Friday, October 30, 2015

Friday Freebie: His Obsession Next Door (In the Line of Duty #1) by Cathryn Fox

I've read this book and I'm happy to say it's good. 4 stars from me. It's a lovely story. I'm so happy to see it free and highly recommend it.


One Night of SinTitle: His Obsession Next Door (In the Line of Duty #1)
Author: Cathryn Fox
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Publish date: 18 February 2014
Length: 226 pages
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Purchase link: Amazon

Once the fuse is lit, there’s only one way to extinguish the flames.

In the Line of Duty, Book 1

Years ago, Cole Sullivan made a battlefield promise sealed in a dying man’s blood—to take care of his best friend’s little sister. Now he’s forced to live with the fact that Gemma Matthews is completely off limits.

Though Gemma’s always had a crush on the darkly handsome, far-too-serious explosives expert, she can’t forget the sting of his rejection. Now here they are, ten years later, with Cole still stubbornly in the role of protector. But when she catches him watching her from his house next door, she jumps at the opportunity to show him everything he’s been missing.

Cole can barely keep his cool at Gemma’s bedroom window performance. He’s never been a risk taker, but her all-out campaign of seduction ignites a fuse that can only blow up in his face.

All thoughts of backing off are swept away in the heat of reckless passion. Leaving him wondering how he will live with himself amid the razor-sharp shards of his broken promise.

Warning: Contains a smoking-hot explosives expert and enough heat to set an ammunition depot ablaze.


* I am not responsible for price changes. Prices may go up without notice. Free at the time of writing.

Other books in the series





About the author

jsNew York Times and USA today best selling author, Cathryn is a wife, mom, sister, daughter, and friend. She loves dogs, sunny weather, anything chocolate (she never says no to a brownie) pizza and red wine. She has two teenagers who keep her busy with their never ending activities, and a husband who is convinced he can turn her into a mixed martial arts fan. Cathryn can never find balance in her life, is always trying to find time to go to the gym, can never keep up with emails, Facebook or Twitter and tries to write page-turning books that her readers will love.

Author Links:  Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

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Author Interview & New Release: Sexual Sorcery by C M Fontana

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Sexual Sorcery : An Erotic Tale of Sex, Mystery and the Occult, in Victorian England
By: C M Fontana
Releasing September 18, 2015
Mystic Erotica

Buy Links:  Amazom US | Amazon UK


Synopsis


An unwitting academic stumbles into the erotically-charged occult underworld of Victorian London. With a cast of characters including an investigator with a talent for seduction, a mesmerist collecting a harem of beautiful ladies, and a woman who believes she has had sex with Satan, Sexual Sorcery is a sizzling story of decadence, conspiracy and carnality.

When a collection of books go missing from the University's collection, Fredrick Clifford travels to London in search of the likely culprit, an apparently respectable gentleman named Victor Braystone. But he soon finds that he is not the only one with an interest in Mr Braystone, and the manipulative Catherine Wolseley soon draws him into her own schemes.

As he, Miss Wolseley and their seductive accomplice begin to unravel Mr Braystone's plots, Fredrick Clifford finds himself both confused and entrapped in a shocking world of of sex and duplicity. And as the trail leads him from the seductions of a London club to a Satanic altar in the wilds of the Welsh borders, he struggles to make sense of both the dark uncertainties of the occult, and of an unfamiliar realm of debauchery and sex.



Excerpt

    “Fredrick Clifford,” he introduced himself. “I may be expected?”
    “Of course,” the maid curtseyed, with a hint of an accent, perhaps Italian or French, and stepped back to let him in.
    She took his coat, hat and cane, and then led him up the stairs, and into a well furnished sitting room. Tall windows let light flood into the room through lace curtains, the room was decked with a range of plushly upholstered chairs and settees, the largest of which, unusually, seemed to be the size of a single bed, but with ornate arms and a high back.
    The maid motioned him to take a seat in a plush chair by the window. She assured him, “I will say that you have arrived,” and then withdrew.
    As he waited, he looked around. The décor was, the more he considered the details, eccentric.
    Not only were the chairs unusually deeply upholstered, and the main sofa far wider than was needed, but there were numerous sturdy hooks, which looked like they might have hung chandeliers before gas lighting was installed, both in the ceiling and also, inexplicably in the skirting board at the foot of the wall. There was also a faint but spicy scent in the air, which he suspected might be incense – an unusual scent to encounter outside of a High or Catholic church.
    The door opened, and he turned to see a tall, graceful woman step into the room. She wore a red silk robe like a dressing gown, and around her neck an ornate necklace of black beads. Her brown hair hung loosely in flowing curls, cascading over her shoulders, and Fredrick’s eyes were drawn further down, to the sides of her firm breasts, indecently visible where the two sides of the robe met.
    “I’m so sorry!” he instinctively stood up and turned his back on her, to stare fixedly out of the window.
    “And why, Mr Clifford, are you sorry?” The voice was soft, the accent unmistakably continental.
    “I am… that is to say…” He could barely hear her approach, her bare feet on the carpet. “Perhaps I should return when you are properly dressed.”
    Her voice, now just over his shoulder, chided, “Mr Clifford, I was told that you were a gentleman.”
    “Well, yes!” he replied, indignantly.
    “And is it polite, when a lady enters a room, turn your back on her, and then proceed to criticise her choice of clothing.”
    “Well, I… there is a question of what is appropriate!”
    “Your lessons today,” she corrected him, “are to deal instead with the question of what is courteous – gentlemanly. You may be quite right about what is appropriate. But this afternoon, that is not our subject.”
    To Frederick, what was gentlemanly and what was appropriate seemed intimately connected. But Miss Wolseley had, presumably, some purpose in sending him here.
    “I apologise,” he conceded, turning to face her. It would be a shame to argue with such an attractive hostess.
    She smiled and inclined her head. “Then shall we start again?”
    Fredrick nodded.
    The woman turned and walked softly back to the door. He watched her robe sway against her legs, and was impressed by her grace. She left the room, and shut the door after herself. Fredrick sat down again, and waited.
    After a minute, the door opened again, and the woman returned.
    Fredrick stood up, and stepped forwards to greet her. “Fredrick Clifford, Madam. At your service.”
    She held out her hand, palm down, and he took it gently, and bowed slightly as he motioned to kiss it.     He could not help, bending forward, but appreciate the gentle curve of her breasts, barely draped in thin red silk.
    “Signorina Maria Cenci,” she replied with a hint of a curtsey. “Charmed to meet you, Sir.”



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Author interview

I'm delighted to have C M Fontana join me to anwer a few questions for the blog.

Thank you for having me here today!

Where are you from?
I'm British by nationality, but my family history isn't so straight-forward, and I'm living in Italy. So, am I British? Italian? And where am I actually from? I describe myself as European – it's easier.

When and why did you begin writing?
I don't remember a time when I didn't write. I've loved writing short stories and poems since I was a child. As I got older, the works got longer – and, I'd hope, rather better!

So, what have you written?
For years I just wrote short stories for my own entertainment. I always told myself I could never write a novel. Then a few years ago I decided that I was sick of making excuses to myself – so, over a year or so, I sat down and wrote a 100,000 word novel. It was big hurdle. I never published it, but after that I found it easier to commit to writing longer works – novellas and novels.

And so, I've just published two novels which mix mystery and erotica, with supernatural elements. Deadly Adultery is a police investigation with a paranormal twist. Sexual Sorcery is mystery set in Victorian London. Both are categorized as erotica, to keep the unwary away from books which have a lot of explicit sex, but the mystery plots are just as important as the carnality.

What draws you to this genre?
Mystery stories seem to come to me quite easily – I love thinking through the plans that the villains have laid, wondering how they might unravel, and then letting the heroes try to deal with these schemes. And the erotica is just fun – the sex adds excitement. But the decision that I took very self-consciously was to add supernatural elements. These are useful in that they allow me to twist the plots in surprising directions, but they also make it really obvious that the books are not realistic – which is important for erotica. Nobody really wants to read about realistic sex-lives, just as action-movie fans don't want to watch realistic depictions of police-work, but I'd hate anyone to think that this kind of outrageous sex is realistically attainable. Having the fantastical elements in the books hopefully stops anyone taking them too seriously.

What is your most recent book about?
Sexual Sorcery follows an unwitting Victorian academic trying to find a few seemingly innocuous missing books. But this gentleman, Fredrick Clifford, finds himself in a very unfamiliar world, and in the midst of a scheme that goes far beyond the theft of a couple of books. The plot unfolds because of his investigations, but the focus switches, and most of it is told by following the very capable women who he meets in London's occult underworld.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Nothing quite as simple as a single message. I want the reader to enjoy following the mystery, to wonder with Fredrick who he can trust and whether he is being manipulated and what might really be going on. I want the reader to enjoy the plot twists and of course the sex scenes. But I'm also happy for the reader to reflect and consider. Books are more interesting if they reflect on things, as well as just describing events or characters. There are some obvious issues that the book has to touch upon, like the status of women in Victorian society, but there is also a theme of that runs through the book: there is a question of when persuasion is morally acceptable, and when it is not, which the book touches on repeatedly.

Where can we buy or see the books?
Both of the novels and two novellas, including Sexual Sorcery, can be found at http://mysticerotica.com, and digital versions are available for Kindle on Amazon.

What are your current projects?
I'm working from both of these last novels, Sexual Sorcery and Deadly Adultery, to create ongoing series of books. The Victorian occult setting of Sexual Sorcery, in particular, is far too interesting to just leave after one or two books, and I want to see how several of the characters develop over the next few years of their lives. Hopefully the next full length novel, Sorcerer's Proposal, will be out before Christmas.


Author Info


C M Fontana is a British erotic author, fusing plots of mystery, intrigue, and the supernatural with racy erotica. The first full-length novels, Sexual Sorcery, was published for Kindle in September 2015, with two novellas continuing the series released soon after.

Author Links:  WebsiteTwitter | Goodreads | Pinterest | Amazon


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Thursday, October 29, 2015

Author Showcase: Pippa Jay

Please join me in welcoming Pippa Jay to the bloggity for an Author Showcase. I do love doing an Author Showcase since I get to get all excited about an author, oftentimes one I have not read before. I love learning about new authors and adding to my already large TBR!! Pippa is all about the scifi romance. One of my favorite sub-genres in romance. Please give her a warm welcome.

scifiHi, I’m Pippa Jay and I’m a scifi geek. I say that unashamedly. I grew up watching original Star Trek and Doctor Who because both my parents were fans. At the age of eight I saw Star Wars: A New Hope for the first time, and Luke Skywalker became my first crush. It was the story that took me from writing fantasy to scifi. I would practice swinging my sister’s majorette stick around like a lightsabre and wanted my own X-Wing. Or the TARDIS. Or more recently the Milano and a quick dance with Starlord. I still dream of being whisked into space and shown the stars, preferably by the tenth incarnation of the Doctor... *coughs*

As a child I read books on space and astronomy, and hung model spacecraft from my ceiling. I could recite the names of dozens of stars and tell you what colour, magnitude, and what constellation they were in or how many lightyears away. Science fiction and science fact were my addiction, and I wished for the day that both would be one and the same thing.

Of course, we’re still a long way off. While invisibility shields, instant teleportation, and Star Trek-like tricorders are actually becoming reality, we’ve not yet cracked faster-than-light travel and I still live in hope I’ll be around to see the first person set foot on Mars (a mere hop from Earth compared to the nearest star systems with Earth-like planets). In the meantime I’ll just keep writing adventures crossing time and space, of romances that can withstand the test of other worlds and cultures, to fill in the gap until we actually make it further out among the stars and maybe encounter an alien race or three. And who knows, they might be more than friendly. ;)


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Keir
Redemption #1
By: Pippa Jay
Released May 7, 2015
Self Published

Buy Links:  Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Kobo | All Romance | Smashwords | Google Play | CreateSpace | MyBook


Synopsis


A demon waiting to die...

An outcast reviled for his discolored skin and rumors of black magic, Keirlan de Corizi sees no hope for redemption. Imprisoned beneath the palace that was once his home, the legendary ‘Blue Demon of Adalucien’ waits for death to finally free him of his curse. But salvation comes in an unexpected guise.

A woman determined to save him.

Able to cross space and time with a wave of her hand, Tarquin Secker has spent eternity on a hopeless quest. Drawn by a compulsion she can’t explain, she risks her apparent immortality to save Keir, and offers him sanctuary on her home-world, Lyagnius. But Quin has secrets of her own.

When Keir mistakenly unleashes the dormant alien powers within him and earns exile from Lyagnius, Quin chooses to stand by him. Can he master his newfound abilities in time to save Quin from the darkness that seeks to possess her?

A science fiction/time travel romance novel previously released by Lyrical Press Inc. 7th May 2012, Keir is a Readers Favorite Contest Awards Finalist 2012, HOD RWA Aspen Gold finalist (3rd place), The Kindle Book Review’s 2013 Best Indie Book Awards semi-finalist, and a 2012 SFR Galaxy Award Best May to December Romance winner. Book One of the Redemption series and part of the Travellers Universe, Keir was re-released with new material on the 7th May, 2015. Book Two - Keir’s Fall - will release in November 2015, with a companion side story - Reunion at Kasha-Asor - releasing in May 2016.

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Excerpt

    Amidst the noise and flashes, the sound of movement drew his gaze aside. Quin had stepped out onto the adjoining balcony to lean nonchalantly on the ledge and admire the show. The light display forgotten, Keir immersed himself deeper in the shadows and watched her instead. Like his first sight of her in the Adalucien prison cell, it struck him how small she was, and how different to anyone he had ever known. Quin had unbound her hair, which now formed a wild red halo around her face. Her formal robes had been exchanged for a short, black slip that ended mid-thigh, and a long-sleeved robe of black lace. The gentle curves of her slim figure showed through the fabric. His eyes strayed to the white skin of her legs, like fine marble shaped and smoothed. What would it feel like to touch? Cool like stone? Or warm like velvet, soft as silk?
    Unease tightened his muscles, and he tried to drag his gaze away. A Salusian woman would never expose herself like that. Never show so much skin and be so uncaring about it.
But then, Quin is not Salusian. And she does not know I am here. I should not be looking.
Even as he thought it, even as he berated himself for it, his gaze drifted back. A smile arched her lips as she watched the skies, as enchanted as a child. A stronger gust of wind brushed the hair back from her face and folded the satin cloth of her outfit around her figure.
    So beautiful…
    Sudden elation overwhelmed him, combined with the heat T’rill had inspired. Desire wrapped tight arms around his body. The heady mix stole his breath. No. Shame burned his skin. Quin was his friend, the first he had ever had, and the only person to show him kindness in more years than he could count. Yet at that moment he wanted more. For the first time in remembrance, he wanted to touch and be touched in return. To hold her and have her return his embrace freely, with more than a friend’s affection. To feel her white skin under his fingertips. To brush the hair from her face as the breeze did now, and run his fingers through it.
    His thoughts dishonored her gift of friendship to him.

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Check out some of these titles by Pippa too



About the author

auAfter spending twelve years working as an Analytical Chemist in a Metals and Minerals laboratory, Pippa Jay is now a stay-at-home mum who writes scifi and the supernatural. Somewhere along the way a touch of romance crept into her work and refused to leave. In between torturing her plethora of characters, she spends the odd free moment playing guitar very badly, punishing herself with freestyle street dance, and studying the Dark Side of the Force. Although happily settled in the historical town of Colchester in the UK with her husband of 22 years and three little monsters, she continues to roam the rest of the Universe in her head.

Pippa Jay is a dedicated member of the Science Fiction Romance Brigade, Broad Universe, and EPIC,  blogging at Spacefreighters Lounge, Adventures in Scifi, and Romancing the Genres. Her works include YA and adult stories crossing a multitude of subgenres from scifi to the paranormal, often with romance, and she’s one of eight authors included in a science fiction romance anthology—Tales from the SFR Brigade. She’s also a double SFR Galaxy Award winner, been a finalist in the Heart of Denver RWA Aspen Gold Contest (3rd place), the 2015 EPIC eBook awards, the 2015 LERA Rebecca, and the GCC RWA Silken Sands Star Awards (2nd place).

You can stalk her at her website, or at her blog, but without doubt her favorite place to hang around and chat with her on Twitter.

Sign up to Pippa's no-spam newsletter or click Follow on her Amazon author page to be notified of the latest release, giveaway, or upcoming events.

Author links: Website - Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads - Pinterest - Amazon - Newsletter - Adventures in Scifi - Spacefreighters Lounge - Romancing the Genres - SFR Brigade


Coming soon ... Redemption #2



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