Raine Miller's Blog, page 6

Naked for National Nude Day!

I’ve missed it by a day but oh well, July 14th is National Nude Day in the US.  That’s cool, but don’t count on me expressing any desires to actually be nude in celebration or anything, cuz that won’t be happening…ever.  The date is interesting though because one year ago, nearly to the day, something happened that changed my life.

The summer was going as it usually does, kids home all day, husband home with us (both teachers on summer vacation) and various summery activities going on around me.  So the third week of July 2012 comes and that is when the life-changing event happened.  My husband took our two sons away for a week at Boy Scout Camp.  I love that week every summer when they all go to Boy Scout Camp.  It’s my favorite.  I have precious solitude and know I’ll get a lot of writing done.  House stays clean.  I don’t have to cook anything unless I want to eat.  I can swim in my pool without children splashing around in there.  I get to stay up late watching HBO and Showtime without worry that a kid will see what I’m watching.  *all the shows I like to watch are inappropriate for children*  Basically, I am a very happy woman alone with my free time.

I got right to work with a manuscript that needed some attention.  I wrote during the day and then in the evening I combed over online stock photo sights and looked for images that could potentially go onto my book cover.  On the second night of my domestic freedom, I found an image that changed everything.

The picture that inspired me.

It was a beautiful picture of a naked woman posing in an unconventional way but so perfect everything just clicked into place all in an instant.  A serendipitous moment.  I thought about the picture and what it would be like to be a nude model and meet the man who bought your portrait.  My first indie published book was born in that moment with just the seed of an idea and a picture.  Naked, The Blackstone Affair Book 1 was that story.  I sat down and wrote the opening chapter right then and had to set aside the other manuscript I was working on.  I wrote like a fiend for three weeks until it was done.  I couldn’t stop writing and I couldn’t stop thinking about it.  The whole idea and story pretty much took over my life for the rest of the summer.

I was scared to self-publish Naked, because I had only written books for one small press publisher and knew next to nothing about how to go off independently all on my own.  But I was blessed with the wise words and helpful encouragement from a dear friend and fellow author, Belinda Boring, who got me to press ‘publish’ on KDP back in August of 2012.  What happened next was a whirlwind-roller-coaster–ride-of-crazy that didn’t really stop until after the holidays.  The books became bestsellers, landed me my super agent, and eventually a traditional publishing contract with Atria Books.  It’s all a blur to me now.  A crazy, scary, unbelievable blur with Christmas decorations and those little chocolate bottles with liqueur inside, mixed in. True story.

Naked went on to make the New York Times and so did its sequels, All In and Eyes Wide Open. Nobody was more surprised than I was, and nobody could have told me then, that one year later I would be a full time writer going to book signings and conventions with lovely people standing in line to meet me.  The whole concept is still bewildering and I imagine it will stay that way to some degree for the rest of my life.

The book that resulted.

So back to my original idea for this post–National Nude Day.  It was a good day for me to reflect on what inspired me to even write the book that changed my life in the first place.  A beautiful nude image.  Never give up on your dreams, you never know where they can lead.  Look where a naked picture took me!!!

 

xxoo R

Raine’s Time Continuim

Imogene~

I’m not sure how many people realize that all of my books interconnect.  I began my writing journey with historical romance, still a little edgy and undoubtedly erotic, but historical nonetheless.  I created a world back in time with characters I loved so much I really couldn’t resist involving them forward into the contemporary world of The Blackstone Affair.  I simply could not help myself.

When I was writing Naked and wrote about Brynne conserving paintings, I knew instantly who my “fictional” artist would be.  His story is coming soon, and you’ll see then how my books become even more interwoven once my next novel, The Muse, is released in late summer.

 

 

The hero of The Muse is Graham Everley, aka Lord Rothvale, and he is present in every book I’ve written, either with scenes or in mention.  The Rothvale Gallery where Brynne works, is named for him.  Ivan Everley is his direct descendant and modern day heir.  But in my historical romances, Graham Everley is actually on the pages.  He is not a young man in those two books, but a well respected pillar of society and mentor to Darius and Marianne from His Perfect Passion, and Jeremy and Georgina from The Undoing of a Libertine.

Graham’s book will go back in time about twenty five years to 1812 where his love story will be told, as well as the story of a very special painting of his Imogene.  See how I have the portrait theme running through everything I do just as I did with Brynne and Ethan?  *winks*

So I was thrilled to find that some other people notice my connections, and one special lady even blogged about it.  Made me so dang happy.  Sharon at B & B Book Review shared what it means to her.  RAINE MILLER ~ ROMANCE WEB WEAVER.  Thank you, darlin’.

 

xxoo R

 

 

Dueling DaVinci

So there’s this guy who wrote a book called The DaVinci Code some time ago.  Name’s Dan Brown, and he writes some really great stories.  I can remember so well Memorial Day 2003 at my house.  We had a group over and we were all talking about DaVinci Code and how much we all loved the book.  I think I bought a hardcover for my mom to read and she was engrossed for most of the party as she devoured the pages.  I know I had major book hangover when I finished reading it–I definitely remember feeling bereft!

That all happened ten years ago.

Flash forward to 2013 and it’s the same time of year, and again, we have a gathering at our house for the Memorial Day holiday.  Dan Brown’s new book, Inferno, was mentioned a few times throughout the day, but I have not yet had a chance to read it.  I’m sure I will enjoy it very much…once I finally have the time to sit down with it.  So why am I rambling, you ask?

Well in those ten years some things have changed for me too.  I worked hard at my teaching job and raising two amazing kids with my husband.  I read a lot of good books like The DaVinci Code, and accomplished some things I’ve always wanted to do.  But at some point during those ten years, I started writing my own book.  Finished it and wrote another.  Then I got a manuscript accepted by a publisher…and that was the beginning of my career as an author.  I’ve never stopped writing and have no plans to do so either.

On Tuesday, May 14th, 2013, Dan Brown released his new book.

So did I.

One week later the New York Times Bestsellers Lists came out, and this is where the really surreal, crazy part comes.

I don’t even need to say it.  The picture tells all.  Hell, I’ll say it anyway…

Somehow, some way,  my Eyes Wide Open sits at #2 right below Dan Brown’s Inferno on the New York Times Book Review.  I still have to ask myself if that’s real…  Another little ironic twist of fate are the words I have on my dedication page in Eyes Wide Open:

The eye sees a thing more clearly in dreams than the imagination awake.

                                                                                                                                Leonardo DaVinci

Yeah, I had no idea when I chose that beautiful quote months ago…  Oh, but I do have one question for you, Dan Brown. Why couldn’t you have released your book just one little insignificant week later?

xxoo R

 

 

Finally!

Raine is breathing a sigh of relief and feeling like a long sleep would be the order of the day, except it is 1:00 am in the morning and I seem to have forgotten when I should be sleeping and what constitutes day or night.  Or maybe I just stay awake most of the time for the hell of it.  Just kidding…  Really, I am happily content that another book has launched and is safely into the hands of readers who tell me they like reading my books.  *big grin*  This is always a thrill for me, as I imagine it is for any author who creates characters that feel like they are real people, but especially because I created Ethan Blackstone and Brynne Bennett by accident.  I wasn’t looking for them or even thinking about their story.  Far from it–I was working on two other projects when I discovered the photo that would become the cover for Naked.  I love that I started the series on a whim and a whisper of an idea.  I often wonder what I would be doing right now if I hadn’t started writing their story.  Those two have come a long way in a very short time and I hope you enjoy the evolution of their love in Eyes Wide Open.

If you’ve been on Goodreads then you know that a 4th Blackstone book is in the works.  It will be more of a standalone story, taking Ethan and Brynne beyond the happily ever after at the end of most books.  There is so much more still to come for these two that I discovered while writing book 3, and I am eager to share it with readers.  Stories often take on lives of their own and just have to be told the way they wish to be told.  *shrugs*  It’s out of my control really.   No explanation or justification needed, merely a fact.  If you write, then you understand what I mean.

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite photos of the perfect physical interpretation of Ethan Blackstone, the sublime David James Gandy.  You can follow Mr. Gandy here: and I urge you to do so.  He is an interesting guy.  Not bad to look at either.  *wink*

 

xxoo R

Chapter 1 from …Eyes Wide Open

We are getting close to blast off here and Chapter 1 was approved for your reading pleasure. Now if you are one of those people who don’t want to read anything BEFORE the book comes out, then click the red box with the x in the top corner right now.  We are at 20 days to book release and I must say it is very exciting for me even though I’ve been with these characters for a while now.  Enjoy.

 

 Chapter 1~

Ethan’s eyes held on to me as he mastered my body, his grip firm on my hips, his thick flesh filling me up and moving inside me, his mouth all over me, his teeth on my skin.

     All of this from the man who had broken though the walls I’d built and captured me. They were demonstrations of touch and pleasure, a means of cementing the connection between us, of keeping me close to him. It was his way. He didn’t need to worry, though.

Ethan had me.

Despite the whole mess tonight, he had me in his arms and underneath him, his commanding strength taking charge in the way it’d been from the beginning. Holding me safe. That night on the street when he’d coaxed me into his car and the later phone calls demanding I acknowledge him were just the start of my understanding of Ethan Blackstone. There was so much more to the man than I ever imagined back then.

I wasn’t going anywhere. I was in love with him.

“I want my cock in you all night long,” he rasped, his blue eyes flashing against the moonlight as he moved. Looming over me, he plied my body in every which way as the light shone on our naked bodies through the balcony window. Hands, mouth, cock, tongue, teeth, fingers—he used them all.

Ethan said things to me like that during sex. Shocking stuff that made me hotter than hell, nourishing my confidence, and showing me how much he wanted me. It was precisely what I needed. Ethan was my answer, and he knew exactly what I craved. I don’t know how he understood me so well, but he did without a doubt. Tonight had affirmed that message loud and clear. I guess I could finally admit that I was in need of another person in order to be happy.

That other person was Ethan.

I’d let someone in. The hard shell around my heart had been compromised, and very thoroughly too. Ethan had done it. He’d worked on me, and pushed me and demanded my attention. He never gave up on me and loved me in spite of my cavern of emotional issues. Ethan did all that for me. And now I could revel in the fact that I was loved by a man whom I loved in return.

“Eyes on me, baby,” he commanded on a harsh breath. “You know I have to have your eyes when I take you!” His hand had moved up to grip my hair and he tugged. He never hurt me when he pulled it, though. Ethan knew just how much pressure to exert and was fully aware it sent me over the edge. I did know about his need for my eyes being on him and I held onto his fiery blues with everything I had.

But Ethan knew more about me than I knew about him.

“But “You’re going to come first!” he gritted out, thrusting deep and hard, finding the sensitive spot within me needed to accomplish his directive.

As I felt the pressure build I let myself go to that perfect place of ecstasy, pinned beneath Ethan’s body, which was burrowed in mine, his blue eyes just inches above me. He took my mouth as the orgasm ripped into me, filling another part of me, making me accept more of him, binding us together more deeply.

His orgasm followed mine within seconds. I could always tell he was close from how he tightened to inhuman hardness right as he was about to come. The feeling was out of this world and intensely empowering. That I could pull such a reaction from him and elicit such feeling in another person did something to me. Something that healed me a little bit each time it happened—I kept getting better inside my head because of Ethan and the ways he showed his love for me. I had some hope about myself that I could be happy and live a normal life.

Ethan had given me that.

“Tell me, baby,” he exhaled in a harsh whisper, but I could hear the vulnerability that accompanied the boldness. Ethan wasn’t without his own insecurities, he was just a mortal like the rest of us.

“Always yours!” I truly meant my words as I felt him let go inside me.

When I opened my eyes sometime later, I realized I must have dozed a bit. Ethan had rearranged us halfway on our sides, but we were still joined together. He liked to stay buried inside me for a while afterward. I didn’t mind, because it was something he desired and I loved making him happy.

I just wish he’d tell me more about his dark place. He was afraid to share and while it bothered me, I mostly understood his fear. I often wondered if his reasons for needing to touch me all the time and possess me so thoroughly during sex, and afterward too, had something to do with his time as a prisoner. They tortured him and scarred him and hurt him. It pained me just remembering how he’d been that night when his dreams woke him up in a panic.

I trailed my fingers over his shoulder and back. I imagined the angel wings of his tattoo and the words below them. And I felt the scars too. Ethan flicked his eyes open and pegged me hard. “Why wings? They’re beautiful, you know.”

“The wings reminded me of my mum,” he said after a moment or two of silence, “and they covered many of the scars.”

I leaned forward, kissing his lips with a soft touch. I cupped his jaw and decided to take the plunge. I didn’t want to scare Ethan away from talking to me if he was in a mood, but figured I had to try again at some point. “And the quote? Why that one?”

He shrugged and whispered, “I think I died a little tonight.”

So much for him opening up and sharing. He wasn’t up for any more delving into his past. I could tell. “What do you mean you died a little?”

“When I couldn’t find you after that message came in on your mobile.” He traced my cheek and then my lips with his finger—just the lightest touch, and I felt a shiver roll through me.

“Well, you did find me eventually, and no dying allowed, mister. That would be a real major buzzkill.” I tried to tease him into a lighter mood, but it didn’t seem to be working. When Ethan was in a serious frame of mind, he didn’t just switch out of it easily.

“I’m glad you feel better,” he paused and thrust his hips with a renewed erection, sinking in deep, “because I needed this with you, badly.”

“I’m here and you have me,” I murmured against his lips as he draped my legs over his shoulders and took charge of another round of pleasure.. Once was rarely enough for him.

Ethan made me feel desirable. He made me feel beautiful and sexy, from the words that came out of his mouth to the touch of his body in mine when he made love to me. And afterward, when he held me against him like I was precious.

Somebody wanted me, despite all that had gone down in my past. Someone was willing to fight for me. I was important to another person. To Ethan I was. The power in that knowledge was life-changing.

Ethan’s particular brand of attention was intense and a lot to accept at first, but it worked for me. Ethan worked for me. He could show me how much he wanted me, and for the first time I had some hope that we could really make this relationship work. The “let’s go slow” part hadn’t happened at all like we’d agreed when we first met. But if we had gone slowly, I very much doubt I’d be naked in bed with him at the Somerset coast, in an English manor fit for a king, which happened to be owned by his sister, and being fucked to the brink of another magnificent orgasm right now. A girl has to take things as they come.

It took a bit for me to rouse myself after the second round of sheet-clawing sex, but I managed to wriggle out of his hold to head for the bathroom so I could clean up and prepare for sleep. I loved how he touched me all the time. I needed it, plain and simple, and Ethan knew that. It was just another way in which we were emotionally compatible.

I filled a glass of water and took the pill Dr. Roswell had prescribed for my night terrors. I had a routine. Birth control and vitamins in the morning, sleeping pill at night, once I was ready to actually sleep. I smirked into the elegant bathroom mirror that looked like something out of Buckingham Palace, realizing that bed and sleep were never synonymous when with Ethan. We spent a great deal of time together in bed not sleeping, but I wasn’t complaining.

I didn’t expect to find him awake when I came out of the bathroom, but his eyes were open, tracking my every movement as I settled back into bed. He reached for me and held my face, something he did often when we were close like this.

“How come you’re still awake? You must be exhausted after that long drive,” I paused for emphasis, “and all that superb shagging—”

“I love you and I never want to let you go,” he interrupted.

“So don’t.” I looked into his blue eyes, which seared me in the dim light.

“I never will.” He said it with some hardness and I felt that he really meant it.

“I love you too, and I’m not going anywhere.” I leaned in to kiss his lips, the rasp of his beard stubble well familiar to me now. He kissed me back, but I could tell he had more to say and could feel the edge in him, which was surprising considering the orgasms he’d just pounded into me.

“The thing is I—I need something more permanent with us. I need you with me all the time so I can protect you and we can be together every day . . . and night.”

I felt my heart begin to thud rapidly, whispers of panic taking hold. Just when I got comfortable with one aspect of us, Ethan pushed for more.

He’s always been that way . . .

“But we are together every day now,” I told him.

He furrowed his brow and narrowed his eyes a fraction. “It’s not enough, Brynne. Not after what happened tonight and that fucked-up message from God knows whom. I have Neil working on your mobile trace right now and we’ll get to the bottom of it, but I need something more formal that tells the world you are off limits and untouchable by whatever designs they might have on you.”

I swallowed hard, feeling his thumbs start to move over my jaw as I tried to imagine where he was going with this. “What do you mean when you say ‘formal’? How formal are we talking?” Man, my voice was thready, and my heart felt like it would leap out of my chest the next moment.

He smiled at me and leaned in for a soft, slow kiss that calmed me some. Ethan had always calmed me, though. If I was unsettled or scared, he had a way of comforting me and easing the stress of the moment. “Ethan?” I asked when he finally pulled back.

“It’s okay, baby,” he said soothingly, “everything will be all right and I’ll take care of you, but I know what we need to do—what needs to happen.”

“You do?”

“Mmm-hmm.” He rolled us over and held my face again, propped on his elbows and trapping me beneath his sculpted limbs, hard and smooth against my softer parts. “I’m sure of it, in fact.” His lips dropped to my neck and kissed up to my ear and then down my jaw, over my throat, and back to the other ear. “Very, very sure,” he whispered between gentle kisses. “I realized it tonight as soon as we got here and I saw that you were wearing this.” He kissed the spot where the amethyst pendant he’d given me lay in the hollow of my throat.

“What are you so sure about?” My voice was faint, but every word rang out clear as a bell in the short distance between us, as if I’d shouted my question.

“Do you trust me, Brynne?”

“Yes.”

“And you love me?”

“Yes, of course. You know that I do.”

He smiled down at me again. “Then it’s settled.”

“What is settled?” I implored against his gorgeous face, which had mesmerized me from the first, one side of his beautiful mouth turned up confidently, holding me firmly beneath him in a possessive hold so typical of my Ethan.

“We’ll get married.”

I stared at him, sure the words that just came out of his mouth were out of a scene from a romance novel. Maybe I was having a dream. I hoped.

Ethan shifted on top of me and shot that idea to hell. Holy fucking shit!

“It makes perfect sense,” he said with a slow grin, “we make an announcement that goes out big, have you move in with me officially, and let everyone know your fiancé is in the security business—”

“Are you insane?” I cut him off and saw his eyes moving over my face, studying my reaction to his words. “Ethan, I can’t get married. I don’t want to. I’m just getting used to being in a relationship. It’s way, way too soon to even consider something like that for us . . .”

He grinned down at me, utterly calm and confident. “I know, baby. It is far too soon, but the world doesn’t have to know that. To them it looks like you’re about to be the wife of the former-SF, high-profile CEO of Blackstone Inc. To whoever is out there with an agenda, they get a message loud and clear. That they need to keep the hell away from you; that they won’t be able to touch you in any way, shape or form, and that they won’t get close enough to even blink at you, let alone deliver threats like that fucked-up shit from last night.” He kissed me softly, looking very proud of himself. “It’s a brilliant plan.”

I just kept staring at him, sure he was a figment of some fantastical dream I was having. “It’s also dishonest, Ethan. Have you even considered what you are asking me to do? To lie? To mislead our families and friends into believing some fiction that we met two months ago and now we’re getting married?”

He stiffened above me, and his jaw got that stubborn set to it. “When it comes to protecting you, I’ll do whatever I need to do. I’m not taking the risk with you—it’s too late for that. I told you I was all in, and that’s not changed in the last hours.”

His glaring expression was more than a little intimidating, even in the dim light. I tried to explain myself. “Well, no, my feelings haven’t changed either, but that doesn’t mean we can . . .”

My words trailed off as I tried to process what he’d just so confidently declared—that getting married would be a good idea—just like eating more vegetables or wearing sunscreen was a good idea. I had to wonder if the stomach bug that had got to me tonight was making me hallucinate.

“There’s no reason we can’t.” Ethan looked a little wounded as he studied me carefully, and it gave me a pang of regret, but only for about two seconds. What he was proposing was absolutely insane. I could barely wrap my head around being in love with a man who’d stormed his way into my life, audaciously and without apology, a mere two months ago. How in the hell could I agree to a marriage based on my protection from some mysterious threat of unknown motivations by unnamed people?

“I—I’m—you’re absolutely out-of-your-mind crazy right now! Ethan, do you realize what you are proposing here?”

He nodded at me, his face just inches from mine. I couldn’t really tell what he was thinking right now either. He wanted his way, I could guess, but his motives were what surprised me more. I knew he loved me. He made sure to tell me often. And I know my feelings for him were the same . . . but . . . marriage?! I was sure he couldn’t have suggested anything more of a shock to my fragile emotional grid than this. Surely Ethan didn’t want a wife. This was way too soon.

“Yes, Brynne, I very much know what I just said to you.” He kept his face neutral but firm, giving away nothing.

“You want to marry me, a woman you just met eight weeks ago, who has relationship phobias and—and a fucked-up past—”

He shut me up with a dominating kiss, the kind that left no doubts about the seriousness of his proposal. God! Am I in Bizarro World here? I let his mouth plunder mine for a moment, then brought my hand up to the back of his head. I tugged him back and cupped his cheek, seeking his eyes again.

“Baby . . . that thing tonight spooked me,” he whispered. “I didn’t plan this out; I just know what feels right. I want you with me. You won’t need a work visa any more. You can live here and work in London somewhere in your field. You’ll have time to find the perfect job without pressure to wrangle the immigration laws, and most important, we can be together. It’s what I want. I can shield you as your husband. I can make sure you’re always protected. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to keep you safe. I love you. You love me, yeah? What’s the problem? It’s the perfect solution.” He tilted his head at me and squinted his eyes like I was being illogically stupid.

“I’m not anywhere close to being ready for that, Ethan, despite how I feel about you.”

“I’m not either and the timing is horrible, but I think it’s our only good option.” He softly brushed my hair back from my face with a gentle touch. “I’m willing . . . and I think you should at least consider it.” He gave me the eyebrow look. “I’m not enduring another episode like we had tonight at the National.”

I started to protest but he shushed me with another demanding kiss that was so very typical of him. He held me beneath him, pressing me into the soft mattress and stroking into my mouth with a skilled tongue. I let him kiss me and just floated along for a bit, trying my best to process what he’d shared.

“Before you get all feisty and worried, I want you to just think about it for now. We could have a long engagement, but the announcement is what will make people sit up and take notice. We had a tough night and there’s a ton of shit to be sorted, but in the end, we’re together and that won’t be changing.” He kissed me on the forehead. “And you’re moving in with me.”

I just stared at him and took in his words.

“That last part is not a request, Brynne. What went down tonight was utter madness and we cannot be living in two places.”

“God, what am I going to do with you?” I stifled a yawn and realized the pill was making me sleepy. I knew I wouldn’t be able to continue this conversation much longer. The idea flashed through my mind that he might have used that fact to his advantage. Ethan wasn’t good at poker for nothing.

“You’re exhausted, and quite frankly I am too.”

I yawned again and agreed with him. “I am . . . but I still don’t know what to even say about what you’re suggesting,” I told him, speaking into his eyes, which were just inches from mine.

He snuggled me against his body in preparation for sleep and buried his face in my neck. “You’re going to go to sleep right now, and think about it . . . and trust me . . . and move in with me officially.”

“Just like that?” I asked.

“Yeah, just like that.” His lips moved against the back of my neck. “It’s simply the way things have to be.” I felt his stubble graze my skin as he pressed close. “I love you, baby. Now go to sleep.”

Ethan’s strong arms folded around me did feel magnificent, despite the fact that I thought he was out of his ever-loving mind. But knowing that he would do something so drastic for me just to keep me protected, that he loved me that much, made the small smile on my face feel quite fucking fabulous, to quote my soldier-mouthed lover.

I did sleep then, safe in his arms.

xxoo R

 

A Passionate Past

Buy links are here.

I wrote this book called His Perfect Passion a few years ago.  It’s special to me because it was the very first book I sold for publication.  It’s rather short, at just over a hundred pages, and tells the story of a man who has admired a woman for years, desperately wanting to learn her secrets and waiting for her…Darius and his infatuation with the mysterious Marianne.  This story is erotic and has a sexy hero who dominates his way around the bedroom as most of my heroes tend to do, but what makes this story a little unique is that it takes place in 1837 and not 2013.  And because I just couldn’t help myself…is connected to the newest installment of The Blackstone Affair, coming out in May, 2013.  I’ve enjoyed interweaving my historical romance characters and settings with the modern world of Ethan Blackstone and Brynne Bennett.  Many of the same themes are still just as relevant today as they were in 1837 and it’s fun to show that in the books as the stories come to life.

When I first began writing, I was only interested in writing erotic historical romance.  It was (and still is) my first literary love.  I still love reading and writing it–don’t get me wrong–but I’ve since branched out into other genres like contemporary romance, and will soon be trying my hand at paranormal/erotic romance as well.  I found myself unable to let the historical themes go completely, however, when I started writing The Blackstone Affair and had to keep inserting references to the past, namely the world I had already created in His Perfect Passion and The Undoing of a Libertine (my erotic historicals published by Siren Publishing).  It became a challenge for me to find ways to connect the themes in my historical books to my contemporary ones.  Can I say how much I enjoyed writing the connections?  It was really fun doing it and makes me happy knowing that the books are now forever linked.

I have interwoven parts of  His Perfect Passion so thoroughly, in fact, that I am suggesting to fans that they read it BEFORE Eyes Wide Open, The Blackstone Affair Book 3 comes out next month.  Trust me.  You will enjoy your reading experience so much more if you’ve read His Perfect Passion first.  *winks*

Thank you to my dear friend, Franzi for making this beautiful collage photo of images from the love story of Darius and Marianne.  I cannot wait for you to meet the both of them.

xxoo R

KEEP CALM…the new RMR is HERE

     Raine Miller Romance now has a fresh new face, courtesy of Priceless Design Studio, and I could not be more excited about the finished product.  My favorite thing? Wanna guess what it is?  Yeah…it’s the countdown widget to Eyes Wide Open.  *grinning every time I see it*  I love the modern feel combined with the vintage elements that I adore, and I cannot wait to start adding some fun stuff for people to enjoy.  Katie Price, you worked some serious magic for me.  *big ginormous hug*

To celebrate this milestone there is a contest on my Facebook pages for 10,000 LIKES where two Kindle Fires will be given away.  You have to LIKE my Raine Miller Romance Fan Page and the Ethan Blackstone Fan Page on Facebook in order to enter and answer some scavenger hunt questions.  All in good fun, and I thank my wonderful street team of  Becca, Jena, and Franzi for taking such good care of me.

Now all that’s left is for me to take the advice of the title of this post and KEEP CALM because in five hours I am leaving for Maui with my family for a much needed break.  I plan on doing a lot of reading of all of the amazing books my good friends have been writing, and of course Lover at Last has finally arrived and needs my attention.  Desperately.  *glares*

Much love to the awesome fans for all the well wishes and support of my books.  I feel blessed every day to be able to write these stories and bring them to you.

*waves and blows kisses*

xxoo R

All In up for Best Book 2012 at TRR!

 

All In, The Blackstone Affair Book 2, has been nominated by The Romance Reviews for Best Erotic Romance – Contemporary Romance (2012) and I could not be more thrilled.  You have to go to the site to vote and can see all the other categories of books and nominees as well.  The voting ends on March 31st.  There is always a ton of fun stuff going on at TRR so check out the site and the Best Book Voting.

xxoo R

Click on the button to VOTE for All In!

Tagged: All In, Best Book 2012, The Blackstone Affair Part 2, The Romance Reviews

Book Trailers for Blackstone

Please enjoy these book trailers for Naked and All In made for us by Becca Manuel, or Becca the Bibliophile as she’s known on her blog.  This lovely woman is truly amazing with her skills in video production and I am well and truly a fan.  I want to be there when she gets her academy award some day and say I remember when she made her first book trailer.  *not joking*

As always, my muse for Ethan Blackstone can be played by nobody but the gorgeous David James Gandy as he is depicted here.  I would really love to see Mr. Gandy in a full length film some day.  Wouldn’t that be something?

Naked: The Blackstone Affair Part 1 Trailer

All In: The Blackstone Affair Part 2 Trailer

Tagged: All In Trailer, Becca the Bibliophile, Book trailers for Blackstone Affair, Naked trailer

An Eyes Wide Open Valentine

“The eye sees a thing more clearly in dreams than the imagination awake.”                     Leonardo da Vinci

So here she is.  The cover for Eyes Wide Open, The Blackstone Affair Part 3.  I am utterly thrilled with all of the covers of this series as they have managed to convey the essence of each book the way I wanted them to.  All three have a photographic image of Brynne in a beautiful pose, naked but tastefully beautiful. Apropos considering she’s an artistic nude model on the side even if Ethan isn’t thrilled about it.  *smirk*

We also have a release date for the ebook on May 14th across all retailers, and up for pre-orders now. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Simon & Schuster.  The iBooks link is not up yet, but will be very soon.  Here is a cute animated reveal courtesy of Atria Books.

The description:

The third part in The Blackstone Affair series: A love on the brink of being destroyed. The fight of a lifetime to keep it alive.

Big surprises are on the horizon for Ethan and Brynne as they struggle to adjust to what life has thrown at them. Demons from the past are threatening to destroy the passionate bond they’ve forged despite their vow that nothing will ever keep them apart. A truly devastating loss coupled with the promise of a new hope opens their eyes to what is most important, but is it possible for the lovers to move on from the painful histories that continue to haunt them? A stalker is still lurking in the shadows, plotting evil amidst the distraction of the 2012 Olympic games in London. Brynne and Ethan are on the cusp of losing everything as the stakes rise. Will they yield to circumstances beyond their control or will they give every ounce of fight they have left to save each other and win the ultimate prize of a life together?

Eyes Wide Open is a passion-wrought story that shows us what pure love can achieve when tested and what the heart can accomplish despite danger and adversity. ~

We’ll have some sneak peaks coming soon.  Check over at Natasha is a Book Junkie blog for a little treat.

Happy Valentine’s love all around.

xxoo R

Tagged: Blackstone #3, cover reveal, Eyes Wide Open, Eyes Wide Open release, Natasha is a Book Junkie, pre-order links for Eyes Wide Open, The Blackstone Affair Part 3