Samantha MacLeod's Blog, page 18
October 19, 2017
Cover Reveal: Claiming Thor’s Hammer
I’m delighted to show you the cover for Claiming Thor’s Hammer, my M/M/M erotic short story featuring Thor and Loki in a fantastically naughty re-telling of the Thrymskvida.
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Thanks to Teresa Conner for making me yet another smokin’ hot cover. 
October 17, 2017
Advance Review Copies Available!
Want to get an early look at Claiming Thor’s Hammer, my erotic M/M/M take on a traditional Norse myth?
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Of course you do!
The story comes out on November 3rd, but drop me a line and I can send you an Advance Review Copy on the 20th in exchange for your honest review.
The ARC request form is right here, my friends!
October 13, 2017
Book Review: Betrayal by Danielle Hardgrave
I’ve read a lot of authors who can write amazingly sensual, passionate erotic scenes and create awesome, slow-burn sexual tension.
But I’ve never read anyone who can blend that kind of sexual chemistry with actual laugh-out-loud humor like Danielle Hardgrave.
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I loved the first two books of Hardgrave’s Unnatural Alliances series (check out my reviews of To Trust a Wolf and Sleuthing with the Enemy), which mix vampires, werewolves, Norse mythology, and an absolutely crackling sense of humor.
In Betrayal, the first book of the Sea Assassins Trilogy, Hardgrave takes the idea of sexy shifters and runs with it… all the way into the ocean.
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The book opens with Darcy Davis stumbling across an injured, naked, and (natch) super hot man on an isolated stretch of beach. Darcy, of course, does what any of us would do: She calls him “flotsam” and pulls out her cell phone to get an ambulance up in there..until he offers to pay her enough money to cover the tuition costs for her younger sister.
Darcy and Gabriel – the mysterious, naked man – are such convincing and realistic characters that, by the time Gabriel is forced to reveal his true identity as a shape-shifting shark assassin, it seems totally plausible. And the chemistry between them is so palpable that I cheered out loud when the lights finally went out (even if it was because a storm knocked out the electricity).
Add in the dozen or so lines that made me snort laughter over my Kindle, and you have the kind of book that kept making my husband look at me and say, “What the heck are you reading?”
To which I could happily respond: “Shape-shifting shark assassin romance.”
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And it’s every bit as delicious as it sounds, my friends.
You can find your own copy of Betrayal on Amazon, just in time for the weekend!
Like what you’ve read? Join my newsletter and I’ll send you a free copy of Tam Lin, my sexy modern take on the Scottish folktale.
October 10, 2017
Sneak Peek at Thor’s Hammer
My fantastically naughty M/M/M Thor and Loki short story comes out in early November.
But you don’t want to wait, do you?
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Here’s a little something to keep you going…
Claiming Thor’s Hammer ~ Sneak Peek
“Loki, I will kill you for this.”
“If this doesn’t work, you go right ahead,” I said, with a grin. “Although I have to say, you do make a lovely bride.”
Thor growled, and his grip on the reins tightened until his knuckles paled. Thunder crashed somewhere in the distance. I must have touched a nerve.
“White really is your color,” I added. I never could resist provoking him. He was just so damn cute when he was angry.
“If you don’t shut the fuck up right now, I will break every bone in your pathetic body.”
“And then how will you recover Mjölnir?”
Our eyes met. By the Nine Realms, he was pissed off. I guess I couldn’t exactly blame him. Thor the Thunderer was dressed in miles of fluffy white tulle, an enormous bridal crown, and what may have been the most obnoxious wedding veil in existence. I’d insisted on the sequins, claiming they would distract Thrym. And hide Thor’s giant beard, which he straight up refused to shave.
But honestly, all the sparkles were just plain funny.
“I’m still not too clear on how you lost Mjölnir in the first place,” I said, watching him out of the corner of my eye.
His lips pressed together, forming a tight white line. No matter. He was terrible at keeping secrets; I’d get it out of him eventually. If he could even remember. I heard he’d come back to Asgard so drunk the night he lost his hammer Mjölnir that he’d fallen off his goat-drawn chariot and passed out in a corner of his stable.
Seriously. How he could be Óðinn’s son and not hold his liquor was beyond me.
When he woke up covered in hay and goat shit, with a splitting hangover and no Mjölnir, he blamed me. Naturally. But this time, at least, I was innocent. Although it took a conference with Óðinn to get the rest of the Æsir to believe me.
Óðinn’s ravens finally found Thor’s precious hammer. In the arms of Thrym the Jötunn, the very person Thor was fighting the night Mjölnir vanished. Thor insisted Thrym hadn’t defeated him. Very loudly. Boneheaded oaf that he was, Thor then offered to travel, alone and unarmed, to Thrym’s castle to retrieve his hammer.
Great idea, I said. Of course Thrym wouldn’t take advantage of that situation by launching his entire army against Thor, defeating him, and leaving the rest of us without our strongest defender. Thor looked at me like the mere concept of treachery was completely unfamiliar to him.
Like I said, he’s not very good at keeping secrets.
Want more Thor?
If you’d like to receive a free copy of this story in exchange for an honest review, do let me know.
Like what you’ve read? Join my newsletter and I’ll send you a free copy of Tam Lin, my sexy modern take on the Scottish folktale.
October 6, 2017
Book Review: Turning Tables by Torrance Sené
Wow.
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If you think you’ve read every possible variation on werewolves and vampires, let me assure you – you have not.
This lovely little piece of erotica manages to weave an entire supernatural world around werewolf Kayla Hart, the sole wolf in a coven of vampires, and the ruthlessly beautiful vampire leader Monica Juarez. Kayla has discovered a traitor within the coven, but it’s no easy task to convince Monica of her findings – or to resolve the smoldering sexual tension between them.
[image error]And that cover! DAMN!!!
Turning Tables is a short story, but it kept me guessing until the last line…and now I want more!
You can pick up your very own copy right here.
Like what you’ve read? Join my newsletter and I’ll send you a free copy of Tam Lin, my sexy modern take on the Scottish folktale.
October 5, 2017
Cover Reveal: The Night Watch
It’s true… I’ve finally written something that’s not inspired by Norse mythology.
It’s called The Night Watch, and it’s a fantasy romance about Prince Liam and the knight Cerdec. Once they cared deeply for one another, but that was before Liam was sent to The Academy for years of rigorous magical training.
Will their feelings for one another survive a long absence and new, adult responsibilities?
And more importantly, what does the cover look like?!?
[image error]Gorgeous, huh?
And here’s the blurb:
When Prince Liam returns to his kingdom after five years away, there’s only one person he wants desperately to see: Cerdec, his closest friend since childhood. But Cerdec is now a knight sworn to protect the kingdom, and Liam fears he is the only one who remembers their stolen moments together.
Newly-sworn knight Cerdec has had no shortage of lovers since Liam left, but he’s never felt as close to them as he once felt to the prince. Now that Liam has returned, Cerdec is prepared to serve as his personal guard, even if the position torments his with longing he’s terrified to voice.
Even if it means he must welcome and protect the bride Liam’s father has selected.
The Night Watch comes out November 29, but you can pre-order your very own copy right here!
Like what you’ve read? Join my newsletter and I’ll send you a free copy of Tam Lin, my sexy modern take on the Scottish folktale.
October 3, 2017
Revise, Revise, Revise, and then Revise Some More
I’m actually a pretty fast writer.
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Given thirty freaking minutes of free time (usually before the rest of the family wakes up in the morning, or after my classes when I’m chillin’ in a coffee shop), and I can usually bang out about 1,000 words. (My college students think this is impossible. It’s not, my young padawans.)
But writing the first draft is the easy part, at least for me. After that comes The Revisions, when I stare at my computer blankly for ten minutes, then go to thesaurus.com, and then seriously consider abandoning writing altogether.
So what the hell am I doing during The Revisions?
Lemme show you, my friend…
Here’s a line from my WIP (work in progress). This is the Fenris story, which you won’t be seeing for a long time – as I said, I’m slow!
Fenris eased back slightly, allowing King Nøkkyn to scramble to his feet. He was pale and angry.
Okay, not terrible, right? But not great. The first sentence is solid, but the second sentence needs work.
First of all, how does the first-person narrator know King Nøkkyn is angry? We can’t get inside his head. And second, angry is a little weak. Nøkkyn is a bad dude, the closest thing to a villan I’ve written. Angry just doesn’t cut it.
So this is what I changed.
Fenris eased back slightly, allowing King Nøkkyn to scramble to his feet. He looked pale, and almost incandescent with rage.
Yeah, better. But still not good enough. It’s a bit clunky, and that “almost” weakens the awesome “incandescent with rage” line. How about…
Fenris eased back slightly, allowing King Nøkkyn to scramble to his feet, his pinched, white face incandescent with rage.
Alright! Now that’s a sentence!
I just need to do that with the other 45,000 words – oh, and finish the story – then line edit, and we’re good to go. 
October 1, 2017
Author Interview with Elle Middaugh
The fabulous Elle Middaugh, author of the The Essential Elements series, took a break from her busy writing schedule to interview me on her blog.
If you’re dying to know which fantastical being I’d like to be, or what three fictional characters I’d pick to join me during the zombie apocalypse…
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Check out my interview right here!
Like what you’ve read? Join my newsletter and I’ll send you a free copy of Tam Lin, my sexy modern take on the Scottish folktale.
September 28, 2017
Other Highways: An Erotic Poem
Driving at night
the desert
swells and crests,
undulates beneath my tires
like a lover,
rising to meet
my hand.
And I respond,
following the arc
of your breasts,
riding the ridgeline
of your hips,
seeking the dark scattering
of piñon pines
sheltered in the cleft
of your thighs.
I am not
the first
to hug these
particular curves,
to follow your dark trails
beneath the cold glitter
of stars.
We’ve both known
other lovers,
other lips,
other highways.
We’ll know them again.
But tonight,
this dark,
soft night,
it is enough
to ride.
***
This is my first attempt at erotic poetry, inspired by my summer trip to Colorado. There really is something deeply sensual about the American Southwest – just ask Georgia O’Keeffe!
September 26, 2017
Claiming Thor’s Hammer
I’ve outdone myself.
Until this summer, the naughtiest thing I’d ever written was That One Scene in Honeymoon (which you can read on Janine Ashbless’s blog).
But this summer I decided a gender-swapping Loki/Caroline scene just didn’t go far enough. Plus, I’ve always loved the Thrymskvida story where Thor disguises himself as Freyja to recover his lost hammer, and my husband kept saying I should do something with Thor…
Put it all together, and you get Claiming Thor’s Hammer, a decidedly wicked little short story.
When can you get your hands on it, you ask?
November 3!
I hear there’s also a movie coming out that day…
