Lisa Fox's Blog, page 158
December 19, 2012
A Ghost for Christmas by Kacey Hammell
Kacey Hammell is here today sharing an excerpt from her latest release, A Ghost for Christmas
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A Ghost for Christmas by Kacey Hammell
After receiving a long weekend at an elegant hotel beside the majestic Niagara Falls as a Christmas gift, Jodie Gibson is determined to do nothing but relax and enjoy the scenery. And, okay, just maybe meet someone who makes her toes curl.
Sebastian is sophisticated, tall, dark and gorgeous–everything a woman fantasizes about. But he’s also an 18th century ghost. He haunts the halls of the hotel, seeking the one true love that can help him find peace…
Excerpt © Kacey Hammell
As she peered into the reflective glass, a face appeared behind her. Jodie whipped around and fell back against the window.
Oh my fucking God!
Before her, in what looked like a shimmering bubble, stood the most breathtakingly beautiful man she’d ever seen. Dressed in a white shirt and black pants, he had dark unruly hair and striking, magnetic blue eyes that held her in place.
Jodie blinked, uncertain, scared and breathless.
How was it possible? She’d read the newspaper clippings, yes, but it was unimaginable to think ghosts might actually walk among the living.
Not everything made sense. She only believed in things that could actually be seen, felt and touched. This seemed surreal.
Stunned by the apparition before her, dressed in what looked like centuries-old clothes straight out of Esquire, he seemed to look straight through her, and his smile warmed her clear to her toes. Lord, she was in trouble.
“Hello.” Soft and gravelly, his voice alone seduced her…all the way to her toes. Her body quivered and her center tightened.
Whoa. What the hell am I thinking? There’s a ghost in front of me and I’m ready to jump his bones. Not bloody likely.
“What are you doing here? Get out. I don’t care who you are, you’re leaving, right now.”
He frowned. “No need to be frightened. I’ve been here for centuries.”
Jodie laughed, and not one to wilt like a scared little girl, stood tall. “This is all a joke.” She looked around, up and down, and all over the room. “Are there hidden cameras somewhere? Hey, Ashton, if you’re behind the camera, you can come out now. I’ve been Punk’d good. Thanks and all, but I’d like to get on with my evening without you.”
“Who is this Ashton? What is a punk? A rake, perhaps?” he asked.
Jodie squinted. “A rake?” She hadn’t ever heard that term spoken, but had read it in historical romances. No one talked like that these days. “No. Never mind, it’s not important. Listen, I just want you to go. I want to enjoy my evening.”
His smile was gentle. “I’m sorry, my dear, but this evening every decade is the only time I am visible to the human eye. I never miss a chance to watch the Falls.”
Every decade…
“You’re telling me you do this every ten years? How old are you?”
“I was born in 1781. That makes me—”
“Two hundred thirty-one,” Jodie whispered, legs weak. She grabbed the back of the chair nearby and sat down. Were such things even possible?
Jesus.
An eighteenth century ghost stood before her.
Merry Christmas to me.
Available at…
Readers can learn more about Kacey’s books/contact her via …
Website / Facebook / Facebook Author Page / Twitter / Amazon / Goodreads / Pinterest
Filed under: Guest Blogger Tagged: A Ghost for Christmas, Christmas, Guest Blogger, Kacey Hammell, Paranormal Romance
December 18, 2012
All I Want For Christmas
I’m trying to keep it simple this year so if you are doing some of that holiday shopping, I could use a bucket of booze and a few cartons of cigarettes.
And also one of these
Feel free to FedEx them to me anytime, okay? Thanks!
Filed under: Ramblings Tagged: Booze, Christmas, Cigarette, Hugh Jackman, Lisa Fox, Presents, True Love
December 17, 2012
A Sexy Christmas Giveaway!
I am giving away a copy of Santa’s Sleeping Beauty today on Flirty Author Bitches. Head on over there to enter!
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A Sexy Christmas Giveaway!
Filed under: Flirty Author Bitches Tagged: Christmas, Christmas Quickie, Erotic Romance, Flirty Author Bitches, Giveaway, Santa's Sleeping Beauty, Sexy Santa
December 16, 2012
Six Sentence Sunday
Here are six more sentences from my Christmas Quickie, Santa’s Sleeping Beauty.
She took a breath to try to clear away the black cloud that seemed to follow her around. “You’re absolutely right, I need to lighten up. It’s Christmas Eve, I’m at Macy’s, on 34th Street no less, with Santa Claus.” The hottest damn Santa Claus I’ve ever had the privilege of laying eyes on, she added silently. She smiled over at him. “Tonight’s the night for dreams and wishes, miracles and magic, right?”
Be sure to stop by the OFFICIAL SITE for all of this week’s snippets!
Filed under: Six Sentence Sunday Tagged: Christmas, Christmas Quickie, Erotic Romance, Santa's Sleeping Beauty, Sexy Men, Sexy Santa, Six Sentence Sunday
December 15, 2012
Saturday Video – Empire State of Mind
I cannot wait to go home for Christmas.
Filed under: Saturday Video Tagged: Christmas, Empire State of Mind, New York, New York City, Saturday Video
December 14, 2012
Ooo, What Ya Got There?
I bet it’s good enough to share.
Filed under: Hot Men Tagged: Bathing Suit, Eye Candy, Sexy Men, Sharing is Caring
December 13, 2012
Have You Done Your Decorating Yet?
I hope your house is nice and festive!
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Filed under: Hot Men Tagged: Christmas, Decorating, Holiday, Nearly Naked, Sexy Men
December 12, 2012
Velvet by Xavier Axelson
Xavier Axelson is here today talking about his novel Velvet and he’s giving away a PDF copy to one lucky commenter! Contest ends Sunday, December 16, 2012.
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I haven’t written many guest posts about Velvet and now almost two months into its release, I’m savoring the opportunity Lisa Fox has provided for us to explore the story together. Thanks Lisa! As many of you may know, Velvet was inspired initially by the picture of a shoe depicted on the last page of Vogue magazine. It was the first time an entire story erupted just by seeing an image. The desire to write a story about velvet and is tumultuous, if not bloody past intrigued me. Unfortunately, at that time, I was headed into a bloody, tumultuous part of my life, involving two major surgeries. Right before I went into my first procedure I scribbled names down on a piece of paper and asked someone close to me to email them to me with the subject “Characters for Velvet.”
All through my healing process, the story grew and become more insistent. Each character had a voice demanding to be heard, the strongest being Virago. Many people have asked, critiqued and questioned my choice of his name and to tell you truly, the only answer I can give is that Virago is simply his name. It was never a question; there was no pretentious reasoning or trickery behind it. I’m not even sure why this name came to be, but I know better than to question my muse. While I knew the word virago existed, I didn’t know its meaning until I was nearly done writing Velvet, and even now I don’t question the choice because to me, it wasn’t a choice, it simply is/was the character. Virago had a story to tell me and it is my job not to judge the characters but it simply listen to them and do my best to usher their words out into the world.
The story itself marinated within me for a long time and by the time I was done writing it I realized it was a story about loyalty, albeit, blind and painful loyalty but at its core Velvet, to me, is a about the price we pay by being loyal. It is also about bullying, obsession, lust, greed and madness…oh yes, and peacocks.
Virago may seem naïve. He may even seem dumb. But if he is, and I leave that to the readers to decided, he is blind and dumb because he is consumed by the time period in which he lives, the family into which he was born and finally, the loyalty to which he is devoted and the secrets to which he is chained. He is so chronically unfulfilled sexually and emotionally that all of that energy has turned towards his devotions and loyalty’s to those around him who show him petty praise and acceptance. His blind brother who is the wise man of the story is beyond reproach, I love Sylvain, because I his virtue is comforting, but like many people, Virago feels unworthy of his love, unworthy of his brotherly goodness.
I welcome you to read Velvet and comment. Let me know what you think, I love to hear feedback as it often gives me insight into the story and characters that I might have missed. I read recently that many of my books include imagery of birds, and I had no idea birds featured so prominently in my stories, but I love that someone pointed that out. Now I’ll have to delve in to birdy symbolism and who knows where that might lead!
Anyways, thank you and xoxoxo always! XA
BLURB:
The first novel from Xavier Axelson is set against a backdrop of decadence, privilege and intrigue. Virago, the royal tailor, makes a discovery that will test the bonds of brotherhood, unravel the forbidden secrets of his heart and threaten the very fabric of his existence.
In a land where cruelty is disguised as allegiance, loyalty is masked by obligation and the laws of sumptuary govern the people, nothing is more dangerous than Velvet.
BUYLINK: http://www.seventhwindow.com/index.php?main_page=product_music_info&cPath=&products_id=52
EXCERPT:
I’d been staring at the vast body of water surrounding the ship when I was startled to find a woman, heavy with child standing by my side. She wore a red gown that gathered beneath her ample breasts. The gown fell freely, billowing against her in the brisk sea air. Her red hair hung in two braids threaded with crimson leather. Upon turning her head, small red jewels, woven throughout her hair, caught the light.
“The sea is dark as the grave, and as good at keeping secrets.”
“Who are you?” I asked. Since I’d boarded the ship the day before, I’d conversed only with Seton and my brother, Sylvain. I’d yet to earn my sea legs and everything seemed strange.
“I am Adis, wife of Doremme, the man whose ship you stand upon.” She came closer. “Secrets are only as powerful as those who carry them and the sea is a perfect place to bury what haunts you.”
“You talk as though you know me, and as I am a stranger on this ship, I know this cannot be.” I was about to bow and take my leave when she laughed.
“Fear is not your way, tailor. You were the royal tailor of the king whose land we left, were you not?”
Were the royal tailor… Her words struck at my heart. I felt this truth so keenly that I gripped the ship railings to steady myself.
“I fear only those who know more of me than I wish, and while I am indebted to your husband for granting us passage, I am in no mood for games.”
Though her laughter died, a smile lingered on her lips. “I mean you no harm, but you seem to have caught the interest of my child.”
I looked at her swollen belly. “Your child?”
“This is my third and final.” Her hands caressed her stomach. “She will be a visionary, and in her birth, I will know death. Not unlike your mother. She bore your brother, who I am told is also a visionary. And blind. How fortunate. Those who are physically afflicted see further than those who aren’t. Nature seldom curses without blessing at the same time.”
This time I laughed. “Perhaps you should ask my brother if he thinks himself fortunate. Or better, summon my father from the grave. Ask if he wished his wife lived and his son had sight!”
After this outburst, we grew silent, but the woman did not leave my side.
I closed my eyes and swallowing hard, felt the pull of the stiff fabric scrap tied around my throat. The raucous shrieks of hungry gulls overhead made me look up into the sky. I watched as the birds swooped and mercilessly chased each other. I envied their flight, but cringed beneath their cries. Behind my eyes, I saw white peacocks, heard their shrieks, and felt the crawl of disease. I shuddered, shook my head of further memory, and let my eyes fall upon the distant horizon. Would I never know peace? Or would memories chase me like the gulls chase one another, endlessly hungry and insistent?
When Adis eventually spoke, these questions and memories faded away.
“True, your father suffered, but his gifts as a tailor delivered him from the grief of losing his wife and gave him the strength to care for a blind son.”
The truth in her words, stirred long buried pain. While Sylvain’s blind, tumultuous, and bloody welcoming into the world killed our mother, it also strengthened my father’s resolve to care for us at any cost.
I know not what would have become of us without King Killian’s demand for my meager abilities as a tailor. We would have been lost, we owe our king a great debt and service.
My father told this to me one day when I found him bleary eyed and exhausted at his work. I could remember the way his hands trembled, the nerves in his fingers twitching involuntarily as he struggled with buttonholes on a vest meant for Killian’s nephew.
When his voice vanished, a bitter sadness rose in me as the sea’s waves crashed against the ship.
“Say no more to me. If you were not mistress of this vessel I would think unkindly of you!”
Before she could reply, music, soft and familiar reached us. I knew the player of the tune, knew it because my heart leapt at its playing as it did the first time I’d heard it.
“Someone has leant Seton a lyre. How beautifully he plays, and how lucky his hands are healing. He is a man of passion and strength. It is no wonder you found love with him, as he with you.” Adis placed a hand on my wrist. “I am no witch or visionary. My daughter beckons from my womb. I am but a vessel as is this ship. She is my most precious cargo, and anxious to know life. You must forgive me if I have angered you. Her voice comes from my lips, so I am often unaware of what I say.”
The music rose, fell away only to start again, and as it did, I examined the woman, and seeing her kind face, put a tired hand over hers. “There is nothing to forgive. I am the one speaking from another place.”
“Your voice comes from the shores we have left behind. It would be wise to find a new sound to carry with you.”
Beyond her I saw my brother sitting cross-legged, his fox playing in his lap. He seemed peaceful. “I keep staring into the sea hoping it will take the past from me, but it seems I may never know peace.”
“In time, you shall. Nothing is forever, except the sea.” Adis cast her eyes from my face to the expanse of water surrounding us. “She is our eternal mother and will listen to you forever.”
Behind Adis’s rather mystical analogy, I had a sobering thought. “There is so much uncertainty in the world. I wonder if I have done right. Perhaps I could have done better.”
“You left a land soon to be riddled with illness. This alone made it the wisest decision for you all.”
Her knowing so much of my life discomforted me. “Must everything be told in portents and omens? What of reality? What of truth?”
“Ahh truth. It is a funny thing and varied as the sunlight on the waves. I am a merchant’s wife and have seen much in this world. Men who love men, women who love women, even a man who loved a woman he believed to have been transformed into a goat by the tree witches in the north! The world is wide and there are many lands with many kinds of people. You will see soon enough.”
“I have not heard talk of the tree witches since I played at my mother’s feet. Surely they no longer exist!” I replied, incredulously.
“I cannot say. Who can say if they exist or ever really did?” Adis said.
I sighed resignedly. “I have lived a small life in the court of a small king, and I carry the wounds of that life as sure as I carry the clothes on my back.”
“It is not for me to say what you carry with you, but I can give you a piece of advice not from my daughter, but from my own lips: Stop trying to escape what haunts you, instead think long and hard about it. Every detail, every nightmare, dream and transgression. Leave nothing out. Do this until you have expelled the poison, and when there is no more, you will find yourself exactly where you are supposed to be.”
With these words, Adis left me. I stood alone, listening to the sea, the sound of Seton’s music, the distant cries of the squabbling gulls, and my eyes focused on the unknown horizon.
What led me to find myself on the water, destination unknown? The life I knew was gone, broken, and mercurial as the swirling foam frothing in the ships crushing wake.
I would tell myself the story, if only to steal a glimpse at the unknown ending.
How would my tale end? Beginnings are for children; fairy stories begin with “Once upon a time.”
Once upon a time there was a tailor. He knew string, scissor, and pin. He did not know his heart.
My breath caught.
Oh, my heart. Once upon a time, there was a heart and it was not free…
I was a tailor.
Once…
No, it cannot begin this way.
My heart knew dangerous things, but now it was free and in it’s new freedom I allowed it to teach me the way my story should begin and knew by wild instinct, if I followed it, I would know the ending, a true, and dare I hope, happy ending.
With no one to listen but the dark sea and the wheeling, crying gulls, I closed my eyes and let my thoughts move with the undulating water, its gentle rocking seeming to urge the release of my torment.
The castle, dark and glorious, loomed up in my memory…
Where to find Xavier Axelson:
http://www.facebook.com/xaviersaxel
http://www.twitter.com/xaviersaxel
Filed under: Guest Blogger Tagged: Fantasy, Giveaway, Guest Post, Romance, Velvet, Xavier Axelson
December 11, 2012
National Nap Day
December 10, 2012
Hot Men Sexy Santa Edition
It’s that time of year once again!
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Filed under: Hot Men Tagged: Bulge, Naughty Santa, Nearly Naked, Nice Ass, Santa, Sexy Men, Sexy Santa
