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Lurking Musings

~ Musings of a newly published writer

Lurking Musings

Tag Archives: Romance

My Worldcon experience: Day 2

03 Tuesday Sep 2019

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Conventions

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Charlie Jane Anders, Cora Buhlert, Darlene Marshall, F.D Lee, Jeffe Kennedy, Mary Watson, Nicole Kurtz, Romance, Tasha Suri, Transitions, worldcon


The black superhero panel.

Friday involved me being on two panels.

The first was entitled ‘Guiding Star: discussing the Lodestone award shortlist’ and was moderated by the wonderful writer, Charlie Jane Anders. It also featured three other great writers in the form of Tasha Suri, Dr. Mary Watson and Nicole Kurtz. Our job was to discuss the nominees for the newly minted Lodestone award for YA fiction and speculate on which one would win.

Building up to this event, having known I was on this panel, I had spent an awfully long time reading the books on the list as soon as it was revealed. My Kindle was loaded with most of them (only Tess of the Road was unavailable in ebook for some reason) and they formed my holiday reading. The list, for those who didn’t know, was:

  • The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
  • Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
  • The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
  • Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
  • The Invasion by Peadar Ó Guilín
  • Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman

Our brief was to gush about them and gush we did. Though we were also suitably critical. After all, I am a BSFA reviewer, and there is an ancient oath we reviewers must take to never give an unbalanced review. It was interesting to see where we agreed and where we disagreed, especially on some of the different interpretations of each work, and we each presented a different favourite to win the prize. My personal bets were on Peadar Ó Guilín to take it, partly because I always love his writing (and I nominated him) but also because I felt it apt that a local talent would win it. Of course, as we all know by now (unless you don’t, in which case SPOILERS!) Children of Blood and Bone took the award – a book which I think would make an excellent Anime adaptation.

Overall, I considered the nominees to be a great mix of writing styles and character diversity – incorporating gender, ethnicity, disability and trans issues in different but always entertaining ways.

Though, one final thing to say about this panel was the location. We were located at Point square, in the Odeon cinema which basically meant we were sat at the front of a small cinema. This made me feel that we were less like a group of authors and reviewers doing a panel and more like the cast and crew of a new Hollywood blockbuster lining up to introduce the premier.

My next panel was heading into more adult areas with a talk on Romance. Specifically, an ‘Introducton to SFF romance’. In this I was harkening back to my days as a romance writer (my introduction to the audience did say I was a ‘lapsed romance writer’) and the panelists were all there to talk about how romance can be better incorporated into SFF. In this were moderated by Cora Buhlert, and joined by Darlene Marshal and Jeffe Kennedy. We started with the SFWA’s definition of ‘romance’ which lays down some rules for what ‘SFF romance’ should look like, including ‘there must be  a happy ever after or happy for now’ ending and ‘romance must be a substantive part of overall character transformation’. This is to distinguish from ‘Fantasy with Romance elements’. With the rules laid down, we started to discuss examples and give thoughts on how romance can drive a plot. In all a very useful discussion was had. It (along with other discussions had later…) led to me making a decision about ressurecting a particular character from my repertoire.

I also got time to attend two panels as an audience member. One, entitled ‘let’s do the time loop again’ was an entertaining discussion moderated by E. Lily Yu which touched on all the many and varied examples of time loops in SFF and fantasy and came up with some interesting thoughts on some classic tropes. It was, however, unfortunately impossible to say how many times the panelists and audience had been forced to endure the panel repeating… The other was moderated by my old friend, Russel A Smith and looked at Black Superheroes in TV and Film. This one looked back to the days of Blaxspoitation and forward into what is hopefully going to be a more diverse future in comics, TV and film. The Time loop panel

The day ended with more Barcon work… hanging out with F.D Lee and associates where we each frothed about each other and shared reviews… incidentally, her review can be found here and our discussion not only led me to want to bring Helen back for more torment but also made some ‘character arc driving decisions’ about her that will hopefully be seen when the story I am working on at present is published…

Ytterbium Eastercon: Saturday

21 Sunday Apr 2019

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Conventions, events, Musings

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

EasterCon, fantasy biology, Frances Hardinge, John Scalzi, Romance, Russell Smith, Ytterbium


Saturday for me was when Eastercon got… busy… there was so much I wanted to see and do today and so much I missed, plus I was busy with a lot of volunteer work too. However, as this mostly involved holding up a card to say when a panel was overunning, it was no great effort and I got to watch the panels too.

First panel of the day was “What is #Ownvoices and why is it important?” This panel 6C1A8357.jpgfeatured the wonderful Russell Smith, a regular on this blog, and a selection of other diverse voices who were there to discuss their own experiences of being seen as ‘other’ in publishing. For example, the tired old excuse of “We already have a book about [insert minoroty issue here], we don’t need another one.” An argument easily countered by “but you have half a dozen books about the experiences of cis het white males…” The panel made it clear why these were issues, whey they shouldn’t need to be an issue and discussed what is now a growing and more vocal group of #Ownvoices. In all, an entertaining panel.

6C1A8382.jpgThis was followed by an interview with Frances Hardinge, another old regular on this blog. As a guest of honour, she had certain obligations, including being interviewed. The interview ably covered the spread of her work and discussed such topics as her thoughts on over researching and the personalities of her main characters. For example, the wonderful quote as tweeted by Farah Mendledesohn on twitter: “My heroines tend to have other things on their mind: like surviving, or revolutions, or not eating people.”

Then we had John Scalzi’s interview, where Emma Newman went into detail about his 6C1A8420.jpgcareer as a writer, the popularity of his blog (Whatever) and why he is the only writer in history who does not seem to have imposter syndrome (diagnosis: he is a Mage…). This interview also covered why he is destined to be eaten by a polar bear (because, as a Mage, if he wishes it, it will happen and he did say if he were to get eaten hy any sort of bear it should be a polar bear as that is the most environmentally friendly option).

There then followed the Hay lecture where Hamied Haroon, of the University of Manchester, talked about medical imaging. My one take home message from that lecture was “Any chance of any jobs in your research group?” because it looked like awesome work I would really liked to have got involved with as a biomedical scientist with an especial interest in the technical aspects of research…

6C1A8466.jpg

After this, things got a little dark and sinister… with a panel about conspiracy theories called ‘Paranoid Politics and Fantasy’. This one also featured John Scalzi, who did coin the phrase ‘Trump’s Razor’ to describe the situation where the stupidest possibility is most likely true. Much discussion about various theories and the reasons they exist as well as looking at differences in past and present in terms of conspiracy.

Next we had ‘Romance in Fantasy and SF’ which did explore differences in current romance vs older romance tropes, mostly examining the change in the ethnicity and sexuality of those involved in it.

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Finally, there was ‘Creating Fantasy Biologies’ which ranged through a lot of evolutionary and paleontological theories and tried to work out how these will apply to alien or fantasy species. This was an entertaining panel that was, unfortunately, over crowded due to being in the smallest room.

In all an excellent day if somewhat tiring…

 

 

 

Suave by C.A Bell

11 Friday Aug 2017

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Guest posts, Publicity

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

C.A Bell, Romance, Suave


Today we have another release by C.A Bell to showcase to go with Angel that appeared in a previous blog. So, check out her latest: Suave.

OUT NOW SUAVE

#NewRelease #Sexy #Fun #LaughOutLoud #Erotic novel #KindleUnlimited

Suave by C.A.Bell

Pick up your copy now while it’s on offer for just .99: http://mybook.to/Suave

Max Harper

I make sexy, sexier.

When a woman is on my arm, you can bet your life she suddenly becomes a hundred times more appealing to everyone else around. Why? Because I’m shit hot and I make them look shit hot, too.

There’s no doubt about it, I’m an arrogant hunk with an impressive six-pack.

I’m not looking for love. I’m not looking for money. I’m just looking for a hot woman to stroke a few things—my ego being one of them.

I choose my women like I choose my wine—if she doesn’t smell fruity or look rich, she’s got no chance.

Brooke Knight

I make sexy, sexier.

When a man or woman is on my arm, you can bet your arse they suddenly become a hundred times more appealing to everyone else around. Why? Because I’m sexy as shit and I make them look sexy as shit, too.

There’s no doubt about it, I’m a sexy, powerful woman with an impressive pair of legs.

I’m not looking for love. I’m not looking for money. I’m just looking for a hot man or woman to stroke a few things—my ego being one of them.

I choose my prey like I choose my perfume—if they don’t smell sweet or look expensive, they’ve got no chance.

They’re both egotistical, powerful people with uncontrollably intense sexual appetites.

But, what happens when two forces collide because they want the same thing, the same woman? I’ll tell you what happens—mighty, sexy things.

SUAVE FINAL FRONT COVER*

Buy Now

Suave-Teaser-3

Suave-Teaser-4

C.A’s Stalker Links

Website – http://cbellatrix.wixsite.com/cabell

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/AuthorC.A.BELL/

Twitter – @cbellatrix09

Amazon – https://www.amazon.co.uk/C-A-Bell/e/B0140XPC0U/

Blog – http://bellbookanderotica.wixsite.com/bbae

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1951042.C_A_Bell

C.A.Bell’s Hot Room – https://www.facebook.com/groups/957145681001116/

Bell & Gill’s Naughty Corner – https://www.facebook.com/groups/172075439998804/

Judy Bagshaw

12 Saturday Nov 2016

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Musings

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

bbw romance, facebook, female protagonists, Judy Bagshaw, RIP, Romance, Skyla Dawn Cameron


 Sometimes Facebook can be a right bitch and hit you so hard in the feels with something so innocent as a birthday reminder. Judy009cropped

This morning it decided to tell me that it was Judy Bagshaw’s birthday. The feels came because Judy died in 2015, leaving behind a writing legacy that includes me and a hell of a lot of other people who are trying to follow her. She wrote romance stories that included female protagonists that were not ‘standard size’, positive stories in which their size was not part of the plot nor the subject of comic relief. From her I learned a number of things – how to stay positive in the face of adversity from your own self esteem, how to edit effectively and how to approach publishers. It is thanks in part to her (with Skyla Dawn Cameron taking credit too) that I got published in the first place.

OppositeAttraction_AuthorCopy_revised I never met her in person, though I always wanted to, but she was my mentor, a cheerleader and a self confessed fan of my work. She owned one of the ten ‘limited editions’ of Lurking Miscellany that came out of the first print run with the error on the cover. I would have sent her it for free (she helped edit parts of it) but she not only insisted on paying for it, she insisted on me signing it and sending it to her despite the fact she could have got it cheaper by Amazon. She even told me to add the international postage cost to the invoice (which I didn’t… I owed her at least that much).

That Facebook reminder this morning woke all these feelings in me again so I just had to share. I urge you to do her the honour of looking up one of her books and buying it. I feel it is the best way to celebrate her birthday.

@mancunicon: a weekend in the life of Eastercon Part 1: Friday

01 Friday Apr 2016

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Musings

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Bees, Charles Stross, Chris Wooding, David Tallerman, EasterCon, Jacey Bedford, Justina Robson, Kate Soley Barton, Manchester, Mancunicon, panels, R.A Smith, Romance, Ruth F Long, The Female Gaze, True Love and Trophies Panel


NB: There are a lot of links in here as I have tried to link to something from every person I saw over the weekend. However, I could not link to everyone mainly because I could not find a link I was 100% certain people would want shared (personal twitters etc.) If I linked you and you want it removed or (horrors of horrors) I didn’t link you and you are offended by this contact me. It can be fixed.

So, the weekend of Easter is always Eastercon time for those of a SF and Fantasy bent. An event where writers, artists and fans get together to talk, panel, display, sell and generally network amongst themselves. This year’s event was set in the sunny northern climes* of Manchester and was therefore aptly named Mancunicon and given a SF remodelling of that location’s famous Bee symbol** as a logo.IMG_8232

I’d decided to check out Mancunicon and see what all the fuss was about. After all, it was in the same  city and I am nothing if not lazy about how far I travel. So I booked as a member of the convention with no idea of what to expect. Not only that, I decided to offer myself up as tribute and volunteer to go on panels. May have been an insane thing to do but I soon discovered that insanity was all good here…

In the weeks leading up to the event I was informed which panel I was to be sacrificed on and given contact with the other members of it. A few emails and we all seemed to be up to speed on what we were doing. I therefore turned up well prepared for what I had to do on the panel and a lot of excitement for what was to come, though still not really sure about a lot of it…

Before my panel, however, there was a whole afternoon to get through. I wandered into the Deansgate Hilton in time to register and to attend the first panel that had caught my eye – Twisting the Story with Editor Gillian Redfearn, Susan Bartholomew, David Tallerman, Chris Wooding, Sebastien De Castell and Charles Stross. A fascinating discussion ensued about a topic that I have blogged about in the past and which gave some interesting insights. Ideas such as how to make a villain sympathetic were discussed (love seems to conquer all here, I used that one myself later). Unfortunately for me, Charles Stross was employing some hi tech gadgetry to jinx camera electronics, possibly involving the binding of demons into computer circuits, which meant that every time I tried to take a photo in that room it would not expose properly. Well that or I’d stupidly set the camera wrong… My ego says it was option one because that involves being defeated by a foe with superior resources. Chances are it was option two. Regardless, I could barely get any decent photos of that panel, which is a shame. The camera was mysteriously behaving for the next panel (which to be fair was a better lit room and I had noticed the settings were messed up and was able to fix them).

IMG_8169-Pano.jpg

The Biology in SF Panel. Not shown – Alex Lamb who is hiding offscreen

This was followed by a panel on Biology in SF. This one was lead by a group of writers who had between them more science PhDs than the average person could accumulate in a lifetime and two of them were not academics at all. When I had originally seen this in the schedule I had felt a little put out that I had not been considered for it given my background, but I judged the panel worthy and they played well to a packed house with standing room only. There was discussion of modern genetic techniques (in particular the technology that has recently been used to remove HIV virus DNA from T cells) and how Biology is now at the point where it is useful to SF, being at a point where it is still accessible to the layman while being weird and abstract enough for the wow factor without getting quite so weird or abstract as physics sometimes strays into and which only Stephen Hawkings can understand (which does somewhat limit your audience share…). The double bonus was that I could count this as continual professional development for my RL job…

Following this I went get some food and to sit in the bar and soak up the atmosphere of the event with a friend while waiting for my panel to start. It was during this time that Storm Constantine and Freda Warrington wandered in and casually claimed some seats right next to us.

You know, as if they were ordinary people and not authors who are like well known and stuff.

And that, as I was beginning to learn, was the spirit of Eastercon. There were some well known names here. I already mentioned Charles Stross, Chris Wooding and a few others above and there was also Ian McDonald (present as a Guest of Honour) and some other names who I was at that point unaware of. Award winners, best sellers, known names in SF and Fantasy literature. But there was no ‘us and them’ feeling. We were all ‘Us’ and that led to a nice relaxed atmosphere in which it was possible to have a conversation with someone about Donald Trump and forget that they have sold more books than you probably ever could.

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The ‘True Love and Trophies’ Panel as taken by R.A Smith (who was standing at the back due to lack of seats)

My panel started at 7 but the usual procedure was to report to the Green room for a chat with the rest of the panellists so we can go over our plans. It was called the Green room but in reality it was more the ‘Green Landing’ – a partitioned space on the third floor of the hotel near some of the panel rooms where those taking part in events could wait before going in. The room was run by the hard working and efficient Green Room Gophers who were there to check everything was in order and all panellists had everything they needed – including the drink that was on offer for anyone doing an event at the Con.

 

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All I can say here is I was probably making some deeply relevant and emphatic point, hence the hand blurring. Kate is clearly not impressed 🙂

I met up with the rest of the panel – the moderator Ruth Frances Long, Jacey Bedford, Kate Soley Barton and Justina Robson – and we had a short discussion about what we were going to talk about and, mainly, if we all agreed on what the brief for the panel actually meant. Then we did the panel…

And it was amazing! I was expecting a handful of people and all of those people we knew personally (R.A Smith was in the audience at my request taking photos and there were a few others I knew). However, like the biology panel, it was standing room only. OK, to be fair, the rooms were a little too small and so filled up quickly, but that was still a lot of people interested enough in ‘True Love and Trophies’ to stand at the back and to hang around outside trying to get in even though we were clearly full.

Discussions revolved around romance clichés. We touched on the ‘female gaze’ as that was the topic of a panel planned for later in the weekend the concept of using imagery designed specifically to attract female readers or viewers such as when male superheroes flex flawless musculature. Ruth posed the question about how this has affected romance literature. The inevitable and ubiquitous ‘half naked male six pack’ was put on the table (um, not literally I should add here…) and each of the female romance writers on the panel (Ruth, Justine and Jacey) seemed to have a story about how their publishers keep putting such things on there despite all requests not to. On other topics, Kate, as the reader in the group, made references to fan fiction and how romance works there. I made comments about the prevalence of ‘Happy Ever After’ and how it is ironic that the story considered the greatest romance ever by some, Romeo and Juliet, does not end happily at all.  The overall theme was what fantasy and SF could learn from more traditional romance stories and I think we covered a lot of it very well in the time we had. We could have gone on longer but we were out of time. I guess we left the audience wanting more which is always good.

The evening ended with drinks and discussion in the hotel bar… Overall a good time was had by all and there will be more on this in our next instalment (stay tuned!)

 

 

 

*Remember, as Obi Wan Kenobi was wont to say, we mean sunny ‘from a certain point of view’ i.e. not at all sunny. I’ve discussed Manchester weather before.

**You know about the Bees yes? They are on every bin and bollard in the city. No one could miss them (well I did…). The mystery of the bees was referred to a few times this weekend. TLDR version is they refer to the industry of the city.

[EasterCon] Panel discussion

20 Sunday Mar 2016

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Musings

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Deansgate, EasterCon, Jacey Bedford, Justina Robson, Kate Soley Barton, Manchester, Mancunicon, Romance, Ruth Frances Long, SF&F and Romance


 Taking a brief break from Vampire Month while I talk to you about what I am doing over EasterCon…

The programme for the weekend is now live and can be seen and downloaded here:

https://www.mancunicon.org.uk/whats-on/programme/

On there you will see the following:cuv8kshxiaakb4a

True Love and Trophies (Panel) 19:00 (1 hour) in Room 6

Ruth Frances Long (m), Jacey Bedford, D.A. Lascelles, Justina Robson and Kate Soley Barton

The link between SF&F and Romance. Romance may be the ultimate crossover genre, found in everything from horror to hard SF, urban fantasy to space opera. But it can be a two-edged sword — nothing makes the audience happier than True Love Winning Against All Odds, but few things can make a reader wince as much as the Shoehorned In Love Story, The Girl As Reward, or the Completely Inappropriate Time To Declare One’s Feelings. Join our panel for a discussion about what SF and fantasy can learn from the romance genre, how speculative narratives are changed by the female gaze, and how to craft a believable love story in the most extraordinary settings.

So, yes… this is where you can definitely find me over the weekend, in room 6 at 7pm talking about romance. With some pretty awesome folks by the looks of it. The rest of the weekend I will be in and out, checking out other panels and generally meeting people. It is looking like it might be a  very interesting weekend.

If you are already a member of the conference then make sure you pop along to see me in my panel (and please take photos!¬ No one ever seems to get photos of me on panels and stuff).. If you are not a member of the conference already then you may be out of luck as the places are now all filled. Though you may get lucky…

If you see me around the conference make sure you say hi. I may be carrying a stock of Tea Society and Lurker badges…

I also plan to do a blog post of the weekend here, with my own photos. So check back here to see what I did and where I went and who I talked to…

Now, we can return to our scheduled programming… with our next Vampire Month victim lined up ready for Tuesday…

 

 

 

 

[Cover reveal] Dianna Hardy’s Summer’s End

13 Friday Feb 2015

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Guest posts, Publicity

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Cover reveal, Dianna Hardy, Once times thrice, paranormal romance, Romance, Summer's End, The Spell of Summer, Vampire


Today we have a cover reveal by an old friend – Dianna Hardy of Vampire month fame (I believe she has done other things too… 🙂 ). I’ll say no more and let the cover speak for itself.

Once Times Thrice is a series about loving big, living big and trusting big.

Contemporary romantic fiction, with just a touch of magic.

eBook Cover

Title: Summer’s End

Author: Dianna Hardy

Genre: Contemporary Romance with a Touch of Magic

Release Date: Autumn, 2015

Series: Once Times Thrice #2

Book 1: The Spell of Summer

ON SALE FOR 99c

ON AMAZON


Continue reading →

Lurking Miscellany release

02 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Publicity

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

a collection of short stories, bbw romance, Book Release, D.A Lascelles, Lurking Miscellany, Ninfa Hayes, Paperback, Paranormal, Romance, Urban Fantasy, Waypoint


The release of Lurking Miscellany was on Saturday in Leeds, so now it is time to open up the book to the rest of the world.

The blurb (written for me by the wonderful Ninfa Hayes):

“It’s you!” She stood up and backed away, pointing accusingly at Orchil. “You’re doing this to me! You’re using some form of… of… magic.” What else could explain it? A spell, a curse, an inexplicable phenomenon. Magic!

Orchil laughed. “You really that stupid? I thought you followed the great god, Science? Sit, girl, sit and let me tell you how the trick was done. And that’s a rare thing, a Shaman explaining their magic, so you better listen well!”LurkingMiscellany-lg

An environmental activist with the power to control the elements;

A xeno-anthropologist Gate Tech seeking to learn the secrets of an alien race;

A shape changing fey playing havoc in a nightclub.

These are just some of the characters that live in the shadows of the secret worlds that surround us. Discover their stories in this enthralling anthology. Embrace the lurking miscellany.

If you want to acquire a copy of this collection of short stories you can do so in one of two ways.

First (and quickest) method is to go via Lulu and order a copy from their online shop. The link for this is to be found on my webpage under publications. I have even made it easy for you with a quick and simple buy link that gets you straight there.

The second method is to contact me either through this page (comment below) or on facebook or via my email address (dalascelles-writing@yahoo.co.uk) and ask me for a copy. You can even ask me to sign it for you if you like.
 
It is hoped that there will be more places to buy from soon. Just negotiating the delicate issues of self publication (which is totally new to me at the moment so learning a lot) and working through all possible routes of delivery and format. Hoping for Amazon listing to be available soon, for example. I will keep you all informed as to when a new way to purchase a copy emerges. Will at some point also be considering ebook formats too, though I think that may take a while as I suspect there will have to be a lot of formatting changes to make it work.
 
Also worth knowing that this collection is intended as a taster and also a chance for readers to tell me which story they liked the best. The one that gets the most votes will be developed further as a longer piece of fiction – either as a series of short stories/novellas or a complete novel. Once you have acquired a copy you can cast your vote by contacting me using the methods outlined in the Afterword. You can also post in the comments to this blog post.
 
 

 

[Guest Post] Jill Sanders

08 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Guest posts

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Jill Sanders, Lasting Pride, Romance, romantic suspense, Secret Seduction


Today we have a visitor in the form of Jill Sanders, a highly successful romantic suspense author with a #2 Bestseller on Amazon and a shortlist in the Amazon Breakthrough awards. She is here to promote her latest releases. That’s right… Releases. Because, not content with merely producing one novel like other authors do, she’s produced two of them. So below we have extracts from the latest in Jill’s Pride series, Lasting Pride, and her new novel, Secret Seduction, which is the first part in the Secret series. Read, enjoy and please click the links to find out more about Jill and her work.

Click the image below to go to her site for a giveaway and to find out details of the other blogs involved in this tour!

blogtour

LASTING PRIDE
An hour later, she walked into his room to wake him and check on him. When she walked in, she was shocked to see his large bed empty. There was a soft light coming from under the bathroom door. The first thing that flashed in her mind was fear that he’d passed out on the bathroom floor. Rushing into the large room, she looked around and she saw him. Lying in the large jacuzzi tub with it’s jets still on and she could see steam rising from the water. His head was rested against a pillowed head rest and his eyes were closed, he looked completely relaxed and wonderfully naked.4LastingPride

Walking over, she took in her fill of him. The man had some great muscles, she could see the bruises running up and down his side that he must have landed on.

He was resting so that his left shoulder and arm were dangling out of the water, keeping his stitches dry. Her eyes ran down his chest and enjoyed the view of his pecks. His stomach was tight and she could just make out a very sexy six pack. His sandy blond hair ran in a light trail, pulling her eyes downwards. Noticing that he was hard all over, she smiled. Then, she moved down to his thighs, which were very muscular and covered with a light coating of blond hair. He was too tall for the bathtub so his feet hung off the ends, resting on the ledge of the tub.

Looking back to his face, she watched his dark eyelashes. How was it, that this man was lucky enough to get very long eyelashes? She was cursed with short thin ones.

His face looked totally relaxed. Walking closer to him, she sat on the edge of the tub.

“Damn it Ric, you should know better than to fall asleep in this thing.” When he opened his eyes, she saw him focus, then she noticed the wicked look in his eyes. She tried to pull away, but he was too quick. Before she knew it, she was crushed to his wet body. Her sleeping t-shirt and shorts were soaking wet. Her hair, which had just dried from her own shower, was wet and in her eyes now.

“I was just dreaming of you and this,” his mouth was on hers again. This time, the passion was undeniable. He held her head to his with his right hand as she tried to get away. “Mmmm, you taste so good,” he tried to pull her closer.

***

SECRET SEDUCTION:

1Xseduction768When he’d barged in, she’d jerked her head up, slamming it on the corner of the sharp metal faucet.

“Ouch, damn it, Jason!” She rubbed her head with her fingers, near the spot she’d just hit.

Recovering, he quickly shut the door behind him, locked them in, and walked over to her. He dropped his bag next to hers then took her head in his hands and looked at the small injury.

She was still bent over the sink, her wet hair dripping in her eyes and face. “Here, let me see. Oh, man. You’ve got a small cut here. The faucet must have been sharp.”

“Can’t I just have a few minutes to clean up without having you barge in here acting like you’re a white knight trying to rescue me?” He could see tears of pain in her eyes as she looked up at him. Then again, he thought, maybe they were from the shampoo dripping into her eyes.

“Shh.” He pulled her head back towards the sink. “Here, let me help.” He started splashing water over her soapy head.

She braced her hands on the sink ledge and held on. He could see her shifting her feet to bend over and knew that the position was probably uncomfortable for her.

“There was so much flour in my hair, I just had to clean some of it out,” she said over her shoulder, while trying to look at him.

He turned her head back and placed it over the sink, then he cupped his hands, scooping the water up and gently dumping it over her hair, washing the bubbles from it.

She became very still while holding onto the side of the sink for support, so he continued rinsing her hair until it was clean. When he was done, he bent over and picked up the small hand towel she’d dropped.

He turned her around so she faced the mirror and slowly rubbed her hair dry. He leaned her head down so he could gently part her hair where the small cut was. He noticed the bleeding had stopped thanks to the cold water, but he still made sure it was clean before continuing to dry her hair.

***

Find out more about Jill Sanders and her work:

Jill Sanders survived 80’s pop music, and life as an identical twin in a chaotic family of nine.  A feat by any standard!  She was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, relocating to Colorado for college and a successful IT career at IBM in Boulder.

Narrowly escaping before all creativity was squashed, she jumped at the chance to trade the mundane world of computers for the sexy, exciting world of her own imagination.  She now lives in charming rural Texas writing wonderful novels such as the Pride series.

Her debut novel, Finding Pride, was shortlisted in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards 2013, and has since climbed to #2 on Amazon Bestsellers – Romantic Suspense. Each book in the Pride Series has found a regular home on Amazon’s Bestseller lists.

Stay tuned for Jill’s newest romantic suspense series – The Secret series.

Coming soon, a new Contemporary Romance Series of three sisters struggling to save their ranch in Texas in the Cowgirls Ride series.

This Christmas unwrap a steamy Christmas romance tale – Red Hot Christmas.

To learn more about Jill, visit her website www.jillmsanders.com, where she blogs daily, or follow her on Twitter: @jillmsanders.

Dianna Hardy: Cry of the Wolf Blog tour

25 Thursday Jul 2013

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Guest posts

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

blog tour, Cry of the Wolf, Dianna Hardy, paranormal romance, Romance, The Witching Pen, Werewolf, writing


Today we are taking part in a blog tour for Dianna Hardy. You might remember Dianna from her appearance in Vampire Month and her talking about the Witching Pen series. Here she is giving us a review of her latest series, Eye of the Storm, with an extract from Cry of the Wolf. Tomorrow, look out for a giveaway for exclusive goodies!

Extract from Cry of the WolfCryOfTheWolfCoverFrontSMALL

Looking to pass the time, she made her way to her desk where Lawrence’s books were scattered from where she’d abandoned them almost twenty-four hours ago. Now, where had she left off?
Right. Mythology.

It didn’t take her long to find the passage she’d read earlier, and it was an absorbing read: a god and a goddess ruled by anger had split themselves apart, creating, for all intents and purposes, duality. But they quickly discovered they could not live without each other. Loneliness and loss consumed them, and it came to be that the only way they could rejoin since their separation was when the lightning (the god) penetrated the earth (the goddess).

Interesting…

In these moments, Yemet’s determination renewed, as did her anger, and she vowed to find a way to rejoin with Himet.

One night, under the full moon, which reflected Himet’s love for her when the sun could not, Yemet led her most prized and loyal animal – the wolf – to the top of the highest mountain. She let her grief, her sorrow, her loneliness and her anger pour out of her until she manifested a storm. Himet responded, joining in her dance, and at the exact moment he sent down his lightning, she placed the wolf in its path and infused herself with it.

Himet cried out in terror, but he could not pull back the lightning. It hit Yemet while she was in the physical form of the wolf – whilst she was mortal.

“Why?!” he asked her, his sorrow consuming him.

“I could not see, but now I do,” she replied with her dying breath, “to have all of you, I must yield all of me. Take my life, Himet. I trust you with it. I give it freely.”

© Dianna Hardy, 2013. All rights reserved.

Bio:

Dianna Hardy Colour Portfolio SmallAuthor of The Witching Pen and the Eye Of The Storm series.

Dianna combines a titillating mix of paranormal romance and urban fantasy into her writing, to bring you stories that are action-packed, fast-paced and not short of heat, with the focus on both character development and the plot. She writes both full-length novels and short fiction. She has also written poetry and esoteric books and articles.

Although quite active online, Dianna is a self-confessed hermit, preferring the company of nature and animals to the hustle and bustle of people. She loves anything paranormal (she doesn’t really consider it “para”), organic food, walking barefoot, the smell of the woods after rain, and summer days.

However, she is also sustained by coffee, chocolate and the occasional vodka.

She lives in the UK with her partner and their daughter, where she devotes her time to parenting, publishing and writing.

Links

Website: www.diannahardy.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/authordiannahardy

Twitter: www.twitter.com/thewitchingpen

Amazon: www.amazon.com/Dianna-Hardy/e/B003AGRHFC

Google +: www.plus.google.com/u/0/110398750519005724804/posts

The Witching Pen website: www.thewitchingpen.co.uk

This post is part of a blog tour. Check out the other stops on the tour… Click the picture below to see the full list.

Werewolf Love Blog Hop

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