today, critically acclaimed author, I.G. Frederick shares her experience with internet censorship.

 

When I got the rights back to the first two novels I’d had published, Broken and Shattered, I engaged the talented Nyla Alisia who works with me at Pussy Cat Press to create new covers for them. The publisher’s covers gave no clue as to what the books are about and had done nothing to sell them. I wanted to correct that.

While cruising a stock photo agency website, I happened upon the perfect picture for the Broken cover. The model looked like the protagonist, she appeared vulnerable, what she wore spoke to the dichotomy of the roles Jessica plays in the book, and the expression on her face was appropriately haunted. I turned the photo over to Nyla along with a synopsis, the first few chapters of the book, and the pitch:

Jessica lived luxuriously until her father lost everything in the dot.com bust. To continue her graduate studies and support herself, Jessica begs her professor for a research assistant’s position. He refuses unless she agrees to also serve as his slave. When in desperation she consents, he breaks her. Then, Jessica discovers she has a Dominant streak and exploits it.

What Nyla sent back was absolutely awesome. She had created a new background of a broken mirror, harshened the model’s makeup making her look even more haunted, and darkened the shadows. She selected the perfect font (aptly named “kink”) which I echoed inside the book using it for chapter headings and drop caps.

She created the subhead of “A Disturbing Erotic Novel” and added the tag line “Some things can never be fixed” to the epub cover and as the title of the description on the back of the print cover.

I was thrilled, amazed, and exhilarated to see a cover that so well captured what the book is about. I uploaded Broken to Amazon (print and Kindle), All Romance books, and Smashwords.

Imagine my surprise and consternation when I logged into my Smashwords dashboard more than a week later and discovered this note posted for Broken: “some of our retailers are cracking down on even illustrated nudity. Could you cover up our lady’s nipples a bit? :)”

Say what? Of five distributors/retailers they were the only ones to express concern. And, they weren’t complaining that the novel contained graphic sexual content, non-consensual BDSM, coerced slavery, and a professor who pimps his students out to other members of a university’s faculty. No, they wanted her nipples, those sexualized conduits for breast milk, covered up.

Mine is hardly the first example of such censorship. On the Facebook page: “Amazon Censors” (of all places), the most recent discussions revolve around Smashwords censorship. According to Esmeralda Greene, “This isn’t new. Smashwords told me I had to change the cover of a book of mine before it would be accepted for their distributer’s channels because it used a *painting* that showed some nipple.”

I asked Mark Coker, Smashwords founder, about the censorship. His response: “Our policies have changed little in the last two years … We’ve always had a no-nudity policy on cover images. No nipples has always been standard policy. Other than nipples, fully bare breasts and penises on cover images, we and our retailers allow quite a bit.” He also took exception to the idea that there had been any recent changes to policies. “There’s always a chance that our policies have been applied inconsistently because the vetting process is a human process and subject to human error and subjectivity.”

I was left with the choice of being shut out of the Smashwords premium catalog or paying to have my cover remade. Frankly, I don’t care whether or not some of the Smashwords retailers carry my books. They don’t cater to an audience who has any interest in reading what I write. But, unless you are a publisher with more than 100 titles, the Smashwords premium catalog is the only way to get them listed on Ebook Eros (a Diesel eBooks company). I’ve written guest posts, been profiled, etc. on Ebook Eros. Most of the books I’ve published through Smashwords are listed there, including Shattered which is the sequel to Broken.

Coker did not answer my question as to why Smashwords has an all-or-nothing policy regarding distribution to retailers.

I spoke with Nyla. She is such a talented artist that she was able to hide the nipples without dramatically changing the look of the cover. She moved the model’s pearls over her right nipple and lengthened her hair over her left. On December 20, the cover was accepted into the premium catalog by Smashwords, which pushes it through (eventually) to Sony, Kobo, Apple, Barnes & Noble, and Ebook Eros .

I decided I did not want to have two different (even subtly different) covers for the same book, especially given the confusion already caused by the fact that this is a second edition and some of the first edition books are still out there. I went ahead and replaced all versions of the book with the new cover, which took a considerable amount of my time.

So I’m out a bit of money and a lot of time for what? To cover up some nipples? For a book that’s billed as “a disturbing erotic novel”?

At the Erotic Authors Association’s (EAA) inaugural conference last September discussions turned more than once to the acceptability of violence over sex in mainstream literature. If one wrote about an underage woman having sex and wanted to have the work published, she couldn’t enjoy it. If she was raped, an author would have a much better chance of finding a publisher than if the sex was consensual and pleasurable. As disgusting as that might seem, it’s reflective of repressive attitudes toward sexual pleasure, especially female sexual pleasure.

What does it say about our society that we use sex to sell everything from soap to shoes and then freak out when a woman’s nipples are exposed on a book cover?

In an excellent post about the Dossier Journal cover controversy last month, Lisa Wade, PhD, notes that the “social and legislative ban on public breasts rests on a jiggly foundation. It’s not simply that breasts are considered pornographic. It’s that we’re afraid of women and femininity and female bodies and, if a man looks feminine enough, he becomes, by default, obscene.”

Does it worry you that the companies deciding what you get to read and how it’s presented were founded by megalomaniacs determined to keep what they decide is pornography off their electronic bookshelves,  try to run every other bookseller out of business while hiding anything written by or about LGBT people,  support bills in the U.S. Congress that would make Internet access in this country as limited as it is in China,  etc. are deciding what you get to read and how it’s presented?

I.G. Frederick has traded words for cash more years than she cares to admit and has specialized in erotic fiction and poetry since 2001. She has sold numerous short stories and poems to various print and electronic magazines and anthologies. Her novels have received high praise from readers, critics, and other authors.

You can read reviews of her work and find links to purchase her novels, poetry books, and individual short stories on her website. You can also find her at Smashwords, Twitter, Google, Live journal, and Facebook.

In addition, I.G. Frederick is an accomplished book designer and together with the awesome artist Nyla Alisia and her submissive Patrick (web designer extraordinaire) provides services to indie authors and small presses as part of Pussy Cat Press. Pussy Cat Press services — including elegant cover design for print and electronic books, print and electronic book formatting/design, and web development and design — are available on a fee-only (no royalty) basis with all rights for work produced owned by the client.

Kay Dee Royal tells the Story Behind Her Exciting New Release, ‘One Plus One’

I’d like to welcome the fabulous Kay Dee Royal to share with us the story behind her story, One Plus One. Welcome Kay Dee!

Thank you KD for having me today. I appreciate you allowing me to stop in and hang out for the day *smile*

Victim of Circumstance or Godsend, Divine Intervention at Work

…and what does that even mean?

I’m a firm believer of Divine Intervention. You know, those times when something steps into your life-journey and sends you spinning off in a new direction.

A quick example: I’m sitting in a long line of traffic and remind myself it’s all for a reason, keeping me delayed only long enough for the next life-journey experience. OR, when my computer stalls out and refuses to show me the page I’ve been desperately working on for the past three hours. OR my cellphone battery goes dead miles from nowhere, and I’m late to a meeting with no way of telling anyone.

But, once I got up and running again from any of these delays, it ended up being just enough to set me up for the greater experience after…like because of the traffic delay I missed running into someone I wasn’t ready to meet (didn’t have my reports prepared), or the computer stall-out gave me the break I needed to recharge and come back to realize what I’d been writing was way off course, and the cellphone incident…well, the meeting had been postponed, so I ended up making it.

Yeah, once in a while I might burn the ears off the Divine with my expletives if I can’t reel in my impatience (LOL), but deep down I know it’s all good. Take my story, One Plus One, for instance…

One Plus One, a singles three-week cruise, is the absolute last think in the world Lacinda would do. Her heart and love life turned to cinder when her husband-to-be never made it to their wedding due to a fatal accident.

Two years later, Lacinda owns and operates an animal rescue. She’s dedicated her life to the four-legged kind, until her best friend, Avery, brings a contest entry to Lacinda. With the consumption of a bottle of wine the ‘pen’ loosens and out comes the fun of it. Between the two women, those explicit/graphic responses win Lacinda the prize cruise.

She’s way out of her comfort zone, in over her head…so, is she a Victim or Godsend?  Is this Divine Intervention at work?

Blade built his way up in the corporate world, becoming a well-known hotel mogul and cruise line owner. All of his relationships seem attached to his worth, so he shuts off to any female possibilities.

Mazie, Blade’s business partner and friend, arranges the One Plus One Cruise…to the point where she makes Blade select the one woman most appropriate. She leaves nothing unturned in this woman’s background checks.

Mazie gives Blade all of Lacinda’s information…he’s smitten with her. But, the whole union set-up is built on deceit…how can good come from a lie? Victim of circumstance or Godsend…Divine Intervention at play?

Does anyone have a little Divine Intervention moment of their own they’d care to share? Love to hear all about it.

One Plus One Blurb: Releasing from Muse It Hot on December 23, 2011

Coerced by her friend, Lacinda, a woman crushed by love, winds up on a three-week singles cruise.

Blade, a man of means, discovers Miss Right under the guise of a singles cruise set up by his business partner.

Once Blade focuses his efforts he always gets what he’s after, until Lacinda throws his arrogant reputation back in his face.

Can Blade break through Lacinda’s angry barriers? Will she ever see him as anything more than a player?

One Plus One Excerpt:

“Lacinda Gainesly,” a steward called her name. She saw the sign he held with her name printed in bright purple. She slipped on the first step leading down onto the ship and stumbled past the steward. The sign dropped from his fingers and his arms latched around her body from behind. His quick reflexes saved her face from biting the deck, but his hands cupped both of her breasts and squeezed. Lacinda threw her elbow back into his side.

“Hey, a little respect for the guy who saved your life.”

Lacinda shrugged out of his grasp. She met his gaze and realized this was the same man who picked her up from her hotel in a long black limo, only then he was dressed in black instead of the white uniform he now wore.

“You’re the driver.”

“I’m a lot of things, like possibly a hero.” His eyes looked as happy as his lips.

She noticed his smile, the same he shared earlier when he asked her questions about why she took the cruise quiz. Lacinda thought he was simply a driver for the cruise company so she shared some of her story. He knew about Alex dying in a car crash on the way to their wedding. She searched her memory for anything else she might have shared which could embarrass her later.

“Alas fair maiden, your chambers await your timely arrival,” he said, faking a British accent. He held his gloved hand out. Lacinda refused it.

“I’m ready for my quarters.” She needed relaxation, maybe take a nice hot scented bath and get prepared for the swing of things, anything to distract her from the past that never left her alone.

“As you wish, my lady,” he said, again with a British accent. The steward turned, led her across the deck, and down a stairway. She saw men and women following other stewards or each other. Once on board everyone began mingling, even flirting, judging by the tinkling female laughter and deep manly chuckles.

“There will be an announcement left under your door regarding tonight’s dinner seating arrangements. May you enjoy your day and make sure you take time for a relaxing massage. There’s always a masseuse available. Their extension is listed beside your phone. You’ll find your room key there as well.”

Lacinda followed him down a narrow hallway until he stopped in front of a door with an elegantly scrolled number 216.

“This is you. May I answer any questions before I go?”

Lacinda dug in her purse for a tip. Clueless on how much was appropriate and not wanting to give him anything. He got his gratuity when he copped a feel of her breasts.

Kay Dee Royal writes paranormal and fantasy romance—maybe because it’s also her favorite genre to read! She pens tales with wild, rugged heroes and strong, intelligent heroines. She’ll give them both a few shadowy secrets, making her stories intriguing and fun. She resides in Southern Michigan with her family (her dogs, her cats, her caged husband… you get the idea). You can reach her at her blog and find the latest on her titles from her publisher, MuseItHot.

Blogs: http://www.kaydeeroyal.blogspot.com

http://ravencraftrealm.blogspot.com

FB: http://www.facebook.com/kaydee.royal

Muse Info/Buy Page: http://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=291&category_id=69&keyword=Kay+Dee+Royal&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1


 

 

 

Bah! Humbug! It’s Too Early For Easter Candy!

Elizabeth Black ushers in the holidays with rum balls, rubber bunnies and hot bisexual werewolves! Welcome Elizabeth!

Wow, it’s not even Christmas yet and Easter candy is already for sale at Kroger and Safeway! The Chia pets are barely warming the shelves and they’re already stocking up the chocolate bunnies! I remember when the only time you could get rubber bunnies was the week or two before Easter and at 75% off the couple of days after Easter. I call marshmallow peeps “rubber bunnies”. No explanation necessary. Now, you can get rubber pumpkins and ghosts for Halloween and rubber Christmas-themed candies. That’s just wrong! I even found chocolate mousse-flavored and colored rubber black cats for Halloween.

They tasted weird.

Christmas is the time for homemade candy canes. Colorful hard candy ribbons. Chocolate advent calendars. Brachs candies, Ferro Rocher chocolates and boxes of Godiva morsels. Wassail, spiked cider, and hot buttered rum. Cookies take over my house. Pfeffernusse. Anise pizzelles. Sugar cookies with red and green sugar on them. Gingerbread men. Gingerbread houses. Nuts are popular too. So are Harry and David’s fruit baskets. Whether you want one or not.

It’s also the time of year for another tasty dish.

When I was a kid my mother used to cart me and my sister around to her friend’s houses. I was bored out of my skull so I’d scarf down all the Christmas cookies and cakes everyone had out on their tables. When I was ten we were at another one of my mother’s friends and I had already started on the ginger snaps. I found what looked like chocolate and confectioner’s sugar donut holes and I ate about twenty of them within two minutes.

Then I began to feel sick. Dizzy too.

I told my mother I wasn’t feeling well and I wanted to go home. I told her the donut holes made me sick. Her friend, shocked at what she realized I had done, asked me how many I had eaten. I said about twenty.

She said, “Oh my God, those aren’t donut holes. They’re rum balls!”

Here I was, ten years old, and I was already a lush for Christmas. I must admit once I calmed down the dizziness and giddiness felt rather good. LOL

So here is a recipe for that holiday classic, rum balls. Just don’t let a ten year old mistake them for donut holes. Hilarity will ensue.

Rum Balls By Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 cup dark rum

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

2 1/2 cups finely crushed vanilla wafers

1 cup finely chopped, toasted walnuts

Directions:

Into a large bowl, sift together 1 cup of the confectioners’ sugar, the cocoa powder and allspice. Stir in the rum and corn syrup. Stir in the vanilla wafers and walnuts, and mix well. Place in the refrigerator to firm up slightly, about 30 minutes. (The mixture may appear crumbly and dry; this is O.K.)

Place the remaining 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar in a shallow bowl or dish.

Using a tablespoon, scoop out portions of the chocolate mixture and press into 1-inch balls. Using your hands, roll the balls in the confectioners’ sugar, coating evenly.

Place on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, placing waxed paper between the layers to prevent sticking.

 

Have you read my novella Feral Heat, which is about the lives and antics of Sam Hightower and Grant Newsome, two bisexual werewolves? Those two work as lighting technicians for stage plays. That book has always been my best seller. Since many people have written to me telling me how much they like Sam and Grant I’ve decided to write more stories that include those two characters. The first story appears in the book Explicit Encounters published by Romance Divine. It’s called Fluff the Master, and it’s a FREE READ! Yes, you read that right. FREE! So pick up your copy today. You may find it at AllRomanceeBooks. You may also e-mail me at trishcwilson AT comcast DOT net and I will give you a PDF copy of the book.

AllRomanceeBooks – Explicit Encounters – Contains Fluff the Master.

Here’s my Feral Heat page on my web site. It has everything you need: buy links, excerpt, blurb, reviews, and cover.

The second story is called Filthy Leuker, and it released yesterday. Look for it at AllRomanceEbooks, Barnes and Noble Nook, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, and other locations. Filthy Leuker continues the story of Sam Hightower and Grant Newsome, my bisexual werewolves from my novella Feral Heat. You may also find Sam and Grant in the free read Fluff the Master, published by Romance Divine in its Explicit Encounters anthology.

Here are a blurb and an excerpt from Filthy Leuker to whet your appetite. Treat yourself to some fantastic Christmas gifts by getting Feral Heat, Fluff the Master, and Filthy Leuker at the same time!

BLURB:

Erotic author Elizabeth Black is back. And she brings with her those lusty, bisexual werewolves/stagehands from her hot and sexy Feral Heat. This time Grant and Sam have their eyes on the show’s luscious male dancer: Leuker. To keep it all interesting, the lithesome ladies, Lina and Charlotte, are also along. It’s a paranormal, erotic, anything goes FIVE-some. Blame it all on…Filthy Leuker.

EXCERPT:

“I don’t think we’ll be getting much rest tonight. I’m feeling adventurous!” Charlotte dipped her finger in her Tuaca and rubbed it around her mouth, pursing her lips with the promise of much more. She pulled a pair of dice out of her back pocket of her jeans and rolled them in her palm. “What do you say we play with my Sex Dice?”

“What are Sex Dice?” Luke looked so open and naïve Sam wanted to hug him.

“He’s adorable,” Charlotte brushed her fingers against Luke’s arm, making Luke double-take at her bold gesture. A pang of jealousy washed over Sam, but he immediately shoved the feeling away. They’d share each other’s bodies soon enough. Charlotte continued: “Sex Dice are a game. We shake the dice and do whatever they tell us to do. One die says what to do and the other die says to whom to do it.”

Luke reached for the dice in Charlotte’s hand but Lina slapped him away. She likes slapping. I could get into a little swat. The pain would do me good.

“No!” Lina commanded. “I’d rather see your reaction the moment you have to remove your shirt or French kiss the person to your right.”

“Good thing we’re bi or that could be awkward.” Mirth filled Grant’s voice.

“Or enticing,” Charlotte nibbled brie from an apple slice. Melting cheese dripped from the corner of her mouth, and the tip of her tongue snatched it up before it could get away, making Sam’s cock twitched with delight. “Have you ever seen two straight women kiss? It’s very exciting. All the giggling and petting. They love it. They just don’t admit it.”

“Enough talk! Let’s play. Everyone on the floor in a circle.” Sam took the dice from Charlotte as the five of them sat on the floor with Sam against the couch and to his right Grant, then Lina, Luke, and Charlotte.

“I’ll go first,” He took a long swallow of his Tuaca and tossed the dice on the rug.

Buy links for Filthy Leuker:

Rainbow Ebooks

Amazon Kindle

AllRomanceEBooks

Bookstrand

B&N Nook

Kobo: Coming soon

Romance Divine: Coming Soon

About The Author:

Elizabeth Black writes erotica, erotic romance, dark fiction, horror, and mystery from her cozy home by the ocean in Massachusetts. She is surrounded by her husband, son, and four cats. The cats are her muses. She also works for several sex toys companies as both a copywriter and a sex toys reviewer. When she isn’t writing or reviewing, she reads, bakes (including rum balls), and watches bad horror movies. The worse the better. If there isn’t a decapitation within the first fifteen minutes, she’s bored. And she writes romance!

Where To Find Elizabeth On The Web:

Elizabeth Black – Blog and Web Site

Elizabeth Black – Facebook

Elizabeth Black – Amazon Author Page

Elizabeth Black – Yahoo Group

Elizabeth Black – Twitter

Lizzie’s Sexy Newsletter

 

Victoria Blisse Tells Why it’s Always Christmas in Lincoln

The lovely Victoria Blisse has taken time out from the festivities of  the fabulous Blissemas Blog Hop to stop in and tell us a story behind the story. And in keeping with the spirit of the season, she’s going to tell us what inspired her hot new story, Always Christmas in Lincoln. Welcome, Victoria, and happy holidays!

There’s always more to a story than meets the eye and that is certainly true for Always Christmas in Lincoln.

It was back in May when I came up with the idea. I went down to Lincoln to join in with the Lincoln book festival with one of my publishers, Total-E-Bound. I experienced Steep Hill very soon after arriving, in fact I had to drag my luggage up it! I was very relieved to find a lovely ice cream shop at the top of that hill I can tell you!

So it was the second time I’d visited Lincoln, I’d been a few years earlier for the Christmas Markets with my mum. It was a lovely trip and it was extra cold and frosty at the time we went, very festive indeed. I was reminded of that visit in the evening when I was enjoying a meal with Nikki, Claire and Heidi from the TEB gang and fellow authors Liz Coldwell and Serena Yates.

We were in a very nice Thai restaurant enjoying a very delicious meal when we noticed that running all round the windows and over the ceiling were…Christmas decorations! Reindeers and Angels if I remember correctly! We made comment about them then and there but the conversation moved on. We found out about Serena Yates love of spreadsheets which she shares with Nikki in fact and talked books, promotion and life.

Anyway, after lovely food we went for drinkies together in the hotel and as we walked up the driveway we noticed all the bushes were lit up with bright white fairy lights and Liz commented. “It’s always Christmas in Lincoln.” And bam, I had a book title and all I needed to do was write the story to go with it! As I lay in bed that night I thought over ideas for my story and by morning I’d thumbed out a quick plot on my phone.

So I have to thanks the authors there that night and especially Liz because without them this story wouldn’t have been born!

It was June when I wrote Always Christmas in Lincoln and so the story starts in Summer! I found it really interesting to be writing something so festive set in the middle of a heatwave. How did I do it? I created a year-round Christmas shop in Lincoln!

Now you know the inspiration behind the story, let’s find out about the actual story!

It isn’t really always Christmas in Lincoln but when Felicity gets her man it feels like it.

Felicity hates Christmas. It reminds her of a traumatic event from her childhood. She thinks the Permanent Christmas shop is tacky, with its windows full of trees and tinsel all year round and would rather it disappeared from her picturesque home town.

When she discovers that Carl, who she lusts over every time she sees him in the tea rooms, is in fact the owner of Ho, Ho, Ho! She’s not quite sure what to think. It takes a sexy meeting in the middle of a fake winter wonderland to make her realise the advantages of Christmas in the middle of summer.

As time passes, Carl and Felicity indulge in more sexy liaisons but as Christmas approaches Felicity doubts whether she is anything more than a sensual distraction for the festive shop owner and when her handsome ex, Sean, sweeps into town on a quest to win her back she finds she has a tough decision to make.

Can Carl and his Christmas cheer win over her hardened heart?

And now an excerpt, a very, very hot excerpt:

It was very surreal being surrounded by snow, even fake snow, in the middle of summer. Every time I bobbed my head up and down on his delicious dick—I swear it tasted of gingerbread and cinnamon—something different would catch my eye. The green and red- scarfed penguin lying on its side next to me or the grinning Santa on a rocking chair up on the shelf. Each had a smug smile that I was sure signaled how much they liked the show.

It was very hot—I suspect I was a little delirious at the time. I pulled my focus back to the man in front of me. I listened to his groans, his pants, and felt the push of his hips as he showed me exactly how much he was enjoying the feel of my mouth around his cock and encouraged me to take him deeper and to suck harder.

“Fuck, Fliss,” he gasped, “you’re amazing.”

I smiled up at him and winked. I slowly withdrew him from my mouth and ran my tongue around his tip.

“I really want to fuck you,” Carl groaned breathlessly. “Really want to. Really.”

“Say pretty please,” I teased, just as eager to feel his hardness inside me as he was to fill me.

“Please?” he begged.

I twirled my fingers around his tip and stroked down his shaft. I let my mischievous side out to play and grinned wickedly at him, but didn’t move an inch.

“Pretty please with a cherry on top?” he pleaded desperately.

“Well, since you ask so nicely…” I let the sentence linger and moved myself forward slightly. This was all the permission Carl needed. He lunged forward and caught me off balance. As we rolled around, tinkling and clanking noises surrounded us, but we weren’t worried about damaged or out of place stock. After much rolling and giggling, I ended up below him, my skirt around my waist and his cock straining against the material of my knickers.

“I’ve dreamt about this for so long.” He worked the damp fabric to one side and slid a thick, warm finger into me. “You’re gorgeous.”

I was surprised—I’d hardly realised he knew who I was and wouldn’t have ever even imagined he’d thought of me in a sexual way.

“I didn’t know.” The words came in between moans and panting breaths as he finger-fucked me, finding and manipulating my clit and seeking out the sensitive spots inside me. “I’ve been watching you for months and I didn’t realise you even knew I existed.”

“Oh, I knew.” He nodded. “I watched you all the time from behind my newspaper in the café.”His finger left me and I longed for more contact. A moment later, his dick pushed at my entrance and filled me. A streak of warm excitement flashed through my insides, creating a paradox of completion and desire that drove my hips up to meet his first thrust. “But believe it or not,” he continued, “I’m shy and I didn’t know how to approach you.”

We looked at each other and laughed.

“You conquered your shyness, then,” I said. “I’m glad you did.”

“So am I.”

Always Christmas in Lincoln is available from Total-E-Bound now!

Have you ever celebrated or thought about Christmas in Summer?