Beth Kery's Blog, page 15

Excerpt Because You Are Mine Part VII

For those of you clamoring to glimpse more of Ian’s interior world, I think you’ll be pleased with Part VII, releasing Tuesday! I hope you enjoy this excerpt from Because I Need To.

Adult Excerpt:

She seemed to have caught his subdued mood, because she said nothing as he meticulously washed her beautiful body in the minutes that followed. He felt her gaze on him though, as his lathered hands whisked over satiny skin. Steam curled around his knuckles as he washed…worshipped. A small part of him still wanted to withdraw like he had in Paris when he’d been so overwhelmed by her sweetness and generous response.

The experience tonight had choked his defenses, though, making it impossible for him to maintain his sanity and resist her.

He washed himself in a much more cursory, if thorough, fashion and shut off the water. After drying them both with a towel, he again took her hand and led her to his bed. He whipped back the duvet and turned to her, releasing the clip on her hair. The heavy weight of it fell, tumbling around her shoulders and back. His fingers immediately furrowed into the silky, unbound glory.

Her large, dark eyes made something clench tight inside his gut.

“Get into the bed,” he murmured.

She lay down, curling on her side, her front facing him. He came down next to her, his belly brushing against hers, and whipped the sheet and cover over them. He stroked the silky length of her hip as the heavy, pregnant silence settled upon them. Neither of them spoke for a moment or two, even though he sensed her alert attention on him.

Then she touched his mouth with soft fingertips. He closed his eyes, trying and failing to shelter himself from a rising tide of unwanted, but unstoppable feeling.

He rarely allowed a woman to touch him so intimately, but he let Francesca. Her eager, searching fingertips tormented him for the next several minutes as she charted his face, neck, shoulders, chest and belly. When she gently scraped a nipple with her nails, he hissed in a burst of sublime pleasure. He held her stare as she wrapped her hand around his cock a moment later.

Her touch was so gentle. Why did it feel like she ripped bandage off a wound deep inside him when she began to move her arm, pumping him?

Unable to take anymore of her sweet torture, he twisted around and located a condom in the bedside drawer, longing for the day when Francesca had been on the pill long enough, when he could be inside her naked.

A moment later, he lay on top of her, their bellies heaving against one another in tandem, his cock fully sheathed in her warm, clasping pussy. He opened his clenched eyelids and saw her staring up at him.

“Do I wrong you, Francesca?” he demanded roughly.

She didn’t answer for a moment, but he knew from the somber, sad expression in her eyes that she understood he’d meant not just tonight, but everything—his inability to resist this vibrant, talented, beautiful woman, despite the fact that he’d inevitably taint her brilliance with his darkness…eventually make her turn away in hurt.

The thought of seeing rejection of him on her beautiful face sliced at him deep.

“Does it matter?” A spasm clenched his facial muscles at her soft reply. He began to move, fucking her with long, thorough strokes, shuddering at the distilled blast of pleasure.

No. It didn’t matter.

He couldn’t stay away from her, no matter the consequence to her…or to himself.

Because You Are Mine: Because I Need To, available September 11.

Because You Are Mine Part VI; My favorite things

Because You Are Mine Part VI releases today! I titled it Because You Torment Me, which is an apt descriptor. Ian and Francesca both torment each other a bit in this installment, but it’s a real toss up as to who wins the prize. Here are a few of my favorite Ian-lines from Part VI. I’m getting the feeling just from these lines alone that Ian is the one who gets pushed just a bit too far over the edge. Francesca is the loser in this episode…and the glorious winner. :)

Francesca:

Ian:

“Take care, Francesca,” he said in a quiet, ominous tone, brushing his fingertip across the soft skin of her jaw and feeling her shiver.

“Take care of what?” she asked.

“You know what I think of impulsiveness. You know the consequences for it,” he added quietly, before he took her hand and led her out of the suite.

****

Ian

“You want to play the games of a woman, you want to flick matches at me to see if I burn? Well you better be willing to take the consequences, Francesca…”

****

Because You Are Mine Part VI–available now!

Exclusive Sneak Peek Excerpt: Because You Are Mine Part VI

Greetings from beautiful Cape Cod! As many of you already know, Because You Are Mine: Because You Torment Me releases at midnight tonight! This is a personal favorite installment. I hope you love it, as well. In celebration of Release Day-Eve, here’s an exclusive sneak peek at Part VI!

Excerpt:

Swallowing thickly, she opened the box. She gasped. Nestled in black velvet were eight large hairpins, each with a delicate crescent of stones at the tip. Once they were pushed into a twist of hair, it would appear that the upswept style glittered with diamonds. It wasn’t only a luxurious gift, it was incredibly tasteful and personal.

She looked at Ian, eyes wide in amazement.

“I told the jeweler about the amount of hair that you had, and she assured me this number of pins would restrain even your glory.” He blinked when she didn’t speak. “Francesca? You like them, don’t you?”

If she hadn’t heard the hint of uncertainty in his usually level, brisk tone, she might have had the wherewithal to refuse what she suspected was a very expensive gift. As it was—

“Are you kidding? Ian, they’re gorgeous.” Her lips trembled as she looked back at the pins. “They’re not real diamonds, are they?”

“If they’re rhinestones, I paid a great deal too much,” he said dryly, all traces of his former uncertainty gone. “Will you wear them? Thursday night at dinner?”

She looked into his shadowed face. Why was it so difficult to say no to him? It wasn’t that need to please him that she experienced with him sexually. It was something else . . . a desire to show him that she’d found his gift thoughtful . . . beautiful . . .

. . . that he was beautiful to her.

“Yes,” she answered, wondering how diamond-studded hair and jeans would look together.

Ian’s slow smile was reason enough to accept the luxurious gift. She forced herself to look away from that addictive sight and reach for the door handle.

“And Francesca?”

She glanced back, breathless.

“Just so you know,” he said, his smile now seeming to laugh at himself, “if it weren’t for this damn acquisition, I’d have you in my bed right this second, and we’d be continuing your lessons with vigor.”

Because You Are Mine Part VI, available Tuesday September 4!

Because You Are Mine Part V: Because I Said So is available now!

Yay! More Ian and Francesca available today!

As a side note, I received a few emails from readers who were confused because the promotional chapter from Wicked Burn got put right beneath the last chapter of Because You Are Mine. There isn’t anything missing, it’s just that the formatting appears to be screwed up in some readers, and it’s confusing people. If it appears this way on your reader, I apologize. I have a note in to my editor. Please be assured that you have the entire chapters of Because You Are Mine. It ends with Ian walking away. They are at the hotel.

Short Excerpt: Because You Are Mine Part V

As I’ve said in various interviews, I wanted Because You Are Mine to have that edgy, addictive, D/s sexuality, but I also wanted to have really romantic moments, a getaway to Paris, a spontaneous concert shared in the park…lunch at a Parisian sidewalk cafe. Here’s a sneak peek into Tuesday’s upcoming installment of Because You Are Mine Part V: Because I Said So.

Excerpt: Part V

Francesca had to keep repeatedly reminding herself that it was a purely sexual agreement she had with Ian, because in truth, she couldn’t have imagined a more romantic day in her life. At her request, they left Jacob to his own devices and walked the streets of Paris, Francesca experiencing a ridiculous amount of excitement and euphoria at the sensation of her hand enfolded in Ian’s, frequently glancing sideways to assure herself that she really was being escorted around the most romantic city in the world by the most appealing, compelling man she’d ever seen.

“I’m starving,” she said honestly after their brief and enjoyable tour of the Musée d’Art Moderne, where she’d continued to be amazed by the depth of his artistic knowledge and innate taste. He’d been the ideal companion—considerate of her desires for what she wanted to view, interested in what she had to say, revealing more of his dry, sharp wit and sense of humor than he ever had before with her. “Can we eat here?” she asked, pointing at the attractive little sidewalk bistro they passed on Rue Goethe with outdoor seating.

“Lin has arranged a private table for us at Le Cinq,” Ian said, referring to the ultraexclusive, pricey restaurant in their hotel.

“Lin Soong,” she mused, watching a couple seated at a nearby table, the woman picking at her food idly with her fingers while she laughed at something her companion had said. “She’s extremely efficient at planning things, isn’t she?”

“The best. That’s why I employ her,” he said crisply before he gave her a sideways glance. She looked at him in surprise a moment later when he paused before the entrance to the little bistro and waved his hand to enter, his expression one of subdued amusement.

“Really?” she asked excitedly.

“Certainly. Even I can be spontaneous once in a while. In very small measures, anyway,” he added drolly.

“Will miracles never cease?” she teased. He blinked, looking slightly surprised, when she went up on her toes and kissed him on the mouth before they sat at one of the outdoor tables.

*****

Part V: Available Tuesday 8/28.

Thank You!

I’d like to thank you for supporting my writing career and buying/reading my books. Because of you, I got a call from my editor last night informing me that Because You Are Mine had hit the New York Times Bestseller list for eBooks, and also the USA Today bestseller list. I am humbled and immensely grateful. I’ll remember that moment for the rest of my life, and know it couldn’t have happened without your support.

Thank you!

Because You Are Mine Part IV is Available Now!

Get ready. Because You Must Learn is a real sizzler, and it’s available now!

National bestselling author Beth Kery reveals a lover’s secrets—and more—as Because You Are Mine continues…

From a luxury private jet to a daring tryst in a public museum to the intimacy of a luxury hotel, Ian and Francesca come together wherever the spark is ignited. But when Francesca disappears for a morning alone, she discovers an unexpected new shade to Ian’s character. Is it anger, jealousy, or something else entirely?

Stunned by the degree of Ian’s reaction, Francesca wonders why his whole life is ruled by discipline, order, and restraint. Only during passion does he show her the captivating depths of his soul. She’s willing to submit to desire, but having every move controlled is something she can never accept. Then Francesca begins to discover what it is that makes a man like Ian do the things he does…

Because You Must Learn, Available Now

The winner of Anne Calhoun’s Contest is

Comment #1, Shannon!

My thanks to Anne for her thoughtful post and for stopping by to share her thoughts!

The Retro-Coolness of the Serial Novel by Anne Calhoun+Giveaway!

Mad Men, Pan Am, and vintage chic…retro is in! Let’s take a trip to the not-so-distant past, gentle reader, before big box stores, when books were a luxury item for the average household and, in the pre-Internet, pre-automobile era, cumbersome and expensive for publishers to distribute widely. Back then authors faced a challenge similar to today: how do I reach new markets and entice readers to buy my books?

Writers including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens, Henry James, Leo Tolstoy, Gustave Flaubert, and Harriet Beecher Stowe found an answer: their work appeared in magazines such as The Strand, Atlantic Monthly, Harpers, and the Saturday Evening Post in serialized format. The practice was so common that authors often structured their work into magazine-length chunks, and so coveted as a way to build readership that only the best authors had their works serialized first.

Readers benefited, too. Families would gather to read the latest installment aloud, rationing out the monthly pages, savoring the plot and character development, eagerly anticipating the resolution of an existing plot problem and the inevitable cliffhanger building suspense for the next month, until the work came to an end. Novel-length stories were few and far between so the ones available in any format were coveted, savored, chewed over, shared between households. They became part of communal living.

When I first heard Because You Are Mine was coming out in serial format from Berkley’s Intermix line, my first thought was how cool. I love anticipation. I love to savor a slow reveal, waiting for the next delicious thing to maybe-just-sort-of-happen-oh-yes-it-just-did. My favorite story from Suzanne Brockmann is Gone Too Far, the resolution of Sam and Alyssa’s passionate, turbulent romance, but I really loved the torture she put them through in the previous five books. The scene where Sam tells Alyssa he’s knocked up the SEAL-groupie still lives in my memory, him in a t-shirt and jeans because when he got the news he got on a plane still dirty from working on his car, her all dressed up for a night out with him…a night that won’t happen. Talk about a cliffhanger!

I just finished a major backlist glom of Karin Slaughter’s intertwined series (Grant County/Will Trent), and one of the things I loved about the books was how I grew to care about the characters and wanted to know what happened next. These are thrillers, so unlike a romance novel where the main characters’ love story is settled at the end of the book, we literally have to read the next book to find out what happens to them. I kept buying books because I had to know how the characters’ lives turned out, even knowing characters I care about will die. I’m committed. I’m involved.

We’ve gotten a little bit jaded about getting stuff Right Now. I freely admit I was grateful for the interwebs, free wifi, and my Kindle when I had to have a Karin Slaughter book for the day-long trip home from Canada. But I kind of miss the days (or years) when I’d finish one author’s book and realize I had a long, long wait for the next one. I’d recommend the book just to have someone to talk to about it, and I feel like the characters lived on longer in my memory because they were harder to come by. Now I tend to finish one book and immediately start the next.

But not the Because You Are Mine series. For the next few weeks I have to wait, and even a mere week between each release makes me a little nostalgic. Not even knowing there will be a HEA stops me from immersing myself in great characters, a compelling plot, and that nagging little question of how they’ll get from sparks to HEA. I know I’m hooked but good when I want to grab someone and say, “Did you read this? No? I’ll gift you a copy so you can read it!”

Anticipation is retro-cool, and unlike earlier readers, you only have to wait a week for the next installment. So grab a copy and settle in. Read slowly, savor the way the heat and relationship build, the way they explore each other and themselves to earn their HEA.

Good things come to those who wait. ;)

After doing time at Fortune 500 companies on both coasts, Anne landed in a flyover state, where she traded business casual for yoga pants and decided to write down all the lively story ideas that got her through years of monotonous corporate meetings. Her first book, LIBERATING LACEY won the EPIC Award for Best Contemporary Erotic Romance. Her story WHAT SHE NEEDS was chosen for Smart Bitch Sarah’s Sizzling Book Club. Anne holds a BA in History and English, and an MA in American Studies from Columbia University. When she’s not writing her hobbies include reading, knitting, and yoga. She lives in the Midwest with her family and singlehandedly supports her local Starbucks.

Find out more about Anne’s books here!

Thanks to Anne for stopping by my blog! Please leave her a comment relevant to her post to qualify for a giveaway! In honor of Anne’s visit, I’ll gift an ebook copy of BOTH winner’s choice of an installment of an already released BECAUSE YOU ARE MINE part AND winner’s choice of a one of Anne’s backlist, which you can find here!

Part III, Because You Haunt Me releases today!

Part III of Because You Are Mine: Because You Haunt me releases today. I’ve said elsewhere that Because is a super sexy Cinderella-type story. This part especially reminds me of that, as Ian sweeps away Francesca to Paris on his private jet. My favorite line in this Part is said my Ian when they board the plane and he asks her to take off her clothes before she rests and while he works.

“I’d like to know you’re available to me.”

What are the mysteries of attraction? They’re about to be explored as national bestselling author Beth Kery’s Because You Are Mine continues, drawing two lovers closer and closer…

Knowing just how innocent Francesca is, Ian finds himself struggling with whether or not to pursue her. But he has to have her. Because when it comes to this particular obsession, desire trumps all caution.

Unnerved by her own longings, Francesca avoids Ian until he confronts her with a tantalizing proposition: a purely physical relationship—her reward, alluring, forbidden pleasure. It may be a mistake, but her need for Ian can’t be denied. Suddenly she’s swept away to Paris, overwhelmed by the beauty of the city, by the irresistible man at her side, Francesca abandons all reservations, and finally opens herself up to the man who has haunted her fantasies.



Like Francesca, Part III is now available. :)