Tuesday, November 10, 2009

There's Nothing Better than Riding a Cowboy

Oops! I meant, there’s nothing better than writing about a cowboy. Ah shucks, you know how romance writers are. We get carried away when we’re writing about those sexy fellows in cowboy boots.

Take a look at my boys from Domination Plantation and you'll understand. Read an excerpt below and if you decide you like them, take a closer look by clicking on the banner.

As always, I look forward to hearing from you.

Destiny Blaine
http://www.destinyblaine.com/


An excerpt from Domination Plantation

“You could’ve said no,” Jules told him for the fifteenth time.

Brogan was sick of hearing his mouth flap. He grabbed a bale of hay and slung it more at Jules than the wagon and thanks to his tantrum, he missed both. Brogan swatted his palms together briskly, and then shook his head.

They glared at one another for a few more turns of tossing hay. Jules threw one bale and Brogan moved another.

“Tell you what. I’ll call him right now. Tell him to turn around and head straight back to Birmingham. You’re right. We don’t want two little women moving into our world and ruining our party.”

“Uh-huh,” Jules moaned.

“How about I tell him to give Fiona a kiss on each cheek for us? Maybe he’ll tell her how sorry we are that we couldn’t keep the kid because we had women to screw and pussies to tap this summer. What about it, Jules? Sounds like a good enough excuse, doesn’t it?”

“Shit, man,” Jules gritted his teeth. “What I mean is I don’t see why Serena had to bring a friend along. It doesn’t make sense. If her momma is dying, why doesn’t she stay with us for the summer and let us spoil her? Why bring a gal pal too? I don’t need two teenagers looking for trouble around here. If they start prowling around this town on a search for some, they’ll surely find plenty. With our reputations and this place here, every boy in his late teens will be looking our way. We’re askin’ for trouble’s all.”

“Heath said the gal with Serena has no where else to go. She’s been staying with them. Serena and this kid go everywhere together.” Brogan nodded toward the driveway. “Speaking of which, they’re here.”

Jules jumped off the large wagon, pulled his fingers away from his work gloves and tossed them aside. He swiped the sweat from his thick brow with a tented hand closed over his forehead. Trying to block the sun didn’t work. It only made it more difficult to see the sleek SUV moving toward them. The automobile looked like a black giant inching closer and closer. Maybe they should have taken it as a sign, a real warning.

Brogan felt an odd feeling, a true sense of dread wash over him all at one time. He shook off the sensation and decided it was the heat. As if he saw the whole thing in slow motion, he glanced over at Jules and saw his eyes widen about the time Serena and her father closed their doors simultaneously.

The back door opened and the first thing Brogan saw was a pair of long, slender legs. Golden curls bounced lightly on shapely, bare shoulders as a woman—maybe the most beautiful he’d ever seen—stepped away from the car.

“Shit,” Jules said. “That’s no kid, Brogan.”

“Maybe it’s Fiona,” he fired back. “It’s been two years since we’ve seen her.”


“Fiona never had boobs…or curves.”

“Maybe she grew five inches, lost fifty pounds along with twenty years in there too. Heaven help us if that’s Serena’s friend.”

“Uncle Jules! Uncle Brogan!” Serena waved wildly. “Hurry up. I want you to meet Jenna!”

The men stared at one another. Brogan felt his upper jaw twitch and Jules lost his color. They glared at their little niece like she wasn’t just the culprit in planned mischief but she was also the red-haired, freckled-face, favored child of the devil himself.

“Damn it to hell,” Brogan said before he reminded Jules, “I seem to recall Heath saying the friend staying with us was, in fact, named Jenna.”

“Sweet mercenary,” Jules whispered.


Both men started down the hillside and Brogan warned. “Not a word. Heath is counting on us. If he can stand to be around her, we can too. Maybe she has a quirk or two.”

“It’s not a visible one, if she even possesses a flaw. Besides, you’re forgetting Heath is a saint compared to us. Remember, Daddy always said he belonged to the milkman.”


“Preacherman is more like it,” Brogan muttered under his breath. “But I still remember a time when Heath liked the same things we do. He always liked his women young and willing to train.”

“He’s married for crying out loud!” Jules walked ahead of him. “And I don’t think he’s capable of thinking straight if he brought that to us!”

“He may have a ring on his finger, but he ain’t blind!”

Jules chuckled. “Remember that old adage. They say love is capable of all sorts of things. Heath must have full blinders on. No man in his right mind would drop that girl off here."


Maybe there was the problem. Why, sure, it explained everything. Heath just wasn’t in his right mind.



Domination Plantation is now available at ARE, Mobipocket and Amazon. You can also click the banner below and find out more about this title straight from Aspen Mountain Press.


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Monday, November 9, 2009

Who doesn't like free stuff?

I know what you're thinking. You don't get anything for free. There's always a catch, right? Like when you get a notice in the mail that says you've won a free stay at some fabulous resort and when you get there you find out you have to sit through two hours of a time share pitch. Or, the car keys in the mail that say come on in and see if you've won this car! Then it lists a few prizes of what you could win if you don't win the car. Could win...you have to watch the wordage used because that's where they get ya.

I guess it all boils down to how bad you want free stuff and what you're willing to do to get it. And that goes for contests. Many of us run contests. Some around a particular holiday, some to celebrate a new release, maybe the launching of a new website or blog. There's no rules to the reasons we come up with. No matter what, you'll find there's a reason to our madness. And all it usually demands from you is a little bit of your time.

A long standing giveaway that I have on my blog is a monthly surprise giveaway. And all it takes to be entered for a chance to win is leave a comment on any post. I'm going on my third year of doing this and have given away items like gift certificates, stationary, books, book marks and post cards, lotions, candles, candy, jewelry, picture frames, mouse pads, ceramic mugs and matching coasters, and so much more! The last Saturday of every month I randomly pick one reader to win and I post the winners and surprises on my blog.

Who here wouldn't like to win a $25.00 gift certificate to Bath and Body Works right before the approaching holidays? Who here doesn't like to win a free read once in a while? I'm offering the Bath and Body Works certificate on my monthly newsletter right now. On December 20th one (1) lucky reader will be named, two others will also win prizes. But this offer is only for the readers who belong to my newsletter. There's still a chance for you to be considered for the drawing, if you're interested. All you have to do is join my newsletter. The join my yahoo group link is on my blog and website.

Tootles!

Tory Richards
Romance with an Attitude Blog

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Crossroads: Showdown Available November 9th!

CROSSROADS: Showdown will be released Monday, November 9th through PHAZE, http://www.phaze.com/
About Crossroads: Showdown, the third novella in the best-selling series. Mystery. Suspense. Ghosts. Hot Male Love.

Tough PI, Frank McGuire, attempts to help the FBI locate three abducted children from a small town in West Virginia. While channeling his inner spirt for assistance, he mistakenly calls forth a ghost. As Frank races against time to locate the missing girls, he receives help from the most unlikely of sources. To complicate matters, Rand has decided its time Frank commit to their relationship -- or run the risk of Rand being gone when he returns.

Happy Fall, Keta

Saturday, November 7, 2009

A Knight For All

I'm excited this week because my book, Sunset Knight, has been released by Samhain Publishing and is available for purchase at My Bookstore and More. Its hero, Brody Nash, has been stuck in my head for some time, and I'm glad he's now been unleashed on the unsuspecting public! I've included a blurb and a spicy excerpt for you to enjoy--and don't you love my yummy cover? Makes me want to go sailing with a brooding hunk, that's for sure.

Cheers,

Sami

Good things come to those who dare.
Lana Green is looking for a lover. At twenty-three, she’s more than ready to shed her shyness and shake up the status quo. Lucky her, the aloof bad boy she’s always wanted to shake it with, Brody Nash, is back in town. Too bad he barely knows she’s alive.
Then an unexpected kiss makes her think her days of lusting from a distance are over. Despite the fact she’s no femme fatale and has zero clue how to seduce a man, she sets out to do exactly that.
Brody hardly recognizes the alluring woman as the same gawky computer geek he left in Graceville six months ago. Lana has him spellbound, but his temporary stay in town is strictly business—running his friend’s restaurant while the man’s on his honeymoon. Brody doesn’t do relationships, and he doesn’t do permanent. But when he finds her asleep on his boat, he can’t keep his hands, or any other part of his anatomy, to himself.
Things get complicated when he discovers what he thought was a casual sexual encounter has just cured her of the one thing she wanted to get rid of—her virginity.
Contains sex that simmers and sizzles, featuring shenanigans in a moving automobile, light bondage, hanky spanky, chocolate cupcakes, chocolate condoms, and a good girl learning how much fun it is to be bad.
Excerpt:
The moonlight filtering in through the hatch in the ceiling of the cabin bathed him in cerulean light. He’d removed his bow tie and jacket, and the crisp white of his dress shirt took on a fluorescent appearance. Lana’s gaze drifted downward to examine the V of skin revealed by the two buttons he’d undone, and her mouth dried out. Lana reached out and toyed with the shirt. She felt the heat of his flesh through the soft fabric and knew hers must be as hot to the touch.
His breath caught sharply when she released the next button, his shock mirrored by the way her heart slammed against her ribs. Even as the audacity of her own actions stunned her, Lana slid her fingers down and worked on the next button until it too was free of its hole.
Her question was barely audible. “Do you want me to leave?”
She was terrified he’d say yes, but he said nothing at all as she slowly, methodically released every last fastening. When she was done the material hung open to reveal a strip of his chest—toned flesh covered in fine dark hair. She’d never seen him with his shirt off before, and he looked better than she’d ever imagined.
Reaching out, she touched her fingers to all that hard packed muscle. He was so strong, so solid. Touching him alone made the wetness between her thighs increase, made her true feelings slip out. “Wow. You’re so sexy.”
“Hell, Lana.” His voice was raspy, making Lana aware her actions had impacted him. “You make it impossible for a man to kick you out of bed.”
“Are you trying to?”
“Yes.” He encircled her wrist with his fingers, stilling the wandering exploration of her hand. Glancing up, she met his gaze. His dark chocolate eyes shone in the dim light, their depths reflecting the battle going on inside him. Tense lines bracketed his mouth, and his heart beat a rapid tattoo against her palm. “You should get out of here while you still have the chance.”
Lana shook her head, never tearing her eyes from his. “I’ve used up all my chances tonight. If you want me to leave, you might have to carry me out.”
He snaked an arm around her back and grasped her thigh with his other hand. For a moment Lana was sure he was going to do exactly as she’d suggested. Mortification ripped through her. That would be a great look, being hauled down the wharf and unceremoniously dumped in the parking lot.
Perhaps it was his intention to get rid of her, but the instant he pulled her forward and their chests meshed together, he stilled. The action had brought their faces close, and Lana watched as the fight in his eyes turned to surrender. His grip on her thigh tightened and he drew her leg snugly around his hip. Then he made a guttural sound and leaned forward to capture her lips with his.
He devoured her mouth like a man starved. Lana tried to keep up, to give as good as she got, but the sensuous thrust of his tongue, the tantalizing scrape of his teeth overwhelmed her so all she was capable of was a primal response. Where he led, she followed. When he touched—her face, her hair, her breasts—she offered herself outright. What he demanded, she let him take.
For more of this excerpt, go to my website.
Have a good Sunday!
Sami

What one reader had to say...

Hey folks, the compliment below was sent to me by a reader who won a copy of It's All in the Jeans. As a fellow author, you might agree when I say that these are the kinds of comments that mean the most.

I was given permission to post it so I thought I'd share.

I absolutely loved It's All in the Jeans...laughing it up every time Libby had on her "Ruby" costume! The things we're willing to do for the ones we love eh...Overall, such a sweet and sexy read! Great job as always Tory! YOU ROCK!!! Girl, the sex scenes were steamin' & scorchin' & sizzlin'...and I'm pretty sure there was steam fogging up my macbook screen

Happy Reading!!!
Sincerely,
Anna

Tory Richards

Friday, November 6, 2009

Why I Love Cowboys

As a kid I loved playing cowboys and Indians, even though the boys in my neighborhood told me I had to be a cowgirl. Gender bias at such a young age. Tsktsk! My favorite movies were Westerns, when I could watch those yummy cowboys racing across the plains, rounding up cattle, or tipping their hats to young wmen as they strode the wooden sidewalks in town. Oh, how I wanted to be one of those women. And now that I live in the Texas Hill Country, I am surrounded by a veritable treasure trove of cowboys who inspire so many of my stories. There's just something about a tight butt in worn jeans and a tilted Stetson that gets my blood to racing.

Since we moved here it's been a tradition every year for us to go to the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo...more cowboys! Rodeo cowboys are a special breed--tough as leather, hard as stone and sexy as hell. When they're out there in the ring with a thousand pounds of horseflesh or a wild bull, my heart stops just waiting for them to finish their ride. These men were the inspiration for Rodeo Heat, a story about a burnt out rodeo cowboty who becomes a guide on a womans fantastic sexual journey.

Blurb:
It could have been the animalistic heat of the rodeo, or the pin with special powers that the old woman had all but forced her to buy. But whatever it was, within seconds of meeting rodeo rider Ben Lovell, Grace Delany safe world crumbled in a voluptuous explosion of lust. Every night was something new. From the handcuffs to the intriguing sex toys to the taking of her virgin ass, , Grace gave in to it all, relishing her body’s. As Ben Lowell led her from one earth-shattering climax to another, as her body softened and opened to him, her juices lubricating the way, all she could do was hang on for dear life and follow his lead. But when it was over, could she really walk away from the man who had taken her on an outrageous journey of sexual self-discovery where there were no limits or boundaries?.

Excerpt
He moved his mouth over her body as if drawing a map with it, tasting every nook and crevice, seeking her pleasure spots and dwelling a long time on them. His open-mouthed kisses on her heated skin sent shafts of electricity through her, igniting nerves already snapping and firing.
His cock pressed against the soft skin of her inner thigh and her hands suddenly itched to touch it and hold it. Pulling Ben’s head up from its drifting path down to her pussy, she smiled at him. “Stop.”
His eyebrows raised. “Stop? Am I doing something wrong? Something you don’t like? Just tell me—”
“No. You’re doing everything just right. But I want to play too.” She pushed at his shoulders.
“And just what is it you want to do?” he asked, his eyes bright with curiosity as he rolled onto his back.
“This.”
Wondering where this spurt of boldness had come from, she shifted onto her knees next to him, her gaze riveted to his erection which pointed directly at her. Tentatively she reached out a finger to touch the bead of fluid sitting like a viscous marble atop the slit. Rubbing it back and forth along the velvet surface, she watched the thick stalk bob under her touch and saw Ben’s thigh muscles tighten.
She hadn’t done this since Joe’s death. The few men she’d had sex with hadn’t appealed to her this way at all. Sometimes she wondered if they really appealed to her in any way. Worried that maybe she just wasn’t a sexual person.
No. Wait. Then she wouldn’t be where she was doing what she was. Right?
Inquisitively, she bent her head and licked the surface of the purple head with the tip of her tongue, swiping it back and forth two or three times, loving the slightly salty taste of the fluid and the sensation of the soft skin against her tongue. Her fingers barely wrapped around the thick length of him but she felt the steel beneath the supple covering. She unclasped him and ran one finger the length of the heavy vein, feeling the blood pulsing through it.
“Am I doing this right?” she asked, her voice tremulous, unable to look at him as she waited for his answer.
“Are you kidding?” Ben asked in a strangled voice, one large hand coming up to squeeze her buttocks. “I think you’re trying to torture me.”
Grace’s laugh held just a hint of uncertainty. “Just finding out what you feel like. How you feel.”
His hand moved in slow strokes on the cheek of her ass. “Surely this isn’t the first one you’ve ever seen or felt,” he joked.
“Believe it or not, the first in bright light. At least for longer than I want to remember.”
Because the others didn’t bear looking at.

Except for Ben.


You can find Rodeo Heat at Ellora's Cave www.jasminejade.com


Thursday, November 5, 2009

Comfort Reads







Comfort Read = a much-loved book you reach for when you’re not feeling well or you want to relive a particular story.

If I were to ask you if you have a favorite book, chances are high that you’ll scream yes! Now for a more difficult question, do you have a comfort read? You know, those books you reach for when you’re feeling a little blue or want some mindless escapism? That one (or twenty) book(s) that you reach for time and time again?

One of my all time favorites is Linda Howard’s Mackenzie’s Mountain. This is an older title, originally published in 1989 by Silhouette Intimate Moments. Readers today might find it to be dated (some of the clothing descriptions make me laugh) but the heart of this story keeps me coming back again and again.



The hero? He’s Native American and standoffish to the point of being rude. Due to racial issues, he’s bitter and has a tendency to jump to conclusions faster than you can stuff chocolate in your mouth. But there’s an innate sense of humanity in him that appeals to me. He’s hearth, home and country without bashing the reader over the head with it. It’s part of who he is and he doesn’t feel the need to reiterate or constantly ponder what is important in life because for him, it’s in his DNA. Even though he has his nightmares and dark side, I love nothing more than a man at peace with who he is and Wolf Mackenzie is that hero.

The name alone gives me goosebumps.

The heroine is a southern flower raised by a maiden aunt. All through the book the heroine remembers her starchy aunt’s mantras about money, clothing, men – ohhffff, that woman did not think much of men now! Mary is the everyday woman. Intelligent, a little insecure about her looks, naive to a certain extent and totally and completely sensible. In short she is all of us.

For me, reading this book is like putting on pair of much-loved house slippers. It’s warm, comfortable and familiar. Not only is Howard a brilliant writer, the fact that I’ve read this book at least twenty times and I still love it is a pretty amazing feat.

I do have other comfort reads such as:
Shades of Twilight & After the Night – Linda Howard (can you tell I really like Howard?)
Lucky’s Lady – Tami Hoag
Morning Side of Dawn – Justine Davis
Border Lord & Border Bride – Arnette Lamb
Coming Up Roses & Keegan’s Lady – Catherine Anderson
So fellow bibliophiles…what are some of your favorite comfort reads?

www.jcwilder.com
www.shadowdweller.com