A Blast From the Past…circa 2005

*or Why I don’t have Guest Bloggers*

“So  Gabriel, may I call you Gabriel?” I swing my leg nervously, not at all at ease with my interviewee.

You can call me whatever you want.”  He gives me his wickedest grin, probably the same grin he used to seduce Sera.

“Dear Heavens, Sera never stood a chance, did she?”  I ask with a frown.

“I tend to get what I want. And Sera got what she wanted to, ” he quipped giving me another engaging grin.

“How does an Incubus — do you mind if I refer to you as an Incubus –no? Good. How do you chose your…quary?”

I prefer to think of them as chosen,” he says, narrowing his eyes.  “And if I tell you, I have to kill you. But I have friends. Maybe, I could send one to visit you some time.

Tired of the chit chat, (and of feeling a bit mouselike) I cut to the chase. “So, Gabriel did you really give up heaven and earth for…sex?”

He slowly leans forward and licks his lips. His tongue is nearly as mesmerizing as those cocoa brown eyes.  “Wouldn’t you?”

“Damn…tough call that.”

And now a special excerpt of my critique partner, Raine Weaver’s LooseID release, Incubus

Gabriel lapsed into his wickedest grin, biting the tip of his thumb. “I’ll be damned. Lady, either your subconscious has decided to assert itself  or you’ve got yourself an incubus.”

“Beg pardon?”

He watched her pace nervously around the living room, as she had the entire time she’d told her story. “An incubus. A demonic figure found in several of the world’s mythologies. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, he was actually reputed to be a fallen angel. Fallen because of an insatiable lust for women.”

She stopped, hands on hips, and glared at him.  “You are making this up.”

“I’m not.” He could’t help laughing. “Check it out. Look it up for yourself. And then imagine giving up Heaven itself for the taste of a woman’s body.”

He lowered his voice for dramatic impact. “People say they come at night. That they haunt the perimeters between waking and dreams, where the soul is vulnerable, the body easily persuaded. That they know exactly the right approach, the exact touch… the suggestive whisper to sway you. That they indulge in sex with their sleeping victims, and the victims are often unaware of what has happened to them. Or they come in the guise of someone who will be irresistible to their quarry.”  He moistened his lips with his tongue. “They say the sex is soooo good that the poor woman couldn’t care less who or what the incubus is…as long as he doesn’t stop.”
You can read another excerpt at RaineWeaver.com

Day 6 of Love…with Lucinda Betts

Sorry I’m late this morning….it’s been a killer week and #1 son is STILL down with the flu!!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO #15 Tiffany!! Please shoot your snail mail address to amie at amiestuart.com and I’ll get your books out to you!!!

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Since, you know, Valentines is about love…usually romantic love….I thought today we could chat about…romance.

There are 3 great things in this world.
The first thing is for you to love someone.
The second thing
is for someone to love you back
and the third greatest thing is for the first
and second thing
to happen at the same time…

If it wasn’t for romance I suppose none of us would be here, huh? LOL I’ll admit, as much as I’m a cynic, I’m also a bit of a closet romantic–but don’t tell anyone, okay?  They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach….but what’s the way to a woman’s heart? What makes your toes tingle and brings a smile to your face? What’s the most romantic thing a man (or a woman!) has ever done for you?

Leave a comment and be entered to win a signed copy of Lucinda Betts’s The Supplicant. You can read an excerpt here. Of course I’m also giving away a signed copy of your choice–Make U Sweat or Hittin’ It.

The Supplicant

Her ecstasy makes wishes come true…

The sudden appearance of a second sun signifies that a Supplicant has come of age in the land of Marotiri. King Kalief knows this woman is destined to save his people from the barbarians. But first she must learn complete surrender—and King Kalief is just the man to teach her…

Sureya, a humble servant girl, is shocked to learn that her flame—red hair and white skin mark her as the Supplicant. She has never made love to anyone. There are many men—both good and evil—who are waiting to introduce Sureya to this new world of pleasure, but only Kalief can truly satisfy her…

With each shattering climax, the Supplicant’s powers grow as dark forces come closer to taking her for their own. Now as Kalief and Sureya propel each other to dizzying sensual heights, danger and desire will become one—and one wish will change everything…

Day 5 of Love…with Amy Knupp!

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 CONGRATS TO WENDYK!!! You’ve won an autographed copy of Carolyn Jewel’s SCANDAL, your choice of Make U Sweat or Hittin’ It and some other bookloving goodies! Please send me your snail mail address to amie at amiestuart.com

Wow….so….category love. Or rather, category romance love. Like Bebo, Harlequin was one of my first romance reads too. I’m sure going from Woodiwiss to Presents sounds backwards but when you live 14 miles out of town (no i do NOT exagerate) you take what you can get. And believe me, I devoured Presents (along with Barb Cartland so relax Donya LOL).

So today’s giveaway is, of course, category romances from my good friend Amy Knupp!! Amy writes for Superromance. So, do you read category? What are your fave lines and authors? Any good recs?

Leave a comment to be entered to win Amy’s Salinger Sisters series (The Boy Next Door, Doctor in Her House and The Secret She Kept), a copy of Make U Sweat (Or Hittin’ It–your choice) and other book-loving goodness.

The Boy Next Door

Rundles and Salingers don’t mix. Not since the tragic accident involving Zach Rundle’s brother and Lindsay Salinger’s mother. But when the well-being of Zach’s five-year-old nephew is at stake, Zach and Lindsay are dragged together again.

At first Zach thinks the social worker is stirring up the old feud. But he soon realizes that’s the last thing on her mind. Before long, the attraction they’d felt twelve years ago returns, too. Could a child’s needs bring them together?

More important–would it help keep them together?

Doctor in Her House

Katie Salinger has spent most of her adult life looking for the next big adrenaline rush. But the extreme-sports journalist faces her greatest challenge when she returns to Lone Oak, Kansas…and meets the attractive, secretive doctor who’s intent on buying her beloved family home.
Ever since he returned from Africa, Dr. Noah Fletcher has been haunted by a tragic loss. His hometown thinks he’s a hero, including Katie, the risk taker, who’s determined to uncover all his secrets. Noah can’t deny their mutual attraction. But he also can’t let her close.

Because the last time he fell in love, it almost killed him.

The Secret She Kept

She never ever thought Jake Barnes would know the truth. When he left town without any warning, Savannah couldn’t tell him she was pregnant. He didn’t give her the chance. So now—years later—because he’s back and finds out he has a child, suddenly she’s the villain.… How is that fair?

Savannah Salinger raised her daughter and knows what’s best for her own kid. But she can’t seem to push Jake away, and having the infuriating man so close…so close to her…stirs up all those feelings she thought were buried as deep as the secret she swore she’d never tell.

——-

Top cover borrowed from Longmire does Romance and not indicative of category romance covers.

Day 4 Of Love!…with Carolyn Jewel

 CONGRATULATIONS TO #21 DEBBY!!

You’ve won an e-copy of HOWL, a signed copy of Hittin’ It and a few other book goodies!  Please email me at amie at amiestuart.com with your snail mail address.

“Tflame.jpghe modern romance genre was born in 1972 with Avon’s publication of Kathleen Woodiwiss‘s The Flame and the Flower, the first romance novel “to [follow] the principals into the bedroom.” Aside from its content, the book was revolutionary in that it was one of the first single-title romance novels to be published as an original paperback…”*

I’m PRETTY sure this was the first romance I ever read…or was it Rosemary Rogers? heeh either way, I’ve been a voracious reader all my life. I quickly moved on to Harrold Robbins and V. C. Andrews and…Harlequin Presents. So, do you remember your first romance novel?

Today we’re giving away a copy of Carolyn Jewel’s Scandal, which went on sale YESTERDAY! Happy http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Scandal/Carolyn-Jewel/e/9780425225516/?itm=1release, Carolyn!  I actually met Carolyn when she guest-blogged at Southern Fried Chicas last year.  But we’re both on Twitter, and even though Carolyn writes historicals and I write contemporaries, we have something else in common. We’re both working moms.

So here’ s a little more about Scandal from my good friend Katie:  Gwilym, Earl of Banallt, has quite a reputation of being a womanizer and a rake. Scandal follows him wherever he goes. Women practically fall at his feet, except for the one woman who has become an obsession. Sophie Evans, a widow he first fell in love with, while her husband was still alive. Tommy Evans married Sophie for her fortune, and left her in the country while he continued his debauched lifestyle in London. Banallt was one of Tommy’s friends who joined him as he cut a path through London. The few times when Tommy would return home to see his wife, Banallt was with him, and the moment he met Sophie, his heart was hers forever. Banallt and Sophie formed a tentative friendship even after he tried to seduce her. Banallt shared so many things with Sophie and was ready to whisk her away to be his mistress. Sophie denied him and remained faithful to her marriage vows even when her husband did not. After her husband died she wanted nothing more to do with Banallt. Now over a year later, he has returned and will make Sophie his wife and this time he won’t be denied.

When Sophie sees Banallt with her brother, Mercer, she is shocked and scared. She and Banallt have quite the past and she refuses to be one of the many women he uses and discards. Her marriage left her emotionally scarred; she was so in love with her husband, and he in turn did the worst possible thing a husband can do to his wife, he broke his marriage vows. Sophie will never marry again and definitely not to Banallt. But Banallt won’t let her be. Although she wants his friendship, it is too much of a temptation for her. And though Banallt says he has changed, Sophie cannot trust him with her heart. She would be destroyed if she fell for another man who would not be faithful to her. And since Banallt is so much like her dead husband in that respect, she won’t give herself to him even though she craves him with every sense of her being.

Banallt knows he must treat Sophie with tenderness and respect and show her he has changed, otherwise she will never accept him. Very slowly, he is able to break through Sophie’s defenses. She reaches a point where she wants him in her life even though she won’t admit her feelings to him. Suddenly, a horrible tragedy happens to Sophie and she has no where else to turn to except to Banallt. This is Banallt’s chance to have everything he has ever wanted. He longs to hear Sophie say that she loves him as much as he loves her. The question is, will Sophie be able to give Banallt what he wants?

I have to tell ya’ll, after reading all those Harlequin Presents when I was a teen, I love me a reformed rake! WOOT! So ya’ll leave a comment to be entered into today’s drawing!

Day 2 of Love…with Lacy Danes

CONGRATULATIONS TO KAMMIE!!!!

Random.org chose 14 as our firs winner. Kammie please email me your mailing address. It’s amie at amiestuart.com

Don’t forget Jodi will be giving away more books tonight at the Aphrodisia Authors chat at Writerspace.com. (Lacy will also be popping in AND I’ll try to remember to stop in too). Chat is from 9 -10 EST

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Cupid is the god of erotic love and beauty. Throughout ancient mythological writing, there appear to be either two Cupids or two sides to the figure of Cupid. One is the son of Mars (Ares) and Venus (Aphrodite). He is a lively youth who delights in pranks and spreading love. The other is a son of Nyx and Erebus, known for riotous debauchery. I’m kinda thinking the second version sounds more fun.

So how old were you the first time Cupid got you with an arrow?

Welcome to Day 2 of Love!!! Today’s giveaway is from the cutest redhead I’ve ever met….author Lacy Danes.  Shes’ offering up copies of A Red Hot Valentine and Being Wicked.

A RED HOT VALENTINE

A Red Hot ValentineCupid is hot to trot!

One fateful weekend at a country estate, a beautiful, well-bred widow is caught between a rock and a very hard place when she must choose between two deliciously irresistible lovers…in Lacy Danes’s seductive tale of courtship a la mode, Torn Desires.

Long-distance lovers Edie and Ty are counting the hours until their scorching Valentine’s Day reunion, each titillating the other with steamy letters describing their erotic journeys. And getting there is definitely half the fun in Megan Hart’s wickedly wild Get There.

Eternal damnation has its perks-especially for a voluptuous succubus who is about to receive a very special, very hot Valentine’s Day “gift” from her demon lover…in Jackie Kessler’s ode to paranormal passion, Hell Is Where the Heart Is.

London’s most irresistible rake has one week to prevent the woman he loves from marrying another. And he plans to do so by adeptly employing his most well-practiced arts–seduction…sensation…and erotic love–in Jess Michaels’s sumptuous feast of juicy Regency romance, By Valentine’s Day.

Being WickedBEING WICKED

It is an evening for rakes and rogues, courtesans and demimondes, and lords and ladies in disguise, all wishing to sample the array of erotic delights around them. But this ball is not the talk of the ton, it is a taste of forbidden ecstasy.

Willful Surrender

Lilly had never dreamed that hiding in her brother’s carriage would end in her arrival at a ball such as this. She should be shocked by the bawdy behavior before her, but instead she is intrigued. And when Vincent St. Jerome, London’s foremost rake, offers to help her find her brother, she follows him to a room filled with peep holes in the walls. What Lilly sees is pure carnal pleasure and all she desires is complete sexual surrender.

Willing SeductionLady Wentland is a worldly widow who misses the sensual delights she used to share with her husband. So attending the Cyprian’s Ball disguised as a courtesan allows her to sample the erotic pleasures she’s missed-until she meets Winston Greyton, her brother’s best friend and the one man she knows she might have once loved. She resists his first advances toward her-but the heat of their arousal soon ignites a fire of wicked, reckless passion.

——–

Once again, all you have to do to win some books that I KNOW you’ll love is leave a comment. I’ll announce the first winner at the top of tomorrow’s post.

Left Behind Chatter

First off, and definitely most important, last night’s HEROES RAWKED!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG….just OMG. I hope next week doesn’t come off like filler. (And I totally hate the grandmother fwiw).

Second….I’m doing a left behind writing challenge with Shelli and Emma and anyone else who’s interested.

Third…. a comment that Rhian posted over at Shiloh’s got me to thinking (and we all know how dangerous that is). Okay, honestly, it didn’t get me to thinking, because it’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot.

Last….one of my very first critique partners is celebrating her first release todaySweet Forever (It’s a Samhain book). Go over and congratulate her!

PS….the school just called and I have to go pick up a kid……….

Just Special

Someone Special has a new release today!!!!!!!!

What man wouldn’t want a beautiful woman whose greatest desire is to please him sexually?

What woman wouldn’t want a handsome man whose greatest desire is to encourage her to experience passion?

Be careful what you wish

You can read an excerpt here…….. and look for an interview sometime tonight.

Raine’s not the only one with a new book out from Loose ID. Flessa Black’s celebrating her first release. I “met” Flessa recently during the author day she did with Raine at ebooklove and just fell in love with Refuge Book 1: Fortress. She has a writing style that…well…reminds me of Raine’s. :kiss:

Interview With an Incubus

*or Why I don’t have Guest Bloggers*

“So  Gabriel, may I call you Gabriel?” I swing my leg nervously, not at all at ease with my interviewee.

You can call me whatever you want.”  He gives me his wickedest grin, probably the same grin he used to seduce Sera.

“Dear Heavens, Sera never stood a chance, did she?”  I ask with a frown.

“I tend to get what I want. And Sera got what she wanted to, ” he quipped giving me another engaging grin.

“How does an Incubus — do you mind if I refer to you as an Incubus –no? Good. How do you chose your…quary?”

I prefer to think of them as chosen,” he says, narrowing his eyes.  “And if I tell you, I have to kill you. But I have friends. Maybe, I could send one to visit you some time.

Tired of the chit chat, (and of feeling a bit mouselike) I cut to the chase. “So, Gabriel did you really give up heaven and earth for…sex?”

He slowly leans forward and licks his lips. His tongue is nearly as mesmerizing as those cocoa brown eyes.  “Wouldn’t you?”

“Damn…tough call that.” Continue reading