Mari Carr's Blog, page 115

Dreams

I'm thrilled to be sharing a very special day tomorrow with my International Heat buddy, Jambrea Jo Jones. We both have releases! Jambrea's story Dreams was originally part of the Over the Moon anthology. Total E-bound has decided to release each book separately and JJJ's book hits the shelf tomorrow! I hope you'll pop over to Total E-bound to pick up a copy of this beautiful story.

Book one in The Seeds of Dawn Series

Anabella's dreams bring her to David, but is he the salvation she's looking for?

Anabella Pouge is plagued with powers she can't control, making her life far from normal when all she wants is ordinary. Change is coming her way when she must flee with a man straight out of her dreams.

David Sanders is sent to find Anabella. Without her, the future of his wolf pack is in danger. Forced to travel to the middle of nowhere, David finds Anabella might mean more than just his pack's survival.

Will the two make it back to the pack in time? Can Anabella and David accept each other and the coming changes to their lives?

Reader Advisory: This story has been previously released as part of the Over the Moon anthology by Total-E-Bound

Saturday Snippet

Today we're featuring snippets of first loves. This theme immediately brought to mind a scene from Sugar and Spice, the first novella in my new print book from Ellora's Cave and I thought I'd share it with you today. A couple of the scenes are shown through flashbacks that show Ginny and Ryan were destined for each other right from the beginning.

Excerpt:

It was senior prom night and their little gang of four plus dates had headed to Travers' house. His parents were out of town.

She tapped on Travers' bedroom door. "Travers," she whispered. "Are you in there?"

Travers was shirtless when he opened the door and slipped out into the hallway. "What is it, Brooks? Don't tell me my parents came home."

"No," she replied, shaking her head. She knew she should be embarrassed for breaking up his make-out session with his date, but he was her best friend and she knew he'd have the solution to her problem. "I did it."

"Did what?"

"It, Travers, you know. The big It." God help her if she had to say the word "sex".

"With Erik Rogers? What the hell is wrong with you? The guy's a wimp…an idiot."

Ginny rolled her eyes at his continual insults toward her first real boyfriend. "Dammit, Travers, will you just shut up and listen to me?"

He took a closer look at her face. "Have you been crying? Did that dickhead hurt you? Where is he? I'll kill the pansy ass!"

Ginny gripped his arm as Travers started down the hallway. "He didn't hurt me. Well, I mean, not more than I expected. It's supposed to hurt the first time."

"Shit," Travers cursed and looked at the wall. For a second, Ginny thought he might punch it. He was surly and out of sorts all the time nowadays. Anderson thought Travers was stressed out about going off to college and disappointed she wasn't going with them.

Ginny swallowed back the lump in her throat when she thought of her mother taking pictures of her and Erik tonight before the dance. She'd been wearing a baseball cap to hide the fact her hair was gone. Cancer and chemotherapy were a bitch. When her mother had been diagnosed, Ginny stopped applying to colleges and started studying medical journals, trying to help chart the surest course for her mother to overcome the hateful disease. When the doctor's bills started arriving, the idea of paying for college became an impossibility. Ginny planned to get a job following graduation and to remain at home to help her father care for her mother.

"Why were you crying, Brooks?"

"It wasn't what I expected."

"Sex? What do you mean?"

"Well…" Ginny struggled to find the words to express what was bothering her. "It was always so exciting when Erik and I made out and I really wanted more. And I felt that way tonight too. I mean, it felt good before he, well, you know…got inside me. Then it hurt and then it was over."

A smug smile crossed Travers' face and Ginny instantly regretted talking to him.

"You didn't come, did you?" he asked.

Ginny shook her head. "I thought it was supposed to be this magical thing. Special, you know? I didn't even have time to pretend to like it. I mean—"

She didn't have a chance to finish her comment because Travers burst into laughter.

"This isn't funny!"

He attempted to pull himself together although he snorted back a few chuckles as he spoke. "No, it's not. An eighteen-year-old girl planning to fake an orgasm with her first boyfriend is not funny."

"Yeah, well, it's not like we're going to get many more chances to try to perfect it. He's headed to boot camp the day after graduation. That's just next week."

"I don't think you should try again at all. I've told you a million times, you and Erik are too different. He's not right for you. Let the bastard ship off."

Ginny frowned. "You're not being helpful."

He sighed heavily. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. I guess I just wish you would've waited. Erik's the wrong guy for you."

"I'm tired of waiting. You guys have been doing it for ages."

Travers laughed. "It's different for us."

"Bullshit."

"It'll get better, Brooks. Most girls don't come the first time. It's a problem with the female mind. You all think too much and forget to let go and have fun. I can just imagine everything that was running through your head while old Erik was struggling with the condom. Let's see, I bet you were worried about the way you looked naked, your prom dress getting wrinkled, getting caught, somebody hearing you, what your mom would say. Have I covered it all?"

Ginny giggled. "You left out the 'condom breaking, getting pregnant' one. That's a biggie."

Travers gripped her by the back of the neck and placed a kiss on top of her head. "Dear God, tell me the condom didn't break."

"It didn't break."

"Yeah, well, this little conversation just proves my point. Don't worry about it, Brooks. I'm sure the sex will get better. Probably not with the eunuch Erik— Oof! Hey, what'd you punch me for?"

"That was for Erik." She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "And that was for me."

Sugar and Spice is available in ebook at Ellora's Cave, Amazon, Sony, Barnes and Noble and All Romance Ebooks and in print at Ellora's Cave, Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Lauren Dane

Shelli Stevens

Shelley Munro

Lissa Matthews

HelenKay Dimon

Vivian Arend

Taige Crenshaw

McKenna Jeffries

Sugar and Spice, Everything Nice

Here it is! My third book in print. Have to say I'm super excited about this one because it contains not one, but two of my all-time favorite stories.I think the title probably gives away which two! LOL. The duo, Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice, make up my series, What Women Like, and while the same characters appear in both books, they are standalone stories.  It is available at Ellora's Cave, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble and I will be signing copies of it at Romanticon in just 10 short days.

Sugar and Spice

Ginny's thirtieth birthday is shaping up to be the worst ever, until her best friend, Ryan, takes her to the Way Down Under, a new sex club she's been dying to visit. Too bad Ryan refuses to let her see anything but the club's tasteful bar.

Sneaking off to explore, Ginny is busted by Ryan in the Voyeur Room. But instead of taking her home, Ryan intends to teach her a lesson—and immediately commands her to strip. Stunned, Ginny obeys, and embarks on a night unlike any other. From shattering orgasms in front of strangers to light bondage, Ginny endures hours of sexual ecstasy, made to succumb again and again to her wildest urges—all by her best friend.

After hiding from Ryan the rest of the weekend—resulting in delicious punishment in his office on Monday—Ginny discovers emotions in their lifelong friendship that may have been there all along. She doesn't know if she can convince Ryan of the same…but a bit of "sweet" bondage might help.

Read an excerpt here.

Everything Nice

Charlie's wants Allie. Allie and Alex want each other—and Charlie. But does Charlie want Alex? Plunging headfirst into a ménage is one way to find out…

After Alex confesses to Allie that he wants both her and his best friend, Charlie, in his bed, Allie skips town like a thief in the night. Now, six years later, Allie is back in their lives, all grown up and more alluring than ever. What starts as a night of three friends catching up turns into intimate explorations in Charlie's truck…and Alex's shower…and his king-size bed…

While Alex and Allie are thrilled with the threesome, Charlie struggles with the idea of sharing Allie, and with his newfound feelings for his best friend. A hot encounter at the office—with Alex bent over his desk—only confuses Charlie further. It's up to Alex and Allie to convince him that two plus one can equal love.

Reader Advisory: Everything Nice, a sequel to Sugar and Spice, offers intense scenes of male-on-male sex and heart-stopping ménage. The meek need not apply.

Read an excerpt here.

Through My Window

I have two words to say in regards to Jayne Rylon's latest Ellora's Cave release, Through My Window–BUY IT! Seriously. There aren't words to describe how amazing this book is. You have to read it to believe it!

"Through my window, a sea of strangers swirl and retreat like waves in an ocean of humanity. I brush my hair, fix my makeup and flip on the glaring red light in my booth before turning to face my audience on the other side of the glass."

For Star, this is another night on the job, though no two are ever alike. Adaptable and perceptive, she becomes many things in the course of one evening—whore, lover, nurse, psychologist and friend. But above all she's still a woman. Join her, through her window.

Reader Advisory: Novel contains a f/f/m ménage scene.

Excerpt:

Dusk

Through my window, a sea of strangers swirl and retreat like waves in an ocean of humanity. I brush my hair, fix my makeup and flip on the glaring red light in my booth before turning to face them on the other side of the glass.

They begin each evening like still waters. Ebbing and flowing past my window. Unaffected by buffeting winds or brewing desires. Eddying in swirls as they gather, peek around our infamous district with downcast eyes, then scatter—awkward and unsure yet inquisitive.

Curious couples setting out on tandem adventures, young men high on the moral freedom of Amsterdam and clusters of women indulging in a wild night with friends all dip their toes in the pool.

Later, much later, they will roil and crash against the glass in a typhoon of wanton excess—of food, drink, drugs and sex—that never ceases to amaze me.

Or to infect me with its primal power.

Most women shoot me glances of pity if they look at me at all. I feel sorry for them, that they don't understand. But some…some grin and nod.

Appreciation.

Respect.

Envy.

A select few go further, seeking my services so they can share in the rush for a brief time.

Men are more likely to notice my sincere yearning to please right away. All manner of them from young to old, rich to poor, thin to fat and virile to impotent appraise me with hungry eyes.

Cynics might say my killer curves, mile-high stilettos or long mane of platinum hair are responsible for their focused attention. I don't buy that. I'm not the most attractive working girl on the block. But I'm one of the busiest.

Customers can sense I'm different than most. They recognize I'm here not because I have to be but because I want to be. I absorb their stares before returning some of my own. The authority they grant me is intoxicating and addicting.

I love enticing a kindred spirit to my lair for both our enjoyment and my profit.

The hot, red lights of my booth, along the canal slicing through the heart of De Wallen, glint off my silver-sequined costume. What little of it there is anyway. The warm air in the space caresses my bared skin each time my neighbors let someone in or show them out.

Satisfaction guaranteed.

Theirs. And mine. Ours.

Savage Transformation

Lexxie Couper is one of those authors who blows me out of the water every time I read one of her stories. She's creative, talented and that woman knows how to write wicked red-hot. Her sequel to the amazing Savage Retribution, Savage Transformation is out today at Samhain Publishing. I thought I'd share the blurb to entice you to try this great book!

She thought she had a life—until being hunted shows her she's never really lived.

Savage Australia, Book 2

Jacqueline Huddart has spent her entire adult life on the run. Not from the law, or even a jealous lover. From herself—and what she is. That strategy works for her until a funeral demands she return to home ground, and her best friend disappears. Finding Delainie means Jackie must confront the truth…and accept the help of a mysterious, sexy-as-sin Texan.

Marshall Rourke isn't the only one flying under the radar. He's on an off-the-grid quest to track down a rogue ex-partner who hunts paranormal beings for the joy of the kill. Convincing the unexpectedly feisty Jackie to trust him isn't easy, but there's no better way to lure the hunter into the open than to dangle as unique a target as Jackie—the last Tasmanian Tiger shifter in existence.

Trouble is, Marshall hadn't counted on Jackie's brutal right cross. Or the fact that her simmering sexuality calls to his inner wolf on every imaginable level. And that the killer is about to use their desire to add them both to his trophy case…

Warning: This title contains the following: explicit sex out in the bush, wild shifter sex in an abandoned shack, passionate sex in a hotel shower. Plus a Texan hero with a very big secret, an Australian heroine with an even bigger one, a significant amount of violence and as always, Australian sarcasm.

Saturday Snippet

This week we are featuring the all-important, yet all-evil person in any good romantic suspense book. The villain. When I sat down to post this snippet, one book immediately came to mind– Because of You. There is one seriously nasty fella in this book and I thought I'd give you a little taste of his 'bad-assed-ness!"

Because of You excerpt:

One by one, she systematically worked her way through the disks. She'd done much the same thing when she was packing up her apartment in Denver. Although...

Saturday Night Special!

Nope, it's not Saturday yet, but it certainly feels like the weekend to me! Book six in the Wild Irish series, Saturday Night Special, releases today at Ellora's Cave. This time, it's Riley's turn to fall in love!

Saturday's child works hard for a living…

What do you get when you cross a gold-digging stripper, a down-on-her-luck hooker, an estranged husband, his knocked-up wife, a Wayne Newton lookalike taxi driver and one beleaguered Baltimore cop?

A typical night in the life of Riley...

Reviews – Ruby Tuesday

Ruby Tuesday is book two in my Wild Irish series and I had a lot of fun writing this book. I'm a huge fan of music–all types and it was fun to incorporate some of my favorite songs into the story. Thought I'd share some reviews with you.

From Romance Readers Connection:

"It brings the best in character development and hot passion into a well-paced story that takes the reader into Teagan's innocence and Sky's weariness with the rock star life.  These are genuinely nice people and it was great...

Visiting Paradise

I don't think I've made much secret of the fact that I love Jess Dee and her books. Last week, she had a re-release of a novella, Visiting Paradise, over at Aspen Mountain Press. It was originally part of the Boys Down Under anthology and I want to make sure that you don't miss this story! And as if the story wasn't good enough on its own, Valerie Tibbs gave it a gorgeous cover!

Beth Brown needs a holiday. She's burnt out, single, and madly in love with the man who pays her salary, Joe...

Win a Kindle!

My good friend, T, the owner of Ebook Addicts, is hosting an anniversary scavenger hunt from now until October 3. T has rounded up some amazing prizes, not the least of which is a brand-new Kindle. Details can be found by clicking on the banner above. I'm participating in the scavenger hunt, so while you're here, why don't you take a peek around and see if you can find the tiny icon. It looks similar to the banner, but it's tucked away somewhere very safe. Hee hee.