Tag Archives: guest blog

Putting My Twist on What Makes Werewolves Hot by Annabeth Leong

Many thanks to K.D. Grace for hosting me here today! I’d like to use the space to talk about the process of putting my own stamp on the common trope of the werewolf.

The word “werewolf” conjures images of abandon, freedom, wildness, and ravenous appetites. It’s no difficult task to guess why werewolves have been such popular figures in erotic romance. When I think about what makes shifters hot, it’s that very present beast within.

What makes something popular, however, can also make it daunting. A Google search on “werewolf erotic romance” turned up more than 1.7 million results, for example. How can a writer possibly add something new?

I think the key is to find a personal point of connection.

Untamed, unbuttoned, uninhibited, completely uncivilized passion sounds sexy as hell to me, but I’m not the kind of girl who would have an easy time getting naked in the woods. I’m a rules-follower by nature, inclined to anxiety, and if I found myself in a secluded area with a hot shifter, I’d fritter away my makeout time by constantly checking for approaching park rangers.

This nervousness, it turns out, gave me a way to make werewolves my own.

Any time a paranormal story is set in something like the real world, the first task is to explain why we don’t all hear about werewolves all the time. In Not His Territory, I answered that question by pitting the anxiety I know all too well against the rugged image of a man who can become a beast. My werewolves are locked down by a rigid, legalistic Werewolf Council that spends all its effort checking for the proverbial park ranger.

My werewolves don’t shift because the full moon overcomes them. Instead, they get a “full-moon exemption” from the Council, which allows them to shift one night a month, with a 24-hour window before and after if life circumstances don’t allow observance at the technically correct time. As soon as I stumbled on that sort of detail, my story, conflict, and personal angle on werewolves fell into place for me.

My heroine needs the protection of the law, because she’s being stalked by a rogue werewolf who doesn’t care what rules he has to break to get to her. My hero embodies that law, but chafes from his own struggle against the wild nature he denies.

Writing about werewolves, for me, became a way of exploring obedience to the law. What are its limits? When is it wrong? When should instinct be trusted above reason?

Those questions grabbed me and felt personal to me. They made werewolves and all they represent specific enough for me to get hold of as a writer. And this process made me understand that one of the things I enjoy about reading werewolf story after werewolf story is seeing where other writers find their points of connection in turn.

Excerpt:

“Big Timber’s worse than we thought. I need a pack of enforcers down here. The local alpha’s gone rogue—he’s stalking his ex-wife. And I think he’s also the one who decided to welcome my bus. An unauthorized shifter caught up with me a block from the station and tore me half to shreds. If I hadn’t taken refuge, I’d have been killed.”

No reply came from the other end of the line.

“Hello?” Raul said.

Gabriel answered this time, starting with a long sigh. “I can’t just send enforcers, Raul. You know that. We have to follow procedures. You’re the investigator. Do your job. Bring back evidence, and I’ll get a team down there.”

“I believe in procedures as much as anyone else—”

“Then you understand why it’s vital to follow them. When we let go of proper process, we become beasts. We can’t afford that, no matter the cost.”

“Can you send backup investigators?” Raul tried.

“The rest of the team’s still dealing with that situation in Missoula.”

“This is way more serious. Missoula’s werewolves are only threatening to break council law. I’m sitting on a pile of full-scale violations.”

“The population in Missoula’s larger. It gets priority.”

Raul deliberately relaxed his fingers. He’d pop the phone in half if he didn’t watch out. Already, a fine layer of fur had sprouted on the back of his hand. He’d have to be careful or the claws growing on his feet would rip Chandra’s carpet. Nothing brought out the beast in him more than a good, long talk about “procedures,” no matter how much he believed in the order the council was trying to establish.

“I think we’re in real danger of this pack seceding from governance,” Raul said, hoping a few official-sounding words would get Gabriel’s attention. “They’re already acting like they’re running an independent region. How much longer before they make it official? We need to quash this before they ally with the other rebel packs down in Wyoming.”

“Investigate, Raul, and we will act as quickly as we can.”

Damn. His legs were getting hairy too. Raul took a deep breath, counting slowly as he did. “The ex-wife is in danger, I think. Can I at least send her to Lewistown for protection?”

“Not without evidence.”

“The pack alpha’s claiming her house as his territory against her will. Can that claim even stand?”

“Don’t get involved in anything more than we asked you to, Raul. You can put the information about the ex-wife in your report.” Gabriel’s voice never wavered, remaining as urbane as ever.

At least one person in this conversation is having no trouble holding back his primal nature.

If Raul hadn’t seen the man shift at full moon, he’d wonder if Gabriel was a real werewolf at all.

 

Not His TerritoryBlurb:

After a devastating encounter with an illegally shifted werewolf, a wounded Raul Silva slumps on Chandra Williams’s doorstep, begging for refuge. As an investigator for the legalistic Werewolf Council, Raul’s been sent to look into instability in the local pack. Chandra’s presence makes him want to succeed at his mission for personal — not professional — reasons.

The Werewolf Council disapproves. Chandra is strictly off-limits for Raul according to both the traditions and laws of the werewolves. But after a life devoted to upholding principles, Raul’s instincts and desires are boiling to the surface. Can Raul resist Chandra, or will he break with everything he stands for to pursue a woman who is not his territory?

Available from:
Breathless Press
Amazon UK
Amazon US
All Romance eBooks
BookStrand

*****

Bio:

Annabeth Leong has written romance and erotica of many flavors — dark, kinky, vanilla, straight, lesbian, bi, and menage. In addition to Not His Territory, Breathless Press published her werewolf story, “The Arcadian Cure,” in its Ravaged anthology. She particularly enjoys playing off myth, legend, fairy tales, and fantastic history. She believes passionately in freedom of speech, rights for people of all sexual orientations, and freedom of religion. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island, blogs at annabethleong.blogspot.com, and tweets @AnnabethLeong

*****

Contest:

Thanks for reading! I’m giving away a PDF copy of Not His Territory to one reader of this post. Simply leave a comment answering the following question:

What do you personally like most about werewolves?

You have until Dec. 3 to respond. Please leave your email address in the BODY of the comment, so I can contact the winner. For more chances to win, check out the other stops on my tour: http://www.writermarketing.co.uk/prpromotion/blog-tours/currently-on-tour/annabeth-leong/

Kristal Baird on Her Novella, PA Expose

The Story Behind The Story

It’s my pleasure to welcome the fabulous Kristal Baird to my site today. This is Kristal’s first time on A Hopeful Romantic. She’s here to tell us the story behind her hot new novella, PA Exposé.

Hello there, Kd. I’m so thrilled that you’ve invited me over to share the origins of my full-length novel, PA Exposé, with your wonderful readers. It’s truly lovely to get a chance to connect with so many interesting people.

There wasn’t one particular thing that sparked off the plot. Rather, it was several current events that led to the creation of individual characters. Once they existed, I had to get these people interacting. My whirlwind of a mind started gathering storm clouds until hopefully I got a tornado of a story (what did I say about current events?).

I will explain how the three main characters came to life:

One long-running real-life drama going on, has criticised newspaper media. Management and reporters of a global news organisation were allegedly engaged in illegal and immoral practices, such as phone hacking, to get news stories. This got me thinking about the type of newspaper magnates that might condone or resort to underhand activities, and so my heroine’s newspaper boss – Joe Mathers – was born. He is a rogue who has taken a fancy to his young intern, Cally Hammond. Of course, she wants nothing to do with him. Joe is rotten enough to hire my hero, Jake Stone, to train her into submission.

Now Jake is a bit of an enigma. His character developed after reading about Special Forces operatives, working recently in dangerous war zones. I always wondered what most of these guys do with their “transferable skills” after leaving the forces. Some have gone on to become successful writers and media presenters in their own right: Chris Ryan, Andy McNab and Bear Grylls, to name but a few. But the rest?

Well ex-Special Forces, Jake Stone, is a tough, determined, dominant male who uses his training to provide a different sort of specialist service – training submissives!! As a tribute to this year’s Olympics [London 2012] – I made him a bit athletic too…

What Jake doesn’t realise is that he needs a good woman permanently in his life.

Enter Cally (stage left).

Part of her existence arose from my personal knowledge of a young woman who has just spent a year doing an internship for a magazine publisher. I was amazed at all the things this woman was expected to do, for no payment whatsoever, simply to get the experience she required, to enable her to get a paid job eventually. Opportunity? Exploitation?

Cally is equally dedicated to her future career and goes undercover to expose businessman Jake Stone (unaware it is a ruse, concocted by her boss). She is as determined as Jake to get what she wants.

Cue: fireworks!

Of course, the novel has clear submission themes and this is where my blogging buddies have helped me out. Many people live the BDSM lifestyle and they are all very unique. Their shared experiences have helped me to develop Jake’s and Cally’s own Dominant/Submissive sides. They were meant to be together.  However, their equal resolve to get their own job done, gets in the way of this happening.

So, you see, the story really started with the characters. They all want something from each other. It’s not what they think, though! Now I believe it’s high time you patient people got a peek at what they all got up to.

Blurb – PA Exposé

Aspiring journalist, Cally Hammond, believes she is undercover to expose dominating company executive, Jake Stone. However, she has been duped by her real boss, into undergoing training to become sexually submissive.

Jake is an enthusiastic master who exposes Cally to bondage, correction, and submission to his will. The shocking experience re-awakens a dormant side of Cally’s personality which Jake can’t help reacting to.

But both have a mission to fulfil. Will they succeed, and what secrets will be exposed in the process?

 

Available from:

http://www.amazon.com/PA-Expose-submission-Romance-ebook/dp/B008LWR7AU/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342527976&sr=1-10&keywords=PA+Expose

http://www.amazon.co.uk/PA-Expose-submission-Romance-ebook/dp/B008LWR7AU/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1

http://www.xcitebooks.co.uk/Book/1265/7714/PA-Expose.html

*****

Excerpt – PA Exposé – this is where Cally arrives for her ‘job interview’ with Jake:

Cally pushed through the double glass doors which whooshed briskly closed behind her and passed an unmanned reception desk. Jake Stone’s name was clearly outlined on a plaque on his door – he loved his gold plaques – so she knocked sharply and entered.

Sitting across the room, behind a huge mahogany desk, was a man. Not an older man, like Mathers. About mid-30s. Not an ugly man either. Rather gorgeous, actually. Her heart skipped a beat. And she was still only looking at the top of his head. Thick, dark hair, short, well groomed. He hadn’t even looked up yet.

She cleared her throat. ‘I did knock,’ she explained.

He failed to acknowledge her. Cally began to feel a little uncomfortable. She wanted to fill the silence that grew around her while he continued to read the papers in a folder on his desk. ‘Shall I wait outside?’

Her left her standing there feeling more and more awkward.

Cally tried to make the decision for him. ‘I can see you’re busy.’ Geez, the least he could do was say something. Anything. ‘I’ll wait outside.’

She got to the door. Just as she opened it to leave, he spoke. ‘Shut the door.’

She presumed he meant behind her and tried to slip through the opening.

‘How dare you enter my office without permission?’ His tone was cool, modulated. Dangerous. Sexy as hell.

‘I’m sorry –’

‘I have not given you permission to speak.’

Cally was startled. She had never been addressed that way in her life. Even by Mathers. She wanted to tell him to drop dead, but the words hung on her lips.

He had the sexiest pair of deep brown eyes she had ever seen in her life, and they were looking straight through her. And she wanted the job. The other one. She knew what she had to do to get it.

‘Sorry,’ she repeated. Her heart pounded.

‘Let’s get the first lesson out of the way, Miss Hammond,’ he said, rising. ‘You speak when I say you can and not until then. Are we clear?’

She was just about to affirm verbally when his raised eyebrows, stopped her. She closed her open mouth.

‘Good.’ He rose and paced slowly toward her. ‘Learn to please me quickly. I expect no less from my personal assistant than that she pleases me.’

Cally swallowed down the lump that was building nervously in her throat, choking off her breathing, as he towered over her. The way he said pleases left her in no doubt as to what he was alluding. Sex. Everything about Jake Stone screamed sex. Hot, hard, and his way. No wonder his PAs didn’t last too long.

‘In everything,’ he added, cranking up the tension. Hers.

The tone of his last remark, no less than the remark itself, had Cally wishing she could bolt for the door. But he had circled around her like a seasoned predator and was standing between her and her only means of escape. She stepped into the room a little more to widen the gap between them.

‘Stand still!’ he commanded. ‘I have not given you permission to move.’

The sound reverberated in her ears, over and over. He left the remark hanging for at least a minute, in which Cally’s heart started to thump seriously now in her chest. Slow and heavy and deadly.

‘Lesson two,’ he announced. ‘You don’t speak without my permission and you will stand in one place all day, unless I give you my permission to move.’

Cally was as still as a bronze sculpture.

‘Is that clear?’ Each word was ground out, easy, his mouth so close to her ear she could feel his hot breath waft the long, blonde hairs at her temple and shiver over her skin.

What was she to do? Answer him? Say nothing? Her head began to spin with the complexity of it. This wasn’t what she was expecting at all.

He waited, standing behind her, which increased her anxiety, as she wasn’t allowed to turn around to watch what he was doing. She could feel his eyes roaming all over her figure as if they were his hands and found herself warming in anticipation of the latter.

Gradually the silence, the unspoken control he wielded, ratcheted up the pressure in the room. Her lips were desert dry and she put out her tongue to lick them.

Suddenly he was standing before her. He was large. He loomed over her. She felt fragile, delicately feminine in a way she had never felt before around a man.

He rubbed a thumb roughly over her moistened lips, making her start. ‘You moved,’ he told her quietly. ‘And now you have made me angry.’

He didn’t seem to Cally to be any angrier than before, but she wasn’t taking any chances. She froze again.

‘I will be the one who decides if your lips are to be moistened,’ he continued.

A wild throbbing began between her thighs, with a pulsing that matched the steady, deep beat of her heart, in unexpected excitement at this game of control. Who knew?

‘Perhaps I might permit you to lick your lips. Or perhaps I would choose to lick them myself.’ Jake Stone leant in, without touching her anywhere else, and ran his tongue slowly over her swollen, sensitised skin.

Cally found herself shudder with the shock. He had invaded her personal space. He had touched her. Licked her. She was stunned by experiencing a feeling of growing need. A need to press her tingling lips tightly back to his. A need to put her hands between her thighs, to relieve the tension building there.

‘If you are to be acceptable as my PA, then you must learn that your body belongs to me. You don’t touch it unless I instruct you to.’

It was as if he could read her mind. Knew the cravings that were building inside her. Or perhaps he could see the minute little twitching movements she could not prevent her hips from making, in order to ease the sexual demands of her own body.

‘Take off your pantyhose,’ he whispered softly, making her flinch. ‘I do not permit my PA to wear such unattractive garments. If I employ you as my PA, you will wear stockings or keep your legs bare. I will tell you when each is required.’

Cally’s eyes widened. Was she going to do as he demanded? She would not be able to remove them without pulling her tight skirt up to her waist. She hesitated.

‘Not good enough,’ he informed her. His hands reached round her waist and briskly snapped open the button, drawing the zip downwards. He yanked her skirt down and let it drop in a pool around her feet. ‘When I tell you to do something,’ he ground out, ‘I don’t mean think about it, I mean do it. Straight away. Do you think you have a choice in the matter?’

Already she knew she wasn’t expected to answer him. He had yet to give her permission to speak. She felt foolish standing before him in a blouse, panties, pantyhose. And stilettos. And it wasn’t those that had her all off-balance.

Jake had stepped back, settling his hip on the desk as if to get a better view, while she complied. His body language told her he expected no refusal. Yet she could refuse, she told herself. She didn’t need his stinking job. She could go back and tell her real boss that Jake Stone was a jerk, impossible to work for. She would have to prove herself capable of being a good reporter, some other way. With Mathers.

Cally took a steadying breath. He couldn’t berate her for breathing. She wasn’t prepared to throw in the towel quite so soon. She was made of sterner stuff than that. In fact, she didn’t want to have to go skulking back, to tell Mathers she wasn’t quite up to the rigours of investigative journalism and have him say “I told you so”, while he stroked her bottom sympathetically. She shuddered at the thought.

Her fingers were already in the waistband of her pantyhose. She eased them off her hips and down, revealing skimpy, white, lacy underwear. She wished she’d put on less revealing lingerie that morning.

*****

About Kristal Baird

Kristal has lived in a few different countries as far apart as Australia and Scotland (I wanted a Z really but haven’t lived in one, yet – any suggestions?) with several more places in between. She loves books and started writing her own a few years ago. She has a big dog who wants to walk far more often than she does (but he keeps her healthy) and a sleepy cat, who she is very jealous of (especially first thing in the morning when the cat wakes Kristal up an hour or two before the alarm clock goes off, to feed it and then goes back to sleep again, leaving a sleepy Kristal to get up alone!!).

She’s had some pretty interesting jobs including driving a four ton truck for a touring theatre company (and crashed it!) and working as an au pair for an alpine ski-ing instructor…

Kristal is quite laid-back about life and one of her fave things is to laugh. A lot! She reckons she could have made Genghis Khan not quite such an old meanie… One of Kristal’s (many) ambitions is to walk the entire El Camino de Santiago. Anybody want to come with her? She loves meeting lots of different people and is quite friendly really.

Come on over and say Hi:

http://kristalbaird.blogspot.co.uk/

https://twitter.com/kristalbaird

https://www.facebook.com/KristalBairdAuthor

http://www.goodreads.com/goodreadscomuser_kristalbaird

Well, that’s it, for now, you’ll be happy to hear. I’ve had a fabulous time creating this for you all. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you for asking me over, Kd. Mwah x

Kristal x

Unconscious Research by Lucy Felthouse

There are a couple of types of unconscious research, I guess. One is where you’re asleep and dreaming and your dreams become fodder for future stories. Another is where you experience something without ever intending to use it for a story, and yet when you’re writing, you find yourself wanting to include those experiences in your work.

Now, my dreams are completely bonkers and make no sense at all, so if I used that sort of research in my work, I’d probably come up with something as nonsensical as Alice in Wonderland. However, the other sort of research is increasingly creeping into my work. And I’m not talking about what I get up to in the bedroom—that’s private! I’m talking about going out somewhere and seeing things, travelling, etc.

The most recent example of this is my story Finally Found, which appears in the recently-released Lover Unexpected: Sappho Edition anthology from Evernight Publishing. A friend forwarded me the call for submissions as she knew I wrote a lot of lesbian stuff, and the call sounded great so I gave it a go. And I came up with a lesbian erotic romance set in London, a place I visit and explore fairly regularly, despite the fact I live over 120 miles away.

The tale begins in The Ritz, a place I haven’t been inside (and probably never will, unless I win the lottery or get a six figure book advance), but have seen from the outside. So my imagination has furnished the interior. Other parts of the story, however, are drawn from experience. For example, the characters, Natalia and Ashleigh visit Fortnum and Mason and poke fun at the products and their prices (I’ve done that) and have perused the erotica section at Piccadilly Waterstones (I’ve done that several times, and tidied it up, too!). At the time, I never thought about writing the places into stories, but the ideas just came into my head at a later date.

So the second unconscious research method is absolutely brilliant for me, as I’m always visiting cool places and exploring them. So who knows what experiences will creep into my future stories? You’ll have to keep reading my books to find out! 😉

Excerpt:

Chapter One

Natalia smiled as she caught sight of the familiar redhead sitting in the hotel bar. Thankful for the thick carpet masking her footsteps, she walked towards her friend from the back, ensuring she wouldn’t be seen. Then, she slipped her hands over her eyes.

“Guess who?”

An excitable squeak, then, “Oh, I don’t know. Is it Scarlett Johansson?”

“Hmm, close, but not quite. Guess again.”

“Oh, shut up you silly cow, and come here.”

With that, the redhead stood and turned, throwing her arms around Natalia and pulling her into a tight hug. “Hey, gorgeous. I missed you! How are you?”

“I missed you too, Ashleigh. I’m good, thanks. How about you? You look great.”

Disentangling from their embrace, Ashleigh looked down at her clingy black top and skinny jeans and shrugged. “Thanks. I’m okay, I guess. All the better for seeing you. It feels like forever! Come on, sit down. Let’s get a drink.”

They sat down, and a waiter appeared. Natalia suspected he’d been waiting at a safe distance until they’d finished their enthusiastic greeting.

He smiled. “What can I get you ladies?”

Natalia looked at her watch. “You know what, it’s Saturday and it’s after twelve. I’ll have a glass of white wine please.”

Ashleigh piped up. “Make it a bottle. Thanks.”

The waiter nodded, gave a little bow and walked away.

“So,” Natalia said, settling back into the plush armchair, “how was your journey? I always find getting into London a total nightmare, but it’s not so bad once you’re here. The Tube may be sweaty and crowded, but it’s damn fast!”

Ashleigh nodded. “It was all right, actually. The train into the city was on time and not very busy, and, like you say, the Tube is quick and easy. It was pretty stress-free. You?”

“Much the same. I’m just glad we’re finally here. I can’t believe it’s been a year since we’ve seen each other. It’s so easy to forget that when we talk almost every day.”

“I know. I’m sorry. It’s just life gets in the way, doesn’t it? Especially as we live so far apart. And then there was all that stuff with Kayla…”

Natalia didn’t know how to respond to that, so she just nodded sagely. Kayla had been Ashleigh’s live-in girlfriend, until the discovery of some text messages and emails tipped Ashleigh off that she was being cheated on. Despite all of Kayla’s pleas and declarations of true and undying love, Ashleigh had no intention of being a doormat, so she’d thrown Kayla out, and that was the end of it.

Of course, Natalia had known that Kayla was going to be thrown out before Kayla did. As soon as Ashleigh had found the incriminating missives, she’d gotten straight on the phone to Natalia for advice. And as much as Natalia wanted to tell her friend to get the hell rid of the cheating bitch, she also wanted her to be happy, so instead she’d asked if Ashleigh if she thought she was being too hasty.

“Fuck no,” Ashleigh had replied, “as far as I’m concerned, she’s destroyed my trust, and once that happens things are never the same, so it’s not worth it. And if I meant that much to her, she wouldn’t have done it, would she?”

Natalia had been inclined to agree. And although she was glad Kayla was off the scene—even aside from the fact that Natalia had been in love with Ashleigh since their University days, she’d never liked Kayla—she still hadn’t plucked up the courage to confess her own feelings to her friend. She probably never would—there was too much at stake. Their friendship spanned over ten years, and Natalia didn’t want to risk losing that.

*****

Lover Unexpected: Sappho EditionGirlfriends share lots of things, including their most sinful secrets. When those secrets involve love, lust and long denied desire, sparks are sure to fly. And sometimes, there is no denying the need for a woman’s touch. In this volume you’ll find seven delicious stories of sensual, daring women who open their hearts to discover love, fulfillment and satisfaction—closer than they expected.

More info and buy links: http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk/published-works/lover-unexpected-sappho-edition/

*****

Lucy FelthouseLucy 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, 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

Kitti Bernetti Dishes the Dirt Behind Her Novella, The Thousand and One Nights

The Story Behind The Story

It’s my pleasure to welcome Kitti Bernetti to a Hopeful Romantic to tell the story behind her hot novella, The Thousand and One Nights, the title story of another one Xcite’s fabulous Secret Library anthologies. Go ahead, Kitti! Turn up the heat!

 

The Thousand and One NightsThe whole world is going on about Fifty Shades of Grey. But erotic literature has been around for centuries, and has simply seen a revival with electronic devices. But, the 50 shades phenomenon has a different angle. It is primarily erotic fiction for women, written by a woman and has at its central core an all-consuming love story.

That was also the main brief for those writers asked to pen a novella for Xcite’s Secret Library. Mine, ‘The Thousand and One Nights’ which comes with two other brilliant stories is first and foremost a hot and passionate love story. (It will also be available as a FREE Kindle promotion as a single title called ‘Dark Nights’ from 15 to 19 August). My tale concerns Sebastian Dark, multi-millionaire who is being swindled by Breeze, a girl with a past. When Sebastian discovers Breeze’s treachery, he exacts his own special revenge – she must entertain him each night to save her skin. They start out hating each other but soon discover how much they have in common. Here’s an extract where they are getting it on up in the deserted balcony of the Albert Hall (yes, the Albert Hall! She has to come up with some seriously inventive places to make love to please an alpha male like Seb Dark):

‘… He opened his mouth and cried out as he felt the spunk forced up inside him shoot into her as she pumped mercilessly, opening her eyes and connecting with him, looking into his soul as she drove him, rode him, forced him to mind-blowing orgasm just as the drums thumped, the cymbals crashed, the might of the whole orchestra filling the Albert Hall drowned out his yells of orgasmic fulfilment.

He felt sleepy, exhausted, fulfilled. If the world ended in that second he would be a deliriously happy man. The bed was superb, gilded, over the top. The beautiful Albert Hall, rich and red, was extravagant, echoing the way he was beginning to feel about Breeze lying next to him. Ice Queen, she was not. He turned towards her supine beside him and noticed goose bumps. “You’re cold.” He gently covered her over, pressed the warmth of his body close to hers. A sudden rush of protectiveness engulfed him…. He didn’t want her to be cold, didn’t want her to be hungry or unhappy.’

Find Kitti and her book:

http://kittibernettis.blogspot.com

http://www.kittibernetti.moonfruit.com

Link to ‘Dark Nights’ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Nights-Xcite-Romance-ebook/dp/B0087G44XS

Link to ‘The Thousand and One Nights’ http://thesecretlibrary.co.uk/?page_id=8769

Kay Jaybee Tells Us About Her Sticky Situation

The Story Behind The Story

It’s my pleasure to have one of my favourite erotica authors, and one of my favourite people, Kay Jaybee, back on A Hopeful Romantic. Kay’s here to share the naughty story behind her novella, A Sticky Situation, which is her tasty contribution to Xcite’s Secret Library anthology, Hungarian Rhapsody. Welcome, Kay!

 

I was extremely flattered when Xcite asked me if I would like to write a novella for their exciting new Secret Library collection. I jumped at the chance to be included in this new venture, which brings three erotic romances per volume, into sumptuous velvet touch hardback books.

Included within the Hungarian Rhapsody volume, my story, Sticky Situation, introduces us to marketing whizz, Sally Briers, and her brand new boss, “Bloody Cameron James!”

If there is a paving stone to trip over, or a drink to knock over, then Sally Briers will trip over it or spill it. Yet somehow Sally is the successful face of marketing for a major pharmaceutical company; much to the disbelief of her new boss, Cameron James.

Forced to work together on a week-long conference in an Oxford hotel, Sally is dreading spending so much time with arrogant new boy Cameron; whose presence somehow makes her even clumsier than usual.

Cameron on the other hand, just hopes that he’ll be able to stay professional, and keep his irrational desire to lick up all the accidently split food and drink that is permanently to be found down Sally’s temptingly curvy body, all to himself.

It could be a very long week- unless Cameron can find a way of making Sally slop so much of her after show champagne, that he has no choice but to march her off and relieve her of her sodden clothing… He is sure that, if he could find a way to stop Sally resenting him taking her previous bosses job, then they could enjoy no end of sticky situations together…

 

Hungarian RhapsodyNow, I have a confession- when Xcite asked me to do this erotic romance novella, they felt they had to stress that in the Secret Library the whips and chains had to be left firmly in the drawer! I couldn’t help but laugh- it seems my reputation for extreme kink made it necessary to stress the lack of ‘pain in the pursuit of pleasure angle’ to my novella!

I can’t deny it- they had a point! I had never written an erotic romance before. Anyone who has read any of my stories, whether short or novel length, will know that love stories are not something I am known for! A happy ending in my stories is not always guaranteed! I couldn’t help thinking Xcite were very brave even asking me to do this- and I really didn’t want to let them down.

For the very first time, I approached a new story with a sense of nervousness! What if I couldn’t write romance? And for that matter- what would I write about? The answer came to me in a most unexpected fashion.

I make no secret of the fact that every day I write in my favourite local cafe. Each morning, as I attempt to order my brain into some sort of workable frame of mind, I munch on brown toast and marmalade. It is also no secret that I am incredibly clumsy- if there is a doorframe, I will walk into it- fact!

The week before I had planned to start writing my Secret Library story, I was still unsure about what to write. I was sat in the cafe as usual, about to tuck into my toast, when I accidentally knocked the edge of my plate. My breakfast instantly soared through the air in majestic style, only to land, marmalade side down (of course!), onto my jumper- prompting the cafe’s owner to laugh heartily as he dashed over with a handful of serviettes, saying ‘Bit of a sticky situation here then!’

Eureka! My mind latched onto the phrase ‘sticky situation’, and the novella was underway only minutes later… (well, after I’d had a quick wash and taken off my jumper!)

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