Jessica E. Subject's Blog, page 153

Interview with Allie Ritch, author of Alien Sex 104 #scifirom #scifi #romance

Bloggers Help Paws With A Cause

It’s an absolute pleasure to welcome fellow science fiction romance author, Allie Ritch, to the blog. Hey Allie! Tell us about your latest release.

AR: Alien Sex 104 is the final book in my Alien Sex Ed series—four erotic sci-fi romance novels that contain two stories per book. Each book can be read as a standalone, or readers can follow the series from the beginning to learn how all the characters wind up together. In Alien Sex 104, I go back to catch up with Huv, the model for the first Sex Ed class in Alien Sex 101. Huv has always been strictly straight, which is why he’s completely thrown when he falls in love with Lexy, who is part of a race that changes gender every month. Lexy shifts from male to female and back again, and he/she is the ultimate bisexual. Huv has to figure out how to alternately love Lexy the man and Lexy the woman. When we talk of biological clocks, we’re usually speaking of women, but in Alien Sex 104, Glynn is the one running out of time to have a baby. His paternal instinct has him dreaming of a child with Deina, but are they compatible?

Describe the main characters in three words.

AR: Huv is loyal, complicated, and virile.

Lexy is loving, compassionate, and smart.

Deina is frisky, fun, and daring.

Glynn is responsible, mature, and stalwart.

What traits do the heroes posses that make their partners swoon?

AR: Lexy’s caring nature melts Huv’s heart while his/her smarts and experience as a sex therapist allow Lexy to target the greatest erogenous zone of all: the mind.  With his/her trim body, golden curls, and sweet gray-blue eyes, Lexy is the total package.

At six foot tall, Glynn is a sizeable man with narrow hips, lean abs, and broad shoulders. On the outside, Glynn is very serious and uptight, but there’s plenty of passion boiling beneath the surface. This is what appeals most to Deina. She wants to shake him up to see what he’s like when he cuts loose.

I’m swooning! LOL What was your inspiration for this story?

AR: The main inspiration was an overall theme of swapping things around. I love taking something from reality and flipping it on its head. I did this with gender roles in my first erotic sci-fi romance novella, Switching Positions, and I continued the trend with my Alien Sex Ed series. In Alien Sex 104, Lexy possesses both feminine and masculine characteristics because his gender is changeable. Instead of women having biological clocks counting down, male Semhyms like Glynn are the ones who only have a limited period of fertility. I like viewing things like identity and labels from a different perspective—something science fiction naturally lends itself to.

Who is your favorite character from this book? Can you include an excerpt involving this character?

AR: I feel like I’m playing favorites with my children, but I have to say I loved Lexy the best. Here’s an excerpt from when Lexy first reveals to Huv that he/she is interested in being more than friends:

After locking up, Lexy turned to face him. “Do you want that drink now, or do you want to wait until later?”

Huv wasn’t sure if a drink would help ease him or just obliterate his already shaky control. Either way, he was bound to say or do something stupid if he didn’t get a grip. Better to play it safe.

“I’ll wait.” His voice came out as a dry rasp.

He was so busy trying to control his own reactions he didn’t catch Lexy’s until the man took a step that placed him an inch away.

“I hoped you’d say that.” Lexy spoke with a husky undertone that made Huv shiver. Then he kissed him.

Shock kept Huv in place for the first brush of Lexy’s lips, so much firmer and more direct than a woman’s. At least, Huv told himself it was shock. He didn’t know what excuse he had for softening his mouth a second later. A reflex maybe? All he knew was his head was spinning, and his groin felt tight and heavy like maybe his cock was thinking about sticking its head out. Then Lexy’s tongue probed the seam of his lips, and Huv didn’t know what the hell he was feeling. Jerking away, he backpedaled until he hit the wall.

“Whoa, I’m not … this isn’t…” Ah, gods. This couldn’t be happening to him.

“Not quite the reaction I expected.” Lexy’s tone was wry, but despite his own distress, Huv could hear the hurt behind it.

Raking his hand through his hair, Huv tugged hard as if the movement would straighten out his head. “Look, I think there’s been a miscommunication here. I’m really sorry if I misled you, but I’m not gay.”

“Okay.” Lexy sounded like he was humoring him.

“No, really. I like women. A lot.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” Lexy shot him an amused smile. “Strictly speaking, I’m not gay either, although I guess you could argue I’m half gay. I’m simply Cedecian.”

“You told me that,” Huv said, but he felt like he must have missed something.

Apparently Lexy figured that out, too. A frown formed in the middle of his smooth brow before tipping down the corners of his lips. “And you told me there isn’t much diversity on your home planet. You don’t know much about Cedecians, do you?”

“Not really.”

“Oh, boy.” Lexy winced. “Maybe you’d better sit down.”

Realizing he was cowering against the wall, Huv felt a flush of embarrassment. He accepted the seat Lexy offered him in the living room and settled across from him.

“I’ll get right to the point,” Lexy said. “Cedecians are a bi-gender race.”

Huv blinked. “Bi—”

“Gender. We shift back and forth between male and female, spending equal time as each.”

Stars above, he would have remembered hearing something like that. “Nifty trick.” He audibly swallowed. “Do you … uh … do that often?”

“Change sexes?” Although Lexy propped his ankle on his knee and leaned back casually, he kept bouncing his foot. “We can do it at will with a great deal of concentration, but it’s uncomfortable if the timing isn’t right. Right now, I’m at the male stage of my cycle. In a few days, I’ll transform to female. The only time we don’t have a choice in the matter is when we’re in our fertile period and have a permanent lover. Then we take whatever form complements them.”

“I see.” Actually, Huv felt like he was cross-eyed at the moment, but what could he say?

He almost flinched when Lexy came over and sat beside him on the sofa.

“Look, I can see you’re taken aback,” Lexy told him. “I don’t mean to push you, but I couldn’t help but notice you responded to my kiss. Well, at least until you remembered you were kissing a man.”

A sexy and intriguing excerpt! What genres do you write in, and what appeals to you about those genres?

AR: I write erotic sci-fi and paranormal romance because I love the creative freedom these genres offer me. They let me imagine characters that can shape-shift or drink blood or use telepathy, and I can give them any body shape or coloring I want. What’s not to like? 

What other titles do you have published? 

AR: Mating Season is an erotic sci-fi/shifter romance about Shila, a frost-bear shifter who is being stalked across the frozen planet of Jensen by two males of her kind. She takes shelter with Koll, a villager whose large size and gruffness attract her.

Switching Positions is an erotic sci-fi romance novella about a planet where women are the dominant sex. Dalera Adorea is expected to marry a nice local boy and settle down, but instead she finds herself falling for Radek Tyler, an off-world man who knows how to take charge.

Love & Torment is an erotic paranormal romance about an interrogator who uses her psychic ability to control arousal to torment men into giving her the answers she wants. That is, until she meets her match and has to fight her own desires.

In Alien Sex 101 (Alien Sex Ed series, Book 1), Quinn and Xindra learn from their near-disastrous wedding night and design a course to teach other interracial couples about the sexual practices and customs that abound on their planet. More than just an anatomy class, Alien Sex 101 offers visual aids, hands-on experience, and live demonstrations.

In Alien Sex 102 (Alien Sex Ed series, Book 2), Katra and Krux snipe at each other until they land in bed, where Krux’s four arms come in handy. Their classmate, Spri, can form a psychic bridge between her and her partner that doubles their pleasure, but she can’t share the experience with Whitt unless he matures and overcomes his commitment phobia.

In Alien Sex 103 (Alien Sex Ed series, Book 3), Varion is crazy about Benni, a natural contortionist, but it’s hard to be loved for himself when he can morph to look like hundreds of different men. As for Zeo, he’s sure shy, virgin Pixie is the only woman for him, but he comes from an animalistic race that publicly claims their mates in the most primal way. Can she match him?

“To Love Again” in Just One Bite: Volume Four is a short paranormal romance story about a sorceress who keeps being reincarnated so she can reunite with her vampire lover throughout time. It’s a free read available here.

Husbandry is coming soon from Loose Id. It’s an Alternate Earth ménage romance about a woman who goes to a matchmaking service and walks away with three perfect, bioengineered husbands. Visit my Books & Trailers page for updates.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

AR: Like so many authors, I’m going to say both. I usually start with several scenes in my head like dots that need to be connected—more or less a rough outline. Then I sit down and wing it as far as how those scenes connect and the story develops. 

Yes, I can relate. What genres do you enjoy reading?

AR: I read all genres of romance, but sci-fi/fantasy and paranormal are my favorite ones to read, as well as write. I also like a good mystery now and again.

Where do your best ideas come from?

AR: I never know what’s going to inspire me. I got the idea for Switching Positions from a conversation with a friend about how hard it is to be a woman in today’s society. Like a domino effect, I then got the idea for my Alien Sex Ed series from a passing comment I made in Switching Positions about a Sex Ed class the heroine took in school. What would a Sex Ed class on another planet be like? Voila, more ideas and more books. Mating Season was inspired by a wildlife documentary I saw on T.V. and so on. The best ideas just hit me.

Love when that happens! Where can my readers find you?

AR: Website/Blog, Amazon Author Page, ARe Author Page, Goodreads

Where can my readers find your books?

AR: Alien Sex 104 is available from Liquid Silver Books. You can download the book directly to your Kindle or Nook there, or Alien Sex 104 is also available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and ARe.

For the rest of my books, see the links above or visit my Books & Trailers page.

Thanks so much for visiting with us, Allie!! 

Dating Impossible VBT (Scavenger Hunt & $100 GC #Giveaway!) @KathleenGrieve @evernightpub

Bloggers Help Paws For A Cause

Scavenger Hunt Instructions:

For Dating Impossible, I wanted to do something a bit more than just a regular blog tour. I thought it would be fun if you all looked for a secret word. From day one, there will be a secret word inside the body of each post.  When you string them together in order, they make a sentence. Be the first person to email me at kathleengrieveauthor@gmail.com with the completed sentence and win a $100 Amazon Gift Certificate! To be eligible, you must also leave a comment on each blog, follow my own blog , follow me on Facebook  and on Twitter @kathleengrieve

I will also be picking one person from each comment section to win a free e-book copy of Dating Impossible, the second book in my Dating Series from Evernight Publishing.

I look forward to hearing from you! Now let’s have some fun!  First off, I’d like to thank Jessica Subject for having me here on her blog today.  I look forward to doing more with Jessica in the future!

Today, I want to know what you do to get your mind over a relationship? In Dating Impossible, my heroine, Dr. JJ Jones has a problem…well, several really…but she has her steadfast go-tos that have always helped her relax and get back to basics.  She loves to read true crime novels; she meditates, does bikram yoga and rides a Harley.  For JJ, these pursuits have certainly helped her get over past relationships, but when it comes to her girlhood obsession—Dr. Cruz Avery—she is at a loss.

So what do you do when a relationship is over? Don’t forget to leave me a comment to be eligible for the grand prize drawing of a $100 Amazon Gift Card and a chance to get your free e-copy of Dating Impossible! Enjoy the rest of your day!

Kathleen

(secret word “free”)

Dating Impossible:

Focused on her career, Dr. JJ Jones doesn’t have time to date—and she certainly doesn’t want to date the “player” of the ER none other than her girlhood crush, Dr. Cruz Avery. JJ found out the hard way that romantic relationships in the work place don’t mix forcing her to relocate back to Arizona and change jobs. She’s determined to spend her free time enjoying her Harley, reading true-crime novels, and learning about the new community she lives in. Dogged by the gorgeous Dr. Avery with his skillful hands, disarming smile, and hot lips, her resolve wavers. For now, she’s having fun making his mission to date her down right impossible!  

EXCERPT:

But damn if she wasn’t all prickly one minute and hot and yummy in his arms the next. His cock hardened and he shifted in his chair. Large almond-shaped green eyes, pink pouty lips, and that sexy belly button ring and tattoos. Cruz shook his head. JJ was definitely a mix of contradictions. She was all innocence and badass rolled into one. And smart.

None of his usual bullshit lines would work with her. So how was he going to get past her no-dating-a-co-worker rule and find out if they had the possibility of a real future together? Christ, she was making this entire dating thing impossible. He rubbed the tense muscles of his neck.

Sex two nights in a row doesn’t mean we are dating. Or in a relationship.

Her words looped over and over against his skull and were the other reason why he couldn’t concentrate on jack-shit today. What he needed was a plan. But what?

He sat up straighter in his leather chair. The kernel of an idea blossomed. What if she didn’t realize they were going out on dates? Yeah, baby. He liked the notion already. But he’d have to tread carefully. JJ was a clever girl. Cruz would just have to be one step ahead of her in order to make his plan work. And once she was hooked on him… He glanced at his reflection in the full-length mirror that hung on the back of his office door and pointed to himself. His lips curved into a perfect smile and he winked.

Who could resist this?

Get your copy of Dating Impossible here: www.evernightpublishing.com

About the Author:

Full time nurse, amateur cake baker, writer, and zombie obsessed, Kathleen draws a lot from the real-life medical drama she experiences as a RN for her novels. Writing romance is a creative outlet where she can effectively deal with the daily stress and sorrow, adding levity and humor to situations that provide a happily ever after when there isn’t one.

Connect with Kathleen here:

Website |  Blog |  Amazon | Evernight Publishing

Twitter |  Facebook |   Goodreads

 

March Madness Vlog Roll – 10 Random Things About Me

Bloggers Help Paws With A Cause

Now, next on the vlog roll is Rayne Hall. Go check out her vlog.

And if you haven’t seen the others, you can find them here:

JoLynne Valerie

Winslow Eliot

Candi Fox

Neil O’Donnell

Andrew Brewer

Interview with Liz Crowe, author of the Turkish Delights series @beerwencha2 @DecadentPub #romance

Bloggers Help Paws With A Cause

Please welcome romance author Liz Crowe to my blog. Liz is one of those authors whose stories I sit down to read with a box of tissues. I just know she’s going to make me cry. And that to me means I automatically love the book. 

Hi Liz! Can you tell us about how you started your writing career?

LC: Kind of by accident, or, if I’m completely honest, boredom.  I am a voracious reader, but primarily mainstream fiction. I have never read (nor do I plan to read) “traditional romance” books. However, I was sort of bored with my book options back in 2009 or so, and was pleasantly surprised to find a box of hot ‘n steamy books at my door one day (one only had to complain a few times to spur the spouse to action back then).  I read my way through Shayla Black and Lauren Dane’s non-paranormals and the “Mona Lisa” series by Suny (the only paranormal series I ever really liked). And between taking little “me time breaks” if you know what I mean I was hooked.

And I was bored at work—I was a realtor, a successful one mind you but that job is fraught with boring stretches of waiting and staring out of windows. So I came up with a concept for a book that eventually became my best selling Stewart Realty series (while I was working on getting my microbrewery open—dang, I must have been really bored!)

And the rest is history, on a small scale, I suppose.

Now, I’ve heard a bunch of your stories have been released as a print anthology, and in an ebook bundle. Can you tell us about them?

LC: The Turkish Delights series began as a trilogy of “1Night Stand” stories, the popular Decadent Publishing series about a mysterious dating service run my the never-seen Madam Eve.  Once those were done I simply had to tell the  prequel story and then the plot line I left dangling needed tying up so I wrote the final novella. There are 5 books in the series, ranging in length from 9,000-33,000 words.  Decadent has re-packaged them for me as an “ebook bundle” at Amazon and under one really beautiful cover as a print anthology, and let me tell you they read like a long juicy novel now.

Available on Amazon in PRINT & Ebook BUNDLE

What was your inspiration for these stories?

LC: A challenge, actually.  I had just gotten yet another rejection (from Decadent) for Floor Time, Stewart Realty book 1.  The editor tossed me a bone by suggesting that I try “one of their short story lines for submission.” Well, I fumed around, kicked some rocks, pouted, declared myself incapable for writing short stories, then started to ponder the possibility of a 1Night Stand branch….in Istanbul. I lived there for a bit over 2 years myself and it was the first place my mind went when pondering this challenge—what sort of couple could I put together that would not otherwise meet? That would require the help of a dating service in order to get real about what they already felt about each other?  And so Emre’s story developed, a “cougar story” as he is ass-over-teakettle in love with Elle Kensington, an American executive of a pharmaceutical company who is 15 years his senior.  That was the original “Turkish Delights.”

As you know Jessica I am pretty much incapable of crafting stories without compelling side or secondary characters. And once I realized that Emre’s identical twin Tarkan was already involved with Elle’s male personal assistant…and that Tarkan  had agreed to take on the family’s military obligation by serving the required 2 years at an outpost somewhere…well, the rest of the series just took off from there.

Blue Cruise is Caleb’s story (Elle’s assistant). Tulip Princess is the story of the twins’ younger sister Lale.

The Diplomat’s Daughter is the story of the fated-loved of the parents of these people and Flower Passage is the final novella.

Who is your favorite character from any of these stories? Can you include an excerpt involving this character?

LC: Honestly, there are so many compelling characters in this series…between Lale and her Greek Dom Andreas; Emre and Elle’s power play dynamics; Tarkan, Caleb and a new man, Adem…

I think though when I was writing it, Caleb truly spoke to me.

Caleb sipped at the smooth brown liquor. Once again, he ran a finger over the heavy ring Tarkan had given him on the small yacht they’d rented for the week. Fear made his throat tighten at the thought of his soul mate, spending his last weeks on duty in the Turkish capital. They’d argued their last night on the boat.

“I still don’t understand why you’re doing this,” he’d said, sitting back on a large bench on the boat’s second level, Tarkan’s head in his lap as they took in the fading beauty of a sunset over the ocean. They’d consumed a huge delicious meal prepared by the on-board cook, an attractive young man who’d obviously been chosen for the job because he didn’t mind two men sharing a bed. Adem was attractive and slender with a French father and Turkish mother. An aspiring chef, he’d told them, and one day hoped to own his own exclusive restaurant in the southern resort town of Antalya. And he knew when to disappear and leave them alone.

The deep blue sea below them and velvety soft air all around had turned the trip into one of the most erotic vacations Caleb could possibly imagine. He shut his eyes tight, fighting anger at the memory of putting Tarkan back on a plane in his stark military uniform the day before.

That night, he had taken Caleb’s hand, threaded long fingers through his and brought them to his lips. “It’s a Turkish thing, my love.” Caleb grimaced, remembering how he’d yanked his hand away in anger.

“Bullshit. You’re just trying to please your father again. Deflect attention from us so your family won’t notice that we’re together.”

Tarkan had stayed silent, turned on his side, and let his empty hand trail along Caleb’s knee, down his bare calf and back up, soothing and calm as usual.

“Shh, my lover. It will be fine. Only a few more weeks, and then we will be together again, like we planned. Seni seviyorum….”

Caleb swallowed hard, remembering how he’d tried to resist, tried to stay mad, but Tarkan’s hands, then later his lips and tongue, and his lean strong body, had made him forget his anger, forget everything but how much he loved the man once again. He had demanded they tell Tarkan’s parents the truth. After nearly six years in a monogamous, loving relationship, he was not about to keep sneaking around and hiding who he was. He had an uneasy truce with Tarkan’s parents, but the aging grandmother who lived in their large mansion loved him, Caleb knew, because she wanted whatever made her grandsons happy. But as tough as it might be to live as openly gay partners in the U.S, it was unthinkable in Turkey, so their plans included a move to California in three more weeks. Tarkan and Emre’s nineteen-year-old sister, Lale, was already begging her parents to let her move to the States as well, finish college at UCLA to be near her brothers and their families. She and Tarkan were extremely close, and his stint in the military made her even angrier than Caleb at times.

A sudden, piercing pain between his eyes made him grunt and lean up, forcing the woman drooling on his shoulder back into her own seat.

“Jesus.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. A flight attendant set a bottle of water on his tray. He gulped it down, but instead of helping, the pain spread, making him squint and grab his temples, trying to quell whatever thrashed around behind his eyes. He groaned and sat back, dreading the thought of a migraine on the last three hours of this flight. Then, as quickly as it gripped him, the headache left. For the first time in his memory he literally saw stars. He took deep breaths until his head cleared when a massive wave of panic replaced the pain.

He yanked his seatbelt off and stood. Running a hand over his stubbled face, he tried to fathom what in the hell was happening. It had to be some sort of anxiety attack, brought on by memory, anger, fear, and longing. Jesus, whatever it was it sucked. Shoving his hands in his trouser pockets, he started pacing the aisle, willing the lump away in his throat. He sat again. Got antsy. Stood and paced some more. Flight attendants gave him worried glances.

Nothing helped. If anything, he became short of breath. His heart pounded in his ears and he tried to lecture himself into calmness. Attempted to picture Tarkan’s soft eyes, imagine his hands on his shoulders, rubbing, soothing away Caleb’s Type-A stress. For some reason, for the first time in years, he couldn’t conjure mental images of his lover at all. That tore it. He took four long strides to the flight attendant’s area. He had to be quite a sight, eyes wild, hair standing up where he’d pulled at it for the last hour, but he no longer cared. Something was seriously wrong.

No one acknowledged his presence. That was odd. First class passengers typically wouldn’t tolerate being ignored. Caleb cleared his throat. The group stayed clustered around a small screen in their kitchen area. He muscled past them. Someone in the group quickly flicked off the screen. The attendant who’d been bringing him drinks fixed a smile on her face, but he saw the fear in her eyes.

“What.” His jaw ached from clenching it.

“Nothing sir, can I get you anything else?” The group disbanded, doing their jobs, completely silent. He used all he had not to yell with frustration. Obviously whatever had happened, no one planned to share it with passengers who might panic. His gut rolled again.

“Water,” he croaked. “Can I…?”

Someone shoved a piss-warm glass of water into his hand—again, very unlike the formerly polite and attentive crew. He took a deep breath, tried to catch the eye of the uniformed woman now carefully ignoring him. Giving up, he stumbled back to his seat, his knees suddenly unreliable. What in hell is going on? Whatever it was, he didn’t want to face it, hoped the flight would simply go on and on forever, never setting down and forcing him deal with the utter devastation that must have occurred. Was it an earthquake? Was Istanbul hit by terrorists? He talked himself out of the doomsday scenarios playing in his head, popped an aspirin, and concentrated on getting some sleep. Anything to hold at bay what was about to make him throw up the bourbon, food, and water he’d had that day. He settled for fuzzy daydreams about Tarkan, their smoking hot beginning, turbulent early days, and the moment he gave in to his true heart and admitted how he felt. He sighed, ignoring the niggling sharp pain that had developed behind his eyes again and drifted. Memories crowded his medicated brain, tumbling around and bringing home the very first time he realized he’d found the love of his life in Turkey.

Available in PRINT & Ebook BUNDLE

I agree. They are are so compelling. What other titles do you have published?

LC: I have a book called CHEEKY BLONDE with Decadent Publishing that is a bit of romantic suspenseful romp through the craft beer business that came in 2nd in the Love Romances Café popularity contest—right up there with JD Robb (the significance of which had to be explained me).

I also have another 1Night Stand with Decadent, a soccer based one called CAUGHT OFFSIDE.

HEALING HEARTS is a novella that launched the Challenge Series for Decadent.

My Stewart Realty series is a soon to be 7 book series that is a best seller.  It includes: FLOOR TIME, SWEAT EQUITY, CLOSING COSTS, ESSENCE OF TIME, CONDITIONAL OFFER, ESCALATION CLAUSE, and coming this spring: MUTUAL RELEASE (which could be read as a stand alone novel)

PARADISE HOPS is a stand alone also set in the craft beer business and one of my favorites.

HONEY RED is a recent ménage I had published.

So, a lot to keep readers happy. Where do your best ideas come from? 

LC: I try to pull from my real life experiences and ground my stories in reality as much as I can which sometimes leads to some tough endings for some of them.

What is your favorite book that you’ve read?

LC: Depends on when you ask me. Right now I would say “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Greene followed closely by “The Dinner” by Herman Koch that I am reading right now. I judge my “favorites” by “willing to read them again-isms” and for that I’d say Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell or Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood.

Do you belong to a critique group or have critique partners? If so, what have you learned from them? How has it affected your writing?

LC: I don’t belong to groups per se although I have a solid base of beta readers and other folks I bounce ideas off of.  I can’t offer my time to read pre published things as I am pretty darn busy elsewhere in my life so I don’t feel right asking anyone else to critique me in the early stages.

What is the best piece of advice you would give to aspiring authors? 

LC: Don’t think you are above a hard editing session. You aren’t. Ever.

So true! Is there anything else my readers should know about you?

LC: I am also known as The A2 Beer Wench because I am part owner of a craft brewery in Ann Arbor and handle marketing, sales and Tap Room management for it (hence my lack of time to read and critique things for other writers).

The Turkish Delights series by Liz Crowe:

A young American woman comes face to face with her destiny in Istanbul in the 1960′s and an epic dynasty is born.

When Vivian Kinkaid turns around in her college classroom and makes eye contact with a man who was once her forbidden childhood friend, her life is changed forever.

A sweeping saga of family, love, loss and recovery—The Turkish Delight series begins with a special sort of magic. Then  Madame Eve works her miracles for the Deniz family, but even she can’t overcome the harsh realities that force this Turkish/American family all to deal with tragedy when one of their own is ripped from their close-knit circle.

“The Turks” opens with best-selling classic romance for the ages.  Then ends with a thrilling novella that brings all the players back together.  Set in Istanbul, Las Vegas, and Southern California, The Turkish Delights series has it all—heat, heart, intrigue and a deep, family connection that transcends all barriers.

Includes:

The Diplomat’s Daughter

Turkish Delights

Blue Cruise

Tulip Princess

Flower Passage

Available in PRINT & Ebook BUNDLE

Tour Giveaway!!

The final stop: www.decadentpublishing.blogspot.com is a contest that consists of 5 questions plus a bonus round. All answers can be found in various posts throughout the tour.

The commenter who gets the most answers correct AND leaves their email in their comment wins:

1 signed print copy of Turkish Delights

$50 Amazon gift card

and if they get the BONUS question too: a Beer Wench tee shirt from Liz’ brewery.

Here is the tour schedule:

2/25   www.backwardsmomentum.blogspot.com

2/26    www.harliesbooks.com

2/26    www.twinsietalk.blogspot.com

2/27  www.stickgirlbookreviews.blogspot.com

2/27  http://happilyeverafter-cgtetreault.blogspot.com/

2/28   www.msspencertalespinner.blogspot.com

2/28  www.literatiliteraturelovers.com

3/1  www.sevensexyscribes.blogspot.com

3/1 www.cindyspencerpape.com

3/2  www.shhmomsreading.com

3/2 www.melissakeir.com

3/3 www.desireeholt.com

3/4 www.kimcharmichaelnovels.com

3/5  www.markofthestars.com

3/7  www.nicolezoltack.com

3/8 www.carrieannryan.com

3/9  www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk

3/10 www.decadentpublishing.blogspot.com

About the Author:

Microbrewery owner, best-selling author, beer blogger and journalist, mom of three teenagers, and soccer fan, Liz lives in the great Midwest, in a major college town.  Years of experience in sales and fund raising, plus an eight-year stint as an ex-pat trailing spouse, plus making her way in a world of men (i.e. the beer industry), has prepped her for life as erotic romance author.

When she isn’t sweating inventory and sales figures for the brewery, she can be found writing, editing or sweating promotional efforts for her latest publications.

Her groundbreaking fiction subgenre, “Romance for Real Life,” has gained thousands of fans and followers who are interested less in the “HEA” and more in the “WHA” (“What Happens After?”)

Her beer blog a2beerwench.com is nationally recognized for its insider yet outsider views on the craft beer industry. Her books are set in the not-so-common worlds of breweries, on the soccer pitch and in high-powered real estate offices.  Don’t ask her for anything “like” a Budweiser or risk painful injury.

www.lizcrowe.com

www.brewingpasssion.com

www.a2beerwench.com

www.facebook.com/lizcroweauthor

www.twitter.com/beerwencha2

www.facebook.com/groups/romanceforreallife

www.facebook.com/jackgordonrealtor

It’s Read An E-Book Week!!

Good day! It’s Read An E-Book Week. What are you reading? I’m reading Finding Mercy by D.L. Jackson.

Today I’m participating in the Love Is Blind Blog-A-Thon, hosted by Juliette Springs. You have a chance to WIN an ebook from my back list titles!

Plus, this week, I’m going to have several authors visiting my blog, so be sure to come back and learn more about their ebooks.

March 5 – Liz Crowe

March 7 – Kathleen Grieve

March 8 – Allie Ritch

If you’re looking for some great ebook deals, you can save 50% off the individual price in these ebook BUNDLES from Decadent Publishing. Plus, Coffee Time Romance has some great deals, including 50% off ALL Decadent Publishing titles.

NEW – Back List Blast – Celestial Seduction #alien #romance #scifirom #giveaway

HELLO! Welcome to my first Back List Blast post! Every Sunday, I will be posting something from one of my back list titles, whether it be an excerpt, book trailer, character interview, or something else.

Today I’m going to start with Celestial Seduction, which release July 1, 2011. It is an alien romance that is part of Decadent Publishing’s 1Night Stand series. Here’s an excerpt:

Her intensity excited him, but he needed to find a way to keep her calm. She refused to look into his eyes. His mouth crashed down on hers, absorbing her next words. She objected at first, but then her tongue reached out to him, a passionate gesture unheard of on Ginnun.

He matched the force of her kiss and skimmed his hands down her arms to rest on her sides near her breasts. She no longer struggled. Her arms wrapped around him, keeping him close. When she released his mouth to take a breath, he sat up. She panted underneath him.

“That was incredible. I….I felt like I was flying through space. So many colors and the brightest stars.”

He experienced something different. With that kiss, he had finally found someone who could keep him grounded on Earth and repress any regret for not returning to Ginnun. He brushed his thumb along her cheekbone. “I’d like to continue if you’ll let me.” He leaned down and placed light kisses across her face.

A sigh escaped her lips and the last of her tight muscles relaxed underneath him. He slid his body down her legs, his hands returning to her belly.

“I thought you were going to continue something else,” she whispered.

His cock pressed against his pants already. Her sudden interest in sex made it painful. “I want to, but I need to finish giving you this gift.”

Her body moved but she didn’t struggle or try to get away. “What exactly are you doing to me? What is this gift? Why was my stomach glowing?”

He took in a deep breath and released it a little faster and louder than he’d wanted. He knew the answer would lead to more questions. While prepared to answer them, he didn’t want to scare her away. His response required carefully chosen words to ensure he gave her the gift before he told her of his origins.

“I’m healing you.” The blue glow returned across her belly as his hands warmed. “You’ll be able to have a child when I am finished.”

Her eyes widened. He sensed her fear, but she didn’t move. “Your child?”

“No, I am not giving you a child. That can only be done in the usual ways. I am simply making your body able to become pregnant and carry a child.”

Carrie propped herself up on her elbows. Her eyes stared down at her belly, but she remained calm. “How? No doctor could do that for me. How can you? Are you some type of voodoo priest or something?”

“No.” He needed to continue and keep his heritage from her for as long as possible.

“A religious fanatic who thinks I’m possessed by demons?”

Frey laughed. “Nope.” He was almost finished. Just a little longer. The scarring had all returned to normal, healthy tissue. He only needed to stimulate the maturation and release of eggs in her ovaries.

“How then? I know you’re doing something to me. I can feel it.”

“Remember how I said I needed an open-minded partner?”

She nodded, her eyes catching a quick glance from his before returning to her stomach.

Just a couple more minutes and he’d be finished. He prepared to hold her down should she freak out when he told her he came from space. “I’m not exactly like you and most of the people on Earth. I’m….different.”

“Like a demon or a guardian angel?”

He laughed. It sounded forced, but he needed to stay focused on healing Carrie rather than mating with her. “No, you’re thinking paranormal. Try science fiction.”

She began to squirm under him, but he didn’t need to restrain her. “A….clone? Artificial intelligence?”

He finished healing her and lay down beside her. His thumb ran across her lips, wanting to taste them again, but knowing he probably wouldn’t. “Try alien.”

Giveaway!!

Thank you for stopping by my first Back List Blast Post! Leave a comment for your chance to WIN Celestial Seduction swag. I will email the winner on March 6, 2013.

Bloggers help Paws With A Cause #charity #giveaway

Hello Everyone! There are a total of 59 blogs that have gotten together to help raise money for a great cause. There are going to be some awesome prizes up for grabs for people that donate money to the cause. Here is a little about the company that we are raising the money for:

Paws With A Cause® enhances the independence and quality of life for people with disabilities nationally through custom-trained Assistance Dogs.

PAWS® increases awareness of the rights and roles of Assistance Dog teams through education and advocacy.  Founded in 1979, Paws With A Cause is dedicated to helping its clients who are challenged by many disabilities, such as Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, Seizure Disorders, and Hearing Disorders to name just some.  Each of our dogs are trained to meet the specific needs of our clients. Tasks may include opening and closing doors, picking up objects, pulling a wheelchair, turning lights on and off, and alerting a person to particular sounds like a telephone, doorbell, smoke detector and many others. Our dogs change lives by enhancing the independence of our clients. By just opening a door, a dog opens up the world for a person with a disability and your donations will go to making that happen.  PAWS thanks you so much for your donation and allowing us to open more doors.

Paws With A Cause

4646 South Division

Wayland, MI 49348

How to donate:

1. Go to https://www.everribbon.com/PawswithaCause

2. Click on “Make a Donation”

3. Enter a amount you wish to donate. Everibbon will add a small fee to your donation for processing. The fee for donating $5.00 is .49 cents. So keep this in mind when deciding your donation amount. You will receive 1 entry into the giveaway for every $1 you donate.

4. In the box that says “on the behalf of” please put your name. This is the name that will be listed on the everibbon website so put a name you do not mind being visible to everyone. Do not check the box to make a anonymous donation because I will not be able to track your donation to enter you into the giveaways.

5. Next it will ask you for your credit or debit card information.

6. Then it will ask for your email address to send you a receipt. This is so that you can submit it for tax purposes.

7. Ta Da! Your all done making your donation. Now you need to contact Danielle to enter the giveaway.

8. Please email Danielle at RomanceBookJunkiesDanielle@Yahoo.com with the name you used to donate your money. For example the name I used to donate on behalf of was Romance Book Junkies. Do not send me your name off your credit or debit card because I will not be able to see this. Along with the name you used please tell me how much you donated and if you live in the US or are International.

9. Your all done. Thank you for donating!

Warning: Do not try to email Danielle the name and donation amount of another person that is not yourself. If Danielle recieves more than one email with the same persons name and donation amount she will have to ask for your copy of the receipt from everibbon to verify that you are the correct winner. Thank you.

We will have 4 WINNERS for the main giveaway!!

We have 2 $65 gift certificates to any online book store.
Also we have 2 huge boxes of books and swag from Romance Book Junkies and Bitten by Paranormal Romance (for US residents only)

Good luck to all and thank you for helping make this fundraiser a success!!

Bonus!!

Leave a comment below, telling me about your pet for a chance to WIN an ebook copy of one of my back list titles. Winner will be chosen March 9, and notified by email. Contest is international. Good luck!

P.S. Here’s a picture of my pet. My daughter named him Hop. We adopted him from the local animal shelter almost eight years ago. And, he was fully grown then.

 

Worm Holes – When Myth Becomes Reality

Good day! No, those two things aren’t related, except it’s my day to post on two multi-author blogs.

I was watching the movie Contact yesterday, and it inspired me to write a post about black holes and worm holes. So, check out my post today on Backward Momentum, and catch a clip from the movie.

And, my good friend, Layna Pimentel, is my guest today at Paranormal Romantics, discussing when myth becomes reality.

Hump Day Hook for February 27 from Made For Her #scifi #military #romance #HDH

Good day! Here’s one last hook from Made For Her, an erotic science fiction romance.

I’m skipping ahead again this week. Mikayla has just returned from visiting the clone labs in Geneva. And the clone of her husband shows up on her doorstep.

“Colonel Jones, I know I’m not supposed to be here, but please, I beg you to hear me out.”

The clone who resembled her husband glanced around, then centered his attention on her. “Now that you’ve returned, I’m desperately hoping you’ll be back to instruct our squadron in the morning.”

She wouldn’t. She’d asked to be reassigned for the exact reason before her. She felt her heart race. Beads of sweat formed across the back of her neck. Unlike the other genetically modified Daniels, D32 was the only one to look exactly like her late husband. He and Daniel had the same large and broad build that had always made her feel safe, never threatened. His blond hair made a buzz-cut look good on his perfectly shaped head, and his eyes…they were such an intense blue that she became lost in them if she stared too long. Flashbacks of her and Daniel in bed flooded her mind, and she shook them away. The man in front of her was a clone. And she needed him to leave. “D32, what are you doing here?”

blurb & buy links

Be sure to visit the Hump Day Hook blog to see who else is participating this week!

Interview with @Liza0Connor, author of Saving Casey #youngadult #suspense @DecadentPub

Good day! It gives me great pleasure to welcome fellow Decadent author, Liza O’Connor to the blog. Liza, tell us about your debut release, Saving Casey.

LO: Having been diagnosed with cancer, Cass Goldman decides to opt out of any futile medical care and end her life. While she has some thoughts on afterlife, she never expects to reincarnate into the body of a seventeen-year-old girl named Casey Davidson.

When she awakens in a hospital, Cass discovers two disturbing facts: One, she is now inside the body of a troubled teenager, and two, the former owner of this body committed suicide, but only Cass knows that. Everyone else believes Casey has survived, but suffered a complete memory loss. Cass has two choices: to take on Casey’s life and turn it around, or to confess the truth about her reincarnation and end up in a mental asylum. Given this second chance to life, Cass decides to take on the future life of Casey—the frightening ghoul-faced teen with short, black, spiky hair.

Every person around Cass has an ulterior motive and discovering the truth of Old Casey’s life is more complicated than the “new math” she is forced to learn in school. In addition, Cass has to contend with raging teenage hormones and the prior crimes of Old Casey, which she might not remember, but everyone else certainly does. However, her biggest frustration concerns her feelings for her father’s rugged security specialist who sees her only as a teenager and doesn’t want to explore the mutual attraction between them.

As determined as Cass is to turn this life around, Old Casey’s enemies are just as determined to end her life. She has no idea whom she can trust, but she’ll never survive going it alone.

Describe the Cass in three words.

LO: Determined, Pissed off, Sarcastic

How does she differ from Casey?

LO: Casey’s dead while Cass is inexplicably alive.

Otherwise, they are very similar. Casey was pissed off and determined too, only she hadn’t laughed in years.

What is her first reaction when Cass finds herself in Casey’s body?

LO: She fears instead of ending her life all she’s managed to do was kill her dog. And upon seeing strangers sitting near her bed in what is clearly a hospital room, she concludes they must be suicide watchers there to prevent her from trying to kill herself again. But by their fine clothes and the expensive purse, they looked to be rich. Rich suicide watchers? That made no sense.

Then the man wakes up and sees her staring at him. He pulls into his arm and hugs her, calling her ‘kitten’.  Cass is both baffled and creeped out by his heartfelt emotions. Her mind stretches desperately for a rational explanation, but reality takes a final blow when she notices her plump young hand.  Somehow, her soul has entered a teen’s body. She soon learns the prior owner, Casey, had tried to kill herself, only Cass knows she succeeded. However, if she tells them the truth, she’s certain she’ll spend the rest of her life in a mental institution.

Thus, she decides to turn this girl’s life around. With 80 years of experience, how hard could it possibly be?

Love the premise of this story! What traits does her father’s security specialist posses that attracts her attention?

LO: Troy was the first person Cass had met in this new life who  actually laughed at her humorous comments. Her father said he got her humor, but he’d scold her all the same, so that didn’t count. However, Troy would heartily laugh, the sound coming from deep in his chest.

Also, while everyone else treated her like a troublesome child, he treated her as his equal. He never scolded her or talked down to her. He saw her as she was, not the troubled teen her ghoulish face portrayed.

What was your inspiration for Saving Casey?

LO: I have friends with teens. These are really great people, but their teens seem to struggle. That made me wonder if they are deaf to the parental voice or if the world is changing so fast that the parent’s life experience has become irrelevant.  So I sent old Cass into a teens body so I could see if 80 years of life experience helped.

Turns out not as much as I expected.

Who is your favorite character from Saving Casey? Can you include an excerpt involving this character?

LO: Now you’ve put me in a bind, because in the first and last chapter I have to say my dog Jess.

The chapters between, it’s Cass.

So you get two excerpts: First one is when Cass discovers she has terminal cancer and decides to take her life. The questions is whether her 20 year old dog will go with her.

Returning to the kitchen, Cass placed the garage door clicker on the table as promised. Pouring green tea into a large plastic bottle, she called her dog.

Jess didn’t respond.

“Jess, here.”

Her small, beautiful old dog entered, tail down, eyes worried.

Did her dog know what she planned? Did he not wish to take this journey with her?

Did she have the right to do this to Jess? But who would want her twenty-year-old dog?

Tears streamed down her face and she sat down on a chair so she could pet her faithful friend. “You don’t have to come. You can stay here. I’ll put out enough food for you to survive until they come find me. I’ll ask Victoria to find you a good home.”

Jess whined and pressed his head between her legs.

“It’s okay. You’re not ready. But I gotta go while I still have a say about what path I’m taking.”

Leaning over, she kissed the dog’s soft forehead. “I love you and I always will.”

Her tears fell into Jess’s eyes, making him pull back and whine again.

She gathered her plastic bottle of tea, placed her three containers of painkillers into her pocket, and headed to the door. Jess followed right behind her. Before she opened the door, she studied her dog. “You sure you want to come?”

He wagged his tail twice.

A sense of relief eased her pained heart. She didn’t want to leave her dog. Jess would be miserable without her.

The next is Cass negotiating with the butler to get her black and red rooms painted a nice cream.

“How do I get these walls repainted?” she asked. If she stayed here, she’d be ready to commit suicide. Again.

“The request will require approval from your father.”

“Do you have guest rooms?”

“Twenty-four of them.”

“May I stay in one of them until I get these rooms changed?”

“That would also be your father’s say.”

“Are there forms to fill out?” she asked, finding it ridiculous everything had to go through her father.

“I will bring you the forms within the hour.”

She choked. “Are you kidding? You actually have forms?”

A faint smile came to his lips. “No, miss. I returned your sarcasm.”

She burst out with a hearty laugh. She never expected the expressionless old butler to make a go at humor. “Well, done, Thornton. Well done, indeed.” She held out her hand for him to shake and after several seconds of hesitation, he grasped her hand, then examined his palm before escaping Batman’s Cave.

What are you working on now?

LO: Right now, I’m editing a funny romance between an uber rich owner of a chair company and his tiny middle class executive assistant. These two are total opposites. Honestly, had Carrie not come from an abusive, loveless family she’d never put up with Trent.  But she did so she does, and her presence calms his inner demons and slowly turns him into a decent boss and her best friend. Crossing over to lovers seems impossible for them. Trent has a terrible record on romance. Despite being a billionaire, no woman can stand him more than a month. He knows his business would go bankrupt without Carrie, so he can’t risk making her his lover.  But all the same, he begins a slow seduction because he’s not happy without her.  Carrie is starved for love, but since being Trent’s executive assistant requires her every waking hour she has no opportunity to meet anyone. And any time she attempts to befriend someone at work, Trent gets upset.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

LO: 100% pantser.  My muse tells me stories in my sleep, then if it’s good enough that I can remember it long enough to wake up and write it down, I’ll flush out a set of characters, give them a start point, and let them go. Then I type really fast so half the  words are missing and the other half are phonetically spelt.

Translation to English is a B****.

Where do your best ideas come from?

LO: Mostly real life events.  I grew up in the South, and I think more crazy things must happen there. I could probably write a thousand novels on stuff from my childhood. But then my business life on the East Coast has been rife with improper behavior as well. And my personal life…don’t even get me started.

Do you belong to a critique group or have critique partners? If so, what have you learned from them? How has it affected your writing?

LO: I am actively involved with two crit groups and I have several critique partners. My critters seem to have lived in a far nicer reality than I do, so they let me know when I’ve stepped over their reality line. Then I’ll try to gently pull them closer to my reality where inappropriate or bad things do happen. Without my critters, I wouldn’t even know I needed to help them over the hump. To me bad behavior is the norm.

What is the best piece of advice you would give to aspiring authors?

LO: Best Selling authors aren’t Best Sellers because they write great novels. They are Best Sellers because they successfully market their great novels.

Is there anything else my readers should know about you?

LO: My claim I was raised by feral cats is euphemistically true.

Where can my readers find you?

LO: I didn’t know I was lost.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT LIZA O’CONNOR & SAVING CASEY:

 Liza’s Blog and Website   Facebook   Twitter

Where can my readers find Saving Casey?

SAVING CASEY BY LIZA O’CONNOR IS AVAILABLE AT THESE SITES & MORE:

Bono Books     Amazon    Barnes&Noble