Honey Bee Authors

Aubrie Dionne and Tundra 37

2012-02-15T08:39:00.000Z

Aubrie is an author and flutist in New England. She's represented by Dawn Dowdle of Blue Ridge Literary Agency. Her short stories have been featured in Mindflights, Niteblade, Silver Blade, Emerald Tales, Aurora Wolf, A Fly in Amer, Moon Drenched Fables and various anthologies.

Her books are published by Entangled Publishing, Lyrical Press, Gypsy Shadow Publishing, and Wyvern Publications.

Tundra 37

Gemme is a hi-tech matchmaker who pairs the next generation of Lifers aboard the Expedition, a deep space transport vessel destined for Paradise 18. When the identity of her lifemate pops up on her screen, she’s shocked that he’s the achingly gorgeous and highly sought after Lieutenant Miles Brentwood—a man oblivious to her existence. Believing everyone will think she contrived the match, she erases it from the computer’s memory.

Just as comets pummel the ship and destroy the pairing system forever.

With the Expedition disabled, the colonists must crash land on the barren ice world of Tundra 37 where Gemme is reassigned to an exploratory mission, led by Lieutenant Brentwood. Only in the frozen tundra does she understand the shape of his heart and why the computer has entwined their destinies.

Prologue

The Seers

I’m losing her.
Abysme guides the vessel in silence, her blind eyes rolling as she senses our course, two hundred years away from Paradise 18. She’s scattered her thoughts among the stars, and her mind drifts farther from the sister I once knew. I fear the machine has engulfed her individuality. She’s forgotten the meaning of our goal, the oath we took three centuries ago. Most of all, she’s forgotten me, creating an emptiness inside me more profound than the desolation surrounding us.

If I had my arms, I’d reach out to comfort her and usher her back from the black abyss spread before us. As children, I kept her alive through the destruction, signing us up for the Expedition and winning two tickets off Old Earth before it succumbed to hell. But can I save her now?
I send impulses through my brainwaves and into the ship. Bysme, do you hear me?

Unlike her, I have one operating eye and can see the control chamber we hang from. Twisting my head, I search her features. Her skeletal face twitches. She writhes and the wires holding her in place stretch taut. I wonder what I’ve done to us, the shock of our disembodiment jolting me. Every input hole drilled into my skull snakes with activity. The ship surges through me, a vast intranet of information, names, status charts, and infinite trajectories. If I couldn’t feel the cold, regulated air on the remnants of my torso, I’d be lost in the machine too. I remind myself of our mission and the perseverance flows into my veins.

She doesn’t respond and the fear wells up from within me. Can I guide the ship alone? I realize I’ve left her at the helm for too long while I drifted into memories.

Status of Beta Prime? Bysme speaks in monotone computer speech as she turns to the corner of the main control deck where the orb glistens, tempting us with the mysteries hidden in the cosmic swirls within its core. Sometimes, I wish we’d blasted the ball off the hull after its tendrils attached to the outer frame instead of recovering it for study. We’ve guarded it for so long, Project Beta Prime has become part of us, yet we’re further than ever from unlocking its secrets. All I know is the insistence of my memories, like ghosts that refused to be ignored.

Unchanged. The weight of my voice in our mindspeak reflects my disappointment. Like everything else.
Bysme falls silent, and I scan the systems searching for answers that aren’t there.

Chapter One

Matchmaker

The Expedition 2751

Names trailed in pairs along the wallscreen as the next batch of destinies unfolded. Gemme pulled her hair into a ponytail and sipped her synthetic coffee, reviewing the computer’s choices. Beside her, a constellation of stars glittered on the sight panel. She studied the spherical pattern, content to watch the world float by from the safety of the Expedition’s computer analytics wing.

She’d live and die on the decks of the aging transport ship. The certainty of her fate comforted her from the black void pressing in. Consistency gave her solace, and in her life regularity reigned. She lived through her work, finding life in numbers.

After another long sip, she gazed up at the screen and read the first pair of names.
Aaron Tixton and Cassandra Smith.

She accessed their profiles with the tip of her finger on her keypad. Both Lifers tested well in energy maintenance and ship repairs. Their personalities were type ISTP and type ENFJ, and their family trees didn’t intersect until third cousins in the first generation, providing a promising match. Neither showed any manifestation of the rare hypergene they’d searched for since they left Earth, but no one she’d ever matched had. There were no guarantees the Seers would last until the ship reached Paradise 18. Suppressing a moment of worry, she scratched her chin, then typed an affirmation on the touchscreen.
Ray Ellis and Melissa Stewart. Although they were three years apart, Ray being the senior, their genes were optimally compatible. With resistance to Alzheimer’s, cancer, and heart disease, they would produce durable children. The touchscreen flashed as her finger pressed enter.

Molly Fritz and—

The portal beeped, interrupting her work. Who would visit so early on the first morning shift? She’d dragged herself out of her sleep pod for a reason. The Seers expected the next report by fourteen hundred, and she didn’t have time for unplanned meetings.

Gemme sighed and clicked off the screen. She couldn’t have an intruder spying on the new sets of matches. She pressed the portal panel and the particles dematerialized like falling stars, revealing a stellar beauty.
“Luna?”
“Gemme.” Luna shifted and leaned her busty body against the portal frame. “How are you? I haven’t talked to you in years.”

For a reason.
Uneasiness spread through Gemme’s shoulders, making her neck tingle. A vision of Luna’s highly mascaraed teen face scrunched up in anger came back to her. “What am I going to do with you, you freckle-faced cybergeek? You make me look bad with all your studying and high test scores,” Luna had taunted before she smacked Gemme in the chest, leaving a bruise that had lasted for two months. Sure, Gemme had pushed her back, but Luna’s final shove had landed her in the recycling bin. She’d suffered in that cold, metal container for four hours before a custodian heard her banging for help.
Luna had claimed it was an accident, and as the Lieutenant’s daughter, and the descendant of the original founder of the Expedition, everyone believed her. Gemme hadn’t pressed the issue. No one messed with the Legacys. Since then, she’d stayed clear of the beauty and her bullying tactics. As Luna hovered over her, Gemme sensed where this conversation led, and it made the coffee in her stomach churn like acid.

“I’ve got a lot of work to do, Luna. What do you need?”
Luna flipped her wavy blonde hair behind her shoulder and stared at her as if she had a right to be there. “I want to discuss my pairing.”
“You know I can’t talk of future matches.” Gemme fought to keep her tone professional. “The computer makes the decisions. I only review the pairings and double-check for glitches.”

“You have more power than you let on, Gemme, dear.” Luna pushed past her and slinked across her office, tapping her fingertips along the keyboards.
Hot air flared out of Gemme’s nostrils. The nerve! Luna asked her to change the bylaws, to risk her job after years of bullying? Her cheeks burned like a supernova. The keys clicked under Luna’s long nails in a rhythmic pitter-patter. Thank goodness she’d locked down the system.
The blinking button for the screen stood out like a dwarf star. Luna inched toward it. Gemme squeezed by her and stuck her small body between Luna’s ginormous chest and the touchscreen, turning her back on her to protect the machine.

“I can’t change the pairings, only approve or disapprove.”
“You can disapprove of everyone for me.”
The harshness in her voice made Gemme whip around from the controls and stare her down. “You’re telling me you don’t want a lifemate?”
“You didn’t let me finish.” Luna’s lips slid into a smile. “Everyone, that is, except Miles Brentwood.”

Of course. Gemme could’ve guessed that request from a parsec away. The computer hadn’t assigned Miles Brentwood a lifemate yet. Five years their senior, not only was he powerful, attractive, and brilliant, his sweet charm could warm even the coldest reaches of deep space. Somehow, even though Luna was gorgeous, Gemme didn’t think she deserved Brentwood, and she reveled in the fact that she couldn’t honor Luna’s request.

“The computer decides the lifemates, not me.” Besides, pairing Luna with Lieutenant Brentwood would explode the mainframe of the lifemate pairing system. The computer’s choices had an excellent success rate, much better than the statistics she’d seen from Old Earth. She couldn’t imagine people choosing for themselves.

Luna shrugged as if she discussed tricking a five-year-old instead of defying a centuries-old system. “If you deny every pairing for me, eventually his name will come up.”

Gemme held her nose up, but her head only came up to Luna’s magnificent plunging neckline. Why didn’t her uniform ever look as good? “I’m not going to bend the rules for you.”

Luna pulled back and pouted her full lips. “I thought you’d say as much. That’s why I brought you a bribe.”

She dropped a piece of paper on Gemme’s desk. Before Gemme could reply, Luna slipped around her and jogged out the portal. “Think about it. Get back to me.” Her voice echoed down the corridor, cheerful, yet tense.

Gemme watched her leave, stunned. What could Luna have that she wanted, besides an apology? She’d already earned a cushy job with a cosmic view. Gemme picked up the piece of paper, feeling the strange thinness in her hands. Paper was only used for formal occasions. What could it be?

Opening the folds of the document revealed a border of glittering gold. The writing was etched in inky cursive. Gemme gasped as she studied the contours of the inscription.

Request granted. Please present this upon arrival on Control Deck 67.
A ticket to visit the Seers. This rarity was one more shred of proof the Legacys had advantages others didn’t have.

Why would she ever want to meet them? The Seers had sealed their chamber for the last century for fear of weakening their fragile bodies with germs. People whispered about their transformation from real humans born on Old Earth to skeletons and machines. Just thinking about how they’d severed their arms and legs after the limbs had atrophied to have wires run directly into their torsos made her squirm.

She realized Luna didn’t know her at all. Status quo contented Gemme more than any high position or special meeting. She wanted to live her life on the Expedition, drink her coffee, and play matchmaker in space.
Gemme slipped the document underneath her keyboard. She’d have to return it to Luna herself. This couldn’t be trusted with interdepartmental mail and she didn’t want Luna thinking she owed her anything.

After the portal materialized, she flicked on the button for the pairing system and the list of names blinked on her wallscreen.

Now where was I? Oh yes, Molly Fritz and—
A letter G stole her attention from halfway down the second column. She skimmed the names.
It couldn’t be.

Gemme gasped and backed away from the wallscreen. Her touchscreen fell to the floor and rattled.

Gemme Reiner and Miles Brentwood.
Her first thought was of Luna running at her with a laser gun.
But I didn’t choose it. The computer did.

She knew the day would come when her name would cross the screen, she just didn’t think it would be today or it would be him. Everyone would suspect she devised the pairing herself. She’d look like the most selfish, hypocritical computer analyst in the history of the Expedition. She might even lose her job.

She scrambled to the floor and collected the touchscreen. Her hands shook as she replaced it on her desk. Wasting no time, she highlighted their names and the reasoning for the pairing. They both had history of mild high blood pressure, and a few minor propensities for anxiety in their family trees. They weren’t incompatible, but they sure as hell weren’t a perfect match either. Although, their first names sounded so right together: Gemme and Miles.
Shaking the nonsense from her head, she forced herself to focus. The florescent yellow connecting her name and his made her uneasy. Her finger paused over the word delete. For a millisecond, she thought of his strong hands touching her cheek, running across the back of her neck and into her hair.

Stop fantasizing!
Why would such a man be matched to her? Obviously the computer had miscalculated. Here lay the one glitch she was destined to fix. Gemme’s finger trembled as she pressed the touchscreen. In an instant, their names disappeared, deleted forever in the vastness of deep space. Even the Seers wouldn’t detect it in their nets.
A response beeped on the screen.
Pairing denied.

Gemme breathed with relief. She couldn’t have people thinking she’d manipulated the system, especially Luna. Besides, attraction shouldn’t factor in any of the matches.

She picked up her coffee mug just as a crash echoed above her head. The floor rumbled beneath her feet. Had her deletion wreaked havoc on the whole system?

Two monotone voices echoed in unison out over the intercom. “Comet shower approaching. Collisions imminent. Evacuate the outer levels.”
Gemme froze. Danger to the Expedition? Impossible! The Seers would have detected any danger from a parsec away. They could never be wrong. The Guide said so.

Another crash shuddered the floor and she fell to her knees. The wallscreen flickered. She gazed out the sight panel at the familiar constellation. Balls of red with trailing tails streaked the sight panel. She fisted her hands. Had the Seers failed? She had no time to ponder the impossible. Her office lay on an outer deck. She had to get to safety.

Her first thought shot to the computers. Could she save her life’s work? For privacy, the Seers instructed each matchmaker to store all data on the computer in front of her. The lights flickered out and an alarm screamed down the hall. One of the fiery balls grew larger, hurtling right toward the glass separating Gemme from the void of space.

Forget the data.
Taking one look back at her touchscreens, Gemme sprinted to the portal and slammed her fist on the panel. The second it took for the particles to dematerialize tugged on her nerves. Visions of space sucking her out haunted her more than visions of being stuck to the ship like the Seers. Gemme clutched her hands together and bounced on her toes.

The particles disappeared, and smoke wheezed in. Bending down, Gemme covered her mouth with the sleeve of her uniform and ran. The ship pitched sideways, and she fell into the wall, bumping her knee. Her leg collapsed, but she forced herself up through the pain. The corridors lay empty. Was she the last one on the outer decks? She hoped so. Most of the Lifers slept in their cells at the heart of the ship at such an early hour.

“Hull breach imminent. Congregate to the inner decks immediately.”
Was there a hint of fear in the Seers’ voices? Gemme refused to believe it. The Seers had everything under control. They always did. They wouldn’t let anything happen to her, would they?

She punched the portal panel in front of the elevators, but nothing happened. Fear twisted her stomach, climbing its way up her throat. She breathed in, and the air seared the back of her mouth. Coughing, she slammed the panel harder.

Come on, you aging piece of junk.
The panel light flickered out like a dying sun.
Smoke filled the corridor and burned her eyes. She ran to the air shaft’s emergency ladders. Another crash hit the hull, and another. What were the Seers doing? Had they lost their minds? She clung to each ladder rung as she climbed down, afraid another shock would send her plummeting ten levels at once.

As she reached the next deck, the air spiraled over her head. Pressure sucked the breath out of her lungs. A warning buzz sounded, and the Seers’ unison voices echoed out, “Hull breach on Deck 86.”
Gemme searched below her feet. She could climb down ten more rungs to close the lower hatch, or climb back up five to close the upper hatch. Metal clicked, and the emergency systems made the decision for her. Beneath her feet, the particles of the lower hatch materialized.
Panic rushed up her legs along with the dwindling air. The Seers had locked her out.

Gemme stared at the spinning particles. If she fell too soon, she’d be stuck in the particles of the hatch and the portal would rematerialize inside her. She had to wait for the hatch to become solid.
The air grew thin and she gasped for breath. The force of the suction pulled at her, yanking hair out of her ponytail. Once the hatch formed, she leaped down on top of it. Scrambling in the folds of her uniform, she brought out her keytag.

Thank goodness she’d worn it around her neck. Sometimes the cord irritated her skin, and she took it off, setting it by her touchscreen. Now, she wasn’t sure if her touchscreen still existed. The thought of her office pummeled by comets flashed in her mind. She couldn’t go back for anything now.
She shoved the keytag into the portal panel and typed override. A message popped up.

Please enter your security code.
The temperature dropped and she shivered, sucking in one last breath. Gemme forced herself to type slowly to get it right. One missed touch would shut her out forever.
Her heart raced as she tapped the panel and the particles disappeared.
A wave of hot air blew by her as the hatch reopened. Gemme jumped down and slammed her fist against the panel to close it above her. As the particles solidified, she climbed down to the next level and kicked something blocking her way.

“Whoa! Look out.”
Miles Brentwood gazed up from the toes of her boots, his green-flecked eyes piercing the semidarkness. Gemme’s heart sped up. To see any person right now made her emotions crumble, never mind the man she’d been thinking of ever since she deleted their pairing. “If you’re going up, there’s no way out. I sealed the passage.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” He took the sight of her in, traveling up her cheek to her eyes and she almost lost her grip on the ladder rung. “I’m looking for you.”

Miles Brentwood had come to spend the end of the world with her? Gemme’s mind reeled. Nothing that morning had made any sense. She felt stuck in some sort of quasi-nightmare turned hot dream. “What?”
Although chaos crashed around them, his hair still looked perfect, the blond wave rising an inch above his broad forehead. “I’m retrieving all the stragglers. I followed your locater number.”

“Oh.” She looked away, feeling sheepish and small. How could she have ever thought he’d know who she was, never mind go searching for her in particular during this disaster?

He gestured over his shoulder. “There’s a safe chamber just down this hall. Follow me.”
Gemme collected her scattered emotions just as something crashed against the hatch above them. The screeching sound of crushed metal echoed down the vent shaft.
Brentwood shouted over the din, “This compartment’s losing pressure, come on!”

She followed him down two more levels and through a side passage she’d never have found by herself. They crawled through an air shaft, collecting dust webs under their fingers. A metal grating hung missing half its hinges. Had he come all this way just for her?

Brentwood looked back at her over his shoulder. “It’s not far. You can jump.”
He paused at the hole below them and waited for her to make the first move.
Of course, his valor screamed “ladies first.”

Gemme dangled her legs and judged the distance from the ceiling to the floor below her feet. If she fell the wrong way, she’d break both her ankles.
He must have seen fear cross her eyes because he offered his hands. “Here, I’ll help you.”

The warmth in his voice calmed her racing thoughts. She locked on his gaze. The flecks of green were so pure, they reminded her of the foliage in the biodome. Those eyes could have been hers to gaze into. She damned the pairing program. Why had it ever put such an outrageous idea in her head?
“Take my hands.”

Gemme blinked her thoughts away and slid her hands into his. Their palms molded into a perfect fit. His skin emanated heat, warming her cold fingertips. She closed her eyes as the ship crashed around them. She expected to feel pain, but a light-headed ecstasy bubbled over her.

When she opened her eyes, the airshaft remained intact with Brentwood eagerly waiting for her to move. All the crashing had happened inside her, levels being knocked down to reveal surprising emotions she didn’t think herself capable of. Yet, the feelings stirred an undercurrent of familiarity. Gemme searched his features to see if he experienced any of the same emotions, but his wide lips frowned. He was more concerned for her than drunk on possibility He hoisted her down and her feet hit the floor with a bounce. The ship pitched again, and she fell against the wall. Brentwood jumped behind her and ushered her forward, his hands along her waist.
“Just a few more steps.”

They ran to the belly of the ship, where the structural integrity would hold under pressure. Brentwood slapped a panel and the portal disappeared to reveal a bunch of colonists huddling together. Food rations were stacked against the far wall along with space suits. Panic worked its way up Gemme’s spine. If they needed those suits, they were dead already.
“Shouldn’t we run to the escape pods?”

Brentwood shook his head. “Not yet. The Seers believe they can salvage the ship. The escape pods would only scatter us into deep space.”
Gemme nodded and bit her lower lip. She’d known his answer. Escape pods were useless unless they found a habitable planet. It would only delay inevitable death.

He bent down, his face hovering a breath away from hers, lips slightly parted. Gemme froze in shock, noticing each light hair in his eyebrows and the moisture on his lips. Only lifemates leaned in so close. He pulled back, shaking his head as if recovering from a trance.
“My apologies. I must search for others.”
Before Gemme’s heart could beat again, he’d disappeared down the corridor, smoke trailing in his footsteps.

Buy Tundra 37 from Entangled Publishing

Em Petrova and Outlaws of Love Interview

2012-02-12T03:00:00.001Z

This evening we are catching up with busy author, Em Petrova.

Em Petrova lives in backwoods Pennsylvania, where she raises four kids and two feral kittens and pays too damn much for utilities. But seeing her sexy husband tromp out back with a chainsaw in hand is well worth the frustration of living miles from a mall. She adores writing sex scenes and anything paranormal. When she has the opportunity to mix the two, she’s in her element.

You can learn more about her smutty reads at www.empetrova.com

Welcome Em, to Honey Bee Authors. It's great to see you here today.

Tell us about your latest release, Outlaws of Love. Where did the idea originate? How did the characters develop? Why did you choose the setting?

Outlaws of Love was born after a very interesting opening scene kept bombarding me. After I watched that scene play through my head a few times, I started talking to the characters, asking why I should write their story. Pretty soon I learned this hot threesome had very good motives and needed help to resolve their conflicts.

My heroes are Robin Hoods of the old West—robbing from the rich railroad in order to return property to the poor landowners. And the heroine is the daughter of the mogul who owns that particular railroad.

As for setting, there was never a question in my mind that my outlaws had to be Texans—they’re rough, rugged, shoot-‘em-up, no holds barred cowboys. Where else would they live?

Do you control your characters, or do they control you?

A little of both. (So I’m a Domme and a sub?) My characters sometimes want to run rampant, spitting words all over the screen, and then I have to pin them down and make them behave.

How much planning and plotting is involved in your work before you begin to write?

In this book, I had a lot of research. From fashions of 1870 to language to the types of plants that grew during that time period in Texas, I had to look it up. The plot was pretty much mapped out in my mind and I scribbled some notes to keep me on track.

Do you have a critique partner?

I have a writing partner, but not a critique partner. My writing partner and I challenge each other to hit our goals. If I have something I’m stuck on, she will listen and offer ideas. She would gladly do a critique for me, but we’re both very busy and we don’t burden each other with manuscript critiques. Besides, I’m a VERY clean writer. My first drafts are pretty much what the editor gets.

What time of day or night do you best at?

I am by nature a night owl, but circumstance has dragged me out of bed at 5:30 a.m. Basically, I write at all hours of the day. I squeeze it in where I can, between editing and marketing jobs, as well as shuttling my kids to activities.

What has been the best piece of advice you have ever been given by an editor?

Take out the exclamation points. Period. Let your actions speak loudly.

What thoughts and emotions do you hope readers will take with them from one of your books?

I hope my readers will drool over my hero and replay his words in their minds. And I’d like to give them a friend in the heroine—someone they wish they could meet for coffee.

Weekend Chat with Young Adult Author, Jeanne Bannon

2012-02-11T18:27:00.000Z

Happy Saturday Readers. Today I'm chatting with author, Jeanne Bannon.Welcome to Honey Bee authors, Jeanne. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’ve worked in the publishing industry for over twenty years. I started my career as a freelance journalist, then worked as an in-house editor for LexisNexis Canada and currently work as a freelance editor and writer.

I’ve had several short stories published and won first place in the Writes of Caledon Short Story Contest. My novels, The Barely Boy and Dark Angel were finalists in the 2010 and 2011 Strongest Start Contests. One of my short stories “Thom’s Journey” is part of an Anthology entitled A Visitor to Sandahl and is available at Amazon.com.
Invisible, my debut novel, is about a teenage girl who isn’t happy with herself and wishes she could disappear. And one day she does. Invisible is available on Amazon, Smashwords, and the Solstice Publishing website.

When not reading or writing, I enjoy being with my daughters, Nina and Sara and my husband, David. I’m also the proud mother of two fur babies, a sweet Miniature Schnauzer named Emily and Spencer, a rambunctious tabby, who can be a very bad boy.

Congratulations on the release of Invisible. You must be very excited. How long have you been working on this project?

Thank you very much. Yes, it is exciting to have a book published. It only took four months to write Invisible - I’m almost embarrassed to say. I wrote it while taking a break from my current novel, Dark Angel which I’ve been working on for nearly three years.

Where does the inspiration for this story come from?

The inspiration for Invisible came partially from my own life and partially from watching my daughter at her swimming lessons. I knew she was hating being in that pool and then the thought struck - I bet she wishes she was invisible. From that the story was born. I went home and started making notes.

If you could be invisible for a day, where would you go and what would you do?

Wow, I know I was asked this once before but I can’t remember what my answer was, so I guess I’ll have to think of another. Hmmm, I might jump on board a cruise ship and take a holiday. Yeah, I think I like that idea.

What made you decide to write a YA book?

Like I said earlier, I was on a break from working on a really long, complex novel and I wanted to write something shorter and simpler. I know a lot of YA is long and complex but in my mind at the time, I thought it would be easier and more fun to write.

What would you say was the best thing about your teenage years?

Finding a boyfriend who eventually became my husband and finding a best friend (who is still in my life). Oh, and getting my driver’s licence and being a lot thinner than I am now.

Where can readers find you on the internet?

Twitter: @JeanneBannon

FB author page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jeanne-Bannon/182120961844916

Watch the trailer for Invisible

Buy Invisible on Amazon

Buy Invisible on Smashwords

Buy Invisible from Solstice Publishing

See below for an excerpt from Invisible.

Chapter One

“Lola, get your suit on and help supervise the pool. The more eyes the better,” Justine, the athletic, sun-kissed, twenty-one-year-old camp director orders once we’re off the bus.

Immediately my heart takes off in a sprint. “What? Why?” I try to hide the wobble in my voice.

Curious, expectant gazes turn to me as my fellow counselors wait with evil half-smiles for my reaction. Although I haven’t told a soul, except my best friend Charlie how I feel about wearing a bathing suit, they know my private horror. It’s the horror of every fat girl.

Justine flips through the sheets on her clip board, running a finger down the column of names. “No campers will be sitting out today.”

The impossible has just happened. Not one kid is sick, or has left their bathing suit at home. In my three summers as a counselor, not once has this happened.

For a long, awkward moment, I stand frozen in place wondering how to get out of this. A sudden migraine? My period? My mouth opens, but no words come. Justine leaves and with her, my chance for escape. I’m left teary-eyed, searching through my bag for my black one-piece. Stuffing away the panic, I march past the onlookers, who I’d never consider my friends despite working with them the entire summer. In the change room, I find an empty stall and with great reluctance, pull on my suit.

It’s my last day of work as a camp counselor at Inglewood Day Camp. My group of kids consists of eight six-year olds — four boys and four girls. On Thursdays we take the campers to the local outdoor swimming pool. It’s a short ride, only five minutes on the creaky old school bus and my job is to watch the kids who won’t be swimming, either because they don’t feel well, or they’ve forgotten their swimsuits. Believe me, this job suits me just fine, as a matter of fact, I volunteered for it.

Not only am I fat, I’m freakishly tall. God only knows why, since Mom’s petite and Dad’s on the short side. My older sister Eva is the spitting image of Mom, fair and fine boned. I take after Dad’s side, bulky, dark and thick. Dad says I must have gotten some of Uncle Sammy’s genes, the giant of the family, who tops out at 6’ 4”. Anyway, I’m sure you’re getting a good mental picture right about now.

My insides drop as if I’d placed a foot on a step that wasn’t there when I peer down at the coarse dark hair creeping from my calves to just past my knees, where it gradually peters out. Then I run a hand across the tops of my thighs. The triple bulge of my belly prevents me from a good look at my sorely neglected bikini area. Even in the blazing August sun I wear baggy cotton Capri pants, never exposing more than an ankle. There’s never been a reason to shave. My eyes mist with tears, but I pinch them away. It’ll be hard enough to go out in public like this, but I won’t give them the satisfaction of seeing me cry. I lift my chin in resolve and open the door.

The whistle blows, signaling the beginning of the session. Screams of delight fill the air, as the kids begin jumping into the pool to find relief from the 90-degree heat.

I fasten a towel around my waist as best I can. Towels never seem large enough to wrap completely and comfortably around the bulge of my belly. To the pool I go, treading silently so as not to draw attention.

“Where’s Lola?” Sonia, a fellow counselor, asks.

At first I think she’s joking because I’m right in front of her. I toss her an annoyed look and don’t bother to answer as I trudge past to the edge of the pool, where I pull off my towel and slip into the cool water.

“She’s probably taken off,” Jerod replies. He’s a year younger than I am, but looks older with his muscular build and chiseled jaw line. The girls love him. “I hope she doesn’t show,” he continues, “who wants to see a hippo in a bathing suit anyway?”

Sonia laughs, a little too hard and places a hand on Jerod’s shoulder.

Puzzlement and anger compete on my face. I’m standing not more than three feet away from them. I’m used to rude comments and know what everyone thinks of me, but this is way beyond mean. The tears standing in my eyes spill down my cheeks and I slip under the water, hoping to wash away the evidence of my pain. Not that anyone would care, but crying could give them more ammunition; just another reason to taunt me.

Kids bounce around me, laughing and playing. Justine stands like a sentinel, looking like a Bay Watch babe in her red suit, one hand gripping an emergency flotation device. Her steel blue eyes are focused on the activity in the pool.

Jerod jumps in, nearly landing on my back. I barely have time to leap out of the way. My anger boils; blood rushes to my temples and pounds there, giving me an instant headache. I hurl myself at him, pushing with all my might, elbows aimed at his chest. I hit nothing but air and fly into the rough concrete wall of the pool, scraping a hole in my one-piece and rubbing raw a patch of skin. Blood pin-pricks to the surface.

“Hey,” I scream, bewildered about how he’d maneuvred out of the way so fast.

Jerod slips under the water and emerges at the other end of the pool in one long, slick glide.

The steel in me comes up, anger replacing humiliation. I pull my bulk out of the water and march over to Justine.

“Did you see what that asshole just did?” I bellow.

Justine brings the whistle that hangs from her neck to her lips and blows two sharp blasts, making my ears ring. “Stop horsing around,” she calls to a group of boys, who offer sheepish grins and stop instantly.

I step forward so she can see me. “Justine?” I reach to touch her shoulder but impossibly, my hand falls through her.

“Justine?” I call again, louder, my voice panic-laced. With both hands, I grab her, or try to. Again, it’s as if she’s not there. My mind is swept along in a current of anxiety. What’s happening?

Then it hits me . . . it’s me who’s not there.

Check Out These Dates With Aubrie Dionne

2012-02-07T20:08:00.001Z

Join Fantasy and Sci fi Author, Aubrie Dionne on her latest blog tour. Click on the dates below the blurb of Tundra 37, to visit each blog.

Gemme is a hi-tech matchmaker who pairs the next generation of Lifers aboard the Expedition, a deep space transport vessel destined for Paradise 18. When the identity of her lifemate pops up on her screen, she’s shocked that he’s the achingly gorgeous and highly sought after Lieutenant Miles Brentwood—a man oblivious to her existence. Believing everyone will think she contrived the match, she erases it from the computer’s memory.

Just as comets pummel the ship and destroy the pairing system forever.

With the Expedition disabled, the colonists must crash land on the barren ice world of Tundra 37 where Gemme is reassigned to an exploratory mission, led by Lieutenant Brentwood. Only in the frozen tundra does she understand the shape of his heart and why the computer has entwined their destinies.

8th February
9th February

15th February

20th February

22nd February

28th February

February 29th

Em Petrova Blog Tour

2012-02-06T16:45:00.001Z

Join author, Em Petrova on her Blog Tour this February, as she promotes Outlaws of Love.

Upon traveling west to marry, Annabelle Stephens longed to leave her nickname of Sweetheart Annie and the strict rules of Boston society behind, but the taboo freedom she faces wasn’t exactly what she had in mind. When a sexy outlaw storms into her rented room and kidnaps her, she’s embroiled in a dangerous game with not one man, but two.

Until now Xander Hollis wanted one thing—or maybe two—to stop the Southern Gorge Railroad from stealing the homesteaders’ land, and to act on his desires with his partner in crime James. Like Robin Hoods of the old west, he and James embark on a mission to rob from the rich and give to the poor. When he refuses to let go of the woman who could identify him, he finds he’s in true danger. Danger of losing his heart to the heiress of the very railroad corporation he struggles to bring down

Click on the dates to go to the blogs.

9th February

10th February

11th February

13th February

15th February

19th February

20th February and 20th February

21st February

27th February

28th February

Participate in the Aubrie Dionne Blog Tour

2012-01-29T14:41:00.000Z

Gemme is a hi-tech matchmaker who pairs the next generation of Lifers aboard the Expedition, a deep space transport vessel destined for Paradise 18. When the identity of her lifemate pops up on her screen, she’s shocked that he’s the achingly gorgeous and highly sought after Lieutenant Miles Brentwood—a man oblivious to her existence. Believing everyone will think she contrived the match, she erases it from the computer’s memory.

Just as comets pummel the ship and destroy the pairing system forever.
With the Expedition disabled, the colonists must crash land on the barren ice world of Tundra 37 where Gemme is reassigned to an exploratory mission, led by Lieutenant Brentwood. Only in the frozen tundra does she understand the shape of his heart and why the computer has entwined their destinies.

If you are an author and would like to host Aubrie at your own blog in March 2012 click on the link below.

Email me here to sign up as a blog host.

YA Blog Owners Required

2012-01-21T16:16:00.002Z

Do you have a date in Feb or March for a YA author to guest blog ? If the answer is "yes" then please contact me at honeybee_@ live . co . uk (with the underscore, without the spaces) for more details.

Thanks.

We are now taking ebooks for review

2012-01-15T19:57:00.000Z

Honey Bee Promotions officially started business in Spring last year. We aim to bring authors reasonably priced promotional packages with maximum impact. Realising the need to keep costs down for authors, we are now offering to review books FOR FREE. Reviews will be posted on our new blog page http://honeybeereviews.blogspot.com/
AND our website http://honeybeepromotions.com
as well as at GoodReads http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7056690-honey-bee

This differs from the package we offer on our website as these books will only be reviewed by Honey Bee Promotions and will not be passed along to other review sites.

If you would like us to review your book then please contact us at honeybeereviews@hotmail.co.uk

Blog Tour Partners

2011-12-30T15:11:00.000Z

Blog tour partners required for author of m/f/f story in February 2012. Email me at honeybee_@ live dot co dot uk if interested in participating.

Seeking Reviewers

2011-12-27T20:18:00.000Z

Honey Bee Promotions is getting bigger and we are looking for reviewers to become part of our exciting future in 2012.

Honey Bee Reviews will be the next chapter in the story of Honey Bee Promotions and we are looking to put together an awesome team of reviewers.

Previous experience is not essential but a good grasp of the written word is, as well as an obvious enthusiasm for reading.

We will need to see an example of your writing, along with your letter of interest. Examples preferred would be a positive and a negative review of books. If you have published reviews, please send links.

Please also tell us the books you are willing and not willing to read, as well as your country of residence. We also need to know how many books you are able to read and review each month.

Payment will be in eBooks that you review. Please note that no money will exchange hands.

If you would like to apply please send your letter of interest and all relevant information to honeybeereviews at hotmail dot co dot uk

Tracy Sumner Prize Draw

2011-12-18T15:37:00.000Z

Tracy’s story telling career began when she picked up a copy of LaVyrle Spencer’s Vows on a college beach trip. A journalism degree and a thousand romance novels later, she decided to try her hand at writing a southern version of the perfect love story. With a great deal of luck and more than a bit of perseverance, she sold her first novel to Kensington Publishing.
When not writing sensual stories featuring complex characters and lush settings, Tracy can be found reading romance, snowboarding, watching college football and figuring out how she can get to 100 countries before she kicks (which is a more difficult endeavor than it used to be with her four-year-old son in tow). She lives in Charlotte, NC, but after spending a few years in “the city”, considers herself a New Yorker at heart.
Her books have been awarded the National Reader’s Choice, the Write Touch Reader’s and the Beacon for Best Historical – with finalist nominations in the HOLT Medallion, Heart of Romance, Rising Stars and the National Reader’s Choice. They have been translated into German, Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish. She loves hearing from readers about why she tends to pit her hero and heroine against each other in every book, that great novel she simply must order in five seconds on her Kindle or the location of a wonderful trattoria in Rome.
Visit Tracy at http://tracysumner.com/
If you would like to win a $5.00 Amazon gift voucher, courtesy of Tracy Sumner, then all you need to do is follow the instructions below:

Find Tracy on FaceBook
http://www.facebook.com/TracySumnerRomanceAuthor?ref=ts&sk=app_159280820764230#!/TracySumnerRomanceAuthor?sk=app_159280820764230
Like the page and also post the following code on Tracy's wall to be placed into a draw for a $5.00 Amazon gift voucher.

HBPTSXMASFB

Promotional code is valid from 18th December to 18th January.
OR
　
Follow Tracy onTwitter
http://twitter.com/#!/SumnerTracy
Follow Tracy on Twitter and also post the following code on Tracy's wall to be placed into a draw for a $5.00 Amazon gift voucher.

HBPTSXMASTW

Promotional code is valid from 18th December to 18th January.
Promotional codes must be used. Sign ups without promotional codes will not be considered for entry into the draw. Winners will be notified after January 18th 2012.

Finding Ms. Wright Launch Party.

2011-11-15T06:00:00.008Z

Happy Release Day to Hillary, Lori and M.L; the three amazing authors behind the paranormal anthology, Finding Ms. Wright. The book is released today by 5 Prince Publishing. I hope you will join me in wishing the ladies every success with this book.

Before we read the fantastic excerpts, let's meet our trio of authors.

Since Hillary Seidl had her first encounter with a ghost at age nine she has been obsessed with all things paranormal. She started her writing journey by writing fan fiction and now is happily writing paranormal romance. She avidly watches all the paranormal shows she can! She is happily married to her very own chef and they have two amazing dachshunds who leave happiness and chaos wherever they go.

M.L. Guida writes paranormal romance. She is pursuing her Master of Art in Creative Writing through Regis University. She currently is a member of Colorado Romance Writers, Romance Writers of America and Savvy Authors. For the past two years, she was the newsletter editor for CRW and she was CRW’s Vice President for 2011. M.L. Guida lives in Colorado and enjoys skiing, taking her cocker spaniel, Sadie, for walks and traveling.

Lori Corsentino's love of reading has transcended to include penning her own tales of romance. She is experimenting with writing in several different genres, including paranormal – a definite favorite. “There is just so much you can do when you step outside the known world,” she explains “and creating a paranormal story allows you to take yourself and your readers anywhere your imagination wants to go!” Her debut novella, Evelyn, will be published as part of the Finding Ms. Wright: Three Tales of Extraordinary Love anthology available from 5 Prince Publishing in November.

Blurb from Finding Ms. Wright

Cassandra

Demon Prince Eric Wyvern must have Cassandra. Boldly, he kidnaps the gifted psychic from a mountain inn, taking her to his dark underworld. Held captive, her key to freedom is agreeing to his terms. Neither expects to fall in love and unlock the secrets that can save both worlds. – M.L. Guida

Sia

Paranormal hunter Andrew Grant has less than a week to locate a stone and thwart a wizard’s bid for ultimate power. Sia holds the key to his success and to his heart. Only together can they discover love and save the world. – Hillary Seidl

Evelyn

Five hundred year old Prince Alexander needs a woman, and only archaeologist Evelyn will do. Their magical kiss sparks more than mere romance – it creates a key that will open their hearts to a true love that will save their worlds. – Lori Corsentino

Three men, each on a crucial mission to save their way of life, seek their true mates – women who unknowingly hold the key to their very survival.

CASSANDRA (EXCERPT) from M.L

“Every time we come to Frisco, we gotta go to that park. I swear you’re obsessed with it.”

“Maybe.” Cassandra pulled her hair into a ponytail. She dropped her hands to her side and gazed out the window. “It’s beautiful with frozen icicles, frosted trees in the winter time, and the purple columbine flowers, aspens and pines in the summer time.”

“Okaaaay. You’re tripping girl.”

Cassandra tore her gaze from the window. “I swear someday I’m gonna buy a house right along the creek across from the park.”

“You keep saying that.” Lilly gave her a that’s-never-gonna-happen smile.

Cassandra folded her arms across her chest. “You watch. I will.” How could she tell Lilly that the park felt more like home to her than any place in the world? To walk along the path or sit at a picnic table spread a calm over her and all of her troubles ceased. She put on her red lip gloss, pushed her lips together and blotted. Homes in the area cost over five hundred thousand dollars. Unlike J.K. Rowling, she didn’t have a million dollars burning a hole in her pocket, but she’d get the money. Of that she had no doubt.

“Hon,” Lilly said. “I hate to tell you this, but speech and language therapists aren’t bringing in the dough. I don’t know why you’re going back to school for your Masters in that. Go to law school or business school.”

Of course, Lilly was always so practical. Helping one child escape her fate was all that mattered. Cassandra scowled. “I don’t want to be a lawyer or a business woman. I can be a speech and language therapist and live in Frisco.” She blotted her lips on a tissue and threw it in the trash.

Lilly lifted her hands. “All right, all right. Forget I brought it up.”

“You want some coffee?”

“Sounds good to me. Are you going back to Copper?”

Holding her sweater and ski pants, Cassandra sat back on the bed. “Yeah, I want to use the last of my four passes. I wish you could go.”

Lilly had changed the subject. Good thing, Cassandra was tired of this argument. Lilly made over two hundred thousand dollars a year and thought everyone should be a lawyer. Not that every lawyer made that kind of money, but try telling that to Lilly.

Lilly flicked her hair behind her shoulders. “Me too, but I’ve got to pack and get ready to go out of town tomorrow. Nothing like going to Indianapolis in the winter time.”

“That’s what you get the big bucks for.”

Lilly rolled her eyes. “Yeah right.” She kicked the comforter off. “When I get back, we’ll go to Winter Park one last time.”

Cassandra pulled her sweater over her head and yanked on her white ski pants. “You’re on.”

“I’ll take a shower when I get home,” Lilly said as she slid on a pair of jeans and a University of Denver navy sweatshirt.

Cassandra and Lilly headed downstairs for breakfast. The aroma of waffles, sausages, eggs, and coffee made Cassandra’s mouth water.

She walked into the dining room and stopped. Her heart pounded, thumping her blood between her temples. She put her hand on her chest and gasped. Was this a heart attack?

Lilly ran into her. “Cassandra what’s wrong?”

Cassandra bit her lip. No, her mind had played a trick on her. She trembled and her teeth chattered. She felt as if she’d skied down a run out of control about to hit a huge pine tree head on.

“You’re turning white as a ghost.” Lilly snapped her fingers in front of her face.

Cassandra blinked twice. How could this be? She shook her head. The man of her dreams sat at a small table set for two and read a newspaper.

“Cassandra, what’s going on?” Lilly spoke too loud and the man glanced up from his coffee. Cassandra winced. Their eyes met. Like the man in her dreams, he had the same smoldering dark brown eyes.

“God, I’m losing my mind.”

Lilly grabbed her arm. “Come on.” She marched her across the room to a table near the window. “Now sit down, you’re acting like a nincompoop.”

Heat rushed over Cassandra’s cheeks as he gave her a quizzical look. Dizziness swept over her. She put her elbows on the table and rested her forehead in her palms. God, what if he heard?

Lilly tapped her arm. “What is your problem?”

“It’s him.”

Lilly scanned the room. “Him. Him who?”

Cassandra peeked through her fingers. “Would you lower your voice, please?”

“Why? What’s with you?”

Blog Post from Hillary

“Where the paranormal world meets extraordinary love.”

The world of the paranormal has called to me ever since I was a child. I have experienced ghost activity. Some people think I’m crazy but I know I’m not. Even to this day I still replay those events over and over in my head. That’s what fuels my fire for writing. I’ve always written in some form or another. When I was sixteen I wrote a long ‘The X-Files’ fan-fiction. It’s all I did all summer. It was so fun to get out my own world. When I was older I decided to write some fan-fiction based on Supernatural. The response I got was really good and fun. The problem was I was working with someone else’s characters. And I was missing a key ingredient. I missed the love and romance! After a lot of encouragement from friends and family, help from some very talented authors, I found myself writing a romance novel.

I have always read romance novels. I love them and I devour them whole. If I get hooked I can read a book in one day. Even though I write contemporary paranormal, I love to read historical romance. My mother gave me a book, Fire in the Heart by Katherine Sutcliffe. It was so captivating and it made me feel so much. To this day I love to read it and experience the heart wrenching circumstances the heroine went through.

My favorite part of the year is spring into summer. My birthday is May 20^th and summer is full of promise. I love to travel and I have a lot of conferences to attend this year. I’m very excited. I enjoy milder weather and I feel like it’s the perfect time for creativity. I’m so proud of Finding Ms. Wright Sia!

Here is an excerpt:

Sighing wistfully, she rose and grabbed her empty coffee cup. And to her incredible joy the lunchroom was empty. She poured herself a cup of coffee. She saw something out of the corner of her eye. It was the dark shadow figure. Her hands stilled and her heartbeat increased.

She closed her eyes. This was not happening. It was her imagination. Slowly, she opened her eyes and another shadow darted from right to left.

“No!” she said to the empty room. Forgetting her coffee entirely, she set the cup on the table and walked quickly. She looked back over her shoulder — and ran right into Hailey, sending them both flying.

Sia hit the wall, but Hailey landed on her butt hard. “Ooommpphh!”

Sia bent down and offered her a hand. “Oh my God! I’m so sorry!” As much as Sia thought she was a snooty bitch, she was horrified at actually knocking her down.

Hailey stood up, ignoring Sia’s hand. She flipped her vibrant red hair, totally dyed, over her shoulder and starred daggers at Sia. “Ugh! You’re so clumsy!” She tugged her short skirt back down.

Sia’s back straightened at the angry words. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you.”

Hailey sighed. The anger was clear in her eyes. “Yea well, just get out of my way.” Hailey walked by, her shoulder hitting Sia’s as she stormed past.

Sia stood there trying to get a hold of her temper. The anger made her shake. She tried to breathe.

“What happened?” Delina’s nasally voice shrieked when Hailey went into her office. Both of them stood while a red faced Hailey pointed at Sia. The more Hailey talked the more she got dirty looks from Delina.

It was all that Sia could take.

Sia’s hands clenched at her side while the helplessness and anger boiled inside of her. “I said, I was sorry,” she whispered. Her hair lifted as a great wind came out of nowhere and she watched as a cloudy line went from her through the office.

Sia watched in fascination, and horror, as the wind rose up and blew papers everywhere in Delina’s office. Books flew of the shelf, the chair was knocked over, and Hailey and Delina screamed as the intense wind continued.

Grayson came out of his office. “What’s happening out here?” Sia’s concentration broke as Grayson ran past her. Delina’s office was now calm. No wind just a few papers settling. Delina and Hailey were standing close to each other, starring at Sia.

“I d-don’t know,” Sia sputtered, still trying to understand what had just happened. As Grayson rushed into the main room, Sia ran back to her desk and yanked the drawer open, quickly grabbed her purse. With everyone yelling and running around, she slipped out of the office quickly and quietly headed for the safest place she could think of.

The library.

At twenty-five it seemed to be, as she feared. She was losing her mind just as her mother had. The hallucinations were getting more intense and soon the darkness would claim her mind, body and soul.

Evelyn Excerpt by Lori Corsentino

...That was only one of the facts that made the town unique. There was also the almost pristine state of the structures. Abandoned buildings soon lost their human feel and fell into disrepair, but this town was different. It was almost as if people had been living there until just yesterday. Add the strange fact that although it was located close to several modern day mountain towns, it had never been discovered.

It sure made you think twice.

Seafarers tell the tale of the Flying Dutchman – a ghost ship doomed to sail the seas forever. Was this town similar, doomed to exist in a pristine state, but forever without people?

She had been busy pondering the supernatural possibilities of just such an occurrence when her boot met with a heavy object strewn across the path. Whatever it was had halted her forward progress and effectively trapped her foot. She’d hopped once, twice trying to free herself from the entanglement, with no success. The conflict between her trapped lower body and her advancing upper half caused her to lose balance. She’d fallen heavily, landing on her hands and one knee. The impact scattering those pebbles along the path that were not trapped beneath her palms, gouging into the tender skin. The thick material of her jeans had protected her knees, but the loose rocks and gravel had stung as they poked and dug into the soft tissue of her hands. She’d quickly sat back on her heels and dusted off her hands, looking for blood. There hadn’t been any, but the indentations and discoloration where the larger rocks embedded themselves indicated she would likely have a bruise or two come morning. A quick query of the rest of her only turned up a slight throb in her right knee. She’d rolled over onto her hip and then sat down in the middle of the path, rubbing the soreness out.

She remembered thinking “What the hell did I trip over?” before she’d looked around. She’d seen the sword almost immediately. It had been laying there, in a scabbard, along a mountain path in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

And she’d tripped over the damn thing. What are the chances?

Looking at it, she’d been fascinated, almost enchanted. It hadn’t been just any old sword. It was shiny and long, with a jewel encrusted hilt, and housed in an elaborately decorated metal scabbard. Without thinking, she’d reached out and picked it up.

The second she’d touched it, the metal emitted a thrumming noise and a low vibration, almost as if the metal were singing. A pulse had run from her hand up her arm and into her shoulder. In the next second, she’d gone from being sprawled along a forest path, sprinkled with bits of sunshine filtering through the fragrant pines, to sitting on her ass in a fancy covered enclosure of some kind.

And all she could think was “What the hell just happened?”

Evie looked around her, trying to gauge where she was in the available dim light. The spacious chamber that held her was circular and constructed from what looked to be blocks of white stone, possibly marble. It was a large space, so much so that she had to crane her neck from side to side to see the entirety of the room. Several darkened alcoves intermittently branched off from the main chamber.

The space vaguely resembled an inner sanctuary of a church, or perhaps a very elaborate tomb. She’d never been to the Taj Mahal, but she’d seen pictures and this place did bear some resemblance.

There was no noise, no low thrum of traffic. No sweet song of birds or the hushed movements of animals. It was comfortably warm, so much so that she could feel neither warmth nor coolness. It was a perfect environment - calm, comfortable, and quiet. There was an odor, but it was hard to place. Neither pleasant nor unpleasant, Evie found it unusual yet familiar, rather like the scents she experienced the last time she was treasure hunting in her grandmother’s attic.

“I should have listened to you, Momma.” Evie’s voice rang out through the chamber, echoing wildly as it ran along the arched ceiling. There it splintered into multiple veins before returning to her in a cacophony of sound.

The perverted distortion gave the appearance of others in the chamber, their voices flowing over hers in waves. Each new swell resembled her, but it was not her voice.

She couldn’t see well enough to be sure, but the sounds around her indicated she may not be alone in the dim light. Her fight or flight instinct immediately kicked in, sending an unpleasant surge of hot adrenalin bursting forth from her gut. It burned as it spread through her body. A sheen of perspiration soon coated her overheated skin, the contrast making her feel agitated and trembly. The horrifying thought that she could be trapped with someone or worse, something left her terrified.

What the hell was going on here?...

Inspiration behind this storyWhen the idea for this anthology came about, my co-authors and I were discussing what to write about. M.L. already had her story pretty much finished. She gave both Hillary and myself a broad outline of what she'd done - that her hero needed the heorine's help to save his world. We combined that idea with looking for that special person, that one that is Mr. or Ms. Right and viola! The premise for Looking for Ms. Wright: Three Tales of Extraordinary Love was born.

For my part, I needed something pretty powerful, because M.L.'s story was so strong, and Hillary's showed signs of being strong as well. I thought a lot about the snippets of stories that I have and remembered a paranormal I began in 2008. It was slated for a full-length novel that featured a desperate Fey Princess held captive by an evil Wizard. She was coming in to her powers, and he was forcing her to marry him to take advantage of her magic and boost his own powers. I knew that story needed more than 100 pages to tell, so I began thinking, what if she had a sister or brother? I could tell his or her story.

Alexander came into being that day. What better than the tale of a Fey Prince who, through his own magic, enchanted himself and his enemy into a deep sleep. I then added the sleep could only be broken by receiving a kiss from his one true love. Sleeping Beauty with a twist. Again - viola! He was definitely looking for his Ms. Wright!

Evie, my heroine, was a bit harder to pin down, which makes sense. She's busy doing things and asking questions and sometimes being impulsive and getting into trouble. My novella takes you into one very interesting day in her life. She gives in to an impulse, and is transported to another place - a world of magic and wizards and princes. What she does that day is take a wild ride on the Fey side.

The evil wizard, Claudius, came and demanded to be featured in the novella. I was, of course, already going to do so. I needed a bad guy to mess up my hero and heroine's fairy tale. I think he does the job fairly well.

What you love most about writing
I love the possibilities you open yourself to when you write. You can tell a story about subjects that interest or fascinate you. That's when you really love to do the research! You can set the story in a place you'd always wanted to visit, or your favorite place in the world. I love the mountains, which is why my story begins there. I've been in that mountain meadow and enjoyed seeing the sun rise.

I love to be able to take a reader with me to that place, and introduce them to amazing people that walk through the pages of the story. To me, it's an honor. I've read so many stories told by fabulous authors. Barbara Cartland, Jude Deveraux, Johanna Lindsey, Nora Roberts, Linda Howard and untold others have all entertained me with such luscious stories. How could I not want to give some amazing tales back?

Tell us about the other genres you write in
I love to be a multi-genre author! There are so many places you can go, and any number of characters you can introduce to your readers.

In historicals, I can include historical figures that can interact with my characters. I love the way Susan Johnson does that, especially in her early books. That was the first romance novel I'd ever seen that had FOOTNOTES!!! I also just love history. Writing a historical novel allows me to tell a story my way, with some real life stuff thrown in. I cut my teeth on Barbara Cartland regencies, and have been hooked ever since. Historical romance was, and always will be, one of my favorite genres.

In paranormals, I can take the story to whatever limit I set for myself, and I find that when I'm writing paranormal I have few limits! I try to push the envelope between what is believable and what is not. It's a fine balancing act, which is what makes it so much fun, I think. Evelyn in a light paranormal, but has some dark moments. I love that anything is possible within the paranormal genre.

Contemporaries always bring me back to reality. You get to write about real people doing real things. I sometimes miss that when I'm writing in another genre. One great thing is each story doen't have to be so based in day to day reality, which sometimes can drag you down. There's nothing like a romantic comedy or a fun little romp that has a few twists and turns to make things very interesting.

Romantic suspense stories come from my dark side, I think. I love the way that you get to tell the story from both sides - the Hero/Heroine and the Villian. I never knew what fun writing villians was until I wrote my first. The best part is showing the contrasts and similarities of good vs. evil. Plus, they're usually page turners - can't wait to find out what's next!

Finding Ms. Wright released 15th November by 5 Prince Publishing.

Click HERE to visit 5 Prince Publishing.

Paradise 21: the twenty first planet capable of sustaining life.

2011-11-09T20:59:00.000Z

A huge warm welcome today, to author Aubrie Dionne.Hello there Aubrie. Tell us about your latest release; Paradise 21.

A lot of people have come up to me and asked: Why title your book Paradise 21?

When choosing a title, I thought about how I wanted to write a series, and how each book could be about a different colony ship flying to a different paradise planet. Granted, I didn’t want to write 21 books! But I thought about how vast our universe is, and what would happen if astronomers found a bunch of planets suitable for life. They’d probably name them and number them as such. So, Paradise 21 was born.

Aries doesn’t like her life aboard her colony ship, or her computer designated lifemate, so she escapes to a planet called Sahara 354. Not suitable for a major colonization effort, Sahara 354 is still capable of sustaining a single woman. So she plans ahead, packing lots of water bottles, and crash lands on the three hundred and fifty fourth desert-like planet found. I figured they’d be many more desert planets and ice worlds than perfect paradises. Of course!

What Aries doesn’t count on is expecting another human to be there: a handsome renegade space pirate.

Read Paradise 21 to find out what happens!

My question to you is: If you found a planet, what would you name it?

“I’d always loved writing and reading fantasy/sci fi books ever since I was little but I always pushed it aside for flute. I felt like I needed to explore more of my interests in life. Ever since I started writing, I couldn’t stop! I use what I’ve learned about craft, diligence, structure, from my flute playing. It’s exciting to start a new discipline and have no idea where my boundaries are: how far I can go with it, how good I can get.”

Paradise 21, Aubrie’s fourth book, was released August 2 as one of Entangled Publishing’s ten launch titles.

Aubrie is represented by Dawn Dowdle of Blue Ridge Literary Agency. Her short stories have been featured in Mindflights, Niteblade, Silver Blade, Emerald Tales, Aurora Wolf, A Fly in Amer, Moon Drenched Fables and various anthologies.

Her books are published by Entangled Publishing, Lyrical Press, Gypsy Shadow Publishing, and Wyvern Publications.

BLURB :Aries has lived her entire life aboard mankind’s last hope, the New Dawn, a spaceship traveling toward a planet where humanity can begin anew—a planet that won’t be reached in Aries’ lifetime. As one of the last genetically desirable women in the universe, she must marry her designated genetic match and produce the next generation for this centuries-long voyage.

But Aries has other plans.

When her desperate escape from the New Dawn strands her on a desert planet, Aries discovers the rumors about pirates—humans who escaped Earth before its demise—are true. Handsome, genetically imperfect Striker possesses the freedom Aries envies, and the two connect on a level she never thought possible. But pursued by her match from above and hunted by the planet’s native inhabitants, Aries quickly learns her freedom will come at a hefty price.

The life of the man she loves.

EXCERPT:Smoothing one stray hair into the gelled-back hairstyle he wore perfectly, Barliss pushed through the congregation. The throng of bodies cluttered the main deck, each one carrying a delicate champagne glass with bubbling liquid, vintage stuff from old Earth. If it were any other day, he’d allow himself one glass for appearances, but the absence of his intended from such an important occasion made him sick to his stomach.
As Barliss worked through the crowd, he dodged stray comments from his lower officers, ducked underneath a tray of miniature breaded zucchinis, and cut through the couple’s extended family, all to give his formal congratulations to the bride and groom. The digital numbers on his wristband accumulated, but he knew better than to leave a ceremony without giving his well wishes. Especially this one. To gain favor with the higher command would put him in a position of advancement. It was all part of the political game, the single sport he excelled at. Only after paying his respects could he start looking for his intended.
“Lieutenant, it’s always a pleasure to see you.” A man in a white tuxedo broke through the crowd to cuff his shoulder. Barliss gauged the timing of the line. Another ten people waited before him to pay their respects, so he could spare a moment for his old friend.
“Gerald, I trust you’re doing well with your new bride. How long’s it been? A month?”
“Seems like five years to me.” He chuckled, but darkness tinged the corners of his eyes. “How can computers be wrong, eh?” He downed his glass of champagne in one desperate gulp. “You have your own ceremony coming up soon, right?”

Buy Paradise 21 HERE

Winner Announced

2011-11-02T20:33:00.000Z

Thank you to everyone who stopped by on Halloween. The winner of an ebook copy of Winter's Spirit was Tracey D. Congratulations!!!

Tracey, could you email me at shoegal 2010 @ live dot co dot uk and let me know your email address.

Coming Back by Rachel Leigh

2011-11-01T04:45:00.000Z

Kelly Hampton loved once...and lost. After two years of looking for Sean MacKenzie in other men--and failing miserably--she takes a vow of celibacy. No sex until she finds love. Then Sean strolls back into her bar, reigniting old flames. No one has come close to understanding or satisfying her like he did. Her body burns for the passion they once shared, but her heart still remembers the pain.

Sean escaped Jessop Hill and his father's fists in the middle of the night without a word--even to his love, Kelly--to protect his battered mother, but he never forgot the explosively erotic relationship he left behind. Now his father is dead and Sean is back for the only woman he's ever wanted. Their reunion is full of fire – but can sexual attraction and noble intentions overcome years of heartache or will Kelly walk away to protect her heart this time.

Rachel loves hearing from readers and can be found here:

www.rachelleigh.co.uk

www.rachelleighromance.blogspot.com

www.twitter.com/rachelwriter

Golden Dancer by Tara Lain, M/M/M Romantic Suspense

2011-11-01T04:15:00.004Z

Now Available from Loose Id and Amazon

A reporter and the thief he’s investigating fall for a golden dancer forging a ménage of love and lies that could send one to prison and one to the morgue. Uncovering secrets requires baring more than just the soul.

The ballet had been restaged. Instead of a lyrical rose enchanting a debutante as in the original, Medveyev was now a biker bad boy creeping into the bedroom of a rich girl. Fokine’s choreography had been modernized. Even the familiar von Weber music got a bit of an atonal twist.

The dancer had leaped on the stage, stalking the sleeping girl like some kind of feline predator, his famous mane of golden hair flowing over his shoulders. Christ, Mac’s hands felt damp just thinking of it. And when the moment had come for Medveyev’s grand exit, escaping the girl’s outraged father in this version, he flew into the air and through the window. Fucking eagle. Audiences would shit. Especially the women. The Russian was fire, burning so bright, you couldn’t look away, even though you knew it would turn you to ashes. Jesus, he’d better not put that in the review.

“Good afternoon.”

Mac started and looked up. He hadn’t heard a sound. Medveyev stood inside the rehearsal room door. Maybe he’d conjured the guy.

Controlled. That was the first thought Mac had. His hair was wound tightly in a queue at his nape, showing off his face. And that face was architectural perfection. High cheekbones under large, slightly slanted eyes. Maybe a little Tartar in there someplace a few generations back. The beauty suggested exotic and wild, but Mac saw none of it.

The only emotion? Wariness. Probably hated reporters. He still wore the form-fitting blue jean-looking tights he’d performed in, but he’d layered a silk shirt over the smooth, taut chest. Funny. He wasn’t tall. Maybe five feet ten. Mac would tower over him. On the stage, he looked like a god. Of course, he was doing a pretty good god imitation right now. Like Adonis.

Mac stood. “Good afternoon, cavalier. I’m MacKenzie…uh, Mac MacAllister from the Daily Window.”

The dancer gave a small smile. Good, the “cavalier” reference gained Mac a couple points. Proved he wasn’t a rube.

Buy it HERE

Meet Tara Lain

2011-11-01T03:45:00.000Z

Tara Lain never met a beautiful boy she didn’t love – at least on paper. A writer of erotic romance, mostly ménage and male/male, Tara loves all her characters, but especially her handsome heroes. A lifelong writer of serious non-fiction, Tara only fell in love with EROM in 2009 and, through perseverance and lots of workshops, had the first novel she ever wrote published in January of 2011. After an exotic life of travel all over the world and work in television, education and advertising, Tara settled in Southern California with her soul-mate husband and opened her own small marketing business. She paints, collages, and started practicing yoga “way before it was fashionable”. Passionate about diversity, justice, inclusion and new ideas, she says on her tombstone it will read, “Yes”.

Tara Lain

tara@taralain.com

http://www.taralain.com

http://taralain.blogspot.com

http://beautifulboysbooks.blogspot.com

Tara Lain's Books at Loose Id and at Amazon

The Executive's Decision by Bernadette Marie

2011-11-01T03:00:00.004Z

Regan Keller fell in love with a wealthy and powerful man once. He was her boss. When that turbulent relationship ended, she swore she’d never again date someone she worked with. That was before she literally fell into her new boss’s lap.

Zachary Benson is the head of a successful empire and used to getting what he wants in the boardroom and outside of it – and what he wants is Regan Keller. He’s determined to convince Regan that even though he’s her boss, they can share a life together.

However, when Regan’s past threatens to destroy the architectural firm Zach has invested his entire career in, he has to make an executive decision whether to choose his business or fight for the woman he loves.

The nervous flutter in her stomach quickened as she looked down at her watch. Surely her day couldn’t get any worse. But the sky opened up, and those around her crowded together in the bus stop shelter. Her hair, tied in a tail at the base of her neck, dripped rain down her back as she hunched in her coat. How could she have forgotten her umbrella? Had her car been running, she’d have the one tucked safely away in the glove compartment because spring in Tennessee often meant sudden storms. She should carry one in her bag but had suffered a lapse in memory, having opted for the sunny beaches of Hawaii for the past two years.

As the bus arrived, those under the shelter huddled onto it ahead of her, claiming every seat. Soaking wet, Regan wedged herself between two people and held onto the handrail above her head. She looked out the window at the commuters driving themselves to work in the pouring rain. That should have been her.

A bitter-faced old woman sat below her, her oversized bag occupying the next seat. Regan bent to ask her to move it, but the woman glared up at her and gave a grunt that sounded like a dog’s bark. Regan flinched and tried to look away. But she was compelled to keep an eye on the woman.

The man to the other side of the vacant seat snickered. Regan looked down at him in his long black overcoat and perfect hair. Hemmed in between the old lady’s bag and an overweight man in a jogging suit, he was as pinned in his seat as she was to the people around her. She would have given him a piece of her mind for laughing at her had the bus not jolted to a sudden stop. It lurched forward then back and tossed Regan onto the man’s lap.

“I would have offered you my seat,” he said with a bright grin as the bus lurched.

Buy it HERE again.

Author Chris Redding talks Bad Boys

2011-11-01T02:30:00.000Z

The bad boy holds a special place in my heart. I married the antithesis of a bad boy, but for some reason they hold some appeal. Maybe because I can watch them and be friends with them without worrying about succumbing to their charms. Not that I think I ever really succumbed to anyone’s charms. I don’t trust anyone that much and you come on strong I back off.

But they are fascinating.

Let me clarify. Bad boys are not the kind you see on cops with their girlfriend/wife/mother/sister yelling at them from the trailer. These are men who are so enamored of women that they have studied them for years.

Probably since birth.

What are some of the traits of a bad boy?

He’s fun. He’s confident. He’s good in bed. (Or at least he thinks he is.) He thrives on being bad and he knows how to get you to do what he wants. He has studied women for years and knows every type and how to get past their defenses. Think about your hero. Wouldn’t he be fun to write this way? Wouldn’t it be fun to live vicariously through a guy like this? (What? You don’t sometimes imbue your characters with traits you’d like to have?)

So bad boys come in all shapes and sizes. He doesn’t need to be an ex-Special Forces guy. He can be that college professor or the accountant who does your taxes. Wow. Now I really want to write a bad boy in my next book.

Bad boys study women endlessly. They don’t just know generalities about women. They know specifics about the women they are pursuing. There is a certain charm in that. They do see women as individuals. During the chase. After, probably not.

He isn’t a player. A player will brag, only go after one type of woman and cares only enough about them to get them into bed. A bad boy is discreet about his conquests, likes all women and does know more about them then just how to get them into bed.

Doesn’t that sound like a fun hero of a romance novel?

He doesn’t have to be ex special forces.

My boss is a former bad boy. He’s a paramedic who used to be a paid firefighter.

Why do you want your hero to have bad boy qualities? Because it can stir up the story and give it conflict.

How does a bad boy do this? What are the techniques? There are three of them: Tell you that you are beautiful, encourage naughtiness, occasionally fight.

Don’t all of those sound like a hero in a romance novel?

Bad boys know how to compliment a woman in a way that is unique to her. They don’t go for the obvious, but rather something very personal to the woman. Think about giving your heroine some unique trait. Maybe she snorts when she laughs. He finds that irresistible. So he’ll comment and compliment her on it. But he does it in a way that she isn’t offended.

It will most likely take her off guard. She’ll respond.

Think of the buttoned down heroine getting to let loose with her bad boy. She goes out and buys that party pack of glow-in-the-dark ribbed condoms. Haven’t you ever seen someone really let loose? It’s invigorating to watch.

Or think of that person who doesn’t laugh very often. Getting them to laugh is so cathartic. There was a deliver guy at a library I once worked at. He went about his business and never made eye contact. That’s a challenge to me. So I said hello to him every day. By the fifth time he said it back. I think one of the librarians within ear shot had never heard the guy’s voice.

That’s how a bad boy feels when he can get a woman to let loose.

Think of the possibilities.

Today I’ve just scraped the surface of what a bad boy is and how you can use him in your writing.

Tell us what you love about bad boys and who your favourite is.

Chris Redding’s latest book, Incendiary, is out now. A firefighter accused of arson tries to find the real culprit while rekindling a long ago love.

Chris Redding lives in NJ with her husband, two boys (one of which is a bad boy to be) a dog and three rabbist. When not writing she works in the male dominated field of Emergency Medical Services.

For more details about her books visit www.chrisreddingauthor.com

She blogs at http://chrisredddingauthor.blogspot.com

Seducing His Wife by W. Lynn Chantale

2011-11-01T02:00:00.002Z

Haunted by nightmares, Sheridan Sinclair just wants to get through one night without reliving the terrible accident that led to her miscarriage. And she longs for the arms of the man who betrayed her. Matthew Sinclair has always loved his wife, but when she refuses to speak to him after her accident, he's left to wonder what went wrong. When a stolen kiss ignites their forgotten passion, he'll use their love as a means to get her home and in his bed again. Will a husband’s plan of seduction be enough to heal a wife’s broken heart?

Matthew’s mouth watered. The last time they made love was six months ago. He’d been late for work that morning, but his tardiness had been well deserved. Sure, he had other offers, but only one woman spiked his interest, and if a certain part of his anatomy was any judge, only one woman ever would.

She turned and blushed. He hadn’t seen color redden her cheeks in a while. He slowly perused her body, undressing her with his gaze, wondering if her skin would taste just as sweet. “I-uh…um…” Hell, he couldn’t stop thinking about running his hands along her curves and wondering if she would still make that breathless little moan that drove him crazy.

He strode purposefully to where she stood, keeping their gazes locked, hooked an arm around her waist, and drew her against him in one swift motion. He yearned for this. He needed to kiss her.

Buy it HERE

It's Still Halloween Somewhere in the World.

2011-11-01T01:00:00.002Z

Well, the dates might look a bit crazy now, as it's November 1st here in the UK. But I know for a fact that it's still Halloween somewhere in the world, so I hope you're still celebrating with lots of sweeties and pumpkin pie.

And speaking of pie...do tell us what your favourite Halloween treats are. We'd love to know.

Breaking Delia’s Rules by W. Lynn Chantale

2011-10-31T23:55:00.002Z

Delia has just three rules for dating. First, a man should never assume he’s the only one. Second, he must stick to his scheduled day and time. Third—and most important—no sex. Enforcing the rules has never been a problem until she meets the hottie from the pool.

Jace has only five days to make every moment count. The more time he spends with Delia, the more he realizes she may be The One. With the clock ticking, he realizes there is only one course of action left to take if he wants Delia’s heart. Can he convince Delia that rules are meant to be broken?

He grinned. “I’m glad. The lounge is featuring some blues tonight. I thought we could do a little dancing.”

“Dancing?”

He covered her hand and led her to the dance floor. “Well, how else am I supposed to romance a woman like you?”

The melodic whine of a harmonica floated through the air as Jace swept her into his arms. The sultry number was just the right tempo to move around the dance floor. He held her close, the curve of her hips beneath his hands, her arms around his neck, and the heat of her breasts warming his chest. He brushed his lips against the inside of her arms and she trembled.

“You’re a really good dancer.” She gazed into his eyes.

“Not so bad yourself.” His lips swept her temple as he sang along to Slim Harpo’s Baby Scratch My Back. “Maybe I can scratch your back, baby.” He bumped his pelvis against hers. “Better yet, maybe you should scratch mine.” He pressed his lips to her ear and tightened his arms around her waist. “I have an itch only you can reach.”

“Maybe you have some leftover sand in your shorts.”

He tossed his head back and laughed. “Wow. I think I left my charm back in the room.”

She stroked his hair. “I don’t mind waiting while you go get it.”

“Still a hard sell, huh? I thought the snorkeling and picnic would’ve softened you a bit.”

“I was mildly impressed.”

He spun her around, her skirt flaring, and then dragged her back against him. “I remember someone bouncing with excitement, demanding I stop stressing.”

She grinned, and he twirled her again. When he pulled her back he dipped her low, an arm wrapped around her waist while his palm cradled her head. She gasped, dropping her gaze to his mouth.

Buy it HERE.

Dressing Up by W. Lynn Chantale

2011-10-31T23:30:00.002Z

I love Halloween. It’s the one time of year I can dress up and pretend to be anyone I want...well other than when I’n writing. Last year was really cool, because I made costumes for my family. The one thing I remember saying was I should’ve started earlier. I was tired after the third costume and I had a total of six to make, Some had three or four elements to them, or detail work.

But in the end sewing all of those costumes was worth the time and energy. This year I plan on recycling the costumes I made for myself. I’m just not sure which one to wear. The Victorian lady or the Wench. Or I could just wear my poodle skirt and saddle shoes. Oh well. Until next Indulge Your Inner Romantic.

When I’m not sewing costumes I can be found at

Blog: http://wlynnchantale-decadentdecisions.blogspot.com//

Email: wlynnchantale@gmail.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/wlynnchantale

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/W.LynnChantaleAuthor

Tell us what your favourite Halloween costume is. We'd love to know.

Introducing W. Lynn Chantale

2011-10-31T23:00:00.002Z

W. Lynn Chantale resides in southeastern Michigan. Married to her high school sweetheart, they’ve been together for the last twenty years. They have three children. She writes African-American and Interracial sensual erotic and erotic romance. She has a mad affinity for milk chocolate, preferably Dove chocolate truffles or the caramel-filled squares (Godiva and Ghiradelli are acceptable), and plays the bass guitar when the Muse begs for a bit of distraction.

W. Lynn Chantale

Indulge Your Inner Romantic

http://wlynnchantale-decadentdecisions.blogspot.com/

https://twitter.com/#!/wlynnchantale

http://www.facebook.com/W.LynnChantaleAuthor

Paying the Piper by Rachel Brimble

2011-10-31T22:30:00.000Z

Blood is thicker than water...and its stain is deeper.

Nightclub manager Grace Butler is on a mission to buy the pub where

her mother's ashes are scattered but the owner wants to sell to anyone but

her. And that owner happens to be her father...who has a secret she will do anything to discover.

Social worker and all around good guy Jimmy Betts needs funds to buy a

house for three special kids before their care home closes. Time is running

out and he's desperate for cash. He agrees to to a one-time 'job' for bad-

man Karl Butler. But in a sudden turn of events, Jimmy finds himself

employed by Karl's beautiful, funny and incredibly sexy daughter, Grace. Their

lives couldn't be more different, yet one thread binds them: they're both

trying to escape the bonds of their fathers. Maybe the only way they'll be

free is by being together, instead of alone.

Content Warning: Some profanity, sexual situations

Buy it HERE

Another unexpected roll swept through her belly. The guy possessed the confidence of a successful entrepreneur, but chose to dress in ripped jeans and workman’s boots. She drew in a breath through flared nostrils. It didn’t matter that his clothes clung to the hard muscles of his chest and thighs like a second skin. It didn’t give him the right to act as though he was the next Richard Branson.

“So when all is said and done,” she continued. “My father is doing you a favor letting you come here.”

“A favor?” He shook his head. “I don’t think so. He’s generous to let us have the stuff you don’t use in the club anymore, but I don’t see it as a favor. I see it as recycling.”

“Really? And do you live at the children’s home with the kids too?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Got a flat on Nelson Street. I volunteer at the soup kitchen as much as possible in between sorting out the rights and wrongs of the world.”

“Ah, the masterful crusader,” she taunted.

He shrugged. “Your words not mine.”

“And Billy? How does he fit into your charitable existence?”

“He’s my right-hand man.”

“Does he live at the home?”

His smile wavered. “For now.”

“I see.”

His jaw tightened. “Pardon me, Miss Butler. But from the way you just looked at me, you see nothing.”

Well, well, well. Jimmy Betts not only looks like a young Steve McQueen with eyes like sapphires, and a jaw apparently hard-carved from marble--the guy has a temper too.

“Look, as much as I’d love to take you on, Jimmy Boy, I am still too peeved off with my father to even share breathing space with anyone who thinks of him as anything other than a complete waste of space.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, it is and for your information…” Grace stepped closer, poked her finger into his brick-hard chest, and promptly swallowed back a wholly inappropriate rush of desire. “I see plenty. I see you come in here, ferreting around in my rubbish like some bloody...bloody...” She waved her hand.

“Ferret?” he suggested.

She tilted her head to the side. “Oh, a funny guy too, huh? Great, just what the world needs. Another joker who thinks he’s got the problems of the world sorted out because he happened to be born with a pair of hazelnut-size balls between his legs.”

He wrapped his hand around her finger, drew it down from his chest but didn’t let go. “God, if only that were true.”

“What the balls or the joker?”

He grinned, dropped her finger. “See you around, Miss Butler.”

Turning, he walked away, flicking Billy on the side of the head as he passed him, and leaving Grace with the totally terrifying urge to run after him and sink her teeth into his perfect behind.

Detention by Stephanie Williams

2011-10-31T21:45:00.001Z

BLURB

Hot for the High School principal?

You bet! What’s a woman to do when her former student comes back and reveals to her that he wants keep her for detention?

Mia Bradford is the principal of Fremont High. She’s uncompromising and believes in tough love for her students. In fact, she’s helped many of them reach their full potential. She’s always happy to reconnect with them years later and see what they have accomplished in life. But one student in particular is making her more than a little nervous.

Brett Wyndam has seen and done a lot in his life, a lot of it rewarding and some of it tragic. But the one dream he hasn’t realized in his life is the one thing he’s always wanted: Mia Bradford. When he attended Fremont, he’d served detention under her, time after time. Now that he’s back in town, eight years later, it’s time to turn the tables and fulfill a promise to himself.

Can Brett get Mia to be honest with herself and explore the desires she’s harboring? Or will the past get in the way and ruin what could be a loving, but admittedly unconventional, relationship?

EXCERPT

“Mia, I have a secret. Something I’ve been keeping to myself since my senior year in high school.” He rubbed his cheek against hers. She wanted to faint.

The smell of expensive cologne and pure man made Mia’s stomach tighten and her grip on reality weaken. She tried to refocus on making a quick exit, but then something clicked in her head. Brett Wyndam had a secret? That piqued her curiosity. Mr. Big-Man-on-Campus, the boy-now-man, who seemed to have the world on a string, was hiding something?

“Okay, what’s your big secret?” She paused, staring into his eyes. Then she let out a slight gasp.

“Wait. Are you gay?”

The response she got wasn’t what she expected. He threw back his head and burst out laughing.

“I am very, very straight, which I will be more than happy to confirm for your benefit, but more on that later.” He placed his hand on the small of her back, and led her into the living room. “The secret I have is that I’ve been a very bad boy.”

He wore the most perverted leer Mia had ever seen. “So what else is new?” she asked. She sat down on the couch and continued to drink her orange juice. And the sass on him, saying he’d confirm it for me. As if! She subtly closed her thighs even tighter, keeping an unexplained arousal in check. He’s still younger than I am. He’s still that boy I kept after school. That would be her mantra as he continued to speak.

“You don’t understand, Mia. In high school, I was a different kind of bad.” He joined her on the sofa, but this time, he kept a respectful distance from her.

“All I know is I had to keep you after school for detention for half your senior year because of your tomfoolery.”

“Ah, yes,” Brett said, nodding his head. “But there was a reason for my mischief.”

“Really? Getting in trouble and almost throwing away a perfectly good education?”

“But I didn’t throw it away. I was valedictorian, remember?”

How could she forget? He was just about perfect at everything, and his charm had kept others from labeling him as a nerd and picking on him. He’d kept a 4.0 average throughout his school years, yet he’d insisted on getting into trouble. She could never understand people like him. He had it all, but seemed to want to throw it all away as a teen. She was busting her butt teaching kids who didn’t have a tenth of the privileges Brett had, yet were better at staying out of trouble in spite of peer pressure and their environment.

“So what’s the reason?” she asked in her most self-righteous tone.

“To be near you.”

Mia nearly choked on her juice.

Buy it HERE

Looking for Dracula

2011-10-31T21:30:00.001Z

Hello! Stephanie Williams here, giving you another insight of my life. This is including one of my may travels. The place? Appropriately Romania; Transylvania to be exact.

Now, before my first trip (I took three), like you and many others I thought Transylvania was some mythical place where a mythical person, i.e. Dracula lived. I had no idea that it was real.

So when I became of age and was able to travel alone, the one place I went to was Romania.

I’m not going to get into the political mumbo jumbo at the time. This was the early 90s. It was after the Iron curtain fell, and the revolution. Let’s just say at the time, I didn’t know about any of the crap that was really going on. The people were gracious and wonderful and couldn’t do enough for me.

So, here I was sitting in my hotel room, in a county that I knew nothing about except from books and what I was now seeing on television. But I did know one thing. I wanted to see if there really was a Dracula.

A lot of you have probably read Bram Stoker’s Dracula and in doing so have probably done research. Without boring you, here is a very brief history of the count.

It was from a man in the Middle Age named Vlad the Impaler, he did all these bad things and was claimed to impale his victim’s heads on spikes. From there, Count Dracula emerged.

Told you it was brief. LOL!

But then I found something else during my search. There was a descendant of Vlad, an Ottomar Rudolphe Vlad Dracul Kretzulesco. A German Socialite. He was alive then, he passed away in 2007.

Did I find him? No. But I spoke to several locals and the stories they told me. The man was flamboyant to say the least.

Now one local told me to go to the actual castle at night, and that this man will be there on Halloween.

I was young and believed them. Luckily I was in Romania the third week of October, so I decided to stay—and go on this trek.

I went to Bran Castle, the supposedly actual castle of Dracula. Now I don’t know if they did this because it was Halloween or what. But the caretaker was CREEPY!. The place was darker than need be and it was just—wrong!

I figure I make the best of it. I asked him about this Ottomar character. He said he comes around from time to time and if I stayed here right before midnight, I might see him.

Yeah, right. There was no way in hell I was staying in this strange place, in a strange country waiting for a strange man.

However, I went down the hill and visited the local eatery. I ate and drank with the locals and they told me scary stories.

Stories like, heads rolling down the hill from the castle and bodies spotted floated in the lake.

Yeah, great conversation.

Before I knew it, it was almost midnight. OMG! Now I had to get back to the hotel, by myself.

Normally, I have no problem traveling on my own, in fact I prefer it. But on this night at this place, I was not feeling it.

I grabbed my drink and began walking briskly back to the hotel. I was looking around me and noticing things I didn’t notice before. Strange lights glowed along the walks. There was more fog. I saw huge coppery looking faces lined along the way.

I heard laughing, but saw no one.

I looked back up at the castle and the moon was full and creepy looking. I started back to the hotel, this time picking up the pace. Then I heard running behind me.

Okay, normally I don’t panic, but I was in a strange place and since this was Vlad’s old stomping grounds, I didn’t know how these people celebrated Halloween. My head could be impaled!

I broke into a full run. And so did whatever was behind me. Laughing and running is all I heard. When I got to the main road, I flagged down a cab. I jumped in—then immediately jumped out. The driver had on a mask.

I was freaking out at this point. There was no one with me and I didn’t know anything about the customs. I came here on a whim. I didn’t do my research, which I usually did before visiting a foreign county for the first time.

I literally ran to my hotel in the dark alone. Once I got in my room, I shut and locked the door.

I sat on the edge of the bed breathing heavily. About fifteen minutes later there was a knock at my door. At first I didn’t answer. When I did, I found out it was the concierge.

I opened the door. He said he was worried about me, because he saw me fly to my room looking scared. I relayed to him my evening. He laughed.

He said that’s what they do every Halloween. The locals put on masks and participate in ceremonial stuff, from parades, to parties at restaurants, to scaring tourist like myself.

I could have bitch slapped the whole town. But it was my fault. My curiosity got the best of me and being spontaneous just packed a bag and flew to Romania.

Did I ever find the elusive Ottermar? No. And I have made several trips back to Romania since then, my last trip in 2003. Was it to look for Dracula? Not really. The people of Romania are fun and wonderful. The landscape is breathtaking and the food is that gold old comfort fair.

Will I go back on Halloween anytime soon? Nah, I’m a bit older now, and I don’t think I can take it. LOL! But I will say, that was the most memorable trip I have even taken in my life.

Stephanie Williams
The Author Who Dabbles in Erotica

http://missstephaniewilliams.blogspot.com/

http://missstephaniewilliams.webs.com/

LOVE, TRANSYLVANIA STYLE (1Night Stand Series)

2011-10-31T20:45:00.002Z

LOVE, TRANSYLVANIA STYLE (1Night Stand Series) by Stephanie Williams.

Thaddeus Dumas is a Vampire looking for love. Well, he was at first until he realizes that finding true love means changing a potentially unwilling female. So he settles for a night of one-night stands, starting with Madame Eve’s services. He can’t possibly fall in love with a one nighter, and he can just move on to the next female. He didn’t count on the feisty Donna Kent.

Donna Kent is bored crazy with the men she’s been dating. The same old same old. Dinner, dancing, hanging out and dull sex. She wants something extraordinary. She’s more than surprised when Madame Eve finds that someone. But is this the extraordinary she’s willing to sacrifice herself for?

Excerpt:

Room 506. He took a deep breath then knocked. A few seconds later, the door slowly opened.

“Mr. Dumas?”

“Ms. Kent?”

A broad smile spread across her luscious, tawny face. A petite woman, standing about five-three, she possessed a curvy figure accentuated by a tight fitting, low cut knit dress and high heels. Nice neck, too. Okay, I need to stop that.

“Please, come on in.” She stood aside as he brushed passed her. “Have a seat.”

He paused and took a good look at her pixie-like face, captivated by large eyes the amber of light scotch, sweet dimples, and bow lips. She wore her thick, tightly curled hair pulled back in a ponytail.

He found her the epitome of cute. He also found her very nervous.

Her vibes were out of control. The room was literally vibrating. It wasn’t a fearful nervousness, however, which piqued his curiosity even more. So she wasn’t scared of him. Hmm. Interesting.

“Um…these are for you.” He handed her the flowers and candy.

“Thank you. They’re beautiful.” She stuck her face in the bouquet and inhaled. “Nice. And these chocolates just became my new favorites. I discovered them since being here. They gave me a little box of them at the front desk.”

“I’m glad you like.” As she replaced the blooms in a vase provided by the hotel with the ones he’d brought, he thought about how to approach the pink elephant in the room. He shrugged. After arranging the flowers to her satisfaction, she showed them to him. “This whole set up is new to me. You?”

“Umm…yeah. Ms. Kent. I think you should be aware that—”

“You’re a vampire. And please call me Donna.”

Buy the book HERE.

Spooky Movies

2011-10-31T20:16:00.000Z

With all these spooky goings on, I'm dying to know which Halloween films you all like to watch at this time of the year. As I've got older my tastes have certainly changed and gone are the days (or nights) when I enjoyed being scared senseless.

I think I'm much happier now, watching the new spooky Shrek movie or Sponge Bob Halloween with of course, the Hash Slinging Slasher LOL.

But tell us, which are your favourite Halloween films and why?

Excerpt from Thrice Shy by Frances Pauli

2011-10-31T13:30:00.001Z

Blurb:

Jane Johnston has always nursed her crush on the boss in silence. Then a rare invitation to the company conference drops a golden opportunity in her lap. She’s got the dress, she’s got a plan, but when she gets lost along the way, a roadside attraction leads her to a sexy Vampire who thinks Jane is the answer to his prayers. When he shows up at the conference hotel, all her plans go right out the window. Will Jane choose the man she’s always wanted, or the one who claims to own her soul?

Excerpt:

The dog spun and leapt the nearest hay bale. It bolted, a dark, shaggy streak still trailing a tangle of red silk, through the nearest opening and disappeared into the maze depths. Jane shivered and held perfectly still. The voice had sounded far too near. Her heart stuttered. She reminded herself this was a scam, an act for tourists, and good sport for the yokels who set it up. The blood in her veins didn't listen. Her pulse throbbed and her lungs struggled to hold enough air to breathe properly.

“That's a neat trick.” She managed to choke it out, but her bravado had vanished.

“It's no trick.” A man's voice, low and breathy, whispered near her shoulder.
Jane twisted away, back peddling toward the center of the clearing. No one stood against the cornstalks, but the voice had come from there, from just beside the spot she'd vacated. There had to be someone hiding in the stalks. But who would go through that much trouble for a Halloween gag? She'd felt the sharp leaf edges. Even through her shirt, they'd scratched.

“Cut it out.” She kept backing until she stood in the open beside a bale of straw and the cheesy vampire. “Your dog just stole a very expensive piece of clothing, buster.”

“Lupis is no dog.”

“What?” Jane turned again. The voice had circled around behind her. How could anyone move that quickly through the corn? Maybe they knew the maze, maybe they had a map, but either way, she doubted anyone could move that fast. “How many of you are there?” She stood stiff again and glared at the corn, one toe tapping. “I know a very good lawyer, and this is borderline, folks. I didn't pay for the maze and I'm not here for the show.”
“I know why you're here, Jane Johnston.” He was behind her, in the open. He had to be.

When she turned again, however, she found no sign of the voice's owner. Speakers. They had the whole maze wired, then.
“I don't know how you found out my name, but if you've gone through my car, I'll own this place. Understand?”

“I understand you, Jane.”

She caught him that time, or rather, he stayed put and faced her. His pale face shone like the full moon overhead, and a black cape whipped and billowed around his ankles. The high collar was a dead give-away.

“I thought you were a prop.” Jane scanned sideways just to be sure. At least she wasn't going crazy. The decoration had been moving. “Nice outfit.”
The vampire tilted his head and bent one knee, dropping into a deep bow and flourishing the cape for effect. He was good. She felt goose bumps peak on her forearms. He had style. A bit too much, maybe, but then in a haunted maze, overly dramatic probably wouldn't count as a flaw. His voice flowed, as well. He drew out the words, and made each syllable stretch. “Gooooood Eeeeevening.”

“Yeah. Nice touch.” She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him. Aside from the pallor, he had a gorgeous face, prominent cheekbones, and a long aquiline nose. His eyes looked dark from a few steps away, but the gaze pierced just the same. Charisma, that was it. No doubt, he stole the lead in all the little, po-dunk, community plays. “How do you know my name?”
“I heard it on the wind, Jane Johnston.” He moved to the side, circling her and keeping his gaze lowered and fixed on her position. “You've come to wake me, Jane. After all these years of waiting, you have come.”

“Uh, yeah.” Jane shrugged. He moved more like a dancer than an actor. “Here I am. Now, what are the odds you'll just drop the act and show me the exit?”

“You wish to leave?” He appeared at her shoulder, just like that. His voice whispered, but she caught each word and a thread of something else behind them.

“I have a conference to get to,” she said. “My boss' car.” She could smell him, he stood so close. His aftershave had a sweet tang to it, and something familiar that she couldn't pin down. He never stopped moving either. One second he was on her right, the next, her left, and trying to keep track was making her dizzy. “Listen, I really need to get out of here.”
“You do not wish to leave,” he said.

“I don't?”

“You were looking for me.”

“Was I?” She shook her head, heard the corn rattle, and remembered she still had a car to deliver. “Listen, you've got a great ego or stage presence or what have you, but you really could do better than a corn maze in the middle of nowhere. Maybe try modeling?” She took a step back, far enough away that she could breathe again, and turned to go.

“Stop!” He stood directly in front of her.

“How the hell do you do that?”

The vampire didn't answer. Instead, he flung one arm up and threw his cape wide. The material fluttered and then fell around her, dark, smelling of sweet, familiar musk, and blocking out any thoughts of leaving.

Find out more about Frances HERE

Introducing Frances Pauli

2011-10-31T12:15:00.002Z

Frances Pauli was born and raised in Washington State. She grew up with a love of reading and storytelling, and was introduced to Science Fiction and Fantasy at an early age through the books kept and read by her father. Frances claims to be allergic to genre labels, but describes her writing as speculative fiction with romantic tendencies.

More information on her books, and writing can be found at: http://francespauli.com/

So tell us; What do you enjoy most about reading Science fiction and Fantasy?

Excerpt from Sloane Wolf

2011-10-31T11:30:00.002Z

"No hiking trails where you live?"

Another odd expression crossed her face then, and once again, quickly masked. She favored him with an ironic little smile that zinged straight to his heart like Cupid's proverbial arrow. Damn, he was treading on dangerous ground here. If he were smart, he'd put an end to this nonsense and some distance between them. If he were smart.

"No," she murmured, looking ahead once more, "no trails where I live."

"City?"

"Not exactly."

Not exactly? How could you "not exactly" live in the city? Micah shook the question away as he directed his attention, and the conversation, toward her friend, several feet in front of them now. "You know, I've got to wonder why you needed us," he said. "Your friend seems to know where he's going."

"I don't see how," she disagreed, her breath coming in little pants as she negotiated the rugged terrain that steadily rose into the azure sky. "I've never known him to go for the hiking thing, either. This is a first for us both."
"And how long have you known him?"

A telling pause, then, "Most of my life."

"Family friend?"

The question brought her up short. Literally. Stopping in the middle of their makeshift path, she turned to face him, a defiant expression on her face. Fascinating, he thought as he mimicked her actions. His brothers, he absently noted, didn't miss a beat as they strode along in a semi-circle behind Jon, their attention focused upon him and nothing else. And then it was just him—and her, standing beneath the hickories and oaks.

Click HERE to buy Sloane Wolf

Sloane Wolf

2011-10-31T10:00:00.001Z

For more than a hundred and fifty years, the gray wolf has failed to roam the hills of Massachusetts, leading to the belief that they are extinct. But with a spattering of sightings across the Berkshires, the legend of the gray wolf comes to fruition. The product of that legend, Micah Sloane will go to great lengths to protect his kind from the threat of outsiders, who seek to exploit the legend for their own interests. One thing he didn’t count on, however, was finding his soul mate in the company of such men.

From the first time she predicted a stranger’s imminent death when she was little more than a child, Shiloh Beck knew she was different. Wishing to cultivate her gift, her parents made the fateful decision to enroll her in a private school for paranormally gifted children. Unbeknownst to them, the school was just a front for a research facility simply called the Institute, whose secret board members weaned gifted children from their families to exploit their gifts. Shiloh has spent the better part of her life trying to escape the Institute and reunite with the family she was told had abandoned her.

From their first meeting, Micah and Shiloh share a connection that goes beyond the normal to bond them in a way that love alone cannot. But before they can build a life together, they must deal with the fall-out when the legend of the wolves collides with the men behind the Institute.

So, as it's Halloween, tell us us what you love about wolves.

Introducing Margay Leah Justice

2011-10-31T08:00:00.001Z

Descended from the same bloodline that spawned the likes of James Russell, Amy and Robert Lowell, Margay Leah Justice was fated to be a writer herself from a young age. But even before she knew that there was a name for what she was doing, she knew one thing: She had a deep and unconditional love for the written word. A love that would challenge her in times of need, abandon her in times of distress, and rediscover her in times of hope. Through her writing, Margay has learned to cope with every curve ball life has thrown her, including the challenges of single parenting, the harsh realities of living in a shelter, coping with the diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, and the roller coaster ride of dealing with a child who suffers from bipolar disorder and Asperger’s Syndrome. But along the way she has rediscovered the amazing power of words.

Margay currently lives in Massachusetts with her two daughters, two cats, and a myriad of characters who vie for her attention and demand that their own stories be told.

Margay Leah Justice is the author of Nora’s Soul, available on Amazon.com. More information can be found at http://margayleahjustice.com.

Margay can be reached at Margay1122@gmail.com

Trick or Treat

2011-10-31T06:30:00.004Z

Today is Halloween and here at Honey Bee Authors we are celebrating in style.

We have an amazing selection of authors dropping by throughout the day including ; Bernadette Marie, Tara Lain, Rachel Brimble, W. Lynn Chantale, Deborah Melanie, Rachel Leigh, Stephanie Williams and
Chris Redding.

I'm offering an ebook copy of Winter's Spirit to the visitor who clocks up the most comments during the party, so get busy and get interactive, as we go all spooky for just one day.

Autumn with Rachel Leigh

2011-10-14T21:13:00.000+01:00

I have just come back from the school run and inspiration struck for what I could write for my appearance here today. Autumn! I love the season more than any other because I think it ticks all the right boxes. Don’t get me wrong, if I lived in a country where the summer weather was guaranteed to last more than two days at a time, Summer would likely nudge Autumn from the top spot. Alas, that is never going to happen in the UK…

So Autumn is my favorite. Most of my books are set in this time of year too which is interesting. With its colours of gold, reds and oranges I think it is a season that sticks more clearly in ours mind than others. At the moment, I love walking my black Lab through the tree-lined lines and fields by our home. Leaves crunching under foot, clear skies above and just cold enough for a jumper and scarf but not for the cumbersome winter coat. Bliss!

One of my favorite places to visit this time of year is Westonbirt Aboretum which really shows the Autumn in all its glory and the kids and dog are free to roam and explore. Fabulous place. I really relish these next couple of months before everything turns stark, cold and grey.

Winter is lovely if it’s cold and snowy and you are wrapped up warm inside but I hate going out in the wind and rain because I have to, yuk! Three cheers for Autumn, my friends!!

Okay, Autumn appreciation over, time to tell you all about my latest erotic romance release, “Coming Back”.

Blurb:

Buy Rachel's book here

Rachel loves hearing from readers and can be found here:

www.rachelleigh.co.uk

www.rachelleighromance.blogspot.com

www.twitter.com/rachelwriter

Rachel Leigh's Favourite Books

2011-10-10T20:17:00.000+01:00

It’s great to be here today at the Honey Bee blog!

I have been asked to talk about my favorite books which is a very hard request because I LOVE books. I am a self-confessed bibliophile who has over two hundred books yet to be read on my shelves – and I am still buying more! I haven’t a Kindle at the moment (although it will be on my Xmas list this year), but I know once I do that pile will grow even more.

If I am forced to name my favorites, I will have to go with favorite erotic romance and favorite mainstream romance because the two are very different for me. Each sub-genre gives me something different or suits a certain mood I am in when I am choosing what to read next.

Favorite mainstream romance is probably anything by Nora Roberts – I admire her skill as a writer immensely. Everyone knows how prolific she is but what I love most about her stories, is her ability to deliver fantastic characters EVERY time. Sure, some of the stories have a familiar feel but I always find her characters infinitely different…others have fervently disagreed with me on this, by the way.

My top three Nora Roberts so far are:

Montana Sky

Seaswept (book 1 in the Chesapeake series)

Homeport

I know there are many, many other great Nora books but it’s going to take me until I’m sixty to read them all, I swear!

As for erotic romance, I know I am going to be delivered a damn good story every time by Desiree Holt, Kyann Waters & Emma Lai.

As they are all novellas, I am far too pushed to name a favorite but urge your visitors to give each of these ladies a try. You will NOT be disappointed!

As “Coming Back” is my second novella, I am still learning so much as to what makes great a great erotic romance. For me, the biggest and most noticeable aspect of erotic writing versus mainstream is the importance in describing everything. And by that, I don’t mean bodily parts! I mean the feel of skin, the smell, taste and sound of everything around the characters, all the time. This notches the sensuality of the work up to the point that everything feels sexy, not just the love scene…yum!

Excerpt from Coming Back

“My God, it’s like something out of an old Sherlock Holmes movie,” Kelly whispered in awe.

“Yeah, or Nightmare on Elm Street.”

Rolling her eyes, she turned, ready to admonish his negativity but her breath caught to find him standing right behind her. She hadn’t heard him move from the doorway where she’d left him a few seconds before. He stared down at her, his blue eyes shining sapphire in the crystal moonlight coming through the windows beside them, his smile widened showing strong white teeth. Her toes curled inside her sneakers. Lethal. And downright unfair.

She poked a finger into his – solid chest. “Good, you’re smiling. Hopefully you don’t mean that.”

He lifted his shoulders but didn’t say anything only continued to stare deep into her eyes. A wave of heat meandered up the length of Kelly’s body, pooling between her legs and peaking at her nipples…

She spun away from him, throwing out her arms as she turned a full three hundred and sixty degrees. “God, what would it feel like to live in a place like this?” she asked, forcing joviality into her voice no matter the seriousness of sexual yearning ricocheting around her cervix at the rate of forty knots. “I want to explore every inch it.”

“Shall we start upstairs?”

The tone of his voice sent her senses into overdrive. Her arms dropped to her sides and her smile dissolved. “Sean…”
He took a step toward her. “What?”

She held her hand up like a shield. “Stay there.”
Another step. “Why?”

“Because it’s not fair. You can’t--”
Another step. His hand slid around the back of her neck beneath her hair and Kelly shivered involuntarily. “We can’t do this, I’m--”
He smothered any further protestation by covering her lips with his own. She closed her eyes as the feel and taste of his lips transported her back to a time when she’d been her happiest, a time she thought would last forever. She groaned as his raw masculinity washed over her. The skin brushing her face was rough yet perfect, the hand at the base of her spine thrusting her against him big and utterly capable.

Buy the book here.

Iris Deorre Shares her Favourite Books

2011-10-08T21:05:00.000+01:00

Author Iris Deorre loves to read and her tastes are wide and varied. Here, she shares her thoughts on just three of her favourite books.

Wuthering Heights, Dracula and Carrie are a few of my favourite books that have left an impression on me. I like these books for all different reasons. The style of writing in Dracula for one, the way Bram Stoker tells us the story in diary and journal form. I loved that when Dracula first sets foot on English soil it’s in Whitby, a place I can relate to, a place I know and have visited myself even though the story does start with Jonathan Harker visiting Count Dracula in Transylvania.

Every time I visit Whitby this story always comes to mind, Dracula is like some sort of urban legend, did he or didn’t he exist and this for me made the story exciting; a story that’s fictional but is full of history and lovely use of the English language. I guess I’m drawn to books that carry a story from a different time. Literature has always been my favourite subject, the use of similes, metaphors and irony, excites me. Even though I could never write so beautifully, I’ve always loved the use of imagery used in this book, one example early in the book when Jonathan Harker is on his way to count Dracula’s home, ‘All at once the wolves began to howl as though the moonlight had some peculiar effect on them.’ Love that! It just can’t be copied or said in just any way, can it? It has to work and Bram Stoker has made it work. I love to find the meaning behind the words, the emotions. How people dealt with things in that time compared to how we deal things now, one example is when Lucy gets the blood transfusion. Was there blood type testing then? Or was it – roll up your sleeve and let’s do this –like it was done with Lucy. This is how my mind works, crazy hah, but I always wonder.

This brings me to Wuthering Heights. Another story told in a different time. This story told from Nelly’s point of view, which of course could make you doubt the story all together and yet want to believe it that much more. A complicated narrative, a book I’d love to hate and yet can’t. It’s a book I struggled with and many times wanted to give up reading but for some crazy reason couldn’t put down. The book that made me angry and extremely emotional it was bizarre. For this reason I loved it! It had the ability to move me, to get me to react. Besides the complicated family tree that kept me referring back to the front page just to make sure I knew who was who, the most memorable character in this book for me was Heathcliff. The man I hated, the man even though fictional made me speak about him as if he were a real person, someone I knew. The debate about him for me was that this man had been hurt and mistreated and this had made him a very dark and bitter man. Did this justify his behaviour? Certainly not, but it brought an understanding as to why he behaved the way he did. The love struggle between him and Catherine showed me that human emotion is the same no matter what century we’re in. Even though she loved him she chose comfort over love by marrying Linton, another reality in our time; money versus love.

This is my favourite novel of all time, a gripping and complicated story that brings some sadness to me that Emily Bronte never got to know its success and the impact it has made in the world of Literature.

My final love of Carrie by Stephen King. Stephen King is my favourite horror author. I loved Carrie because it was a bizarre story as are most of his books, but it wasn’t so much the book as it was the style of his writing. Not sure if I’m making any sense but Carrie was predictable and yet enjoyable. It gave me the hope of being a great writer some day. I had read quite a few of Stephen King’s books before Carrie. He’s a brilliant author but Carrie was one of his first books. This book is significant to me just as an encouragement that writers grow in their craft. I know it sounds strange to love a book for this reason, but for me it says that the first, the second or the third may be good books but not yet great books. But who knows what the fourth, the fifth or the sixth book might be. One of them might be the great book. Stephen King is the author I strive to be like.

Excerpt from The Whitby Ghost by Iris Deorre.

Melisa took in the beautiful surroundings of Whitby Abbey. The landscape from the view above was breathtaking, almost like a post card. Calm swam through her body and finally she was beginning to enjoy the weekend break. She held onto the recorded tour in a walkie talkie type radio in one hand and her HTC in the other.

‘C’mon take a shot of me.’ Roy yelled into the cold wind.

‘Okeedokee.’ She placed the walkie talkie gadget between her thighs and held up her HTC to take a picture.

‘No, no no use mine.’ He handed over his iPhone.

‘What’s wrong with mine?’

‘It’s not an iPhone,’ he teased.

‘Ooooh, you’re such a show off. Mine is just as good as yours.’

‘To you perhaps, now go on.’ He posed.

‘Cheeky bugger you!’ Melisa held up the phone, the gorgeous landscape in the back ground. She focused the phone and was about to take the shot but instead froze; besides him stood the blue woman from the hotel. She was a form of a white transparent shimmer and yet Melisa could make out that the woman wore a blue pair of Jeans and a white t-shirt. Her long golden hair blew in the wind. Her hand clutched his arm and she smiled into the lens of the camera phone.

‘C’mon, I can’t pose forever.’

‘Urmmm...’ Melisa shivered as she took her eyes off the screen and looked directly at Roy. The figure wasn’t there. She glared back at the phone and snapped a picture; the figure was exactly where it had positioned itself the first time.

‘Hang on I want one for my records.’ The words of the man in the black coat rang through. The man Roy hadn’t seen or heard. Was she loosing her mind?

She held up the HTC, ‘smile.’ The figure stood, in the exact same position, exact pose. Melisa shuddered.

‘Hon.’

‘Hmmm.’

‘Take a look at this photo.’ She handed him the phone.

‘Awesome isn’t it. Ain’t I a handsome fellow?’ He giggled.

‘You don’t see it?’ she asked nervously.

‘See what? What’s up with you lately?’

She held back, she was beginning to sound like a lunatic. First the bizarre dream, then the man in the black coat and now the ghostly figure in the photo.

‘Nothing, let’s take one together.’ She offered and leaned into him, reached out her hand with the phone facing them.

‘Cheese!’ She tried to sound jubilant but her voice only trembled. Click! Snapped the phone. ‘Let’s get on with the tour shall we.’ Melisa gazed at the shot for a moment. She smiled, he smiled and so did the two brides and the woman that gathered in the background of the shot!

Click here to buy the book on Amazon

Halloween Fun

2011-10-04T17:24:00.000+01:00

We are currently looking for authors to join in our Halloween fun this October. You can tell us all about your latest release, share ghost stories or even stop by for a drop of hot, spiced, cider. Authors are allowed to post a maximum of four posts each and will receive a specially designed banner to advertise their day here.

All we require is that you become a blog host in October and November, working alongside Honey Bee Promotions. (Maximum of three dates each month.) If you would like to participate, please email me at honeybee_@ live dot co dot uk ( with the underscore, but without the spaces), placing TRICK OR TREAT in the subject line and sending a link to your blog.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Meet the Author; Rachel Brimble

2011-09-19T21:34:00.000+01:00

I recently had a guest on my blog who wrote a year by year diary of her writing career which I thought was a fantastic idea….so I asked her if I could steal the idea for my appearance on HoneyBee Promotions today. She said yes, yay!

So hopefully you will be interested rather than bored by my career so far and draw some inspiration and motivation from it, because as long as you keep writing, I guarantee you will be published. The more you keep at your craft, the more you learn, the better you get and the chances of your beloved manuscript landing on the right editor’s or agent’s desk increase.

Okay, so here goes…

2004 – Youngest daughter starts nursery three mornings a week and I decide to start of my life’s dream to be a published writer by penning short stories. The mission? To have them published in a national magazines. I failed. Again, and again and again and again…

2005 – Gave up on the magazines and decided to start entering some online contests. Success!!!! Won several coming in first, second and third place. I was elated and the validation gave me what I needed to start thinking about my next mission. A novel.

2006 – After spending a year writing and re-writing my very first 65,000-word novel, Searching For Sophie was finished. The first publisher I approached was The Wild Rose Press who I had heard were a fresh, new and hungry publisher willing to give new authors a try. They did – they bought ‘Sophie’ and yes, I cried like a baby and danced like Michael Jackson…badly!

2007 – Searching For Sophie is released and my second novel Reluctant Witness written and accepted, again by The Wild Rose Press.

2008 – Reluctant Witness is released and my third novel The Sharp Points of a Triangle…rejected by The Wild Rose Press. The reason given was that the story was not romantic enough, the plot a little too crazy and the tone too brash. I get that. The Sharp Points of a Triangle is not for the faint-hearted in a comic way – but my word, it is FUN!!

Luckily Eternal Press agreed and accepted it that same year.

2009 – The Sharp Points of a Triangle released and The Arrival of Lily Curtis written…and accepted by The Wild Rose Press. This was my first venture into historical romance (Victorian) and I was petrified. It was worth the risk though, this is my bestselling book to date.

I also wrote another book that year called Paying The Piper, which I decided would be my first attempt at snagging an agent – it was the start of a very long road…

2010 – The Wild Rose Press put out a submission call for a new series for their Last Rose of Summer line (mature hero & heroine) called the Class of ’85. As soon as I heard about this, I wanted to be a part of it and wrote my very first novella, Transatlantic Loving, which they accepted.

I also wrote my next novel, Getting It Right This Time that I tried with a publisher I had been hearing more and more good things about – Lyrical Press. They accepted and a new relationship was born with my fantastic and encouraging editor, Antonia Tiranth.

Still no agent for Paying The Piper despite trying 20 UK agents and 15 US agents. Time to go direct to publishers.

2011 – Paying The Piper was rejected by The Wild Rose Press for covering issues that are a little too dark for their tastes (the book deals with child abandonment & the club world), but Lyrical Press loved it, yay!

I love writing this book and hope you enjoy reading it!

At the end of 2010/2011 I also wrote my second Victorian historical romance with which I secured a US agent. Dawn Dowdle signed me up in April and since then has taken two more contemporary romances. The first of which will be sent out next week. Wish me luck!

I am half way through novel number nine and busy outline plots for novels ten and eleven so all in all a busy year so far!

What do you think? Could I be doing more? Could you? I’d love to hear from you!

Rachel can be found here and loves to chat (so she can procrastinate!) ; )

www.rachelbrimble.com

www.rachelbrimble.blogspot.com

www.twitter.com/rachelbrimble

Buy Paying the Piper here.

The Perfect Party

2011-09-19T20:41:00.000+01:00

As it's Rachel's launch party, we need to set the mood. So we asked her a few questions about her ideal party.

Rachel, do you prefer a large or small party, close friends or crazy get-together with lots of new people?

RB-My ideal party would be a house party around a close friends, surrounding people I know from past and present. Some good old 80s power ballads on in the background and warm enough to trail outside onto the decking surrounded by candles.

What about food?

RB-Nibbles of the savoury kind. I am not one for sitting down eating a three course meal at a party. Give me chips, dips, canapes and bread sticks and I'm happy.

And drinks?

RB- White wine or champagne!

So tell us readers. What are your components for the perfect party?

Launch Party Character Interview

2011-09-19T16:30:00.000+01:00

Character Interview with…Gerald Russell, pub manager extraordinaire and all-round good egg.

Hi Gerald,

We’d love to know a little bit more about you and your relationship with the heroine of Paying The Piper, Grace Butler.

Aren’t you best friends?

Gerald: Absolutely! I love that girl and I love her sister. When their glorious mother, Phillipa was killed my heart broke but I made a decision to soldier on and be there for those girls no matter what.

Grace is my fashion icon – what I wouldn’t do to be able to wear a pair of trousers and high heels like she does * sigh *

High heels?

Oh, yeah, girlfriend! I don’t hide my sexuality from anyone! I love who I am and the people that matter love me too. What else do you need in life? But other people think otherwise. Look at that Jimmy Betts that Grace has gone and fallen in love with…not that she’ll admit it, he looks at me like I’m going to jump him every damn minute of the day!

Actually, I do want to jump him every damn minute of the day, lol!

Okay, moving on. What is the best and worst thing about Grace?

Ooh, should I really be answer that? Okay. The best thing is her strength. She is a phenomenal woman. Her entire life she has looked after her mother and sister while learning her dad’s business from the bottom up. If Phillipa hadn’t died, she would have stayed loyal to her father’s plans to the end, I swear.

But with Phillipa gone and Karl wanting rid of her pub…oh, lord, Grace threw that loyalty in an entirely different direction. I knew there would be fireworks, but that’s just Grace.

The worst thing? Her damn stubbornness. I often act as her sounding board but lord only knows why, when she ups and does what she wants anyway!

What do you want for yourself in the future?

I want…I really want to find someone nice. Someone who will love me and treat me the way I deserve. Grace says that I don’t need anyone because I’m just perfect as I am, which I agree with. I mean, look at me. But having a nice hard body to cuddle up at night isn’t too much to ask, is it?

Anyway, my stars in Good Housekeeping this month gave my potential for new love five hearts – who can argue with that? My man love is just around the corner, you just wait and see.

Buy the book here.

Paying the Piper Launch Party

2011-09-19T06:48:00.000+01:00

Happy Release Day to Paying the Piper!!!

Lyrical Press and author Rachel Brimble present Paying the Piper.

Throughout today we will be posting excerpts and other fun stuff related to our Paying the Piper launch day. Drop by and comment, as Rachel is holding a special contest.

Click here for details.

Nightclub manager, Grace Butler is on a mission to buy the pub where her mother’s ashes are scattered – except the vendor wants to sell to anyone but her. And the vendor happens to be her father…with a secret Grace will do anything to uncover.

Social worker and all-round good guy, Jimmy Betts needs cash to buy a house for three special kids before their care home closes. In a desperate bid for cash, he agrees to a one-time ‘job’ for bad-man Karl Butler. But in a sudden turn of events, Jimmy finds himself employed by Karl’s beautiful, funny and incredibly sexy daughter, Grace.

Their lives are so different except for one unifying thread – they are both trying to escape the binds of their tyrannical fathers. But is the key to their liberty each other?

Click here to buy the book.

Exclusive Interview with Aries

2011-08-01T11:53:00.000+01:00

Aries is the male half of the partnership which writes the sinfully sexy stories of The Black Widow Executive. Today he is taking a break from work, in order to share some of his thoughts on writing and life.

Hello and welcome, Aries.

How did the idea for the story of The Black Widow Executive develop?

Well, Penelope is the one who started this story, gave birth to it. She brought me into the fold soon thereafter and it just took off. We take it step by step, chapter by chapter, bouncing ideas off each other and running with the good ones (at least the ones WE think are the good ones..:) ) I think as you read the story, you can tell which parts were written by who. I am proud of the work we've done so far and I am looking forward to where it goes from here. It's going to be a hot, wild ride.

I’ve heard a lot of authors say they like to keep a notebook nearby in case inspiration strikes. Is this the case for you?

I actually run around with a Post-it pad in my pocket because I never know when inspiration is going to strike. My desk at home is littered with notes of all colors, containing little bits of Joanie's adventures and those of others yet to be told.

Do you use personal experience in your stories?

If I lived the lives my characters live, I wouldn't have time to write about it. Whether we admit it or not, we all have layers, or facets to our personalities. There is passion, anger, fear, violence, compassion, an angel, and a devil in all of us. Depending on the story I am writing, I tap into whichever layers I need and I use what is there.

Did you always want to be a writer?

I got my first creative writing assignment as a freshman in high school. I still remember it...(thanks Mr.O'Brien) "I saw the vial sitting there in the sand with a tag on it that simply said, 'Drink.' I picked it up and looked around. I didn't see anyone so I put it in my pocket." The assignment was your basic 'In 5 pages or less, tell me what happened next.' project. I wrote it out and turned it in the next day. I was hooked. Shortly after that, life happened and writing got pushed aside for quite a while. One day, years later, my wife told me she needed help with a writing assignment and that lit the fire again. It hasn't gone out since.

Describe your work space for us.

My desk is littered with sticky notes full of ideas, some of which have been used and some which have yet to be explored. I have play lists for background music themed around what I am writing at any given moment. Whether it be intrigue, passion, adventure, or violence,I have it covered.

Do you share your work with family and friends?

Quite a few of friends know that I write. Some of them know about the erotica, others only know about the fiction. Some of them are inspirations for some of my characters.The characters themselves, not their actions or stories, but their personalities.

Who would you say is your greatest supporter?

My wife. She jokes about not having to buy books because she sleeps with her favorite storyteller.

What would you say is the best thing about being a writer?

Writing allows me to escape reality and control the world I am writing about. The characters in my stories are longtime friends and when I'm working on their stories, it's like they are telling me what has happened and I am merely telling the rest of the world for them because they can't. Sometimes I havean idea of what will happen at the start of the story but by the time I'm through with it, it's as big a surprise to me as the person who is reading it for the first time.

And the worst?

It takes time away from my family. I don't like to write when others are around because no matter how hard they try not to, I am always being interrupted or distracted. So I just wait until I have the house to myself. It is always worth the wait, though, because the gears are always turning in my head and I am always writing, just not always putting it down.

If you had a time machine, where would you go and what would you do?

Wow,on the surface that is a light and easy question. I mean who wouldn't wantto be able to go back in time and witness, first hand, the greatest moments in history? Imagine seeing things like the first space shuttle launch, the signings of the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation, Thomas Edison succeeding with electricity and the light bulb,Alexander Graham Bell with the telephone, the Wright Brothers and their first flight at Kittyhawk! But then more possibilities occur to you, and you get into stuff that would undoubtedly have history-changing consequences, possibly grave and far reaching. You could be there to stop things like the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, jr.,and Abraham Lincoln. You could assassinate men like Hitler and Mussolini, Jim Jones and David Koresh. But to do any of these things would changehistory as we know it. Who knows, you may even end up erasing your own existence...then what?

What is your favourite quotation and why?

"The only thing we have to fear is Fear itself." - FDR, 1932 campaign for the Presidency of the United States.

Granted, this speech is aimed at the Great Depression and his plan to work it out, but the quote speaks to more than that. Fear is a powerful force. It is a great motivator. It is a great demotivator. Fear alone can make a person do something and it can keep them from doing something. It can galvanize a person to do things they'd never be able to do otherwise and it can paralyze a person into doing nothing at all. There aren't many things that cannot be accomplished or overcome, once you get a handle on the Fear factor.

Thank you for sharing with us today, Aries.

Buy The Black Widow Executive: Volume One here.

Joanie is a very sexual single woman caught in the cut throat world of Corporate America. She is too busy working and traveling for business to date or have a relationship and satisfies her sexual needs at night working as a so called model for an online Sex Chat Company.

After two years of being a Virtual Call Girl for men online, a special man enters her chat room one night and Joanie brings him into her personal life. Letting down those walls she had built around her, she finds herself getting to know him outside her normal chat room. Finally excited about a man for the first time in years, Joanie is on Skype with him and texting.

She has been divorced for several years and her daughter is out of state in her first year of college. Life is changing for Joanie and she decides to meet this special man in person but Joanie has no desire to make this man an ongoing affair or enter into a relationship. She just wants sex and if this goes well, the travel that she does for her work could bring an opportunity for her to meet the other men that follow her online. Many of the men have wanted to meet in person so she could pick the ones that interest her the most, have sex and move to the next.

So, Joanie decides to start this tour of sexual escapades with numerous men knowing underneath that she is searching for something only to find that it has been under her nose all the while.

A variety of men, erotic sex, adventures and Joanie’s most intimate thoughts are spelled out as she travels the country for her career while satisfying her sexual desires and planning who the next man will be.

Joanie thinks that she has this handled. She is a controlling, hardnosed business woman with brains and beauty and finds that the actual meetings are sexually exciting and intoxicating. It had been so long since she had been touched, kisses, or intimate with a man and finds herself losing that control and becoming attached and then conflicted with the realization that these encounters, if not handled correctly, can easily mislead the man into thinking there is a potential for a relationship or can bring Joanie to the realization that a relationship may not be all that bad.

She learns many lessons in her first encounter. The sex was fabulous and it was a very romantic encounter but the sexual play, friendship and relationship prior to the meeting was not even close to what excited her over the internet. The Virtual Joanie was protected from relationships and she finds that she was also protected from something she didn’t even realize was a danger.

Many of the men wanted more than being just a one night stand or a weekend fling. The easiest were the engaged, divorced or married men. They just wanted sex with an exciting and mysterious woman. But for Joanie, she had to decide if she wanted a variety of men for regular one on one sex or should she return to the safety of being the Virtual Call Girl after some various strange, risky and dangerous encounters going farther than her comfort zone but Joanie never looked back and had no regrets.

How much longer could she handle these risky encounters? Was it time to give it up and be alone or settle down with the one special sexual relationship that Joanie kept going back to?

Exclusive Interview with Penelope Anne

2011-07-31T15:49:00.000+01:00

Today I'm talking with Penelope Anne; One of the amazing authors responsible for the very sexy read; The Black Widow Executive: Volume One.

Thank you for joining us today.

Firstly let me congratulate you on the release of The Black Widow Executive. You must be very excited. Penelope answers: Yes, I am very excited.

How did the idea for this story develop? I was doing research for an idea I had about online dating site hook ups. I quickly found that most of them are affiliated with chat rooms, webcam models, and various other video chat links. Being curious, I dove into the chat rooms to see what it was all about. It was interesting, entertaining, and really made for a great story after my imagination ran away with it.

I’ve heard a lot of authors say they like to keep a notebook nearby in case inspiration strikes. Is this the case for you? If I’m away from my laptop, I always have my ipad handy to take down ideas.

Can you tell us about your research process?

I am true to the saying "write about what you know". I write about what I know and what I research online through search engines and in the case of this book, experience in the chat rooms. I like to use places I have visited for settings. It is much more familiar and accurate for me and the reader.

Do you use personal experience in your stories?

Yes I do. We all have an inner erotic side and to make a story grab the reader, it must be realistic. It is so much more fun and easier to write erotic scenes with personal experience.

Did you always want to be a writer?

Yes, I have been a writer since I was a little girl carrying around my diary. As I grew into journals and college writing, I was hooked and there was no turning back for me.

What is your work space like?

My work space is where my laptop and inspiration is. I can work from my desk, my favorite chair, bed, and even a nice spot on the beach.

Do you share your work with family and friends? Yes, my girlfriends love to know what I am writing about. I do have some family that is not as open minded to the sexual freedom of erotic stories. I'm sure they are the one's hiding Playboy Magazines in their nightstands.

Who would you say is your greatest supporter?

My dog. He never interrupts my thought process and is always at my feet waiting for my break so we can walk together.

What would you say is the best thing about being a writer?

Being able to be creative and let my imagination flow to entertain myself and others.

And the worst?

The fear that one day I will face the dreaded blank page.

If you had a time machine, where would you go and what would you do?

I would go to the bus that Rosa Parks was on. I would stand and praise her actions. This was a major event not just for black women but for women everywhere. That took true courage.

What is your favourite quotation and why?

“Women are like teabags; you never know how strong they are until they're put in hot water." – Eleanor Roosevelt

This quote is one of my favorites because it reminds me of myself. Whenever I am faced with a challenge, I always pull myself together and face it head on. Women can surprise you when you least expect it.

Thank you for joining us today. It’s been a pleasure.

To find out more about The Black Widow Executive click here.