Mari Carr's Blog, page 82

Saturday Snippet

Today's theme is Say Anything, which basically means it's the author's choice. In March, 2008, my very first book,  Erotic Research, was published with Samhain Publishing. Since then, I've had 40 ebooks contracted and I still shake my head in amazement when I consider where I am. I am, quite simply, so very, very happy. To celebrate my little milestone, I'm sharing a bit of Erotic Research today.

Snippet

A loud knock at the door had her jumping up. Suddenly feeling very isolated and unprotected, she scanned the room for some sort of weapon. Spying a big log in her pile of firewood, she grabbed it, cowering in the corner. The pounding on the door continued, louder this time, and Julia's heart began to race. Who the hell would be on top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere on a day like this? It was a virtual whiteout outside.

"Jules, open the damn door. I'm freezing my ass off out here."

Ross? She sighed in relief, rushing to unlock the door, and there in the doorway stood her very tall, very wet editor.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, aware her tone was distinctly unfriendly, but he had scared her half to death.

Eyes narrowed, Ross entered the cabin, his arms laden with packages, a large duffel bag thrown over one shoulder, a backpack over the other. "I tried to call, but the phone lines are down," he answered gruffly.

"My cell?" she asked sarcastically.

"No service up here," he replied with equal irritation.

"Is something wrong?" She couldn't imagine what could be so bad it would compel Ross to leave the comfort of his penthouse apartment in New York City to drive for nine hours to the mountains.

"Blizzard." He unloaded his bags on the kitchen counter. "Headed this way. I was worried you'd be snowed in without enough food."

Secretly pleased at his incredibly sweet gesture, Julia smiled and helped him unload the soggy paper bags. "You've brought enough food for an army." She gaped at all the meat, vegetables, fruit and snacks he carried in. "I hope you don't think I need all this to survive. Hey, I didn't hear a car. How did you get here?"

"By the grace of God and my four-wheel drive. I almost made it all the way to the cabin. The snow is already pretty deep. I got stuck about a mile down the road. Had to walk the rest of the way. Looks like we're going to be stuck here for a while." Pulling off his drenched coat, he hung it on the peg by the door.

"My God," she exclaimed, glancing out the frosted window, "it's freezing out there and the visibility must be zero. You're lucky to have made it at all. What the hell were you thinking? You could have been killed." She put her hands on her hips, suddenly aware of the very real danger he'd just escaped.

"What was I thinking?"

"Yes. Good Lord, Ross, of all the idiotic things to do. What if you'd crashed the car? What if you'd gotten lost in the snow while looking for the cabin? You could have frozen to death."

Ross shook his head. Clearly, of all the receptions he'd imagined, this nagging scold was not one he'd considered. "I guess, like the idiotic fool I am, I thought you'd be glad to see me. That you'd offer me a warm drink and some supper. I thought you'd be happy not to be stuck up here in this godforsaken cabin alone in a blizzard!"

Biting her lip, she said softly, "Well, I am. Happy, that is. I was feeling rather trapped—and alone."

As quickly as his anger came, it left him. Smiling, he admitted, "It was a damn stupid thing to do. Unfortunately that fact didn't occur to me until I was about halfway up the mountain and I realized it was too late to turn around."

"Let's get you out of those wet clothes," she said, suddenly very pleased to have him with her. "I'll put some water on for tea."

"Don't bother with the tea. I brought a bottle of Southern Comfort." His hands shaking, he attempted, with little success, to tackle the buttons on his soggy flannel shirt. "We are in the South, after all."

"I'm not sure West Virginia classifies as the South. It's really sort of the middle. Here, let me." Pulling his trembling hands away, she quickly unbuttoned his shirt and tugged it off. His skin was like ice to the touch. "You'll be lucky if you don't catch pneumonia or frostbite," she said, unable to resist one more scold. "Come stand by the fire." Taking his icy hands in hers, she rubbed them lightly. "I'll get a blanket for you. Stay here and try to get warm."

Crossing the room, she retrieved a fleece blanket from the foot of the bed as Ross struggled with the button fly on his damp jeans.

"I'll do that," she said, concerned for his health. His hands were still trembling and looked blood red and chapped. No doubt he'd lied about how long he'd really been roaming around in the snow and wind.

"Jules," he started to object, but she was already working the buttons free, concern distracting her from exactly what she was offering to do. When she had the last button unclasped, she grabbed the waistband and started to pull the clinging denim off his legs. The task was harder than she would have thought, but sheer determination and worry kept her going. She struggled for several minutes, working the material down his muscular legs, stopping only to pull off his boots and socks, before finally peeling the jeans completely off.

"There," she exclaimed, looking up into Ross's suddenly pained face. Her mouth went dry as she realized that during her exertions she'd knelt in front of him and was now eye level with his barely clad cock straining through the material of his silk boxer shorts. This part of him certainly gave new meaning to the term "frozen stiff".

"I—" she stumbled, unwilling to take her eyes off his very large appendage. She was sure she'd never seen anything quite so big and her curiosity outweighed her embarrassment.

"My God," she whispered, awestruck as the monstrous cock seemed to grow even larger before her eyes. Without a thought, she reached up and nearly touched it before a growl above her and a strong hand on her wrist stopped her.

"Brown Eyes," Ross said, his deep voice flowing over her like honey, "if you don't move away from that this minute, I'll keep you kneeling there the rest of the night."

Erotic Research is available at Samhain, Amazon,  Barnes and Noble, Sony, Fictionwise, and All Romance Ebooks.

Want more snippets?

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Guilty Pleasures

One of my favorite review sites is hosting an awesome spring event and they've invited me to be a part of it. I thought I'd share the link here because I don't want you to miss out on the fun! Great excerpts! Fun posts! PRIZES! Check it out!

And don't forget Genre Days!

The International Heat ladies will be entertaining you with ROMANTIC COMEDY books. There will be lots of excerpts and a daily prize. I hope you'll check it out here.

Genre Days

Genre Days continues! The International Heat ladies will be entertaining you with SHIFTER books. There will be lots of excerpts and a daily prize. I hope you'll check it out here.

Genre Days

Genre Days continues! The International Heat ladies will be entertaining you with MENAGE books. There will be lots of excerpts and a daily prize. I hope you'll check it out here.

Genre Days!

Genre Days continues! The International Heat ladies will be entertaining you with ROMANTIC SUSPENSE books. There will be lots of excerpts and a daily prize. I hope you'll check it out here.

Genre Days continues…

Genre Days continues! The International Heat ladies will be entertaining you with BDSM books. There will be lots of excerpts and a daily prize. I hope you'll check it out here.

Genre Days!

For the next couple of weeks, the International Heat ladies will be entertaining you with snippets from all the many, many different genres in which we write! For those of you who don't know, I'm part of this amazing group of women comprised of writers, cover artists, and reviewers. International Heat includes Bianca D'Arc, Anne Rainey, Lila Dubois, Lexxie Couper, Jess Dee, Rhian Cahill, Jayne Rylon, Valerie Tibbs, Jambrea Jo Jones, JR Patrick, T from Ebook Addicts and myself. We like to refer to ourselves as the Dirty Dozen. LOL.

Today, we're kicking off the Genre Days festivities with PARANORMAL books. There will be lots of excerpts each day and a daily prize. I hope you'll check it out here.

Saturday Snippet

This week's theme is Freaks Come out at Night (bad boys of night). When I thought of this theme, I immediately remembered a hot little scene in Everything Nice from Ellora's Cave . Everything Nice is the sequel to Sugar and Spice and it was my very first foray into the world of m/m/f menages. This scene is the first moment where they both realize they want Allie.

Snippet

Taylor leaned closer to Allie, and Charlie struggled to take a breath. Allie's chair was backed into a corner with the two of them flanking her, partially hiding her from the room as a whole. The table was covered with a long cloth that Charlie noticed was shielding Taylor's roving hand from the view of every occupant in the bar, except for him.

"Taylor," he muttered quickly, intending his word to be a protest, a warning, but well aware his tone fell short of that mark.

Taylor grinned at him as his hand drifted over Allie's skirt and he gave him a look that couldn't be misconstrued as anything less than a dare. What did his friend expect? That he'd cuss him out? Start a fight? Walk away?

Charlie glanced down and Taylor gripped Allie's bare knee with his right hand, while his eyes never left Charlie's face. The short skirt she was wearing only covered her to mid-thigh. As Taylor's hand crept up her leg, Charlie looked up at her face, expecting to see and hear her refusal at being touched so intimately in a public place.

He was shocked by the look of desire in her eyes. She wanted Taylor to touch her. Charlie was blown away by the realization and again he felt like an outsider, but he couldn't move from the table, couldn't leave them alone, even if it was the proper, polite thing to do.

"Get your hand off her, Taylor." His voice was quiet, but only a fool wouldn't hear the anger.

Taylor's fingers traveled along the hem of her skirt before disappearing beneath the lacy garment.

"It doesn't have to be either-or," Taylor whispered, still looking at him.

Charlie watched as a lovely flush colored her porcelain cheeks and he heard her soft intake of breath.

"Allie," Charlie said, determined to save her if that's what she wanted. One look at her proved she wasn't opposed to Taylor's touch.

"You're so soft and warm,"Taylor murmured, turning to look at her with a gentle smile. Then, to Charlie's shock, his friend spoke to him. "Touch her, Charlie."

Charlie shook his head as too many things came crashing down on him at once. For one, he and Taylor hadn't used each other's first names since the sixth grade. Secondly, it sounded as if his best friend was suggesting they both stick their hands up Allie Brooks' skirt.

Charlie looked back at Allie. Her breathing was labored and Charlie could tell Taylorwas definitely hitting the right buttons below her waist. Just how far had his hand traveled?

"Do it,"Taylor repeated and, as he spoke, Allie's gaze traveled to him. Rather than panic or fear, she offered him a sweet, inviting smile.

"Please," she whispered.

"God dammit, Allie," Charlie muttered, but before he could say more, she interrupted him.

"I want you to touch me, Charlie. I want you and Alex to touch me," she stated simply.

Everything Nice is available at Ellora's Cave, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, Kobo and All Romance Ebooks.

Want more snippets?

Megan Hart:Read in bed!

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Leah Braemel

Shiloh Walker

TJ Michaels

Zoë Archer

Delilah Devlin

My Sweet Succubus releases today with Ellora's Cave as the next installment of the My Immortal Knight series. It's strange, really, thinking about this series. The first MIK was published back in 2003, and while I never considered it as anything but a standalone book, readers wanted Quentin's story. So I wrote another, and another, and another… And even though I take breaks to write other things, many other series, I still come back to the MIKS like they're old friends I have to catch up with. If readers still want more, I'll keep writing them because the characters live in my head and my heart.

If you've never read any of the MIK series, you might want to start with All Hallows Heartbreakers, which is being offered for free for a limited time only. Just click on the link for more information. However, if you'd like something quick and fun, you don't have to start at the beginning to enjoy My Sweet Succubus. Here's a peek…

Melanie Bradshaw is driven to horny desperation by her torrid dreams. When she finally acts on her desires, things go horribly wrong and she witnesses the murder of an overly amorous lounge lizard—whose body disintegrates before her eyes.

Detective Moses Brown isn't thrilled to get another "full-moon case"…until he meets the delectable Melanie, who took a walk on the wild side straight into vampire territory. Moses doesn't know why vamps are interested in her, but until he can find out, he's going to stick to her like glue, doing his best to ignore their instant attraction.

But pretty little Melanie has designs on his body. Her hunger for sex is voracious, even downright insatiable. How's a brother to resist?

Excerpt:

Moses Brown poured a cup of coffee, grimacing at the black tar slurping into his mug. Still, it might give him a jolt, and after the night he'd had, he could sure use it. He wrinkled his nose, smacked his lips and took a sip.

A hand slapped his shoulder and he took a bigger gulp than he'd intended, choking down the bitter brew. He aimed a glare over his shoulder.

Finny Boone, his partner, grinned. "That pot's been brewin' most of the night. You really must be desperate. Just get back?"

Moses grunted and lifted his cup again. "You get the statement from the liquor store owner?"

"All wrapped up. The DA's got everything she needs for a B&E charge. No thanks to you."

Finny's green eyes narrowed, studying his expression. "Better I don't ask?"

Moses hated being cagey with Finny, but some things were best kept on the down low. "Yeah. One of those nights." The less Finny knew about his other, unsanctioned activities, the better. The last time he'd let a partner enter the dark world, he'd lost him to a vampire's bite. "Does it look like we'll get outta here on time?"

"Huh, are you kidding?" Finny waved a folder. "Tonight's a goddamn full moon."

Moses groaned inwardly. "What happened?"

"Don't know exactly, but the victim's pretty rattled. I put her in interrogation room one. Saved her just for you." Finny's red eyebrows waggled.

Which meant that not only was this a full-moon case, but the woman was pretty. Finny had been trying to set him up with a girlfriend ever since Sidney Coffey, his former "friend with benefits", left Seattle with her new lover.

Finny didn't get the fact that Moses was okay now. Sure, he'd had a thing for Sidney for a long time, but she was happy with the vampire master Navarro. And Navarro was cool, even if he was a bloodsucker.

The truth was, not until after Sidney had been seduced away had Moses realized he didn't really love her. Sidney was smart and funny, and a Molotov-fucking-cocktail in the sack, but he'd recovered way too fast for their relationship to be the real thing. He wished Finny would stop trying to cheer him up. Despite what his buddy thought, Moses' dick wasn't going to shrivel up and fall off just because he wasn't getting any ass.

Eyeing the file, Moses blew out a breath. "The other guys hear any of the woman's story?"

Finny winked. "Like always, I cut her off as soon as it got crazy. They were pretty damn disappointed when I herded her away. You know how much they get a good laugh every time one of your special cases walks in."

Special cases. Nutjobs was what they really thought. Every one of them, including Finny, wondered what higher up he'd pissed off to get the full-moon cases. However, there were a few well-placed people inside the force who knew what was really going on in Seattle after dark.

Moses had been handpicked—after his former partner was turned in front of his eyes. Stifling a sigh, Moses took another shot of high-octane sludge. The sooner he figured out if there was anything to the woman's story, the sooner he could get some shuteye.

"Need any help?" Finny asked, his eyes alight with curiosity.

Moses shook his head. "Just make sure no one comes in to watch from the other side of the mirror, buddy."

Finny shrugged. "One of these days…"

"Believe me, Finn. You really don't wanna know."

Finny slapped the file folder against his chest and walked away.

Moses flipped it open, noted the woman's name and not much more before he ambled down the hall to the room beside interrogation room one. He let himself inside and stood in the dark, gazing through the glass at the brunette with the chalky face, wanting to take her measure before he joined her, wanting to see whether she looked crazy, bored or like an attention-seeker.

Eyeing her through the glass, Moses decided she didn't need to create an elaborate story to get anyone to listen. And she was anything but bored, based on the way her gaze darted around the room. The woman was definitely spooked. And crazy? Well, he'd have to talk to her to figure that one out. Still, he stood on the other side of the mirror, giving her more than a professional perusal.

Despite her pallor and the pinched set of her mouth, she was a beauty. Melanie Bradshaw wasn't model-pretty, and she wasn't Sidney's hard-edged cute. The woman seated at the ugly gray metal table, biting a fingernail, was delicate—small-boned with an oval face, shoulder-length hair, large brown eyes and lush lips.

Arousal stirred, and Moses cupped himself, rearranging his dick so he didn't scare the little woman half to death when he went inside. She wore dark jeans and a soft brown sweater that molded over her slight curves. As he watched, she pulled down the cuffs to her fingers as though her hands were cold, and then gripped the pendant that rested over her pretty little breasts, a large red stone framed in gold. Her bottom lip trembled.

No, she didn't look like a nutjob. She looked good and scared.

Again he opened the folder and flipped through the pages to her statement, scanning it quickly then cussed to himself.

No, she wasn't crazy. Not even a little. Melanie Bradshaw had strayed straight into his "special case" zone. She'd had an encounter of the creepy kind.

And she'd met Viper.

Looked like Moses wasn't going to get any rest until he figured out why.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed! DD

Get in bed with Delilah. Everyone else has!

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Pub Crawl Prizes

Thanks to everyone who helped me celebrate the release of Screwdriver this week! I had a blast on the Pub Crawl. I *think* I contacted and sent prizes to all of the daily winners. However I'm also getting old and forgetful, so if I missed you, please contact me. I don't want anyone left out.

March 12 - Desiree Holt - Daily winner is Susan R.

March 13 - Lexxie Couper - Daily winner is elaing8

March 14 - Smutketeers - Daily winner is menina.iscrazy

March 15 - NJ Walters - Daily winner is Mai

March 16 - Jayne Rylon - Daily winner is Lisa B.

March 17 - International Heat - Daily winner is Denise Kyle

March 18 - Kelly Jamieson - Daily winner is JoAnna

March 19 - Cari Quinn - Daily winner is Taryn Elliott

And the Grand Prize winner is Suzanne Bischoff! Suzanne–I'll be in contact about your prize.

As for me, next releases will hit in May. Because It's True, the final book in the Just Because trilogy, will release May 29. I also think (hope) the first book in my Foreign Affairs series with Lexxie Couper, Misplaced Princess, will release. Lexxie and I will have to cook up something fun to countdown to that release.