Wednesday 30 September 2015

“I have the choice of being constantly active and happy or introspectively passive and sad. Or I can go mad by ricocheting in between.”

Sylvia Plath

I think I love Autumn again. I didn't for a while, after Dad died in October. But I love making decadent Autumn perfumes and I love the pink sky early in the morning as I walk to the bus stop. I love the clean, crisp air and the brilliant golden leaves, and those days when it's still warm enough that you don't need a coat, but you definitely need a big, cosy hoodie. I love curling up in my adorable cottage with a cup of apple crumble tea in the evenings. I love the squirrel that terrorises the birds in our garden by jumping on them as they strut around the path.

I don't love my body. It's started betraying me when the weather turns colder. I've had an excellent writing year, after two years in the wilderness. Up until the end of August, I was writing 1k a day nearly every day. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but always something. Almost as soon as September hit, however, my right arm started hurting.

It's probably coincidence, but I remember having a really bad flare-up in November last year as well. I really don't want to lose the momentum I've had going all year, and I really don't want sleepless nights, stress headaches, neck-ache, appetite loss, and all the other things that happen when this Issue presents itself. Because it impacts the two most important things in my life - writing and perfume-making - and if I can't do those things, I get depressed (not a word I use lightly). And frankly, when I'm in pain, I'm a moody bitch, and Kyle and my co-workers don't always deserve that.

So I went to the doctor yesterday, ready to beg for heavy-duty painkillers. I'd had two physiotherapy sessions earlier in the year which were worse than useless (I was going to tell you all about it, but then I got angry at the woman all over again, and that seemed unproductive), and I was pretty much ready to fight my GP if she suggested more. Just give me the fucking drugs! I would scream. I know you have them!*

But she didn't give me the fucking drugs. She did give me yet another physical assessment (I've had more doctors yank my arms around in the past ten years than I've had cups of tea) and decided that my problem might not be down to bad posture (fuck you, physiotherapist!), but that some of the symptoms fitted rotator cuff syndrome.

Okay. That's a new diagnosis for me! Apparently lots of pro athletes get it? Anyway, I have a new set of exercises and the go-ahead to use anti-inflammatories at will, with her promise that if nothing changes, we'll keep trying. I don't know where this leaves me writing-wise for the rest of the year. If I'm lucky, this will be a brief flare-up and I can get back on track. Or I can decide to write regardless of the pain and hope that the exercises do make a difference. I do know I can't stop doing the creative things I love, which is why I keep going back to the GP, year after year, even though I know, realistically, there's nothing new to try except different exercises.

One way or another, if it takes me the rest of the year, I will finish and submit Oath Breaker. Everything else is up in the air, but at least it's beautiful Autumn air.

* I don't know what drugs, I just assume she has a secret stash of super-effective painkillers she's hiding from me for no good reason.


Saturday 26 September 2015

Guest Blog - Doris O'Connor is bringing us Sunshine and Love!


Thanks so much for having me on your blog with my new release Sunshine and Love. Like all of the MM stories I’ve written so far this one took me by surprise.

I’d found a yummy man candy pic to share with my reader group the RavDor Chicks. This hunk to be precise.

Source:
(https://www.pinterest.com/pin/243757398558965893/)


I wondered what hero he might be, and in our ensuing brainstorming session we came up with the following. He was a Dom, struggling with who he was. A single dad in need of a nanny. Oh and wouldn’t it be cool if this was a MM….

That’s all it took for my muse to sit up, rub her hands in glee, and force my fingers to the keyboard.
Sunshine and Love was born, and I had oodles of fun, and also shed a tear or two in the writing of this story. Hopefully, you lovely readers will go through the same emotions.

As an aside, if you’ve read Under his Boss, you will also recognise a few familiar names, as they make an appearance in this story. J


Now, to quote Jordan…Sunshine and Love is all you need….


Blurb:

He needs a nanny not a submissive…

Aaron Gibson is struggling with his many hats—single dad, business owner, Dom. His desperate search for a suitable nanny for his daughter Sunshine grinds to a halt when Jordan Carole walks into his office.

This inked biker is certainly not your ordinary kind of nanny, but the man’s instant rapport with his daughter convinces Aaron that Jordan is perfect for the job. All Aaron has to do is keep his hands off his nanny—simple, right?

Well, it would be if the two men could ignore the combustible, sexual tension between them. Jordan wants nothing more than to be allowed to take care of his new boss and his adorable baby.

If only he could convince the stubborn man that Sunshine and Love is all they need.

Story Excerpt:

Aaron swiped the unwelcome tears off his face and hugged the precious bundle in his arms tighter.
“Sorry, kiddo, it’s just you, me and Auntie Kenna now.” His daughter screwed up her little button nose, as though she was disgusted with that idea, and Aaron laughed.

“Yeah, I know, not the most appealing process, is it baby girl?”
“I don’t know, that depends on your view point.” The deep gravelly voice with the hint of an accent he couldn’t place shook Aaron out of his morose thoughts, and he spun round to face the intruder to his office. He was all ready to give him a piece of his mind, but the words stuck to the roof of his mouth, when he took in the new arrival.
At least six foot three of lean muscle, the stranger smiled at him. The action exposed enticing dimples in his hard jaw. It was the incongruous sight of this man holding Sunshine’s bottle in one hand, and a motorbike helmet in the other, however, that really got to Aaron.
The biker put down his helmet, shrugged out of his jacket, and taking the lid of Sunshine’s bottle, tipped it to test the temperature of her feed on his wrist. The action exposed the swirling designs of this man’s ink, and his biceps flexed as he ran a hand through his straggly brown hair, and then took a step toward Aaron.
“Hope you don’t mind, but I was waiting outside and couldn’t help but overhear. As your assistant was busy showing the so called nanny out, I took the liberty of finishing off the baby’s bottle. If you hand her over, I’ll feed her. The way she’s sucking on that fist, she’ll erupt any minute now, and knowing babies, we won’t be able to hear ourselves think, let alone try and have a conversation, Sir.”
The unexpected intonation on the title further caught Aaron off guard, and he handed Sunshine over without protest, when the biker stepped so close that his scent invaded Aaron’s nostrils. Sunshine, leather, oil, and that unmistakable aroma of virile man that meant most of Aaron’s blood shot south, and his dick sat up and took notice. A most unwelcome development, considering where they were, and the fact that this man was currently feeding little Sunshine with a practiced ease that spoke of years of experience.
“Right, yes, and you are?” he asked. The biker flashed him another quick grin, before he dropped his gaze to Aaron’s collarbone and kept it there. The inherently submissive tell meant that Aaron grew hard as nails, and clearing his throat, Aaron sought refuge behind his desk to hide his body’s reaction to this man. He gestured to the chair opposite for biker man to sit down, and after another quick glance up the stranger did so.
“Jordan Carole, and your four o’clock appointment, I believe. At least that’s when Kenna said I should come here,” he said. “I was waiting my turn when everything seemed to kick off, and pardon me saying, Sir, I’m mighty glad you kicked that sorry excuse of a nanny out of here. Fancy wanting to put a newborn on a feeding schedule, let alone a preemie. The daftest thing I ever did hear.”
He glanced up again, rewarding Aaron with a glimpse of warm, amber eyes, which crinkled up into laughter lines. This was a man who smiled easily, and despite appearances clearly knew what he was doing, if the contented sucking noises coming from Sunshine were anything to go by.
“Quite so.” Aaron said, and Jordan smiled, put the bottle on the desk, and lifted the baby up to wind her.
“She doesn’t wind easily.” His daughter called Aaron a liar, when she immediately gave a huge burp, and Aaron shook his head in amazement.
“How the hell did you do that? It takes me hours to get her to burp, let alone take a freaking bottle, and then the minute we’re finished she wants another one.”
“Ah, can’t tell you that, Sir. Trade secret, see.”
Jordan Carole winked at him, and then turned his attention back to Sunshine.
“Like I said I couldn’t help but overhear your earlier exchange, and if you’re looking for a more holistic approach to bringing up your daughter, than I’m your man, so to speak.”
Aaron groaned under his breath at the erotic images that immediately assaulted his brain at those innocent enough words, and he picked up the stack of CVs on his desk. Anything to take his mind out of the gutter. Sure enough there on the top, sat the CV of one Carole, Jordan. He’d assumed the applicant was a woman, not one prime specimen of male hunk that reminded Aaron of how long it had been since he’d last had sex. Way before Sunshine’s mum Hope had found the first lump, that’s for sure. She’d been just eight weeks into her much wanted pregnancy then.
Aaron cleared his throat to get rid of the lump of emotion lodged in his throat, and when he looked up it was to find Jordan watching him.

“I’m truly sorry for your loss. Kenna filled me in on the details, and as I’m available right now, she thought I might be the solution you’re looking for. As you can see I have plenty of experience, and I would be more than happy to serve you … I mean your daughter, Sir.”

 Buy Links:  Evernight  Amazon  Amazon UK

For all other Buy links please check the book page here.



Author bio

Doris is a writer of sensual, sassy, and sexy tales involving alpha heroes to die for, and heroines who give as good as they get.  From contemporary to paranormal, Sci-fi, BDSM, F/F, M/M, and Ménage, haunting love stories are guaranteed.

Happily married for the last twenty-five years, she lives with her husband and their brood of nine in a far too small house filled with love, laughter, and chaos.
Stalk her in these places





Wednesday 23 September 2015

Monday 21 September 2015

Guest Blog - HK Carlton and Jack and the Jean Stock!

Everyone loves fairy tales, right? The classic plots and archetypes are endlessly ripe for reinvention! I absolutely adore fairy tales, so I'm very happy to welcome HK Calton to the blog today to talk about her re-imagining of Jack and the Beanstalk. Take it away!


Let’s hear it for the boys! And Naughty Fairy Tales! 
Thank you so much for having me on your site today and allowing me to share my latest release, Jack and the Jean Stock, with you and your readers.  
You’ve seen them right? The erotic retellings of some of our favorite childhood stories, all naughtied up for adult consumption. Cinderella snags her Prince, Belle tames her Beast, Little Red Riding Hood humps the wolf, Alice and the Mad Hatter get down and dirty, while that rascally White Rabbit watches, and Puss and Boots, well that’s just too damn easy. J
[Evernight has a whole line of Naughty Fairy Tales. If you haven’t, you should check them out. More information down below]
What’s missing? The boys!
I’m not really sure why, but when I decided I was going to have a go at penning a naughty fairy tale, I kept circling back to Jack and the Beanstalk. But Jack wasn’t materializing as a young boy, as in the original. No, his image kept presenting as a well-built, strapping Jack. Of course, you can’t have a Jack without a giant. And, oh hot damn, Jack’s giant is even hotter.  
If you're familiar with the fairy tale of Jack and the Beanstalk; I tried to stay true to many of the stories' memorable features—though I don't want to give too much of my version of the story away—I even managed to keep the famed Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum, but probably not in the way you'd expect. I also gave the tale a modern update along with my own little twist, that gives Jack and his giant, a whole new connotation. 
Here’s the Blurb:
Strapped for cash and drowning in his ailing mother’s medical debt, the one bright spark in Jack Castor’s life is working his dream job for a specialty clothing manufacturer that caters to large men. Although his personal life is all but nonexistent, career-wise, he thrives under the tutelage of his friend and father-like mentor, Cronus Gigandet, a gigantic man with a heart to match. But when Cronus dies suddenly, the company’s future is thrown into uncertainty.
Titan Gigandet, Cronus’ wayward son, a giant of a man in his own right, is furious when he learns his father has included his upstart protégé, Jack, in his will, leaving him equal shares in the family-run factory. Reluctantly, Titan rescinds his own self-imposed exile and returns to a company in turmoil.
The gloves come off, and the major players fight for control. With the shareholder’s agreement about to run out, decisions concerning the business need to be made, and quick. But Jack and Titan clash at every turn. The pair is so at odds, the quarrels rapidly become physical, but fists soon give way to angry, forbidden kisses. Though the blazing new attraction does nothing to quell the antagonism or distrust between them.
While battling to save the company, Jack’s mother takes a turn for the worse. Just when it seems like all hope is lost, Titan unearths a stunning find. 
Could this new discovery be Jack’s ‘golden goose’ or just the beginning of the end to everything Jack holds dear?
Buy Links:

Amazon

ARe


Read on for an excerpt!

Sunday 20 September 2015

Stop the Presses! New Urban Wolf Story Coming Your Way!


It's been a while since the last URBAN WOLF story, PHANTOM FEARS, came out (over a year, in fact), and one of my secret hopes for this year was to get another one written and submitted before the end of 2015. This series has such a special place in my heart, and I do intend to continue Ayla and Shannon's adventures for as long as the ideas keep coming. I do actually have the start of a third novel-length piece tucked away in my laptop, and next year I plan to return to that.

In the meantime, I've got something else starring my werewolf girls for you! COLD NIGHT MOON is coming in October* (wow, that's really soon, actually!) to Evernight! This is a short story that I had a lot of fun with. It opens up the Urban Wolf world a little more and introduces a few new possibilities for the ongoing series. Here's the blurb:

After a difficult year, Ayla Hammond wants to give her girlfriend Shannon a dream Christmas. A cosy, romantic cabin in the woods seems like the perfect way to put their troubles behind them and start the New Year right. And at first, everything is going according to Ayla's plan...Until night falls.

There's something in the woods. And it's after Shannon.


*Release date is subject to change, but I'm hopeful it will be October!

Wednesday 16 September 2015

Another Wednesday is upon us...

 It's getting harder to find snippets that don't spoil either BLOOD WITCH or Oath Breaker as I get ever closer to finishing the first draft of Oath Breaker, so I don't know if I will keep posting them...At any rate, I advise caution if you haven't read BLOOD WITCH for this snippet!



Monday 14 September 2015

THE SEA WIFE Giveaway!

I meant to get this up and running over the weekend, but we had a big family do and a new DnD campaign to get going, so most of my time was spent either playing with my niece under a table, or decapitating aliens (as you do).

But it's Monday! And that seems like a good day to start a giveaway, so let's get to it.


As you may know by now, THE SEA WIFE came out last week. This is a story that's been a long time coming and is very dear to my heart, so I thought a giveaway would be a nice way to celebrate it's overdue release to the big wide world!

So what am I giving away?

First up - a $10 Evernight giftcard

Next, a 5ml bottle of the very lovely and very popular Selkie perfume oil from my shop, Common Brimstone.


And finally, the gift package is rounded out with a unique pendant from The Fable Tribe.


The Fable Tribe recently closed their doors forever, so you are never going to see a pendant like this anywhere ever again, ever. Ever ever ever. 

Sounds like a good haul, right? So what do you have to do?

Just enter the Rafflecopter giveway below and you're in with a chance to win THE SEA WIFE prize package! The giveway is open now and closes in six days, so go go go!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thursday 10 September 2015

THE SEA WIFE is in the wild!






My beautiful baby is unleashed! You can find THE SEA WIFE at Evernight, All Romance Ebooks (where there's a one-day flash sale going on), Amazon US and Amazon UK. If you're looking for a quick, romantic read with fairy tale and New Adult elements, I heartily endorse this product, my own.

And over the weekend I'll be arranging a fun giveaway to celebrate THE SEA WIFE's release! Stay tuned for details...

Wednesday 9 September 2015

Guest Post - Rebecca Black has A Taste For Three!

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Snippety-snap: the snippets are back

Tomorrow is release day for THE SEA WIFE!

Consider yourself showered in glitter

But before we get to that, let's get back to Oath Breaker...Here's your (not-so) regularly scheduled snippet.

Monday 7 September 2015

THE SEA WIFE - Cover reveal!


What can I say except "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHILOVEIT!!!!!!!!!!"

Another gorgeous cover, courtesy of Jay Aheer and Evernight Publishing!

THE SEA WIFE is out this Thursday, 10th September, and if you love selkies, fairy tales, and girls who fall in love with other girls, you might just love this.

Charley and Nessa are from two different worlds. Nessa is a selkie and Charley is all too human. When selkies and humans fall in love, tragedy can follow. For Charley and Nessa, that never seems to matter when they're together. But when Nessa's seal skin is stolen, the lovers uncover all the reasons humans and selkies should stay in their separate worlds.


Thursday 3 September 2015

Guest Blog - Ravenna Tate is bringing you One Naughty Fantasy!


ONE NAUGHTY FANTASY **This book features the same three characters that are in SNOWBOUND**
***Click HERE to purchase directly from
Evernight Publishing***

Nina Santangeles has decided to give her lovers, Cameron Easton and Alex Gable, their ultimate fantasy. Dressed in a red plaid skirt, cotton blouse, bobby socks, and saddle shoes, she surprises them during a presentation they’re giving for architecture and design students at a university lecture hall, causing quite a stir. When her men take her back to their hotel suite with the intention of punishing her for the naughty behavior as part of their role play fantasy, how far will she let them go? 


Read on for a very hot excerpt!


Tuesday 1 September 2015

"The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea."

Photographer - Riccardo Lancia
Isak Dinesen

So I've been a little scarce around here lately. Mostly that's because I decided on impulse to write a new short story that had nothing to do with Oath Breaker, and I don't really want to talk about it too much at this point. Suffice to say, I wrote it and I submitted it yesterday and I'm keeping my fingers crossed I can share some good news soon...

And yesterday I got the first round edits for THE SEA WIFE, so I decided to tackle those before going back to Oath Breaker. Edits mean we are approach two all-important points: a release date and cover art! I love release dates and cover art! I'm also keeping my fingers crossed I can share those details soon.

With the fingers that aren't yet crossed, I'm..well, twiddling my thumbs, I guess? I have two projects now I'd like to get finished before the end of year - Oath Breaker and an Amber Morgan story, Wolf's Hunt. I'm about halfway through both (although Oath Breaker is threatening to get a lot longer than planned), and for most of the summer I've been working on both in parallel, going for whichever one takes my fancy on the day. But I think if I'm actually going to have both finished, edited, and submitted this side of Christmas, I need to focus on one at a time. So I'm trying to decide which one comes first.

While I re-read them both and decide how to prioritise them, I'll be keeping an eye out for more edits on THE SEA WIFE and probably posting a guest blog or two here. So stay tuned! Fresh, original content guaranteed.