Cindy A. Matthews's Blog, page 5
June 19, 2015
My Sexy Best from Brandi Courts Disaster!
This week’s theme of My Sexy Saturday is Our Sexy Best. The second line from Tina Turner's song The Best really carries this theme: Better than all the rest. This line is what this theme is all about.
This theme has no genre, no rules except that the characters know their other half is better than all the rest. They may have had lovers before but nothing compares to the lover they are with now.
I thought I'd demonstrate this "Better than all the rest" theme with a short excerpt from a work-in-progress. Currently I'm finishing up the "last three chapters" (chapters 8 - 10) in the continuing saga of Brandi Whyne. Brandi has been through a lot (and slept with her fair share of sex partners) as a junior pilot/ship's disciplinarian aboard the space pirate vessel, the Pulsating Purple Parsnip, but if there's one lover she absolutely adores above all others it's her captain, Robin Manhood.
Here's the general synopsis of the serial:
What do you get when Star Wars meets Sherwood Forest? Mix in a little Fanny Hill and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and you get Brandi Whyne and Her Incredibly Erotic Adventures (with Robin Manhood and His Totally Sexed-Out Space Pirates). With a series title that long, you know it’s going to be filled with loads of laughs, tons of sci-fi fun and plenty of hot sex!
You can find purchase links to the first seven chapters in The Incredibly Erotic Adventures of Brandi Whyne at eXtasy Books: http://www.extasybooks.com/brandi-whyne
You can read excerpts from the serial at Brandi's own blog site:
http://brandi-whyne.blogspot.com
The synopsis of my work-in-progress, Chapter 8, Brandi Courts Disaster:
In Chapter 8, the space pirates long to discover what K.R.A.P.P. and the android Marian are up to, but first Brandi needs to discipline Willie for fibbing about his past. A little demonstration and another great orgy later, the Triple P arrives at Old Terra and comes under attack. Can Brandi and company out-prank a prankster, survive a crash landing, and pull the plug on henpecked King Ricardo’s evil queen before it’s too late?
An excerpt from chapter 8, Brandi Courts Disaster, in which Brandi--acting as ship's disciplinarian--attempts to teach their less-than-truthful second in commander a lesson with a little help from her lover, Captain Robin Manhood, at an orgy :
“Please disrobe, Captain. You will help me illustrate the importance of truthfulness to Commander Dickinson.”
“As you wish.” Robin chuckled as he shimmied out of his trousers. His dark eyes flashed wickedly, revealing his enormous erection. “How may I help you, Counselor Brandi?”
Goddess above! Did I ever love my lover’s cock! Sure, I had had the pleasure of being fucked by the vast majority of the crew and others sentient beings since I became Robin Manhood’s junior pilot, but no thing or no body could compare to the dashing site of masculinity that greeted me with his saluting penis at that moment. I realized that I was the luckiest girl in the galaxy to have such a handsome and open-minded lover.
“Sit down in the chair.” I wiggled my hips suggestively as I approached him, straddling and impaling myself on his cum-glistened cock. I began to gently rock back and forth, tossing back my hair and purring, “Hmm, yes, that’s it. Fondle my ass and suck my nipples the way I like.”
Robin chuckled and quickly obeyed. “Yes, ma’am!”
I squealed with delight. The room definitely was heating up. My vocalizations joined the in the chorus of moans and sighs as the discipline session became an all-out orgy. Everyone seemed to be enjoying himself or herself or itself except for Scarlet Willie. He sat back on his haunches and began to whine. “Oh, I’m all alone at an orgy, I’m handcuffed, and yet everybody is ignoring me!” I slowly corkscrewed my hips around Robin’s cock, savoring the pleasurable sensations deep in my cunt. “You have only yourself to blame, Willie,” I said at last taking pity on his dilemma. “If you’d been honest with us all along about your royal connections, we commoners wouldn’t be so ticked off at you.”
Chapter 8, Brandi Courts Disaster will be released August 15, 2015, from eXtasy Books. http://www.extasybooks.com/brandi-whyne
Chapters 9 and 10 should follow in September and October.
Be sure to subscribe to my new and improved monthly e-newsletter via the form on the sidebar. (All I need is your email address and your first name if you like.) This summer, I'm featuring suggestions for summer reads in my newsletters--some of them free reads. :-)
Enjoy My Sexy Saturday!
http://mysexysaturday.blogspot.com
This theme has no genre, no rules except that the characters know their other half is better than all the rest. They may have had lovers before but nothing compares to the lover they are with now.
I thought I'd demonstrate this "Better than all the rest" theme with a short excerpt from a work-in-progress. Currently I'm finishing up the "last three chapters" (chapters 8 - 10) in the continuing saga of Brandi Whyne. Brandi has been through a lot (and slept with her fair share of sex partners) as a junior pilot/ship's disciplinarian aboard the space pirate vessel, the Pulsating Purple Parsnip, but if there's one lover she absolutely adores above all others it's her captain, Robin Manhood.
Here's the general synopsis of the serial:What do you get when Star Wars meets Sherwood Forest? Mix in a little Fanny Hill and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and you get Brandi Whyne and Her Incredibly Erotic Adventures (with Robin Manhood and His Totally Sexed-Out Space Pirates). With a series title that long, you know it’s going to be filled with loads of laughs, tons of sci-fi fun and plenty of hot sex!
You can find purchase links to the first seven chapters in The Incredibly Erotic Adventures of Brandi Whyne at eXtasy Books: http://www.extasybooks.com/brandi-whyne
You can read excerpts from the serial at Brandi's own blog site:
http://brandi-whyne.blogspot.com
The synopsis of my work-in-progress, Chapter 8, Brandi Courts Disaster:
In Chapter 8, the space pirates long to discover what K.R.A.P.P. and the android Marian are up to, but first Brandi needs to discipline Willie for fibbing about his past. A little demonstration and another great orgy later, the Triple P arrives at Old Terra and comes under attack. Can Brandi and company out-prank a prankster, survive a crash landing, and pull the plug on henpecked King Ricardo’s evil queen before it’s too late?
An excerpt from chapter 8, Brandi Courts Disaster, in which Brandi--acting as ship's disciplinarian--attempts to teach their less-than-truthful second in commander a lesson with a little help from her lover, Captain Robin Manhood, at an orgy :
“Please disrobe, Captain. You will help me illustrate the importance of truthfulness to Commander Dickinson.”
“As you wish.” Robin chuckled as he shimmied out of his trousers. His dark eyes flashed wickedly, revealing his enormous erection. “How may I help you, Counselor Brandi?”
Goddess above! Did I ever love my lover’s cock! Sure, I had had the pleasure of being fucked by the vast majority of the crew and others sentient beings since I became Robin Manhood’s junior pilot, but no thing or no body could compare to the dashing site of masculinity that greeted me with his saluting penis at that moment. I realized that I was the luckiest girl in the galaxy to have such a handsome and open-minded lover.
“Sit down in the chair.” I wiggled my hips suggestively as I approached him, straddling and impaling myself on his cum-glistened cock. I began to gently rock back and forth, tossing back my hair and purring, “Hmm, yes, that’s it. Fondle my ass and suck my nipples the way I like.”
Robin chuckled and quickly obeyed. “Yes, ma’am!”
I squealed with delight. The room definitely was heating up. My vocalizations joined the in the chorus of moans and sighs as the discipline session became an all-out orgy. Everyone seemed to be enjoying himself or herself or itself except for Scarlet Willie. He sat back on his haunches and began to whine. “Oh, I’m all alone at an orgy, I’m handcuffed, and yet everybody is ignoring me!” I slowly corkscrewed my hips around Robin’s cock, savoring the pleasurable sensations deep in my cunt. “You have only yourself to blame, Willie,” I said at last taking pity on his dilemma. “If you’d been honest with us all along about your royal connections, we commoners wouldn’t be so ticked off at you.”
Chapter 8, Brandi Courts Disaster will be released August 15, 2015, from eXtasy Books. http://www.extasybooks.com/brandi-whyne
Chapters 9 and 10 should follow in September and October.
Be sure to subscribe to my new and improved monthly e-newsletter via the form on the sidebar. (All I need is your email address and your first name if you like.) This summer, I'm featuring suggestions for summer reads in my newsletters--some of them free reads. :-)
Enjoy My Sexy Saturday!
http://mysexysaturday.blogspot.com
June 1, 2015
4 Star Review of Playing with the Past!
"Smoking hot" is how the first title in the Time Surfer series is described at the TBR Pile reviews. Read the 4 star review at the link below:http://thetbrpile.weebly.com/reviews/giveaway-playing-with-the-past-by-celine-chatillon
And don't forget, you can get all three books at the best price from eXtasy Books: http://www.extasybooks.com/the-time-surfer
The Time Surfer series follows the adventures of Shelby, a recent divorcee. Shelby doesn't believe that Quentin is from the future when she first meets him, but she's more than willing to let that slide because he's so sexy. Throughout their travels in the past, present and future, Shelby and Quentin come to love and trust each other, all the while sharing some very erotic and exotic experiences.
May 18, 2015
She's coming--again (and again!)
This blog has been hijacked by a space pirate. And now a word from Ms. Brandi Whyne:
Heads up, darlings... I've whipped my ghost writer Celine into shape and told her to get back to work on my memoirs. Two more chapters are currently in the works. Tentative release date of the first title is August 15, 2015 from eXtasy Books.
Chapter 8 is entitled Brandi Courts Disaster and takes place on Old Terra in the court of King Ricardo the Party Pooper. That doesn't mean Brandi and the gang of space pirates won't have fun, because we all know that Brandi can have fun no matter what the circumstances (or who she has to go to bed with). ;)
Chapter 9 is called To Lay the Dirty Queen and that's sort of what happens...along with a few other things. Brandi will start putting two-and-two together and come up with group sex--or at least answers to some of the questions she and Robin Manhood have been searching for throughout the sexually repressed galaxy.
If you need to catch up with all the sci-fi/fantasy/comedic erotic-romantic action so far, check out chapters 1 - 7 at eXtasy Books. They've been having some very good sales on ebooks lately, so buy now and buy in bulk. You know I appreciate it. ;)
Here's the link to the entire series/serial so far:
http://www.extasybooks.com/brandi-whyne
Until later, be good--or at least be nice to your lovers!
Brandi
X X X
Heads up, darlings... I've whipped my ghost writer Celine into shape and told her to get back to work on my memoirs. Two more chapters are currently in the works. Tentative release date of the first title is August 15, 2015 from eXtasy Books.
Chapter 8 is entitled Brandi Courts Disaster and takes place on Old Terra in the court of King Ricardo the Party Pooper. That doesn't mean Brandi and the gang of space pirates won't have fun, because we all know that Brandi can have fun no matter what the circumstances (or who she has to go to bed with). ;)
Chapter 9 is called To Lay the Dirty Queen and that's sort of what happens...along with a few other things. Brandi will start putting two-and-two together and come up with group sex--or at least answers to some of the questions she and Robin Manhood have been searching for throughout the sexually repressed galaxy.
If you need to catch up with all the sci-fi/fantasy/comedic erotic-romantic action so far, check out chapters 1 - 7 at eXtasy Books. They've been having some very good sales on ebooks lately, so buy now and buy in bulk. You know I appreciate it. ;)
Here's the link to the entire series/serial so far:
http://www.extasybooks.com/brandi-whyne
Until later, be good--or at least be nice to your lovers!
Brandi
X X X
April 17, 2015
My Sexy Saturday -- an excerpt from Thinker, Sailor, Vampire, Spy
Welcome to the My Sexy Saturday blog hop. This weekend's theme is "Sexy's Got You, Babe" and is based upon the old Sonny and Cher song, I’ve Got You, Babe. This is all about the lovers who are always there for each other. Their external odds maybe be insurmountable, or seem that way, yet they have one another held firmly in their love.
I've chosen seven paragraphs from my latest release, Thinker, Sailor, Vampire, Spy, to illustrate this theme. Anna is a relatively young vampire who is uncertain that starting a relationship and possibly siring another vampire is what she wants. But Leonid is persuasive that he's "got her"--that is, he wants her and cares about her and wants to be with her no matter what. How can Anna resist?
Thinker, Sailor, Vampire, Spy
Book 5 in the Kindred Vampires series
Can British MI agent Anna Nightingale rescue a kidnapped scientist from the Soviets, clear her friend's name, save her lovers, and come to terms with her vampire heritage?
1949: Anna Nightingale accepts a mission to clear a fellow vampire’s name after he and his human lover, Professor Sorensen, vanish. On board the True North, Anna finds romance with Captain Sokoloff, a man who desires to become a vampire. Once at the hidden Soviet lab, an evil genie and two rogue vampires force Anna and team member Smitty into an intimate situation that brings forth Smitty’s latent telepathic powers. But can their combined thoughts destroy the djinn and release them all from its hold before it’s too late?
Excerpt: Anna tells handsome sea captain Leonid Sokoloff that she doesn't want to risk turning him into a vampire, but he's not dissuaded.
“My poor, dear!” Leonid kissed her hands again and sighed. “I never thought how this change came about and how you may have suffered because of it. Forgive me. I am just overwhelmed by your beauty and your honesty.”
Anna gasped. Once again his directness won her over. “You think I’m beautiful and honest?”
“Of course. You do not hide your sentiments or your heart. You only want the best for others. That is truly beautiful, is it not?” He kissed her hands again and searched her face for a sign. “If things were different, if you were not as you are now, a mere mortal like I am, do you think you could ever love a man like me?”
“I could…I would…I want to, Leonid, but I’m afraid.”
“Don’t be. If you have the courage to take on spies and enemies, then have the courage to love a man and change him into a vampire or not as you will. I am willing to risk it if you are.”
So, this is what I’ve been denying myself all this time? Anna, you let your head rule your heart way too much. Live—or, at the very least, love a little. She smiled and licked her lips as her fangs slowly descended. “Your cabin or mine?” Once the blood lust began, it would not be denied.
Thinker, Sailor, Vampire, Spy is available from eXtasy Books.
http://www.extasybooks.com/Thinker-,-Sailor-,-Vampire-,-Spy/
Have a great My Sexy Saturday blog hop!
http://mysexysaturday.blogspot.com
I've chosen seven paragraphs from my latest release, Thinker, Sailor, Vampire, Spy, to illustrate this theme. Anna is a relatively young vampire who is uncertain that starting a relationship and possibly siring another vampire is what she wants. But Leonid is persuasive that he's "got her"--that is, he wants her and cares about her and wants to be with her no matter what. How can Anna resist?
Thinker, Sailor, Vampire, Spy
Book 5 in the Kindred Vampires series
Can British MI agent Anna Nightingale rescue a kidnapped scientist from the Soviets, clear her friend's name, save her lovers, and come to terms with her vampire heritage?
1949: Anna Nightingale accepts a mission to clear a fellow vampire’s name after he and his human lover, Professor Sorensen, vanish. On board the True North, Anna finds romance with Captain Sokoloff, a man who desires to become a vampire. Once at the hidden Soviet lab, an evil genie and two rogue vampires force Anna and team member Smitty into an intimate situation that brings forth Smitty’s latent telepathic powers. But can their combined thoughts destroy the djinn and release them all from its hold before it’s too late?
Excerpt: Anna tells handsome sea captain Leonid Sokoloff that she doesn't want to risk turning him into a vampire, but he's not dissuaded.
“My poor, dear!” Leonid kissed her hands again and sighed. “I never thought how this change came about and how you may have suffered because of it. Forgive me. I am just overwhelmed by your beauty and your honesty.”
Anna gasped. Once again his directness won her over. “You think I’m beautiful and honest?”
“Of course. You do not hide your sentiments or your heart. You only want the best for others. That is truly beautiful, is it not?” He kissed her hands again and searched her face for a sign. “If things were different, if you were not as you are now, a mere mortal like I am, do you think you could ever love a man like me?”
“I could…I would…I want to, Leonid, but I’m afraid.”
“Don’t be. If you have the courage to take on spies and enemies, then have the courage to love a man and change him into a vampire or not as you will. I am willing to risk it if you are.”
So, this is what I’ve been denying myself all this time? Anna, you let your head rule your heart way too much. Live—or, at the very least, love a little. She smiled and licked her lips as her fangs slowly descended. “Your cabin or mine?” Once the blood lust began, it would not be denied.
Thinker, Sailor, Vampire, Spy is available from eXtasy Books.
http://www.extasybooks.com/Thinker-,-Sailor-,-Vampire-,-Spy/
Have a great My Sexy Saturday blog hop!
http://mysexysaturday.blogspot.com
April 4, 2015
Coming soon... Vampires!
Coming April 15 from eXtasy Books...
Thinker, Sailor, Vampire, Spy
http://www.extasybooks.com/Thinker-,-Sailor-,-Vampire-,-Spy/
Book 5 in The Kindred Vampires series
Can MI agent Anna Nightingale rescue a kidnapped scientist from the Soviets, save both her lovers, and come to terms with her vampire heritage?
More about the Kindred Vampires series at eXtasy Books:
http://www.extasybooks.com/the-kindred/
You can meet Anna for the first time in Blood in Berlin:
http://www.extasybooks.com/blood-in-berlin/
Also coming soon, a print book featuring my contemporary vampires stories.
Clan Drakul: The Kindred Vampires will contain two complete stories, The Vampire Next Door and its prequel Blood Betrayal. Stay tuned for details.
Thinker, Sailor, Vampire, Spy
http://www.extasybooks.com/Thinker-,-Sailor-,-Vampire-,-Spy/
Book 5 in The Kindred Vampires series
Can MI agent Anna Nightingale rescue a kidnapped scientist from the Soviets, save both her lovers, and come to terms with her vampire heritage?
More about the Kindred Vampires series at eXtasy Books:
http://www.extasybooks.com/the-kindred/
You can meet Anna for the first time in Blood in Berlin:
http://www.extasybooks.com/blood-in-berlin/
Also coming soon, a print book featuring my contemporary vampires stories.
Clan Drakul: The Kindred Vampires will contain two complete stories, The Vampire Next Door and its prequel Blood Betrayal. Stay tuned for details.
March 28, 2015
Have you lost your mind? An excerpt from Losing Who
Cindy A. Matthews: Confessions of a Blonde Writer: Have you lost your mind? An excerpt from Losing Who
Would you like your significant other to be able to read your mind? Find out the advantages in this short romantic excerpt from my alter-ego's latest release, Losing Who. (Click on the link in the title above to read it at her blog. It's work friendly.)
March 10, 2015
We'll be seeing you at ConCoction and Millennicon!
http://www.mojocastle.com/losing-who.htmlIt's not often you get to crisscross a state and attend two sci-fi conventions within two weeks... Thank heavens! I just hope my health--and the weather--holds out. (Here that, winter? Be gone!)But winter is nearly over and hubby AJ Matthews and I are rarin' to get out there and meet some fellow fans and talk about science fiction and writing. We'll be at Cleveland ConCoction March 13-15 and Cincinnati's Millennicon March 20-22. We'll be on quite a few panels, so they'll be plenty of opportunities to chat.
I hope to take some photos and post them here and in my new and improved newsletter upon our return. So, don't be shy! Let us know you want your photo in the newsletter/blog and I'll snap it. My digital camera takes a fairly good shot with enough lighting. But if you shoot a photo with your camera/phone you can always email it to me.
I have print copies of my alter-ego's Loving Who and Leaving Who that I plan to autograph, at ConCoction. The third book in the trilogy, Losing Who, has been released this week in e-formats, too. Finally, I've completed the alien time traveler's John Smith and human companion Cici Connors' storyline......Or have I? I'm working on a story involving John and Cici that will become a free ebook gift for all my newsletter members. So, what have you got to lose? Sign up for the "Triple C Newsletter" below to receive your free book. And we'll be seeing you soon in the Buckeye State! O-H-I-O!
#mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */
Subscribe to my mailing list* indicates requiredEmail Address * First Name Last Name View previous campaigns.
February 24, 2015
Support Your Local “Pornographer” or Why Does Blogger Call My Blogs “Porn”?
Here's my upcoming book cover. Are you shocked?
You think you’re an average citizen following the rules of civilized society and then something hits you from out of the blue to convince you of your true criminal intent. Yesterday I opened an email from Blogger (Google) saying that my blog has “adult content” and that it can be taken down (or made “private” against my will) so that no one can see it but me unless "sexually explicit or graphic nude images or video" aren’t taken down by March 23, 2015.
Okay, my romantic fiction book covers feature mostly clothed individuals and any “skin” you see on my erotic-romance covers is legal at any beach or poolside in North America. My publishers make extra-sure our book covers aren’t breaking the rules of decent society so that Amazon and other online retailers won’t list our books. What’s the deal?
I went to a Blogger forum to ask for clarification. “Why were my particular blogs targeted for this treatment?” I asked, and this is the answer I received:
The policy is designed to remove porn from Blogger. It's a fuzzy policy.
Several questions from me (and others) later, and there was no one who could tell us what “pornography” our blogs contained or what Google means by “porn that it wants removed”. Frustrated, I stated, “I think there's just blatant censorship happening here.” And the reply to my statement was:
No, there really is a problem. You just make sure that your blog does not contribute.
I’m not saying that there are no blogs on Blogger that contain images or text that could be considered in violation of pornography laws of local jurisdictions—because there are millions of blogs out there and I’ve seen only a handful—but I am saying that indiscriminately labeling blogs with “adult content” as “porn” is painting a picture that many bloggers are somehow social deviants and possible criminals who produce “porn” for an unsuspecting audience. Does this mean our readers are “deviants”, too?
I don’t know about you, but I despise being labeled with a word that carries so much hate and negativity such as “pornographer”. I hate not being able to defend myself and my writings against a faceless corporation who gladly takes our advertising revenue but tells us what we can or cannot post. Why am I and other bloggers being labeled “guilty until proven innocent”? Isn’t Google located in the United States of America? I thought it was “innocent until proven guilty” here. My mistake!
I take the statement, “Make sure that your blog does not contribute,” to mean that at least some of my blogs contain “porn” and, essentially, Google is prepared to censor all blogs it feels qualifies as such. So, what is exactly constitutes “porn” for Google, Inc., and how are they measuring these “adult content” blogs for “porn”? Are they using a computer algorithm or program? A human being with half a brain? A political group with an agenda?
And what exactly is “adult content”? Adults read romantic fiction, so all romance novels could be labeled “adult content” in the broadest sense, including my PG rated books, but so could true crime novels with horrifically graphic murder scenes. You wouldn’t want your children reading those sorts of stories, would you? And non-fiction about war and war crimes…ugh! That’s not G rated stuff, is it?
Why am I hearing the Rev. Lovejoy’s wife from The Simpsons crying, “Think of the children!” over and over in my head?
Why aren’t parents doing their jobs and keeping the kids off the computer and away from things they shouldn’t be seeing until their old enough to understand them? Why is Google so anxious to play “Net Nanny” for these lazy parents? Will they make money off of the exercise?
The more you think about it, the more abusive and potentially dangerous this new policy of Blogger sounds.
Do you believe Google, that is Blogger, has the right to censor blogs just because they (or whatever or whomever they’ve hired to screen blogs) consider them pornographic? Who gets to decide how narrow or how broad the definition of “porn” is when it comes to freedom of speech?
Please leave your comments below. And please sign up for my e-newsletter on the sidebar so we can keep in touch because you never know… This could be my last public blog post. I’m a “pornographer”, you know?
February 16, 2015
Please sign up for my new & improved e-newsletter
#mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */
Because I miss creating and sending out my monthly e-newsletter full of my latest book release news, excerpts, contest events, Q and A for writers and other fun stuff, I've started a new mailing list with the very cool MailChimp program. SORMAG publisher and all-around promo-diva, LaShaunda Hoffman, informs me this is the way to go nowadays to connect with readers. And if the smart and savvy LaShaunda says it works, I believe her! ;-) So, please sign up below and feel free to tell your friends, too. Thank you. Subscribe to my "Triple C" mailing list today!* indicates requiredEmail Address * First Name Last Name Powered by MailChimp
Because I miss creating and sending out my monthly e-newsletter full of my latest book release news, excerpts, contest events, Q and A for writers and other fun stuff, I've started a new mailing list with the very cool MailChimp program. SORMAG publisher and all-around promo-diva, LaShaunda Hoffman, informs me this is the way to go nowadays to connect with readers. And if the smart and savvy LaShaunda says it works, I believe her! ;-) So, please sign up below and feel free to tell your friends, too. Thank you. Subscribe to my "Triple C" mailing list today!* indicates requiredEmail Address * First Name Last Name Powered by MailChimpJanuary 18, 2015
Driving in England is now available at Devine Destinies Books.
It's a first! My husband and I wrote a book together (under my PG-rated romance pen name, Cynthianna), and here's an excerpt from it as well as the purchase link. Feel free to share the news with other readers of contemporary romance. Thank you!
Driving in England
http://www.devinedestinies.com/Driving-in-England/
by Cynthianna and A J Matthews
Susannah Koenig travels to England on an urgent mission to discover her boss’s relatives. Duncan Balfour, a renowned genealogist, doesn’t think he’d like to meet the woman who nags him online for help. Then he realizes he is the long lost relative Susannah’s boss is desperately searching for. Once the pair meet, they can’t deny their mutual attraction, but Duncan can’t help lying to her to protect his family’s reputation. Can Susannah pierce Duncan’s armor to find the loving man within and reveal the truth that could save a life?
From Chapter One, an excerpt from Driving in England:
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }
“Oh. My. God.” Susannah Koenig smothered a laugh behind a hand, staring at the headline splashed across her laptop’s screen. Unfrocked Vicar Eaten by Lion! She couldn’t believe her eyes. That kind of thing only happened in the movies or on some poorly written sit-coms—not in real life—and most certainly not in some staid English village circa 1932.
She rose from the sofa and walked away from the coffee table littered with the remains of half-eaten bagels, dusty genealogy volumes, and various papers she’d gathered over the past two weeks. There’s no way on earth I can tell the boss about his ancestor, the unfrocked vicar who was consumed by a large beast of prey. No way. I value my job too much.
But what could she do? Harold Spalding paid her good money to graph out his family tree in minute detail. How could she avoid mentioning the former Reverend Titus Spalding, a man accused of sexual misconduct who was stupid enough to stick his head in a lion’s gaping jaws?
“I can’t believe this.” She switched on the kitchen light and began automatically stacking dishes into the dishwasher. “Who in his right mind would knowingly walk into a lion’s cage at a circus to prove his innocence? In the twentieth century no less! The man was a first class idiot!”
Shit! The sudden realization of the horrible revelation hit her hard in the stomach. She gulped and put down the dish she was stacking. I can’t tell Mr. Spalding that he had a complete lunatic for a grandfather. It’ll kill him.
And then she’d be out of a job.
A very good position with responsibility and prestige, one that she had slaved and suffered long enough to land... Women hit the glass ceiling in the good ol’ boy oil industry all the time, so Susannah felt rightfully proud of her accomplishment, even if it had taken many years and more than a few gray hairs. Nothing was going to stand in her way of keeping her job until they forced her into retirement. Nothing.
“Damned if I do—damned if I don’t.” Susannah sighed. She could think of only one thing to get herself out of this dilemma. She needed help—professional help. She’d have to email that stuffy, stick-up-his-ass Duncan Balfour and ask for his assistance once again. Maybe the genealogist par excellencecould find some other worthy tidbits of information about the crazy vicar, suggest some way to sweeten the news, to make it more palatable for her boss to swallow?
“If I’m lucky, there might be two Reverend Titus Spaldings in England, and the boss is related to the more normal fella. Please, Lord, let that be the case!”
Swallowing her pride, and a few dry crumbs of bagel, she headed back to her laptop to email the uptight Brit.
Dear Mr. Balfour:
I’m in need of your assistance. I’m working on a genealogy project on behalf of my employer, Harold Spalding, and may have discovered a link in his family tree to a Reverend Titus Spalding of Understrand, Norfolk County, England. As I recall reading online, you’re a resident of the area. Could you check your own and local sources to enlighten me as to the true character of this individual? Could his name have been confused with any others of same or similar name? Your help in the past has been most appreciated, and I thank you in advance for this undertaking.
All the best,
Susannah Koenig
Tapping send, she glanced at the computer clock. Britain was six hours ahead of Texas, so Balfour would receive her missive first thing in the morning local time. Good enough. She’d check her email in the morning to see if the priggish academic felt her request for information worthy of an immediate reply.
Give the devil his due, Balfour always replies in a timely manner with hard factual material, even if his tone is patronizing. But somehow, Susannah got the impression the man found addressing a lowly American amateur beneath his dignity. Hadn’t she paid his fees promptly? Hadn’t she been businesslike and fair in all her dealings with the man?
Glass ceilings existed everywhere—in business, in genealogy circles, in life in general. In spite of the odds, she had marched forward, throwing herself against the walls of prejudice erected to keep women in their place, particularly women of a certain age as she had been labeled in the past few years. Her success had been hard won and all of her own doing. No silver spoons were ever placed in her mouth!
Susannah rolled her eyes heavenwards as she rose from the sofa. Some people! It’s like they don’t know what it’s like to earn a living. Spalding Oilfield Solutions paid her good money, and the chance to advance offered by the boss’s interest in her family tree hobby had been too good to ignore. She headed back to the kitchen to finish filling the dishwasher and sighed. “I just wish I didn’t have to depend on some old-money, snobby jackass I’ve never met in the flesh to get me through this rough patch.”
Driving in England
http://www.devinedestinies.com/Driving-in-England/
now available at Devine Destinies Books.
Driving in England
http://www.devinedestinies.com/Driving-in-England/
by Cynthianna and A J Matthews
Susannah Koenig travels to England on an urgent mission to discover her boss’s relatives. Duncan Balfour, a renowned genealogist, doesn’t think he’d like to meet the woman who nags him online for help. Then he realizes he is the long lost relative Susannah’s boss is desperately searching for. Once the pair meet, they can’t deny their mutual attraction, but Duncan can’t help lying to her to protect his family’s reputation. Can Susannah pierce Duncan’s armor to find the loving man within and reveal the truth that could save a life?
From Chapter One, an excerpt from Driving in England:
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }
“Oh. My. God.” Susannah Koenig smothered a laugh behind a hand, staring at the headline splashed across her laptop’s screen. Unfrocked Vicar Eaten by Lion! She couldn’t believe her eyes. That kind of thing only happened in the movies or on some poorly written sit-coms—not in real life—and most certainly not in some staid English village circa 1932.
She rose from the sofa and walked away from the coffee table littered with the remains of half-eaten bagels, dusty genealogy volumes, and various papers she’d gathered over the past two weeks. There’s no way on earth I can tell the boss about his ancestor, the unfrocked vicar who was consumed by a large beast of prey. No way. I value my job too much.
But what could she do? Harold Spalding paid her good money to graph out his family tree in minute detail. How could she avoid mentioning the former Reverend Titus Spalding, a man accused of sexual misconduct who was stupid enough to stick his head in a lion’s gaping jaws?
“I can’t believe this.” She switched on the kitchen light and began automatically stacking dishes into the dishwasher. “Who in his right mind would knowingly walk into a lion’s cage at a circus to prove his innocence? In the twentieth century no less! The man was a first class idiot!”
Shit! The sudden realization of the horrible revelation hit her hard in the stomach. She gulped and put down the dish she was stacking. I can’t tell Mr. Spalding that he had a complete lunatic for a grandfather. It’ll kill him.
And then she’d be out of a job.
A very good position with responsibility and prestige, one that she had slaved and suffered long enough to land... Women hit the glass ceiling in the good ol’ boy oil industry all the time, so Susannah felt rightfully proud of her accomplishment, even if it had taken many years and more than a few gray hairs. Nothing was going to stand in her way of keeping her job until they forced her into retirement. Nothing.
“Damned if I do—damned if I don’t.” Susannah sighed. She could think of only one thing to get herself out of this dilemma. She needed help—professional help. She’d have to email that stuffy, stick-up-his-ass Duncan Balfour and ask for his assistance once again. Maybe the genealogist par excellencecould find some other worthy tidbits of information about the crazy vicar, suggest some way to sweeten the news, to make it more palatable for her boss to swallow?
“If I’m lucky, there might be two Reverend Titus Spaldings in England, and the boss is related to the more normal fella. Please, Lord, let that be the case!”
Swallowing her pride, and a few dry crumbs of bagel, she headed back to her laptop to email the uptight Brit.
Dear Mr. Balfour:
I’m in need of your assistance. I’m working on a genealogy project on behalf of my employer, Harold Spalding, and may have discovered a link in his family tree to a Reverend Titus Spalding of Understrand, Norfolk County, England. As I recall reading online, you’re a resident of the area. Could you check your own and local sources to enlighten me as to the true character of this individual? Could his name have been confused with any others of same or similar name? Your help in the past has been most appreciated, and I thank you in advance for this undertaking.
All the best,
Susannah Koenig
Tapping send, she glanced at the computer clock. Britain was six hours ahead of Texas, so Balfour would receive her missive first thing in the morning local time. Good enough. She’d check her email in the morning to see if the priggish academic felt her request for information worthy of an immediate reply.
Give the devil his due, Balfour always replies in a timely manner with hard factual material, even if his tone is patronizing. But somehow, Susannah got the impression the man found addressing a lowly American amateur beneath his dignity. Hadn’t she paid his fees promptly? Hadn’t she been businesslike and fair in all her dealings with the man?
Glass ceilings existed everywhere—in business, in genealogy circles, in life in general. In spite of the odds, she had marched forward, throwing herself against the walls of prejudice erected to keep women in their place, particularly women of a certain age as she had been labeled in the past few years. Her success had been hard won and all of her own doing. No silver spoons were ever placed in her mouth!
Susannah rolled her eyes heavenwards as she rose from the sofa. Some people! It’s like they don’t know what it’s like to earn a living. Spalding Oilfield Solutions paid her good money, and the chance to advance offered by the boss’s interest in her family tree hobby had been too good to ignore. She headed back to the kitchen to finish filling the dishwasher and sighed. “I just wish I didn’t have to depend on some old-money, snobby jackass I’ve never met in the flesh to get me through this rough patch.”
Driving in England
http://www.devinedestinies.com/Driving-in-England/
now available at Devine Destinies Books.
